“Ready?” I nod, and she reaches up, placing her palm flat over my eyes. “Here, now turn…”
I allow her to rotate my body, feeling the warmth of her breath against my face. “What is it?”
“One… two… three!” She takes her hand away, and steps up beside me, facing the same direction as I am. “Just look at it.”
My heart thunders in my chest from the running and the touching and her sweet-fruity scent and my teenage desire, but now, looking over the rolling hills covered in glittering trees with the golden sun dropping steadily into the horizon, it’s like something out of a dream.
“Well?” Her face turns to mine, and I shake my head, trying to find words to match the pastoral sight before me.
“It’s… beautiful.”
She takes a deep breath, and exhales a light laugh. Then she stops my heart by stepping closer and putting her hand in the crook of my elbow, resting her head against my shoulder.
“I love these trees.” Her voice is quiet reverence. “They’re not just my family’s legacy. They’re our history, our story. They’re holy.”
I’m feeling a little bolder, a little inside the gates with her body so close to mine, her head on my shoulder.
“You’re like the Lorax,” I say, and her head pops up at once.
“Did you just call me an orange troll?”
“No!” I cough, feeling my face flame hot. “I only meant… you speak for the trees.”
A moment passes, and I’m not sure if I regret what I said. It felt right in the moment. I’d just watched that movie a week ago, before our family made the journey from south Alabama to north Louisiana for this visit.
Now I feel even dumber. A bead of sweat trickles down the line in my back as I wait for her to decide if she’s angry. The thick air is suffocating, then she smiles.
“Maybe I am.”
She puts her hand over mine, and I quickly flip it so our palms meet, our fingers lace. As she starts to walk, leading me slowly down the same hill, I realize I’d follow her anywhere.
“If I could find someone who loved all this as much as I do…” Her voice has a wistful tone—that abruptly changes to loud teasing. “Well, I guess I’d just settle right down and marry him on the spot!”
“You… would?” My voice cracks like I haven’t hit puberty yet.
“That’s crazy, right?” She leans forward, laughing as she shakes her head.
“Uhh… no… I mean, I don’t know.” I quickly do the math in my head.
Nope. Still way too young to get married on the spot.
“I know, it’s a silly thing to say.” She gives my hand a brief tug before releasing me and jogging down the way we came, yelling over her head. “I just love it here.”
A smile pulls at the corner of my mouth as I watch her disappear in the rows. It’s a sentiment I totally understand.
Life in Newhope, on the coast with my big ole family, is a lot like what she’s describing.
We didn’t grow peaches. We grew champion football players, but our roots are deep. I know what it means to love a place so much.
I pick up the pace and jog back to where we left the basket, and she hauls it onto her hip with a grunt, inspecting the fruit inside. “This should be enough.”
“Here.” I reach over and take it from her. “I can carry them.”
She looks like she might argue, but instead she crosses her arms walking beside me. Dove and I are the same age, but she’s always seemed smarter than me somehow.
Maybe it’s because she makes me feel like English is my second language. She’s not just beautiful, she’s wise.
“I heard you’ve got a secret, Maverick Murphy.” She presses her elbow into my side, and I almost drop the basket.
