The Sweetness of Salt(48)

Aiden looked at me. “How so?”

“The light and everything. You noticing it like that. Regular people don’t notice the way light looks.”

Aiden stared back out at the field. “You gotta pay attention,” he said softly. “To all of it. Otherwise, you might miss something. Anything can change your life. You never know. You just have to be patient. And watch.”

We sat there for a few minutes without saying anything.

“I think I’m waiting for my life to change,” I said suddenly. What? Where did that come from? “I mean, kind of,” I finished.

“Oh, you don’t want to do that,” Aiden said.

“Do what?” I felt a surge of impatience. He always seemed so sure of himself. It was borderline cocky. Not to mention annoying.

“You don’t want to wait for your life to change,” Aiden said. “That’s a huge mistake.”

“You just said…”

“No.” Aiden cut me off with a raised index finger. “I did not say to wait for your life to change. I said to pay attention for something that could change your life. There’s a huge difference. If you want to change your life, do it. But don’t wait for it to change or you’ll be waiting around forever.”


I bristled for a moment. The only thing worse than annoying, cocky people was when they were right. “You know a lot for only being twenty-four,” I said finally.

Aiden pulled his hat down low over his ears. “I’ve lived a lot for being twenty-four,” he said. “You pick up some things along the way.”

“How’ve you lived a lot?” I asked.

He raised his eyebrows. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

I blushed. “Well, it seems like whatever you picked up has worked.”

“Maybe,” Aiden said. He grinned. “You ever leapfrog over a haystack roll before?”

“I’ve never even seen a haystack roll before,” I said, gazing out at the field. “Those things look like gigantic cinnamon buns.”

Aiden was already a quarter of the way across the field by the time I caught up to him. His slender legs cut through the tall grass, and I watched in amazement as he jumped up and straddled a haystack. He cleared it with ease, landing neatly on the other side, and then cupped his hands around his mouth. “Your turn!” he shouted. “Give it a big running start!”

I’m about as athletic as a chess player. And those haystacks were a lot bigger up close than they had appeared from a distance. Still, I ran like hell. And when I soared over the top of that haystack, flying through the air like a sack of arms and elbows, and made it to the other side, I couldn’t help it—I screamed like I had won some kind of Olympic medal.

“You okay?” Aiden said, standing over me.

I was flat on the ground, trying to catch my breath. “Yes!” I said, letting him pull me to my feet. “I want to do it again!”





chapter


35


Sophie was upstairs folding laundry when I got back. “Hey!” she said. “How do you feel about a movie?”

“Sure.” I leaned against the doorway, watching as she rolled up a pair of jeans and then threw them into her drawer. She did the same thing with her shirts and her overalls, even her underwear. Mom would have a heart attack if she saw how Sophie kept her clothes. She’d spent a good deal of time showing us both how to match up our seams and fold things in thirds.

Sophie pulled a sweatshirt over her head. “We have to drive to Rutland; Poultney doesn’t have a theater. It’ll only take about twenty minutes.” She looked at me strangely. “Were you rolling around in a haystack or something?”

I brushed off a few loose pieces of hay. I hadn’t told Sophie about Aiden, and for some reason, I didn’t want to yet. “No, I tripped and there was a pile of grass and stuff.”

Sophie threw me a sweatshirt. “You’ll need one of these. It gets cold here at night. Even in the summer.”



I drove. It was the first time I’d been back in the Bug since arriving in Poultney. It felt weird. It felt stranger still to have Sophie next to me in the passenger seat.

“You eat yet?” Sophie asked as we made the turn at Castleton Corners. A sign for Rutland indicated that it was only ten more miles down the road.

“No. Did you?”

She shook her head. “Nope. We can stock up on popcorn and candy, though. Eat till we’re sick.”

“What kind of candy do you like?”

“Oh, I have a very deliberate strategy when it comes to movie food,” Sophie said. “I never deviate it from it, either. Large popcorn with extra butter and a box of peanut M&M’s, which I sprinkle…”

“On top of the popcorn?” I finished. “Me too!”

Sophie looked at me and grinned. “You’re kidding! I’ve never met anyone else who did that.”

“Oh, it’s so good! All that sugar and salt combined?” I grinned, watching a pair of red taillights in front of me. “Hey, did you talk to Goober? She’s coming home soon, right?”

Sophie sighed. I felt myself tense, waiting for bad news. “She wants to stay another week, Julia,” she said. “I’m sorry.”