Page 9 of Always Be an Us

"Once or twice," I say. "But I already gave mine away."

"Oh my gosh. Where did you find it?"

"There." I point to the Baker Woods. "There used to be a stream in there coming from the lake, and one time I was hiking and saw one right there, winking up at me." I remember the excitement of that moment. "It was so beautiful. The most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life."

"If it was that beautiful then why did you give it away?"

I think of an answer and then sigh. "One of the stupid things you do for love, I guess." I shake my head. "I never did find another one, but I didn't look real hard either. But if you want we can go looking right now, before it gets too dark."

Excitement flares through my blood, like it does whenever adventure is just on the horizon.

As a teenager, I used to love exploring the woods in town, but I haven't had anyone to go with for a while.

My own excitement reflects in the girl's eyes, and they widen. "Really? You think we'll find one?"

"We might if we get lucky," I say. "I found mine not too far from here. Come on, I’ll show you."

She nods rapidly and we start towards the edge of the woods where a winding path reveals itself next to grass that brushes our ankles as we pass.

"So," I say. "Don’t think I’ve seen you in town before. Are you new here?"

"Yeah," she says. "My dad and I are visiting from New York."

"That’s neat." And then a thought occurs to me. "Your dad knows where you are right?" When I was a teen, Grandpa typically let me roam around freely before dark, but I know not everyone's parents are so permissive.

"Yeah," she responds. "We’re staying at the Marriott but he told me that I could do whatever I want while he’s working."

"By yourself?"

"Yeah." Her shoulders straighten again, a tad indignantly. "I’m sixteen. I can take care of myself."

"Of course," I say, trying not to smile. I remember how adult I wanted to feel at sixteen. "I'm just making sure you’re not missing dinner is all."

"No. I already ate."

"Ok, then. And here we are." I stop in the middle of a rocky edge, pointing at the slow, trickling current on the stones. "That used to be a lot more. It's dried up over the years."

But the girl is no longer looking at the stream. Instead, she's staring at the twisted branches of a large tree next to us.

"What is that?" she asks.

"Not sure. It's a kind of Angel Oak I think, but typically they only have them in North Carolina. I don't know what this one is doing here."

"It looks cool," she says.

"Yeah. At one point, some guy wanted to buy Baker Woods and he was going to clear the entire forest so he could build a hotel or strip mall or something."

"They were going to cut down the tree?" Her eyes widen in horror.

"Relax," I tell her, smiling gently. "No one is cutting down anything. Not if Poppy Moon can help it. She chained herself to that tree for days on end, and went nearly a month without eating. Wouldn't leave no matter what threats he made, not even when he begged her. Eventually, the story got to major news outlets. It was too much bad press for him to handle so he gave up."

"Wow. That's so cool of her."

"Yeah. Poppy's a badass. She's my friend Tate's mom." I cock my head. "I'll introduce the two of you if you're in town long enough, I have a feeling she'll like you."

"I think I'll like her too."

I bend so I can survey the rocks in the stream, reaching in to grab a shiny one.

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