Chapter 16: Nurturer’s Gift

Jasper had dropped me off at my house, we texted late into the night, and I woke up bright and early the next day to go to work in the fields.

It was a colder morning, so I wore tall, heeled brown leather boots and high-waisted pale jeans. I also wore a long-sleeve yellow button-down shirt I hoped would be as bright as the sun when it came out of the clouds.

I set off with my canvas bag of gardening tools, and shoved a large beige sun hat in the bag for good measure, should I get caught in the heat.

Damien was also heading to work, and he nodded his head at me from across the street. I smiled and admired his physique in his beige coveralls with a thick gray hoodie underneath.

He was chewing on a long piece of sugar reed, and when we walked towards one another and met in the middle of the street of the empty cul-de-sac, he handed me my own sugar reed to suck on.

“Thanks,” I told him, giving him a small hug. “Ready for a long day?”