Maybe ... maybe I could let him in just a teensy bit.
“Okay,” I say.
He flexes his shoulders. “‘Okay,’ what?”
“Okay, I’m going to show you my secret.”
“These are starfizz berries.”
From the look on Pane’s face, this isn’t the type of letting-him-in he expected. But this is a lot for me.
“No one knows about this. Not even my mom.”
Behind a thicket of trees, fenced in so that the piggycorns can’t reach them, are four long rows of hedges. Waxy green leaves sprout from squatty bushes that sit heavy with unripe plum-colored berries.
I open the gate and step through, explaining, my voice high, my body a rubber band ball of nerves, and I think it shows, because I speed through my speech. “They used to grow here, in Mystic Meadows—and according to my dad, were found on Sally Ray’s land fifty years ago. Her grandfather used to feed them to his unicorns, but he got so busy breeding the creatures that he stopped growing the berries and outsourced them to a farm in South America, where they grow superfast.”
“Huh,” is all Pane says.
So I keep blabbering on, trying to convince either him or me that this is cool. “But what’s interesting is that the piggycorns showed up about the same time he outsourced the berries, so they’ve never eaten berries that have grown on magical land.”
“So you think that, what? This will give the piggycorns powers?”
I laugh. “I wish, but no. I’m just trying to cut out the middleman and save some money.”
His gaze washes over the hedges. “But you could also sell them to Sally Ray and anyone else who owns unicorns, and at a cheaper price because they’re not imported. It’s a second source of income for you, and if they do have magical properties ...”
I lightly shove him. “They don’t have magical properties. They’re just starfizz berries, the piggies’ favorite food.”
Pane sweeps a hand over them and pauses. “I don’t know. They’re humming.”
“What?”
I rest my hand on the hedge and nearly jump back. The bush vibrates. The leaves quake. There’s power pumping through the branches and stems.No, Rowe. Can’t get my hopes up.But what if ... what if the berries do have magical properties? What could that mean? What if eating fresh berries could help the piggycorns? Give them ...?No.The piggies don’t have magic, and they never will. I’m only doing this to save money.
Pane tugs on a waxy leaf. “How much longer until they’re ready?”
My heart ping-pongs in my chest from excitement. “Some of the berries are nearly ripe. Only a few more days, really.”
“And what will you do with them?”
“See if the pigs will eat them. This is a trial run. I’ll make it bigger next year, contacting unicorn owners to see if they want the feed. I’ll be able to sell it cheaper than what’s currently imported.”
A slow smile curves on his lips. “Rowe Wadley.”
“What?” Is he angry? He could be. Sometimes it’s hard to know.
“You’re amazing.”
A grin splits my face. “You like this?”
“Likethis? No. I’mamazedat you. I had no idea that this existed.”
His gaze settles on me, and my body heats up from the inside.This,I ache to say,is me opening up. Please take it. Please take this, because that’s all I can give you. All that I’m not afraid to give you.
He’s right beside me now, standing close. Too close. Alarm bells blare in my head. My skin feels like it’s going to launch right off my bones. The air crackles with the intensity I’ve felt before.
Does he want to kiss me? I want him to.
