Chasing Spring(35)

With sharp concentration, I studied my plots and chewed bites of banana. The backyard wasn't much to look at yet, but in a few months, each of the raised plots would be brimming over with life. My dad had repaired them and now the only thing left to do was fill them up with soil and mulch.

I finished off my banana, set the peel aside, and then stepped out onto the grass.

The small shed near the fence was designated for our lawn mower and gardening equipment. I pulled open the wooden door and inhaled the quintessential earthy must that lingers around bagged mulch. My dad had taken the time to stock it full of supplies for the year, saving me the trip into town. I shot him a mental thank you and then started counting out the bags. I was halfway done when the house’s screen door creaked open.

When I spun around, I found my dad with a cup of coffee and a warm smile. He had on a Henley t-shirt and his gardening jeans, just like I did, except his looked even more worse for wear.

“I swear you start earlier every year,” he teased, taking a sip of coffee that I knew from experience was black as tar. I’d once stolen a sip of it as a kid and spit it out across the kitchen table. The black splatter had stained the wood before anyone had gotten around to cleaning it.

“I just like to start when there's still a chill in the air. It'll get up into the high 80s later today.”

He nodded and took another long sip from his mug.

“Vegetables or fruits first?” he asked.

“Fruits. They’ll be easier. I'm only doing watermelon and strawberries in the beds this year.”

“Thought you wanted to do that raspberry plant?” he asked.

My mom and I had tried and failed to grow a raspberry vine year after year.

“I do, but I’ve got to plant it along the fence so the vines have something to hang on to,” I explained.

He set his coffee on the porch with a hollow thunk. “They seem like they'll be high maintenance.”

Just like her.

“I think I'll be able to get them to grow,” I said just as the screen door creaked opened again.

Like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, Chase stepped onto the back porch wearing a simple white t-shirt and faded blue jeans. He was barefoot and his hair was tousled from sleep. He let loose a yawn just as the screen door hit the wood frame behind him.

“Morning Chase. Hope we didn't wake you,” my dad said.

He shook his head and tried in vain to tame his hair before giving up altogether. “Nah. I couldn't sleep so I figured I'd come down and help.” He paused and looked past my dad, his hazel eyes finding me standing in the doorway of the shed. “If that's okay…”

My dad turned to look at me with a funny expression and I knew if I said no, he would probably chastise me for being rude.

I shrugged and turned back to the shed. “The more the merrier.”

My dad finished off his coffee, Chase stepped off the porch, and then we all got busy forming an assembly line. My dad handed off the bags of mulch to Chase, Chase carried them to the beds, and I tore into them with a pair of gardening scissors. Each bed needed a couple bags, so eventually we were all working together, tearing open the plastic and pouring the bags out into even piles.

Chase knelt down at the bed across from me as my fingers dug into the fresh dirt. I tried not to glance up, but I did anyway. The morning light caught his blond hair in a way that made it hard to ignore. His face was evenly tanned from his baseball game the day before, and when he glanced up and caught me staring, I shifted my gaze back down as quickly as possible.

“I saw that banana peel on the porch. What's that for?” Chase asked with no trace of arrogance in his tone; maybe he hadn't noticed me watching him.

“I'm going to use it for my raspberries.”

He tilted his head toward me and cocked his brows. “For mulch?”

I nodded.

A few moments later he went back into the house and then came back out with a banana of his own. In true teenage-boy fashion, he ate it in three bites and then met my eye as he let the peel fall on top of mine.

“For the raspberries,” he said with his right hand over his heart and a smile that was too charming for his own good.

I chuckled under my breath and shook my head.

“Are you ready for the seeds yet, Lilah?” my dad asked from inside the shed.

I glanced around to the eight beds filled with new, rich soil. “Yup. Let's do the watermelons first.”

Three hours later, most of the beds were full of seeds, patted down, and watered. The seeds would hopefully sprout within a week or two and we'd know if we needed to plant more or not. I sat back on my heels and admired our hard work.

“I'm starving. Are you guys hungry?” my dad asked as he stood and dusted himself off.

“Yes!” Chase and I bellowed at the same time. I hadn't ever stopped to eat anything besides that banana and my stomach was grumbling in protest.

“All right. I'll run into town and grab some hamburgers.”

We rattled off specifications—no pickles for me, extra cheese for Chase—and then he set off for food. I was practically salivating at the thought of a hamburger, but I knew it would take my dad at least twenty minutes to get there and back, so I tried to keep busy continuing to plant seeds.

“Let's take a break,” Chase said, leaning back on his heels with a sigh.