Seasons of Ferne, Summer's Passion

Chapter 7

The clock in the car showed 3:47 by the time they left Tina's office, bringing the meeting with Brandon to the forefront of Evelyn's mind. "Can you drop me off at the park for a couple hours? I told someone I'd meet him there around four."

She could see Lenny's head perk up as Becca turned around with a mischievous smile. "Oh really? Meet him," she glanced at Larry, "I don't know, I'm not really sure we have anything to do in town. What do you think?"

Larry chuckled, "Oh, I'm sure we can find something to do for a couple hours. Who's the boy?"

Evelyn couldn't help but blush, more from their teasing than the idea of meeting Brandon. "His name's Brandon. He just moved into town and asked me to show him around. He's kind of a foster kid like me."

Becca smiled at Evelyn over her shoulder. "Sounds like you two have a lot in common, he cute?"

"I guess he's ok, he's-"

"She's in love," Lenny interrupted, turning to Becca.

Evelyn gasped a little, "I just met him! I'm not-"

"Yep, she's in love." Becca chimed in, glancing quickly between Evelyn and Lenny. "I think we need to stop and get some protection before we drop her off, don't you?"

"What? I don't need-"

"Yep, we definitely need to stop," Lenny said seriously, glancing at Evelyn in the mirror.

Evelyn stared wide-eyed between them, mouth agape. "Are you two serious? You can't possibly think-"

Lenny and Becca bust out laughing, cutting Evelyn off again. "Oh, we're just kidding around with you honey," Becca laughed, "wow, it's not often we get a joke on you, you usually call us out!"

Evelyn blushed, she should have known. Finally she chuckled, letting herself enjoy the moment. "I'm just distracted, been a busy day."

"We'll make ourselves busy for a while, but we'll be back no later than 6:30," Lenny said, still chuckling.

They pulled alongside the park a couple minutes later, Evelyn jumping out before she had to endure anymore teasing from her parents. Lenny yelled something about not eloping as they pulled out into traffic, leaving Evelyn shaking her head on the sidewalk. Parents trying to embarrass her in public, she was truly living the dream.

Brandon was waiting for her in the middle of the park, leaning against her tree while he tapped away on his phone. She took a moment to survey the scene, taking in the smells of cut grass and freshly exposed earth. The ground was pretty gouged up from the accident the night before. Dark, muddy tears ran through the bright green of manicured grass, roped off by bright yellow tape and wooden stakes. All off the loose pieces of sod had been taken away, as well as the car and broken carriage, but she could still picture the scene in her mind with absolute clarity. She could also still hear the sounds of the horse's screams, a memory somehow worse than the pain itself.

The damage stood between her and the middle of the park, creating a barrier between between where she stood and Brandon. Skirting around the damage done by the car and dragging carriage Evelyn took advantage of the extra couple seconds to open herself up to Brandon's emotions. She reached out towards him with her mind, something Evelyn had never tried on a single person before. Evelyn wanted to gauge his immediate reaction to seeing her around the very spot she had performed her healing the night before, hoping to gain advantage as to what he was thinking. She pictured her own emotions like they were a physical thing, feelers reaching out to penetrate his chest.

And it worked. Not to the degree that Evelyn had hoped of course, but enough to get a sense of what he felt as he watched her approach. There was a definite anxiety, one mixed with an even more powerful curiosity. The latter increased as Evelyn approached, and as she observed his body language Evelyn noticed his eyes darting quickly between herself and the damage to the ground. Both knew what he had seen, even if neither had said anything about it up until that point.