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Taylor nodded.

“Just text me when you’re done with work, okay?” She let go of Avery and took a step back. “See you soon.”

Her walk to the car with Avery was so nice that it almost made her forget what Erica had said. Almost.

Avery had a very lazySunday morning with Taylor. They woke up and had sex, and then drank coffee and ate some of the leftover baked goods that Taylor had brought back from work the day before, then watched half of a movie, took a nap, and then had sex again. It was easy and relaxing and comfortable. Too comfortable. Avery had to remind herself not to get used to this. That Taylor only did casual, short-term relationships, so this thing between them was a ticking clock, no matter how good it felt.

Taylor leaned over and kissed her upper arm. She had a way of doing that, of kissing Avery on the part of her body closest to her, and Avery liked it so much. It made her feel like Taylor valued every part of her, that every part of her mattered.

“What are your plans for the rest of the day?” Taylor asked. “You don’t have to work?”

Avery shook her head.

“Wild, isn’t it? I had an event every day this week. It’s nice to get an actual weekend day off, for once. I’m meeting Beth at the garden this afternoon, but that’s all.” She was looking forward to going to the garden today, even though she didn’t want to leave this haze of soft pillows and warm cookies and Taylor’s soft, warm body.

“Can I come along?” Taylor asked. “To see your garden, I mean? I won’t stay—I just got a text from my old boss begging me to fill in tonight, and since you’re busy, I’ll do it, but I’d love to come by and see this bed that you keep talking about.”

Avery giggled at the way Taylor said “bed,” but also to cover her surprise. She didn’t realize Taylor would be that interested in her garden. It made sense, she’d talked about it a lot this summer, but she’d always assumed she’d bored Taylor when she did so.

“Sure, of course,” she said. “I’d love to show it to you. And for you to meet Beth.”

Avery had to warn Beth so she didn’t lose her shit. When Taylor was in the shower, Avery texted Beth.

Avery

Taylor might come by to see the garden today, be cool

Beth responded with just a series of exclamation points. Oh no.

But it felt good to walk into the garden with Taylor. To see hermarvel that she’d driven by there a million times and had never known that garden was there, to point out the people Avery had told her about for the past couple months, to show her their very own garden bed with the plants in it that they’d raised from tiny little seeds.

And it felt good to introduce her to Beth. Beth was already there when they arrived—Avery was sure she’d rushed to the garden as soon as she’d gotten the text, just so there was no possibility she’d miss her chance to meet Taylor, but she just smiled and looked up from the cherry tomato plant when they got over to the bed.

“And this is Beth,” Avery said. “Beth, this is Taylor.”

Beth came around the garden bed, pulled off her gloves, and shook hands with Taylor.

“Nice to finally meet you,” Beth said. “What do you think of our garden bed?”

Taylor’s eyes danced when Beth said that, and they all laughed. But as Avery looked at their garden bed, she wished she’d known in advance that Taylor would come to see it. She could only see the problems with it: the blighted tomato plant, that one squash that wouldn’t thrive no matter what they did, the lettuces that had bolted, the wilted flowers that they hadn’t deadheaded yet, the herbs they’d planted too close together. Taylor would wonder why she’d wasted all this time.

Taylor walked around the bed, and Avery and Beth walked with her. “I had no idea it was this impressive,” she said. “When Avery said ‘garden bed,’ I pictured something the size of, like, one of those half wine barrels. Not all of this. It’s huge. And you guys have so much in here.”

Avery and Beth beamed at each other. It was true, they did have so much in there.

“We have a lot to do today,” Avery said. “So much harvesting, and, Beth, I hate to say it, but I think we might need to just concede defeat on that tomato and pull it.”

Beth nodded.

“I know, I was thinking the same thing, but I didn’t want to say it.”

Taylor smiled at them and put her hand on Avery’s back.

“I’ll leave you to it, then.” She leaned up and kissed Avery softly on the lips, then took a step back. “Talk to you later?”

Avery nodded.

“Yeah. Thanks for coming by. I’m glad you got to see it.”