“Ow!” Levi yelps as I launch the potato straight into his stomach. He doubles over, clutching himself as he glares up at me. “That fucking hurts!”
“Well, yeah,” I say with a shrug, my arm still aching from his attack on me. “It’s a potato.”
He quickly grabs another one and hurls it at me, but I sidestep it with a laugh as it sails past.
A laugh sounds behind us, and we glance over to see John, one of the farm’s employees, heading towards the equipment room off to the side of the shed. “Potato war?” he asks with a chuckle. “Brave souls. Those things sting.”
“I know,” Levi and I say at the same time, turning back to glare at each other.
Levi’s expression shifts into something smug as he smirks and bends to grab another potato. I tense and reach for one too, ready to get him first.
But he doesn’t throw it.
“Bet you I can hit the top of the pile,” he says, tossing the potato up and catching it in his hand as he watches me. That familiar competitive spark is shining bright in his eyes. The one that means he’s already decided he’s going to win.
I look up at the towering mountain and huff out a laugh. “Yeah, right.”
His eyes light up, then he turns and puts everything he has into the throw. And italmostmakes it to the top. But not quite.
“Hm,” I hum. “So close. Yet so far.”
Levi immediately grabs another, and I laugh as I throw mine too, both of us aiming as high as we can. Potatoes roll and tumble down the pile as we keep throwing, trying to reach the top and outdo each other.
And I won’t admit it to him… but he does get one higher than mine.
But it doesn’t matter.
Whatdoesmatter is this moment. The moments of ease, familiarity, and comfort I have with Levi. I’ll take every one of them I can get over the next year.
Before everything changes.
SIX
WE WERE EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD
Each step feels heavierthan the last as I climb the lighthouse stairs, slowly getting closer to the top. When I finally get there, my eyes land on Silas, where he stands at the windows with his hands in his pockets, staring out at the water as the sun slips towards the horizon. And my heart sinks at the sight.
I wanted this day to last longer, and to give us more time than it ever planned to.
He turns when he hears me, and I give him a smile that fails to mask anything I’m feeling. Those same feelings I see reflecting back at me in his eyes.
“How was work?” I ask as I step forward to stand beside him.
He exhales and faces the sunset again. The fading orange light washes over him, highlighting the sadness he carries so openly right now. His blond hair sticks out from beneath his backwards hat, and dirt smudges his T-shirt, still marked by a full day on the farm. I know he came straight here the moment he finished, needing the safety this place gives us.
We both need it today.
We stand together in silence, watching the sun disappear beneath the water as it drags its light with it. The sky slowlyfades from soft yellow and orange to shades of violet, and the waves give up their shimmering dance. It all fades away… like it knows what’s coming and doesn’t want to watch.
“This sucks,” Silas says after a while.
I release a breath and nod. “Yeah.”
“I don’t know how to do this without you, Vi.”
I turn towards him, my jaw tightening as I try to keep my emotions in check. “Yeah, you do.”
He keeps his gaze on the water, but I can see it all over him.
