LUNA
While Evan worked inside,I’d decided to tend to the small vegetable garden I’d planted a few years back when I’d first bought the house. I’d opted for raised cedar beds and was thrilled with how well everything had taken off. Now, less than a handful of years later, I had rosemary, thyme, a variety of peppers, tomatoes, carrots, and mint, and had plans to expand so I could start growing my own lettuce and root vegetables.
I picked what was ripe, placing it in the basket beside me, and tended to the plants as the narrator trilled in my ear, about to describe—hopefully in detail—how the heroine was about to give in to the tall, bearded, grumpy hero. The cadence of the narrator’s voice had dropped, going slightly breathy as the good part grew closer, when a tap on the shoulder pulled me out of the story and back to reality.
Pulling out my earbuds, I twisted and lifted my hand to shield my eyes from the sun as I looked up to see Evan standing behind me. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Um, sorry to interrupt. I just wanted—Oh, hey. I’ve read that book,” she said, pointing to the screen of my cellphone that was sitting, face up, on the ground beside me. “It’s really good. Book two is even better, though.”
I lifted my brows, a smile curling the edges of my lips. “Your dad know you read books like that?”
She blushed, her pale skin glowing a pretty pink. “No. He doesn’t really ask about the books I read. I think he’s just happy I’m reading voluntarily.”
My head fell back on a laugh. “In that case, maybe we should swap suggestions.”
I could have sworn her eyes lit up, but it was a little difficult to tell, thanks to the makeup. “Yeah, cool. I just wanted to tell you I’m finished inside.”
My eyes widened beneath my sunglasses. “Already? It’s only been—” I looked at my watch and realized time had seriously gotten away from me. “Oh, wow. Four hours. I didn’t realize it had been that long.”
“Yeah, you seemed really into what you’re doing over here.”
“That happens when I garden. Never fails. I learned to start wearing sunscreen and big floppy hats because I’d get lost in what I was doing, and before I knew it, my skin had fried like bacon.”
She wrang her hands in front of her, shifting from foot to foot. “If you want, you can go in and check before I text my dad. You know, make sure it’s good enough.”
I sat back on my haunches and dusted my hands together to shake some of the loose soil off my gardening gloves before pulling them off. “Well, Evan, how do you think you did?”
The fidgeting stopped, but it was obvious she was still nervous around me after what she’d done to my car. I was okay with that, it meant she knew she’d done wrong. That was the first and most crucial step. Hopefully she’d come out of this whole lesson better off.
“I did my best, I promise. I even got down on the ground and scrubbed around the toilets really good.”
I let out a little laugh, finding her earnestness in that moment kind of adorable. “Okay then. I’ll trust that when I walk in later, everything will look nice and clean. I don’t think I need to scrutinize your work while you’re still here.”
Her eyes grew round with shock. “For real?”
“For real,” I said with an easy shrug.
She let out a little laugh that sounded like wind chimes, and I sat and watched as she glanced around. “I thought your house was really pretty when we first drove up, but it’s just as pretty out here.” She took in my gardens slowly, everything from the foundation shrubs to the potted succulents to the weeping redbud. “It’s like something out of a fantasy book. I could never do anything like this.”
“Sure, you could. It’s not as hard as it may seem. All it takes is a little knowledge and follow-through. Plants are living things, just like us. That means they need regular care. They have to eat and drink just like us. Ignore them, and they die.”
She looked at the bed I was currently working in. “I always thought it would be cool to grow our own food, or at least the herbs to cook with.” Her smile started a bit timid but continued to grow as she spoke. “Just step out on your back porch and pluck everything you need to flavor your chicken or whatever.”
Okay, so maybe Georgia was right about this girl after all. How she spoke about gardening was something after my own heart, and before I realized I was thinking it, I said, “If you’re serious about learning, I’m more than happy to teach you.”
“Really?” She didn’t bother masking her excitement, and I warmed to her even more.
“Sure. It’s still early in the day and I’ve got a good bit more to do out here. If you want your first lesson, I’m happy to start now. Just text your dad and see if he’s cool with it. If he says yes, I’ve got some extra gloves in the gardening shed out back.”
“Okay, yeah.” Her face split into a wide grin. “Cool! I’ll go text him now.”
* * *
“Press the soilaround the base to pack it in, but not too hard. You don’t want to damage the roots or accidentally break the plant.”
The tip of Evan’s tongue peeked out the corner of her mouth as she concentrated on her task. “Like this?”
I leaned in to inspect the small starter tomato plant she’d just planted in a pot I’d given her to take home. “Exactly. That’s perfect.” With an encouraging grin, I bumped her arm with my elbow. “See? I told you you could do it. You’re a natural.”