Page 141 of Lovebug
“We are,” he assures me. “Don’t worry. There’s just something I want to show you first.”
We trudge farther out until we’re standing in front of a sea of tiny trees, each only about a foot and a half tall and evenly spaced out over a large expanse of ground.
“Well. Here we are,” Wally exhales proudly, causing a puff of steam to roll through the cold air from the heat of his breath. He wraps his arm around me and stares out over the tiny trees.
“Um. You know I’m all about the positive thinking,” I say. “But these scrawny little guys would make terrible Christmas trees.”
“Sure.” He chuckles. “But in about twenty-five years or so, they’ll make excellent Mabel syrup.”
“Haha, you meanmaplesyrup.”
“No, actually, I mean Mabel syrup.” With that, he swings his backpack off his shoulder, unzips it, and produces a plaque of some sort attached to a stake.
He squats down and starts tapping the stake into the ground. While he does this, he explains, “Soon after I took over the arboretum, the tree farm down the road—this tree farm—went up for sale. My gut told me to go for it. Having a tree farm someday was a dream that had been bouncing around in the back of my brain ever since I was a little kid.”
“Because of your grandfather…” I say.
“Exactly. So I bought it.”
“What?” I make a full three-hundred-sixty degree turn and take it all in. “This is all yours?”
“Well,ours. I hope.”
“Why have you never told me?” My heart starts to pound. Why would he keep such a big secret from me?
He gives the plaque one more tap, then rises to his full height and takes my gloved hand in his. He looks deep into my eyes. “Easy Mabey Baby, nobody was keeping any secrets from you. Well,” he reconsiders, “I was, but I’d like to think it’s more of a happy surprise than some sinister secret.”
“I’m listening…” I say as my lips stretch into a smile. If I’ve learned anything over the past year, it’s that Wally is full of the best surprises. I never know what he’s going to do next.
“I didn’t tell you right away because… well, if I’m being honest, because I’d just met you and frankly it was none of your damn business—”
“Hey!” I smack him playfully on his shoulder.
“Butalso,because in the beginning, this was just an investment. I needed to focus on the arboretum and get my footing there. Thankfully, the manager and team from the previous owner wanted to stay onboard and take care of things, so that allowed me to be pretty hands off at first.” He wraps his arms around my waist. “And handsonwith you.”
I laugh, and he gives me a quick kiss on the lips. “But then…”
“Then…?”
“Then… as I fell more and more in love with you, an idea started to form. I planted these for you. For us.”
“What?” I breathe.
“Come here,” he takes me by the hand and walks me over to the plaque.
I squat down beside him, the back of my jacket scraping the snow. I read the inscription out loud.
“Once upon a time, a girl who loved bugs and a boy who loved trees discovered that they loved each other. They decided to stick together through the good times and the bad, through life’s sweetness and its stings. Together, they put down roots close enough that they could always feed each other, but with enough space between them so that they could always grow. If over time this grove of ‘Mabel’ trees you’re standing in front of provides an infinite amount of syrup, it will always pale compared to the sweetness the girl herself has brought to the world and to this boy’s heart.”
My eyes well with tears. “That’s… Wally, that’s beautiful. Thank you.”
“There’s more.”
“More?” I breathe. “How can there be more?”
Wally points out to the left where the last bits of the sunset are dipping low on the horizon. “See that stretch of land over there by that stone building?”
“Yeah?
