Felix nudged him into the hall. “Rhetorical butt outside.”
I followed them out of the office and through the storefront. I took a precautionary hit on my inhaler, wrapped my scarf around my mouth, and braced myself for the extreme temperature change as Alan opened the front door. We stepped onto the porch and Alan jumped off the steps.
“Bowen?” Alan asked, turning to look up. “How old are you?”
“How old do you think I am?”
“I dunno. Twenty-five, maybe.”
I snorted through the thick material of the scarf. “Thirty-five.”
“Really? You don’t look that old.”
“Thank you,” I answered, amused.
Alan looked at his dad briefly. “You’re a lot younger than Dad.”
“Thanks, Alan,” Felix murmured as we started walking down the drive, following signs pointing the way to the Christmas trees.
“What? Dad’s almost fifty,” Alan continued.
“Enough,” Felix grumbled.
“I know how old he is,” I said. “Age doesn’t matter so much, once you’re out of school.”
Alan walked backward so he could look at us. “I think it’d be weird to date an eighteen-year-old.”
“So do I,” I replied.
That took a second to register, but then Alan laughed. “You’re funny. Sometimes.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey,” Alan said. “Uh—I want to learn more instruments. I mean, I can play the piano okay, but how’d you learn so many?”
“Obsessive practice,” I answered. “I saved birthday and Christmas money to buy secondhand instruments.”
“Did you teach yourself, though?”
“Yeah.”
“But….” Alan made a face. “I was reading about the violin, and they highly advise an instructor. Some books even said your teacher should be tuning the instrument for the first year. How’d you do that alone?”
“Synesthesia.”
“What?”
“Look up synesthesia,” I said again.
Alan turned around to walk properly. He pulled his cell phone from his coat, tugged his glove off with his teeth, and started typing.
We reached the top of a rise and looked down over a huge field of orderly pines. There were a number of families moving through the rows in search of the perfect tree. A few kids were chasing one another, and an employee was helping a customer wrap up their purchase for transport.
I whistled through the folds of my scarf. “Wow, this is impressive.”
Felix pointed to the left. “Down that way is the apple orchard.”
“How big is this property?” I asked.
