by Julia Day
She parked in a visitors’ lot, hopped out, and charged down a path as if she knew where she was going. I hurried to keep up, a little intimidated by this place.
“Come on,” she called over her shoulder.
“It’s three o’clock, Mundy. We’re not likely to miss the sunset.”
The closer we got to the rim, the slower I walked. It was already possible to see into the canyon with its miles and miles of hazy color, jagged rock, and layered cliffs.
Then we were standing near the edge, looking down, across, up—tiny humans gaping at an immense expanse that was harshly beautiful in a way that could never be described.
“There are no words,” I said.
“Absolutely none.”
We took a break long enough to visit the bathrooms and get a snack. Then it was back to the rim.
Hundreds of people had the same idea we did. They scattered about, cameras in hand, reverently quiet, all staring hard to the west.
The sun sank low, hovered on the horizon in a final burst of glory, then vanished. Darkness followed swiftly. People began to drift away. I sat silently, not wanting this moment to end.
“Ready?” she asked.
I nodded.
We didn’t speak again until we were on the highway, heading south toward our final hotel of the trip.
“What do you think?”
“I think…” I bit my lip. There were so many things I’d discovered with Mundy. This trip had merely lengthened the list. “I think I’m going to miss you.”
She gave my hand a squeeze. “Yeah. I’ll miss you too.”
* * *
The rest of Thanksgiving week roared by. At its end, I’d traveled through more states in eight days than in the previous seventeen years.
The plane trip would be a memory I would try hard to lose. Air travel would never be one of my favorites.
The Monday morning after Thanksgiving, I was still jet-lagged but glad to be back at school. By midday, things were still a little fuzzy but getting better.
“Eden, wait.”
I froze. A completely motionless Eden. Unable to move or breathe. A statue outside the cafeteria doors.
Ash had called my name.
It wasn’t as if I never saw him in the two classes we shared. We were in the same room every day for three hours but rarely spoke. Our statistics teacher had changed the project teams. Ms. Barrie hadn’t put us together on an assignment since the MIM. They’d heard the rumors and were being kind.
I still ached for any sight of him. Still hoped too much for our paths to cross or our gazes to collide. To have him actually seek me out was sweet torment.
When he came even with me in the hall, he smiled. Okay, it wasn’t exactly a smile, more of a crease at the corners of his lips. But it was beautiful just the same—and it was mine.
“Congratulations on the Peyton endorsement.”
“Thanks.” How should I respond? I’m glad I won and you didn’t was the truth, but it wasn’t something I would ever say.
“When do you go to the interview in Chapel Hill?”
“In a couple of weeks.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.” An unoriginal response but the only thing I could think of.
He didn’t walk away. Classmates flowed around us, like we were two boulders in a stream. The despair that had plagued me since our breakup had fled. In its place, I recognized a sad yearning.
“Have you heard from Stanford?”
“Not yet.” He glanced back toward his friends. They were staring at us with an intensity that bordered on the creepy.
I strained to think of something else to say. It was awkward, the distance between we are and we were. “How is Raj?”
“Great. He still asks about you.”
“Tell him I said hi.” I backed up a couple of steps. My ability to stand here and act normal had run out. “See you.”
“Yeah.”
I could feel his eyes on me as I joined the flow heading to art class. I steeled myself not to look back.
* * *
The rush toward Christmas surged into overdrive. Marnie loved this season the most of any holiday, and so the festivities began. Dad hung lights from every straight surface, three Christmas trees appeared in various locations on our lot, and a baking frenzy ensued. Marnie had a profitable side business going, selling cookie samplers to the staff at the nursing home.
She said nothing about the traditional whirlwind of parties this year. We made it well into December with no events on the calendar. I had to assume it was my fault.
“Marnie,” I said one evening as I squeezed black-frosting buttons onto gingerbread people, “Christmas is two weeks away. Where are all the Barber parties?”
“None this year.” She moved gooey bars from a pan to a cooling rack.
“Are we being ignored over the Tiffany thing?”
“I don’t know what their problem is.” Marnie sniffed. “If you aren’t welcome, then neither am I. We’re a matched set.”
I put down the tube of frosting. “I don’t mind staying home. You don’t have to give up your family because of me.”
“You are my family.” She licked melted chocolate from her finger. “I don’t miss their parties.”
I walked into the kitchen, wrapped her in my arms, and kissed her cheek. “Thank you, Mom.”
“Always, sweetie.” She gave me a hard hug and pushed me away. “Back to work.”
Yeah. Always.
* * *
Mundy sat at our lunch table the next day, eagerly awaiting my contribution to the potluck. She started her meal with a lemon bar. “If Sawyer sees all of these cookies, he’ll be over here.”
“He’s welcome to as many as he wants,” I said, frowning in distraction at the document that Mrs. Barber had handed me earlier today.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Liar. I was nervous. The Peyton Scholarship might be decided this weekend. “Mrs. Barber received my schedule for this coming Saturday. I interview in Chapel Hill at nine o’clock.”
“Who’s going with you?”
“Mrs. Barber, Marnie, and Dad. We’ll drive up Friday night.”
“Your dad?”
I nodded. “He’s not exactly happy about it, but he is interested. Marnie says he’ll be on his best behavior. I believe her.”
“It’s a sign. You’ll get one of the scholarships.” She unwrapped a tuna sandwich, heavy on the fish, and offered me half. “I’m confident.”
“Glad to know someone is.” I crammed the sheet into my pocket with one hand as I reached for my half of the sandwich with the other. Yum. I immediately perked up. Mundy used the best mayonnaise. “I wish Mrs. Barber could tell me why they selected me. I could focus on that part of my presentation and not be as nervous.” I broke off a bit of molasses cookie and chewed it, reflecting on the interview in November and my Kurt speech. “I’d still like to know what their reasons were for picking me over Ash.”
“Ash knows at least one.”
“What?”
She studied me with pursed lips. “He threw his interview.”
Her response zapped me like a lightning bolt. He screwed up his chance at a prestigious honor? It didn’t seem possible. “How?”
“He told them that you were the most deserving candidate, and nobody else came close.”
I shut my eyes and concentrated on my breathing while her explanation ricocheted inside my skull. “I’m stunned. That’s amazing.”
Mundy’s hand patted mine. “I’d call it romantic.”
Ash, why? I did deserve the endorsement, but his action was generous. Even … hopeful. “I can’t believe he did that for me.”
“It makes sense, though. He’ll get into Stanford.”
When I first started dating Ash, I’d thought that too. He was a shoo-in. But I knew better now. I believed, like everybody believed, that Ash would be accepted to Stanford. Everybody except Ash.
He had sacrificed fo
r me.
I snapped to attention, my body throbbing with purpose. I had to know if it had been simple honesty or something more. “I have to thank him in person.”
“Not today you won’t.” She waved a celery stick at me. “Or even this year.”
“Why?”
“He’s spending Christmas break in India.” She glanced at the clock on the cafeteria wall. “He’s on his way to the Wilmington airport now.”
I gazed at her in awe. “I don’t suppose you know when their flight leaves.”
“Two o’clock, but his parents like to arrive extra early to make sure there’re no problems with their luggage.”
I choked back a laugh. “How do you know all this stuff?”
“I stay informed.”
“Sounds like shameless eavesdropping.”
“I prefer compassionate spying.”
Seriously, I would miss Mundy like crazy, but no use thinking about it now. I had to thank Ash today, even if it meant going to him. “Do you have a car?”
“Yep. In the teachers’ parking lot.” She wrinkled her nose. “Texting him would be good enough.”
“Not for me.” Three weeks was too long to not know. I held out my hand.
She dug the keys out of her pocket and tossed them to me.
I caught them midair. “Later.”
33
Joined Hands
The tires screeched as I roared into an airport parking space. I got here in record time.
The Guptas wouldn’t leave for another two hours. Had they gone through security yet? It was the Wilmington airport, after all. Not likely to have a big rush around noon.
I ran from the parking lot, my sides aching, feet pounding the pavement. People stared as I raced past. I didn’t care. I had to thank him before he hit the friendly skies.
The automatic glass doors whooshed open and then hummed shut behind me. Mundy didn’t know which airline the Guptas were using. I’d have to scan ticket lines at all of them.
They weren’t at any ticket counters. I jogged along until I reached security. There was no one around except TSA, a half-dozen men in suits, and a couple with a stroller.
My breathing slowed. I’d missed them. I was too late.
“Eden,” a little boy shrieked.
I looked to my left. Raj charged toward me. His family—parents, grandparents, and uncle—stood nearby, silent and watching.
Raj tackled me full speed, his arms flinging about my thighs. Lightheaded with relief, I nearly fell backwards, staggering under his weight.
“Hey, there,” I said, placing a careful hand on his shoulder.
“Whatcha doing here? Did you come to see Uncle Ash?”
“I did.”
“He’s flying to India.”
“I heard.” I held my arms open, and Raj practically jumped into them.
“I’m happy to see you,” he said against my neck. “Where have you been?”
“Busy.” I rubbed his back, relishing the appealing, little-kid smell of him. “I’m happy to see you too.”
“Are you going anywhere for Christmas?”
“I’m staying home.”
“Yay.” He nodded for emphasis.
“Raj,” his uncle said, “you’re strangling Eden.”
Ash’s voice showered over me like warm rain. I loved the sound of my name on his lips. My gaze sought his.
“Hi.” His expression was curious.
“Hi.” I tried a smile and nearly succeeded.
He detached his nephew from me, swung him in a high arc, and set him firmly on the ground. “Go to your mom.”
“Okay.” Raj ran a few steps backwards. “Will you see me soon, Eden?”
I didn’t know how to answer. Didn’t know how this visit would end. “I would like to.” That, at least, was the truth.
Ash had moved closer to me. “Why are you here?”
I kept my gaze on Raj’s retreating form until it merged with the rest of the Gupta family, then I looked up at Ash. It would’ve made things easier if he were smiling. Was coming here a mistake? Would it have been better to leave it alone?
No. I had to be here, no matter what he did in the next few minutes. If I hadn’t come, I would always wonder. “You sacrificed the Peyton for me.”
He shook his head. “They would’ve endorsed you anyway. You deserved it.”
“Do your parents know?”
“Yes, and they understand.” His smile was sweet. “I’m glad you won, Eden.”
Longing flooded through me. I raised my hands to touch him, remembered where I was, and shoved them into the pockets of my shabby jeans. “Thank you.”
“You didn’t drive all the way down here to say that. You could’ve texted.”
He was right. I had come here to say more, and I had to get it out. “I miss you.”
The only sign that he’d heard was a slight catch in his breathing.
“Ash,” his mother called, her voice stern.
He glanced over his shoulder. “Be right there.” He shifted even closer to me. “What else, Eden?”
“I love you. I wish things were different.”
I could feel the warmth of his body. Smell his cologne. I ached to put my hands on him and have his on me. Why didn’t he react? Was he trying to think of a polite way to reject me?
“You’re brave, Eden.” A delicious hunger shimmered in his eyes. “You skipped school to come to the airport. You couldn’t know whether I’d push you away while my family and strangers watched.” Deliberately, his hands reached for my waist and drew me to him. “I’m going to be brave too.”
Dizziness washed over me. Was he really touching me? Or had I wanted it so much that this was my imagination?
Carefully, as if afraid someone might take him away, I laid my hands and cheek against his chest, savoring the solid security of Ash. His arms tightened around me. I wanted to be like this forever.
“Ash,” his mother called. “We are leaving.”
“Eden, look at me.”
I did what he wanted, of course, since it was what I wanted too.
“I love you.” He kissed me, a light, sweet brush of the lips.
When he pulled back, I gasped. “That’ll cost you.”
“Oh, yeah. I’ll hear about it nonstop for the next eighteen hours.” He dropped another light kiss on my hair. “I’ve missed you too. So much.”
I licked my lips nervously. This whole scene had gone way better than I dreamed. I was going for the gold. “Are we back together?”
He laughed. “I hope so. That was wasted PDA if we aren’t.”
Was it possible to be so happy that I might shatter? “Can you work things out?” Please, please …
“I’ll negotiate something. I don’t know how, but I will.”
I believed him. Almost. “When do you get back?”
“January third.”
“Ash.” This time it was his dad who called.
“I’d better go. I need my father on my side.” His arms fell away. “See you in three weeks.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
He walked away from me, but it didn’t hurt, at least not much.
When he reached his family, he hugged his sister. Shook hands with his brother-in-law and Raj. All the while, his mother spewed a rapid-fire monologue. He listened politely, nodding at intervals.
His parents walked to the security line. He trailed after them, then stopped at the entrance and spun around. “Eden? E-mail me and let me know when you’re online.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll be nine and a half hours ahead.”
I nodded. He waved and then followed his parents through security. I watched until he disappeared.
A small hand slipped into mine. I looked down and smiled at Raj. “Hello, there,” I said, giving his hand a friendly shake.
“Mommy and Daddy want to meet you.” As he spoke, a couple stopped before me.
“I’m Priya, and this is my husband, Sanjay.”
Ash’s sister was tall and beautiful. “And you are Eden, the world’s best babysitter.”
“I told them that,” Raj said, swinging our joined hands.
“Thank you very much,” I said to him, then looked at his parents. “You have an adorable young man.”
Raj mouthed young man at his parents and smiled up at me. “Can we play again sometime?”
I glanced at his parents for guidance.
Priya said, “I think that’s a great idea.”
Relief was sweet. Raj liked me. Ash’s sister was friendly to me. This was a promising start. “Should we invite Kurt?”
“Yes,” Raj said. “Can we go to the park? Will we have a picnic?”
His parents laughed. I exchanged a grateful smile with Priya as we exited the airport terminal, while a little boy danced between us.
34
Sweet Promise
Heron High School’s salutatorian and valedictorian were required to sit on stage for most of the graduation ceremony, which meant Ash and I sat together, secretly holding hands, only letting go when I gave the opening remarks and when he gave the commencement address.
After the principal made her closing remarks, the choir sang something inspirational, and the sixty-five seniors who made it this far screamed and threw their mortarboards into the air.
In the chaos that followed, Ash pulled me into a dark spot backstage and kissed me until I couldn’t think straight.
“Our families will be looking for us soon,” he said.
“That was hot.”
“Focus, Eden.”
“I am focused.” I wrapped my fingers around his neck and brought his mouth back to mine.
“Eden, Ash, really.” Mrs. Barber laughed as she walked by us.
He pushed away, caught my hand, and drew me with him to the stage. His family stood on the other side, craning to see where he’d gone.
I tugged my hand from his. “You go on. I’ll find my guests.” Marnie, Boone, the Fremonts, and Heidi Fremont’s fiancé were probably looking for me. Not my father, though. He’d come to the graduation ceremony but would’ve left by now, to head back to the hardware store. Dad had reached a place where he could take Ash in small doses, but he couldn’t be polite to the Guptas. Not yet.
Ash placed a gentle but firm hand at my back. “You must meet my aunt,” he said, urging me forward.