“No, it’s nottechnicallymine. Your name is on it too.”
Wren leaned her head forward and balanced it on the side of Juniper’s seat.
“You guys are a walking fucking cliché, aren’t you?”
She pinched Juniper’s shoulder, and Juniper swatted her hand away.
“Mom, language.”
“Yeah, Wren,” Juniper mocked.
“Who picked out the color?” Wren shot back.
“She did,” Rowan confirmed.
“Lovethe dark green, by the way. And who gave the final confirmation about whether you should buy it?”
No one answered.
“Right,” Wren said, “it was Juniper.”
“Okay,” Juniper lilted, “sit back and put on your seatbelt and shut the fuck up,” she descended into a muffled whisper.
“Auntie, I heard that.”
Rowan laughed and looked at him through the rearview mirror as she backed out of Wren’s driveway. “Keese, you keep everyone honest. Good for you.”
“Thank you. My mom says that I need to stop telling on her.”
“I get away withnothing,” Wren huffed as she finally sat back and put on her seatbelt.
Juniper extended a hand back to Wanchese, who slapped it.
“Whatever,” Wren muttered.
They only had to pass through two of the seven intersections on the reservation to arrive at the Tribal gardens. It still took about ten minutes.
Wren leaned forward and grasped Juniper’s shoulders as it came into view. “Juniper,” she gasped.
Rowan looked over at Juniper and smiled before turning her attention back to the road.
The whole entire area had changed so much over the last two months. It had expanded to almost four times its original size. All of the original metal fencing had been torn down and repurposed to accommodate for the expansion, and in its place now stood a natural wood picket fence. Now there were rows and rows of new beds made out of mostly reclaimed wood from the reservation, and a large greenhouse stood at the back right corner of the property. The showstopper, of course, was the pavilion, which was now located directly in the center, at the front of the garden.
Wren had worked with the Tribal education department to commission a mural to be painted on the back enclosed side of the pavilion that featured all kinds of animals and fish, flora and fauna that was indigenous to their land and their lives. She worked with several high school students to get it painted during the heat of the summer and made no effort to stop teasingly complaining to Juniper about all of the unsightly tan lines she incurred because of it.
Gravel crunched as they pulled into a parking spot off to the side of the front gates. There were already several cars and trucks in the parking area, and Juniper was surprised by that. They were there early because they had to be. Everyone else must have just been excited.
They all hopped out of the truck and caught sight of Beckett who was standing just inside the front gates. Wanchese rushed ahead and opened the gates for the rest of them.
“Big day,” Beckett declared as she clapped hands with Rowan and drew her in for a hug.
“Big day, indeed,” she responded.
“I like that shirt,” Beckett pointed at the ribbon work on the front of Rowan’s shirt.
“Isn’t it beautiful? Juniper did this for me.”
Juniper drew Beckett in for a hug. They had all gotten to know each other much better over the course of the summer.Rowan had started hosting weekly bonfires at her house, their house now, and it was something they all looked forward to. Until the mosquitoes got too bad, and they had to move the gathering indoors until the weather cooled back down.
