Tumble (Dogwood Lane 1)

“Yup.”

“I used to love it out there. I’d volunteer to clean the horse barns just to get to spend the day with them.”

The light gets brighter. I plant myself sideways in my seat and watch the complex of farm buildings grow closer.

“If you want to stop by, we can probably get away with it,” Dane says. “I come out here sometimes when they’re clearing land. Things like that.”

I whip around. “Really? We won’t get arrested or anything? And you wouldn’t mind?”

He pretends to think about it. The truck almost passes the turnoff before he swerves right and hits the driveway. “Of course I don’t mind,” he scoffs. “I’ll warn you, though. He doesn’t have horses anymore. Got too old to take good care of them.”

“That’s sad.”

“Yeah, well, we live, and unless we die, we get older. Right?”

“I guess.”

The truck slows as we approach two buildings on the right and the horse barn on the left. An old farmhouse that looks like it hasn’t been inhabited for years sits at the end of the driveway.

“I’m guessing no one lives here?” I ask as the lights scan across the acreage.

“Nope. He moved in with his daughter in Fairbanks. He has a guy manage the place for him, but to be honest, there’s nothing here to manage anymore.”

Dane parks the car in front of the horse barn. “You wanna go in?”

“Can we?” I hold my hands together in front of my chin. “Please?”

“The things you talk me into.” He winks as he shuts off the engine. “Let’s go.”

I slide out of the truck and slam the door behind me. Crickets chirp from all angles, and lightning bugs flicker in the distance. I take a long, deep breath.

“I’m starting to worry about you and the smell of manure,” Dane says. He motions for me to come along.

We make our way through the darkness under a sea of silver stars. Memories of running through the fields and chasing lightning bugs come cascading back to me.

Dane digs a key out of an old lantern hanging near the door and pops it in the lock, which opens with a creak. I stand in the doorway, unable and unwilling to descend into the dark barn until Dane flips on the lights.

A buzzing sound comes from the bulbs at the top of the barn as they light up the space. Five stalls line the area to my right, and three stand in a row on my left. At the end is an office that the Malones used to run their farm.

“Wow,” I say, spinning in a circle. “This is even more beautiful than I remembered.”

The tops of the stalls have hand-carved details in the wood. The beams are thick and rustic, and I could imagine this place selling for a million dollars in New York. Yet somehow, the thought of this place in the city seems wrong. Like the preciousness of it would be spoiled.

I start down the long corridor, noticing all the little things about the place the younger version of me didn’t appreciate.

“Thunder used to be in here,” I say, resting my arms on top of a stall door. “He was my favorite. He was a butterscotch color and a creamy white. He was so gentle.”

“I remember him.” Dane comes up beside me and peers into the empty stall. “I think Lucy was beside him.”

“Yes. I used to think they were the horse version of husband and wife.” I laugh. “They used to stick their heads out of the stalls and neigh at each other.”

The glow of the lights overhead creates the calmest ambience. All the stress from my interview, the anxiety from kissing Dane, the nervousness about all the decisions I need to make seem to have vanished.

“It’s really sad to see this place like this,” I say. “It was always so busy. So chaotic. So full of life.”

“Farming isn’t what it used to be. With government subsidies and people moving to the suburbs, there isn’t a big market for a hundred-year-old farmhouse that needs work on a bunch of land that needs to be maintained.” Dane shrugs. “It’s sad, I agree. Blame it on technology. That’s what I do. It’s ruining everything.”

I lean against the stall door. “I guess Mia won’t be texting me anytime soon.”

“When she’s sixteen and gets a car, she can have a cell phone. I can justify that.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. “Let’s see how things go the next few years.”

“We sure will.”

“She’ll be the only person in middle school without a phone. What are you going to do when Keyarah and Madison have one?”

“Take them when they come to my house.” He shrugs. “I’ll be the mean dad. I don’t give a shit. She’s not getting warped by all this crap online.”

His passion is adorable. My shoulders shake as I quietly laugh.