‘Well, shewasyour best friend.’
‘Aye,’ he said softly. ‘That she was.’
As soon as Alice set eyes on the unmown clearing where the archery range should have been, she knew it was one project she wouldn’t be able to do on her own. So she sent Sierra for backup while she opened up the dusty shed housing the bows, arrows, and targets along with an ancient lawnmower.
‘Sierra said you needed help,’ a voice said from behind her, and Alice turned to find Briar there. ‘I was kinda hoping you’d been mauled by a bear.’
‘No mauling. Just need help setting up,’ Alice said, turning back to the shed. She pulled out the lawn mower and pointedly pushed it in Briar’s direction. Somewhere, under all the grass, were lines of bricks that made up the lanes. ‘I thought she’d send Freddie.’
‘Well, you’ve got me instead,’ Briar said, eyeing the mower dubiously.
Alice shrugged. ‘You could clean the spiders off the targets if you’d prefer.’
‘Mowing it is!’ Briar said, like Alice had known she would.
‘While I have you, maybe we should talk about the start of the session,’ Alice called out as she began to roll one of the targets to its proper spot and Briar started the mower.
‘Right now?’ Briar yelled over the motor.
‘Yes,’ Alice replied. ‘While you’re mowing and can’t run away from me.’
Briar turned, making a face. ‘Running away? Isn’t that your thing?’
‘Sorry,’ Alice said, ‘I was trying to make a joke. You know I’m no good at those.’
‘What’s there to talk about?’ Briar asked, biting her lip in concentration as she pushed the mower.
‘Well, I was thinking we should come up with a system,’ Alice said. ‘So we’ll know where everyone is at all times.’
Briar laughed. ‘My mom always said it was better to have half a system.’
Alice frowned. ‘How can you have just half of a system?’
‘You’ve gotta be ready for the unexpected,’ Briar said simply. ‘These kids, they’re gonna do whatever they want. We have to be able to roll with the punches.’
That was a sobering thought for Alice, who’d never been one to roll with anything. ‘Okay, half a system. Got it. Let me think.’
She set herself to work as she thought. In the summer heat, it didn’t take long before they were drenched in sweat. Alice stared when Briar stopped to pull off her T-shirt, hanging it on the mower’s handle and leaving her in just shorts and a sports bra. She thought she caught Briar glancing back at her to see if she’d been looking, but she wasn’t sure if her mind was playing tricks on her. There had been a few times she’d thought Briar was looking at her this week, but when she’d checked, Briar had always been engrossed in something else. It was making Alice feel crazy.
It had been such a long time since she’d been self-conscious like this, but it was familiar to her. In high school, she had marveled at Briar’s easy confidence. She had moved through the world so effortlessly, and Alice felt like a try-hard in comparison.
It had taken her a long time to realize that her constant observation of Briar hadn’t been jealousy, but attraction. She had thought she’d wanted Briar’s approval, when really, she’d just wanted Briar to look at her.
‘You’re going to get sunburned,’ Alice called after her. Briar waved a dismissive hand, not turning around.
It took Briar almost an hour to finish mowing the green, but by the end of it, the clearing looked infinitely better. As Briar wheeled the lawn mower back towards the shed with a satisfied smile, Alice was still struggling with the last target.
Briar came up next to her, adding her own weight, and the two of them pushed the target into place.
Alice cleared her throat, backing away and keeping her gaze off Briar’s barely clothed torso. ‘If we have half a system, do we just have to know where half of everyone is half the time?’
‘Something like that, yeah.’ Maybe it was just the endorphins from the manual labor, but Briar looked like she was hiding a smile, and Alice seized the opportunity.
‘Do you want to give it a go?’
‘God, no,’ Briar said, immediately shrinking away from the bow Alice offered. ‘I’m terrible.’
‘You’re decent,’ Alice said supportively. ‘Just not as good as me.’
