Beyond the Spring Breeze: The Orchard Summer novel · Chapter 17 of 24
Chapter 17: Ten
Dessa turned ten on a gray Saturday in October, and she met me at the Hendry gate with a clipboard.
"You're four minutes early," she said.
"Is that bad?"
"No. It means you're reliable. Dad says that's the nicest word."
"Did he say it about me?"
"He said it about the plumber," she said. "But I think it applies."
She wore her yellow raincoat over a party dress, and her braids were tied with new green ribbon.
On the clipboard was a list with checkboxes.
Cake had a check.
Present had a check.
Question had no check yet, only a small pencil circle.
"I'll ask it later," she said. "At the right time. I haven't decided."
"I'll be ready."
"You can't be ready. It's a question."
"Then I'll be unready."
"That's better," said Dessa, and let me through.
The party was small.
Two girls from her class sat on the porch steps in matching sweaters, eating chips.
The grandmother had driven in from Minneapolis the night before and now stood in the kitchen, slicing fruit with the care of a surgeon.
My mother was at the stove, supervising something that had no need of supervision.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of Beyond the Spring Breeze: The Orchard Summer are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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