He pulled into the library parking lot, having just been there not all that long ago. It was a surprisingly warm day, and once again, April was already there waiting for them. This time, Owen ran to her and hugged her right away.
“Are you guys ready?” April said.
“Are we ever!” Owen bounced in place, and Cal shook his head at his son’s excitement. It was a bit much. But he supposed the poor kid felt he had to make up for his father’s lack of enthusiasm. It wasn’t that Owen wasn’t a regular kid who got excited. He was, but there were times when Cal could tell he was pushing it a little over the top to please someone else. It was one of the many ways he showed his thoughtfulness and kindness. Cal supposed some adults might find it irritating, but all it did was make Cal prouder.
They walked together, the three of them, with Owen clinging to both April and Cal’s hands. Every once in a while, he would swing between them, picking his feet up off the ground and saying, “Whee!” each time. Cal could almost see the three of them the way some random onlooker might. They looked… like a family.
The farmer’s market was much less overwhelming than Cal had assumed it would be. He had imagined crowds pressing in, people loudly dickering to get their prices down, essentially chaos. But there weren’t nearly as many people there as he had expected. There were a few lines at the more popular booths, but those lines were organized and pretty relaxed, all things considered. The produce was beautiful, colorful and fresh.People were paying with cash, which was something Cal had a lot of nostalgia for.
Owen seemed to be in seventh heaven, running back and forth in a zigzag pattern, standing on tiptoe to see everything at each booth. “Look, Dad! Carrots!” he said after running up to a particular booth with a lot of root vegetables.
“We have carrots at home,” Cal reminded him.
“But these ones are purple,” Owen said. “Do the purple ones taste different?”
“Not too different, I should think.” Cal walked up to the table to stand beside Owen.
“They’re bigger, too.”
“Well, that’s probably because they don’t have a family of rabbits eating them regularly. They have the time to grow.” He laughed at how the carrot size comparison had offended him for a moment before he realized that being offended by such a thing was ridiculous. “Would you rather have bigger carrots or Georgie?”
Owen didn’t hesitate. “Oh, Georgie, obviously. But purple carrots would be fun to grow. I wanna find out if they taste different.”
The merchant behind the counter chimed in. “We do have seeds today, if you’d like to give it a try.”
April joined them at the table. “Growing and eating them would be the best way to find out, I think. Like a delicious science experiment.”
“What’s a science experiment?” Owen asked her.
“Oh, they’re fun. You’ll be doing some soon when you start school, I imagine.”
Owen turned to Cal. “Will we, Dad?”
“Sure, we will,” Cal said, realizing that Owen had just inadvertently revealed that he was going to be homeschooled. Cal was pretty certain April wouldn’t approve of that, which was another reason he was not about getting into a relationship right now. No one else needed to have input on how Cal raised his son. As far as he was concerned, he’d done a fine job so far. Currently, April’s opinions were just that—opinions. If Cal got into a meaningful romantic relationship with her, then her opinions would carry a lot more weight.
Despite her not being a part of their family, Cal still expected April to express some displeasure at his decision to homeschool. But she didn’t. Instead, she said, “Maybe we can all do one together, one day.”
“Yeah!” Owen bounced on his toes. “Can we get some seeds? Pleeeease.”
“Sure,” Cal answered. How could he say no to such a reasonable request? The boy was asking for seeds to grow vegetables, not a giant, battery-operated, plastic toy. He told the merchant what he wanted and paid with the cash he had brought. Then he handed the bag of seeds to Owen. “Put that in your pocket now. Don’t lose it. We’ll plant them later.”
They then visited the local baker’s table and each got a different pastry. April got a scone, Cal got a muffin, and Owen got a jam-filled croissant. The pastries were fresh and delicious. The sun shone down, and Cal couldn’t help feeling the day was some kind of perfect. If this was what going to town was like, maybe he’dmissed out by not doing it more often. Then again, maybe it was just the company.
Every time April looked away to shop or point something out, Cal took the opportunity to admire her. Everyone she interacted with seemed to love her to some degree. She was amazing with people, and he could easily see how well Summit Falls suited her. He wondered what she was like before she came here. He couldn’t imagine her fitting in better anywhere else.
For a while, Cal followed April around the market. Occasionally, he stopped to buy something—produce for the most part, a jar of apricot preserves for Owen to try. He tried to encourage the boy to try new things, despite his own reservations. If Cal could give Owen one gift in the world, it was the confidence he himself often lacked. Owen’s slate was still fairly clean. He’d lost his mother, but he never really knew her. Cal’s loss was not as much of a loss to Owen, at least not personally. He should have a mother, though, Cal thought with a frown. Even if it wasn’t his first mother, he should have one.
Somehow, Cal had managed to think himself into a depressive mood. It was, unfortunately, a skill he’d had for years. No matter how perfect and serene a situation, Cal could find a way to lower his mood. He tried not to let the depression show on his face. Then, when April found a booth of flowers and started talking about how beautiful they were, Cal found his depression dissolving without any effort at all.
“Oh, these are gorgeous!” she cried, gently touching a bouquet of fiery lilies and smaller yellow flowers. “It looks like sunshine.”
Cal joined her at the booth, leaned toward the merchant, and whispered, “How much?”
“Twelve for that one,” the merchant answered.
Cal removed fifteen from his wallet and handed it to the merchant. “Keep the change,” he said under his breath.
“This really is such a beautiful arrangement,” April said, finally addressing the merchant himself. “Did you do this?”
