Rylee skips rocks across the brown water while Ravi watches from a tall tree. She bounces one five times and Ravi snorts.

“Only five? I could beat you easily,” he says.

“Then get your ass down here,” she replies.

“I would but…” Ravi looks around the empty creek and smiles. “Come up here, come see.”

Rylee skips her last good rock across the water and turns to him, rolling her eyes and walking toward him.

“You’re like… seven feet in the air. How can I get up there?” She asks, smiling up at him.

“Crawl, girl.”

“Climb, you mean.”

Rylee tries. But with short legs, reaching and grabbing stuff from up high is pretty hard. Ravi starts laughing, a hand on his stomach as Rylee straddles the branch and sits up, her long hair in her face.

“Asshole,” she murmurs, blowing the hair from her eyes and reaching for the next branch, which is closer than the last.

“Haha, Rylee. Need some help?”

“Oh nooo. Does it look like I need help?”

“Ahhh, a little.”

Rylee sneers at Ravi as she reaches for another branch, coming up close to him. Reaching for the next, she plops down, almost slipping and laughs at herself.

“Get down here lazy,” she says. “How come I’m doing all the work?”

He smiles and drops down beside her, pulling her close and kissing her forehead. She smiles and leans into him as he brushes a hand through her hair.

“I’m glad you brought me here,” he whispers. “I wish your dad was here to see you now.”

“He would love to know you’re here with me,” Rylee whispers, smiling sadly.

Ravi kisses her forehead again and hugs her tight as they watch the sun set from the tree, the twin bridges covering them, the roar of traffic filling their ears.

Rylee smiles every time a truck goes thunka, thumpa, thunk over the bridges and disappears as another roars across, going seventy-five.

“I love you,” she whispers to Ravi, closing her eyes with her head resting against his shoulder in the fading light.