Page 24 of Below the Far Horizon
She laughed a little and tilted her head.
“Are you following me?” she asked, because she couldn’t imagine why he would be on this lane. The only place it led was to Mrs. Donegan’s old farmhouse.
“It looks like I am, doesn’t it?” Trevor said, and then she realized that he was carrying something too.
It looked like a birdhouse, maybe something that he had made himself. She remembered that about him from years ago. He was always whittling on a piece of wood or putting something together. He was even a good artist, which surprised her, since he didn’t look like he would be.
“You must be thinking about Mrs. Donegan’s birthday as well.” She hadn’t thought that the entire town knew when her birthday was. That would include Trevor, of course.
“Honestly, I totally forgot about it, although I remember what a tragedy she had on her birthday five years ago.”
“Yeah,” she said, not saying any more. It wasn’t the only tragedy that had happened in Raspberry Ridge over the years, nor the only tragedy that Mrs. Donegan had had to deal with.
“But my dad remembered, and after I made this today, he suggested I take it and give it to her. I know it would mean more if I had made it with her in mind to begin with, but…that’s not the way it happened.”
“Same for me. I was just making something that I had seen on socialmedia, well, I altered it, gave it a few upgrades, and came up with this.” She held up the egg-gathering apron she had made.
“That’s really neat.” He laughed. “It is perfect for Mrs. Donegan. From what I understand, she rented out her farm years ago, but she still has a bunch of chickens. In fact, my dad told me that while I was out here that if she had any extra eggs, I should grab some.”
“I was first, so if she has any eggs, I get first dibs.”
“If I get there first, you don’t,” Trevor said, and then he made as though he were going to start running.
Grace squealed and grabbed a hold of his arm. “No. That’s not fair. I waited for you.”
“Fine. If she has eggs, we’ll split them.”
“That’s still not fair, but it’s better.”
“If she has an odd number for sale, you get the extra one.”
“All right. Deal.” She nodded her head, as though she were satisfied. When in reality, she would like to have farm-fresh eggs, but she could buy them at the store just as easily as she could buy them from Mrs. Donegan. And she hadn’t really been intending to purchase them there anyway.
But Trevor didn’t need to know that.
“I’m glad to see you. Because I wanted to talk to you.” He paused, shook his head, then blurted out, “Wow. Our parents.”
She laughed. “That’s my feeling exactly. Did your dad say anything to you this morning?”
“Yes, actually he did. I was tempted to call you last night. Because I hadn’t heard anything from him then. And still now… I told him it just doesn’t feel right to me. There’s something…off.”
“Something like the fact that my mom isn’t getting absolutely and completely annoyed by the fact that he’s calling her Gita Baby?” Grace was partially joking, but it was true. It was such a ridiculous nickname.
“Yes. Not exactly. It just makes it feel…fake. Like they’re not really together. Because the only thing I can figure was that a woman would only allow herself to be called a name if her mind was addled by being in love. But are they really that much in love?”
“That was what I was wondering about too. But then, my mom’s allowed to be in love. It just seems weird. Just because I’ve known her allmy life and she’s never acted like that, that doesn’t mean she’s incapable of it. That doesn’t mean she’s not allowed either. So maybe the thing that makes me uncomfortable is not the fact that the relationship feels wrong, or fake, but that it just feels weird to see my mom with anyone except for my dad.”
“That’s the conclusion I came to too. I want to say that there’s something off about the relationship, but I think the more accurate thing is that there’s something off with the way I’m accepting it. Because it’s just weird to see my dad with anyone except my mom. Not that I don’t love your mom, and not that I don’t think that they’re perfect together, and they’re two great people who deserve each other. It’s just…not what I was expecting.”
“I think that’s exactly what the problem was with me too. But I feel better having talked to you about it.”
Twelve
Grace and Trevor were silent for a bit as they walked along side by side. Grace remembered how perfect Trevor had always felt beside her. It wasn’t that they were the same size, since he was a good bit bigger than she was, but it just felt good to have him beside her. Good and right in the kind of way that made peace settle down into her soul and made the world feel happy and bright.
“We spent a good bit of time out here at the farm growing up,” Trevor finally said.
“We did. So many happy memories.” And everything was ruined by one really, really bad one. Maybe not ruined, since it didn’t exactly happen on the farm, but it was a memory that shadows clung to with grippy fingers that sent shivers, and not the good kind, down her spine.
