Juniper brought the box over to the table. “Okay, do you want me to help put the presentation together?”
Rowan stopped her movements by placing her hand in the crook of Juniper’s elbow and gently facing her body toward hers. She smiled and sighed out a laugh. “Can you stop workingfor two seconds?”
Juniper smiled and spread her arms through the air. “You have two seconds. One…”
Rowan shook her head and laughed again. “Oh my god, it’s like we’re twelve again. I wanted to ask if you’d go with me.”
“Like to support you?”
“No, Juniper, to presentwithme. They’re asking for final presenter details and bios, and I want to add you. It wouldn’t be right for me to say anything about this work without you.”
“Why would they want to hear anything I have to say?”
“Are you serious?”
“I mean, yeah. It sounds like you are all important, powerful people with lots of accomplishments.”
“You don’t think you’re important and powerful? That what you’ve accomplished isn’t worth sharing?”
Juniper shrugged. “I’m happy to share my knowledge, but I still don’t see why these high-powered people would care what an uneducated girl from the Rez has to say.”
Rowan’s eyebrows creased sharply in the center, and she closed the distance between them. Juniper looked up into eyes that searched hers and felt Rowan’s thumb tenderly trace the edge of her jawline.
“Because you’re exactly who they need to listen to. Your knowledge and expertise about our local environment, ecosystems, and sustainable practices is more than what some academics hope to learn in a lifetime.”
Juniper dropped her eyes. “I don’t know. It’s just a garden.”
Rowan nudged her face back up with the hand she still had on Juniper’s neck. “It’s so much more than a garden, and you know that. We used to only be able to buy canned vegetables at the dollar store. You’ve created something with the potential to touch every single life in our community.”
“Okay.”
“Will you at least think about it? If you decide you don’t want to present, I’ll respect that. This year it’s in New York City. I would love for you to at least go with me, so I can share someof that with you. I can take you on a date, you can meet some of my friends.”
“That part I can definitely do.”
“Yeah?”
Juniper smiled at the hopeful look on Rowan’s face. Of course she wanted to get to know that part of Rowan. She wanted to know all of her. Even though she was working on her confidence to feel safe in whatever this new thing turned out to be, the part of her heart that held all of her accumulated hurt still wondered if she could’ve fit into Rowan’s old life.
“Yeah.”
“Window seat or aisle?”
Juniper laughed. “What?”
“For the plane.” Rowan paused and slid her hands down Juniper’s arms to weave their fingers together. “Have you been on a plane?”
“Yes, I’ve been on a plane before,” Juniper protested with an eye roll.Once, she thought begrudgingly, for a trip to Miami with Wren. She’d saved for months.
“Sorry,” Rowan grimaced. “I didn’t know.”
Juniper sighed. “No, I’m being a defensive asshole. Window. Anything but the middle.”
Rowan relaxed. “I’ll take the middle.”
“You would take the dreaded middle seat for me?”
“I can’t exactly feel you up in secret across a sweaty dude’s lap.”
