I laughed at this, and all I wanted to do was pull him into a hug to express how much I loved him and thought he had the coolest brain in the entire universe.

Jake held his arm out for Zac and Lisa, indicating the way. “Shall we?”

“What?” Zac asked.

“Shall we go?” Jake qualified.

“Wait!” Lisa yelled, holding her hands up in the air dramatically. “Are there snakes there? Because I haaattte snakes.”

“Don’t worry, I know what to do if we see a snake,” Zac said quickly, and walked straight onto the bridge. “I can recognize all snakes, so I’ll keep you safe.”

“Okay,” Lisa replied and followed him.

We stood there and watched as the kids walked off a little way ahead of us.

“Irony is,” I said, “he probably does know what to do if we see a snake.” I walked onto the bridge.

“Seems like you do too.” Jake shot me a playful look. Teasing and oh-so-cute, and I felt all crumbly and warm. Like a freshly baked apple pie. I looked away quickly so it didn’t look like I was considering putting a scoop of ice cream on his head and eating him with a spoon.

The bridge we were on curved up from the ground, and soon it felt like we were walking among the treetops. As the sky above us disappeared behind a green ceiling, I felt encased in a magical world of tangled branches and leaves. The breeze was soft and gentle, the leaves swayed, and every now and then a bright-blue patch of sky could be seen through the greenery. And then something caught my eye. A particularly interesting leaf hung from one of the trees. It was long and wrinkled, and yet in the middle of it, a round hole. As if someone had pushed a pencil through the leaf. I peered through the hole at a bright-red ladybug below. I pulled my phone out and zoomed in. The light was perfect, rushing through the dappled leaves, creating an intricate web of light and shadows. As it cast a glow across the foliage, the light seemed to reveal a magical world that only it could show me.

I checked the picture on my phone, and when it was perfect, when one of the shadows was casting its magic over the leaf and the ladybug, I took it. Jake walked over to me and looked down at the phone.

“You take amazing photos.”

“Thanks.” I went to Instagram and chose my filter; always black and white. And then I loaded the picture. Jake pulled his phone out.

“What’s your Insta?” he asked.

“JustLori.”

“Cool.” I watched as Jake searched Instagram.

“Wow, you have a lot of followers.”

“I guess.” I tried to play it down a little. I didn’t want him thinking I was posing as an influencer, like Nina-M or my mother.

“Why no pictures of yourself?” he asked.