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“And I can’t wait to hear you describe it in glorious detail!” Mrs. Irene lifts her chin and shakes her hands as she says it. “Your aura is on fire today.”

Leaving them both with a hug and a wave, I stop off at the reception counter to be sure the new teenage intern has everything she needs before I head out to my car.

I shoot a quick text to my bestie. Okay if I hang out in your orchard for the next few days?

It doesn’t take long for Noel to reply. Come on. I’m up to my ears in balloons and glitter.

I can’t even imagine what that means, but I quickly text back. I’ll be there in ten.

Tossing my phone on the passenger’s seat, I steer my gold Prius toward Ma’s. I’ve got to collect my sketchpad and paints and drop off my nightgown and trench. Last thing I need is Noel looking in my car and getting curious.

4

Sawyer

“I’ll pick up the crates, get more netting and rope…” Taron tosses a tarp in the back of the ancient red Chevy. “Anything else?”

“That should do it for now.”

He takes off, and I switch on the water lines running to the cold bath for the fresh-picked fruit. Jay Hidalgo assembles a team every year to help with picking. They’ll clean every peach off the trees and dump them into the assembly line for our annual crop of teenagers to sort and crate. We tried using machines to do the work, but they damaged too many peaches.

We’ll work from sunup until it gets too hot to bear, usually around 3 p.m. The pickers call it a day, but we keep going until all the fruit is sorted and crated and either in the store or headed to the distribution center.

Female laughter meets me as I cross the yard to the house, and I see Mindy’s car parked in the driveway. My stomach tightens. I haven’t seen her since I left her asleep in bed.

“Beth Hebert was such a little bitch. I think we need to find a way to tell her.” Noel is wielding a glue gun over a pile of tiny multicolored balls and paper straws.

“Maybe we can ask her if Pop Pop knows the condom on the banana trick.”

“As if she’d even know. I’m surprised she didn’t get pregnant in high school.”

I pause at the door watching them laugh, and my stomach warms. It sounds like something old ladies say, but I can still see them as teenagers leaning all the way on the table, head to head, giggling and talking about makeup or whatever girls talk about when they’re young.

Their friendship is a brigh

t light in our stormy lives. Sleeping with Mindy somehow felt like I was trespassing, like I changed everything. It’s part of the reason I held back for so long, even though I wanted it as badly as Mindy did… Maybe more.

My sister glues yellow, pink, and green puff balls on the side of a straw. “You should do a sex ed class in the rec room and invite Beth to help. Have her pass out flavored condoms.”

“I’m not sure the old ladies’ gag reflexes are up to it.” Mindy’s hair is in a high ponytail with the ends dancing around her shoulders. She’s so damn cute.

“As if those old coots can get it up.” My sister snorts.

“You’d be surprised. They’re all on Viagra now.”

What the hell? I pull the screen door as they fall back cackling. “Afternoon, ladies.”

Noel jumps and makes a little yip, and her dog Akela trots over to lick my hand. I pat her gray and white head. “What are you doing here?”

“Last I checked I live here. What are you doing?”

She holds up a festive straw. “Making decorations for Dove’s end of the year party. What do you need? Food?”

My eyes move to Mindy, who is very focused on drawing upside down Vs on a green balloon with a black sharpie. What do I need…

I pick up one of the green balloons with pink puff balls glued to the top. “What is it?”

Noel stands and takes it from my hand, picking up two smaller ones and sticking them together with tape. “Cactus.”