His arms wrap around me, pulling my body flush with his. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever been sure of.”
Play Romeo & Juliet by Peter McPoland
The September air sneaks its way into my clothes as I step outside into the morning light. Abby and Luke are still fast asleep inside, but Jackson and Saint got up early to make some coffee.
As my feet crunch against the small rocks on the ground, Saint looks up to me. His light blue sweater is such a stark difference to his normal black attire, it catches me off guard. “Good morning!” He smiles.
I wrap my brown cardigan tighter against my skin as I make my way over to the fire. “Good morning,” I mumble back, sitting down on the picnic table bench. Jackson reaches over the fire, grabbing a small pot that had been sitting gently on top of the metal grill.
“Coffee?”
I give him a nod and watch as he pours a good amount into an old ceramic mug. It has Dad’s construction company logo painted on the side. I admire it, knowing that Uncle Ned hadkept it, even through their turmoil.
“Want to go for a walk?” Saint asks me gently, setting his now empty mug onto the picnic table.
A gust of wind blows my hair around me as I respond, “I’d love to.”
As we stand, I ask Jackson if he’d like to join us. He politely declines, claiming it’s too cold to get any closer to the ocean right now.
“Suit yourself,” I respond with a shrug, allowing Saint to guide me away from the fire. The air instantly drops in temperature, and I start to think maybe Jackson was right.
“So I’ve had something on my mind,” Saint starts off. His breath turns to fog as the words leave his lips. “Why marigolds?”
I keep my eyes glued to the sand, hopeful to find a seashell or two to take home to Mom. “What do you mean?”
“Well I mean if they’re going to be my favorite color, I think I deserve to know why you like them so much.”
I gaze over at him, stopping us in place along the shore. He looks at me with nothing but admiration, reading to hang on to whatever words I come up with.
“Do you remember my favorite hobbies from when we were kids?” I start off, nervous that he’ll find my reasons to be silly.
He licks his bottom lip as his teeth show off with a smile. “How could I forget? If it wasn’t for me coming to bug you all the time, you would’ve spent your entire life tucked away in a book or a drawing pad.”
My cheeks flush with his words. He’s not wrong, although I’m not sure he quite understands why I did that. “Well the first book that really got me into reading was Once Upon a Marigold. I found an escape within those pages. They whisked me away from the monster at home.” My eyes dart to the ground, finding it hard to put into words how I’m feeling.
Saint steps closer to me, wrapping his arms around my small body. Before continuing, I take a deep breath. With the exhale, I do my best to let go of the embarrassment. My excitement for the stories found in books had always been dimmed down by Dad’s harsh words.“You need to live in reality, Nova. Life isn’t like your stories.”His opinion forced my love to become a secret, just another thing to be ashamed of.
“It’s a love story. One for kids, but a love story nonetheless. I would reread that book over and over again. It had become my home away from home. Always there for me whenever I needed to escape.”
His lips press against my forehead before he responds, “tell me about the plot.”
I nuzzle into him, thankful for his understanding. The smell of the ocean’s salt wafts around us. “Well, it’s about a boy who was raised by trolls. He falls in love with princess Marigold. A humorous take on Romeo and Juliet really.”
“So the marigolds are from that book?”
I shake my head, attempting to solve the riddle of how to explain their importance. “It’s more than that. It’s a reminder that nice things exist. That maybe if I try hard enough, someday I could have my own fairytale.”
I turn forward again, beginning our walk once more. Saint follows next to me, occasionally glancing down at me with a peculiar look.
“Do you think I could be part of your fairytale?”He finally asks.
I open my mouth to respond, but the words get over-ridden with excitement as I spot something in the wall of rock behind Saint. “Look!” I squeal out, pointing excitedly at the cave’s entrance.
Saint spins in place, attempting to find the source of my elation. He must notice the hole in the wall because he looks over at me with glee. “Should we go check it out?”
I nod my head enthusiastically, “please!”
Hand in hand we bound away from the shore. The black hole grows larger the closer we get. Vines crawl up the edges, giving the cave an ethereal look.
