“Yeah. Juniper.”
“Juniper Banks?” He asked with a hint of surprise.
She stilled the twirling of the flower in her fingers. “Yep.”
“Wow. Junie, huh? You two were always thick as thieves growing up. I can see how that could happen.”
He didn’t know it had technically already happened once before. She hadn’t told anyone about that. Except Manny, when she sought his advice over whether it was the right move to come home.
“I tried really hard for it not to happen, but here we are.”
“Does she like you too?”
“I think so.” She looked up at him to see his response.
“You want me to call her Mama and ask? We are old friends, you know.”
They both laughed.
“Yeah, good looking out, Dad. Thanks.”
She put the wildflower in the chest pocket of her t-shirt and looked back at him. His grin was practically ear to ear.
“What?” She asked through a soft laugh.
“I know you’ll figure out what to do. You always do.”
“She’s coming over to my new place to help me unpack today.”
He patted Rowan squarely on the back. “Oh good, I can ask her myself then,” he joked.
“Great,” she chuckled, then paused. “Are you sure you still want to help? I know you’re tired.”
“Of course I do. Don’t put me in the ground yet, Ro.”
“Nah, I think you still have a few years to putter around.”
He poked her cheek, and she laughed and swatted his hand away.
“Have I called you a little shit yet today?”
“Just once, I think.”
She stood up on the step and stretched her tall frame towards the sky.
“Hey before you go, I been meaning to ask, where do you get your hair cut like that around here? I was thinking about cutting this old braid off and trying something new.” He tugged at the thick, wavy, pitch-black hair he kept in a single long braid down his back.
“I don’t. Last time I drove an hour to the closest city.”
“How many miles are you putting on that truck? It’s older than you!”
“You planning on learning how to cut hair?” She raised an eyebrow at him.
“I bet you could ask Juniper, and she’d figure it out.”
She swatted him again but laughed anyway. “You know she would. For all I know, she might already have a haircutting side hustle. There’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t trust her to handle.” She cleared her throat at how much there was to unpack about that honest admission.
“You think I could pull off something fancy like that though?” He nodded at her hair.
