Rowan pressed her hands into the seat beneath them to straighten them upright, then pushed a loose strand of hair out of Juniper’s face. Juniper knew the look in those eyes; she was gently asking her to be reasonable.
“Fine,” Juniper grumbled in response to the unspoken request.
She may have grumbled about it, but her heart beat even harder that she was being treated with such intention. She smiled at her recognition that Rowan was romantic, exactly as she’d imagined her to be all those years apart.
Juniper wrapped her arms around Rowan’s waist and buried her face into her neck. She could feel Rowan’s quick heartbeat drumming beneath her skin, and she smiled against it even harder. It’s not like she wasn’t feeling it too.
Rowan closed the connection between their bodies with her arms around Juniper’s shoulders and rested her cheek on top of Juniper’s head. They sat that way for a while, content to be in each other’s arms, no awkwardness, just joy. The kind of joy that revels in silent acknowledgement first. And then laughter.
Juniper started giggling, softly at first, trying to stifle it.
“What?” Rowan said through her own laugh, pushing Juniper’s body back to look at her face.
“Did we really just make out in your Dad’s truck like teenagers sneaking around?”
“Oops,” Rowan laughed then shrugged, putting her hands on the sides of Juniper’s face and bringing her in for another kiss, then a second, and a third. “Guess I should take you home now before your Mom starts worrying,” she added before one last kiss they both smiled into.
Juniper swung her leg back over Rowan’s lap and moved back to the passenger seat. Rowan caught her eyes as she put the truck into reverse and threw her arm over the back of the seat to look out the back window. Juniper wanted to crawl across the seat to settle underneath that arm.
After buckling herself in, she took notice of the formerly dried sweat now glistening again on her body. “Damn, it’s already getting so hot out.”
“Sorry, the A/C in this thing absolutely sucks.” Rowan fiddled with the knobs before putting the truck back in drive.
“Well thank Creator for this old blanket on the seat so I don’t have to sit right on the leather.”
“Indian interior decorating must-have, especially in every truck.” Rowan looked over at her, and they laughed together.
“It’s such a throwback. I love it. Snagging blanket.”
“When I get a truck of my own, I’ll make sure to add it.”
Juniper couldn’t help herself as she narrowed her eyes at her. “Who are you snagging in this truck?”
Rowan flashed her eyes over to her before looking back at the road. “The last person who was on this blanket with me was you.”
Juniper swallowed. They had been together on this blanket in the field after foraging that afternoon. Juniper had wanted to push her back onto it then. She crossed her legs and looked out the window. Her foot jiggled against her leg, fighting the urge to make her pull the truck over and push her down on itnow.
“Hmm,” she hummed instead, while tucking her left hand between her crossed legs.
When they finally reached Juniper’s house, Rowan pulled onto the barren patch of the yard where grass used to grow and parked. They sat in silence while the truck finished its rattling cool down.
Juniper looked over at Rowan and felt at least a little sympathetic. “Ready?” She grimaced as she waited for the answer.
Rowan turned to her and searched her eyes for a few moments. “Yes, actually. I am.”
???
Rowan shuffled up the wooden steps behind Juniper, not out of reluctance – she was ready to be held accountable – but out of a near overwhelming feeling of contrition. She hadn’t seen Anita in even longer than she’d seen Juniper.
She noticed that the old mesh crank-open window that sat in front of their kitchen table was ajar. A shuffle of curtains caught the corner of Rowan’s eye, and just as suddenly, Anita was in front of her, opening the screen door.
“I’ve been waiting for you girls.”
Juniper pushed past her in a mad dash to the window unit across the living room. “Mama, I told you don’t sit in here without the A/C on.”
“It’s only May. I’m not wasting my money on that yet. I’ll waste plenty of it in July and August.”
The thought of even making it to June in this weather made Rowan want to gasp for air as she took a step into the living room.
