When Lila visited Cedarvale during the summer, Ethan took her to see the old treehouse they had built as kids.
"It's still standing?" she laughed, craning her neck to look at the rickety structure.
"Barely," Ethan admitted. "But I've patched it up over the years. Figured it was worth holding on to."
Climbing the treehouse was no small feat for two people in their sixties, but they managed it, laughing like children all the way. Inside, they found carvings they had made on the wooden walls: their initials, a crude drawing of a dog, and the words "Best Friends Forever" etched deeply into the wood.
"Remember when we wrote that?" Lila asked, tracing the letters with her fingers.
Ethan nodded. "I remember thinking it was the truest thing I'd ever written."