The next six weeks move by in a haze.
Not long after Emma finds out about Jesse and me, Mr. King installs a greenhouse for Mrs. King, and Emma and I help her plant hundreds of flower seedlings over the course of a week. At the end of March, I watch Emma during spring break, while Jesse, Madden, and Mr. King rip up an entire field over three days to make Mrs. King’s pick-your-own flower field. Each night, Jesse comes home and grumbles about it, and I smile. Still, when I offhandedly mention that a little garden would be fun for Emma and me at dinner, the guys spend the fourth day building raised beds complete with a fence and trellis to keep Jane Doe out.
Despite the fact that I’m rarely at my house, I keep the feed that I leave for her stocked, as well as adding a second salt block to Jesse’s place, and in early April, Emma meets my deer friend for the first time.
“What’s her name?” she asks, holding out a piece of celery. Even though Jesse isn’t a fan, so we rarely cook with it, I make sure both houses always have a bundle of celery on hand, and when I spotted Jane while we were out in the garden thinning the carrot seedlings, I was glad I did.
“Jane Doe,” I tell her.
“She looks like a Jane,” Emma says simply, further proving that we justgeteach other. “How’d you meet her?” Unlike her dad, Emma doesn’t question my quirks or show any fear when the deer approaches us; instead, she takes my instructions to get the celery quickly and eagerly offers some to my friend.
“I saw her back in January. Deer this young usually stick with their moms, so when I spotted her alone, I kind of made it my mission to find her.” I turn to smile at her. “Your dad was not pleased that I was wandering out in the woods alone.”
Emma laughs, then nods as Jane accepts the stalk, pulling it gently from her hands.
“She doesn’t have a mom?” I shrug.
“If she does, she’s not around.”
Emma pauses, not even looking at me as she reaches for another piece of celery.
“She’ll be okay. We’ll look out for her.”
I don’t know if Emma meant the,just like we look out for each other, that I insert in my mind, but when she looks at me, giving me a soft smile that looks so much like her dad, I hear it all the same.
And more and more, I’m realizing that’s the truth.
We have each other, so we’ll always be okay.
BREAK TK
By late April, I spend barely any time at my place. When I do, it’s alarmingly quiet, and I almost always find an excuse to leave, to go to the main house or to Wren’s or Madden’s or just wait at Jesse’s until he or Emma comes home.
“You know, you should just move in, Hallie,” Emma says offhandedly during dinner one night, and my fork freezes halfway to my mouth.
“What?” Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Jesse is smirking wide, probably because for about a month he’s beensaying the same thing. I repeatedly tell him I don’t think it’s fair to force that on Emma, but now I think I’m about to lose the argument.
“You’re here, like, all the time now. Why bother with a whole other house? I mean, most of your things are here as it is. Just another place for you to have to clean.”
“I’ve been telling her that, too,” Jesse adds, his smirk moving to a full-blown grin at this point, and I glare at him.
“Did your dad put you up for this?” I ask, and when genuine confusion crosses her face, I know the answer.
“No. I just think it’s kind of stupid for you to be split between two places. At this point, your house is just overflow storage.”
I spear a baby carrot on my fork and try to play it as casually as humanly possible.
“Would you be okay with that? If I moved in?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” she asks, her face filled with genuine confusion.
“Well, it’s just that it’s always been you and your dad here. I would be another person in your space.”
Now she looks at me like I’m the one losing it.
“Aren’t you going to move in eventually anyway?” I hesitate, then nod, and Emma nods like it’s common sense. “Then there’s no need to put it off.”
I set my fork down and look to Emma, assessing her face and trying to read any hidden feelings she might be hiding. I’ve learned to read her pretty well over the past few months, but right now, there’s nothing but genuineness, and just like that, one last barrier is gone.
