That piques my interest. “How warm?”
“Eighties.”
I deflate.
“It’s okay, Mom, we can vacation somewhere warm.” My little snow spawn does her best to appease me, but I don’t have the heart to tell her she failed.
I love the heat. I grew up in the heat. The cold always intrigued me because of the possibility of snow. Since I’ve only just experienced my very first snowfall, I’m holding out on making any opinions. It’s pretty and chilly, and perhaps it is magical when I’m not spinning out of control and crashing my car into a ditch.
But the heat, the humidity, and the utter climate suffocation of the South is what I’ve always known.
This is fresh territory.
“In August, when it’s the warmest, there’s the Silent Spring you can hike to.” Darcy’s face lights up, and I’m getting the feeling this spring is more of a lovers’ hangout than anything else.
“That sounds hopeful.” I perk up.
Darcy winces. “Just make sure you take a tour guide on your first go.”
“Is it hazardous?”
“Not at all, I just…” She trails off, her face flushing. “You seem accident prone.”
Lark hides a laugh, but I don’t because she isn’t wrong. “Then I guess I’ll need a tour guide.” If we are still here in August, which we probably won’t be. Perhaps we can head back here for a vacation. Not that this is an ideal vacation region, but for that, I’ll show up.
“Do you know what you want?” Darcy asks.
After ordering several milkshakes and plenty of protein to get through the rest of the day, I focus on my little bird. “Okay, tell me how the testing went.”
“It was easy.” She flutters her hands. “Honestly, if I wanted to, I could skip the eighth grade here as well.”
“But you won’t.”
“I won’t.” She pops a fry into her mouth, talking as she chews. “I think Ms. Larson picked up on it though, because she said she will have to bump up my schoolwork to advanced.”
“Well, that’s something. You love a good challenge.”
“And you love to fall out of windows.” I can pick up on a deflection when I hear one. “What were you doing in the window anyway?”
“I was like a bloodhound, Lark. You would have been so proud.”
“You smelled coffee again, didn’t you?”
“How’d you know?” I gasp with a hand to my chest in mock shock.
“You turn into a bloodhound when you smell coffee.”
“I thought that very thing.”
“I know you.”
“You do.” I squint at her suspiciously. “Okay, tell me everything you learned.”
“I took a test. There isn’t much I could have learned in the last few hours.” Her eyes dart to the other patrons.
Pointing a fry at her, I state, “Lies. You knew about my mishap in the window.”
“The whole town’s talking about it.”
