I don't argue with it.
I just stand here on my family land and look at the woman that my heart is telling me belongs here. With me. With us. Always.
She fits here. That's the only way I know how to put it. She fits here the way the mountains fit the sky. Like the picture isn’t complete without her in it.
Jonah throws his arms around her neck, and then he's off, running toward his friends, already onto the next thing. He doesn't stop and look back to check she's still there. A month ago he would have. A month ago he still had to. Still had that anxious backward glance of a kid who's learned that people leave.
He just goes now. Trusting she'll be there when he comes back.
I think about autumn. About the fact that shewon'tbe there.
I take a long pull of my beer and look at the mountains like they’re gonna tell me the answer to all my problems.Likethey’re gonna tell me how to stop loving someone that’s gonna leave.
Sadie starts across the grass back toward us, blue dress and bare shoulders and that smile, and I try to tamp it all back down. But I don't quite manage it. When she gets close enough I drape my arm around her shoulders and pull her against my side because I can’t help myself, discretion be damned.
She fits against me the way she always does. Perfectly.
My dad clocks it, but just smiles that private smile and takes a sip of his beer.
“Jonah's due for one hell of a sugar crash in about an hour,” Sadie tells us. “I counted six popsicles. I tried to cut him off, but he got sneaky.”
“Six,” I say, looking heavenward. “Sweet Jesus.”
“It’s a special occasion.” She looks up at me. “Still. Better batten down the hatches.”
I run my thumb slowly across her bare shoulder, beneath the strap of her dress. “He's been talking all week about watching the fireworks. Let's see if he makes it.”
My dad's eyes are sparkling. “How about I keep him for a sleepover at Rosemont? Let you two get on and watch the fireworks yourselves.”
“Are you sure?” Sadie asks.
“Deal,” I say, at exactly the same moment.
She looks up at me. I look down at her and feel the grin pulling at the corner of my mouth. I tell her, “I've got a surprise for you at home tonight, darlin.’”
Her eyebrows go up. “Care to share with the class?”
“Nope. Wouldn't be a surprise then, would it?”
Dad just watches us volley back and forth with that knowing smile.
“All right. I gotta go check on the grill.” He claps me on the back, turns to Sadie. “You keep doing whatever it is you'redoing with these Rhodes boys, honey. Got the both of them two-stepping on cloud nine these days.”
He pats her shoulder once, winks at me, then walks away.
Cloud nine.
That’s the thing about clouds. You can’t hold them.
They always drift away.
Chapter 29
Blossom
SADIE
Jonah tries his best, bless his little heart, but an after-dinner sugar crash after a long day in the sun was always going to win. He makes it through the sparklers, standing very serious with his hand held out away from his body, the way Walker showed him.
