"So where are we picnicking?" Wyatt asked.
"How about up on Peach Tree Hill? Or have you already been up there?" Sam asked.
"Without you, no way," Wyatt said and Sam looked at him funny and rightly so.
With all the peach trees in bloom, the hill looked so romantic to Wyatt. The perfect place to spend time with Sam, and two dogs and two kids, and all their grocery bags with various vegetables they bought that Wyatt didn't know how to cook. Oh, yeah, pure romance.
A large swath of the hill was dedicated to the peach trees and right now they were all in bloom. So far Wyatt had only seen the hill from a distance. It looked beautiful, but it was even better to see the blossoming trees up close and to stand under them.
Their branches were showing hardly any leaves, like the trees existed solely to show off those beautiful flowers. It was amazing, and he looked over at Sam and smiled. he was so happy to be here with him.
Noticing some other people walking around the orchard and taking pictures, Wyatt was ready to start taking pictures too. He held off when he saw an elderly lady coming toward them.
"Hi there," she said. "I'm Mrs. York. I'm the orchard attendant."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Wyatt Hayes. These are my nephews DJ and Riley, our friend, Sam James, and our dogs Barney and Brownie. I hope we're not breaking some kind of rule by being here."
"You aren't. But only service animals are allowed here," she told them. "The hill is a big tourist attraction around here, and I'm here to make sure people don't damage trees or climb them." She looked at the boys when she said this.
"I promise not to climb any trees," Wyatt said solemnly.
"Does that mean we can's have a picnic?" DJ asked.
"You can beyond that area over there, and you'll need to keep the dogs below those stone markers." Mrs. York pointed out a clearing a little down the slope that looked perfect for a picnic.
"No problem. That's a nice spot," Wyatt said. "But we can take some pictures here, right?"
"Sure you can. I can take them for you, if you all want to be in the picture," Mrs. York offered.
"That would be great, thank you." Wyatt handed over his phone, and they all posed for pictures.
"Are these all peach trees?" Sam asked. Wyatt had also noticed that some of the trees looked different.
"There are some apricots and plums and a few cherry and apple trees in there, but we have to live up to the name of this place, so don't tell anyone," Mrs. York said and winked at the boys.
Riley took her very seriously and mimed turning the lock over his mouth to show her that his lips were sealed.
From there they went to sit in the grass since they didn't have a picnic blanket. Wyatt started digging through the bags and handed out some water bottles.
"Should the dogs have some water?" Sam asked. Wyatt told him they should, and he poured some bottled water in his cupped hand and had Brownie drink.
"I want to do that too," Riley said so both boys got to give the dogs water like that.
They giggled, but Wyatt was distracted by the thought of how he would like to drink water from Sam's cupped hand. As his heart started to race at the thought, he told himself to stop thinking like that. Watching the dogs drinking should cure him of that.
"Now you guys use some of that water to wash your hands and we'll eat," Wyatt told them. "We have different buns, deli meat, cheese, and we got pickles and olives from the deli."
"Brownies," DJ whispered to make sure they didn't get left off the list.
"Those are for later. We won't be making any brownie sandwiches." Wyatt looked over at Brownie. "We weren't talking about you, you sweet thing," he said to the dog and she came over to climb on his lap. Then Barney became very determined to climb up on his lap too. "Look how popular I am. Or is it the deli meats?"
Sandwiches were made right there and they tasted good. The whole time Wyatt caught himself gazing at Sam. There was a beautiful view right behind them, but Sam's beauty was what drew Wyatt's eye. Slim with big, gray eyes that pulled Wyatt in, he was like some kind of vision of a perfect picnic companion, maybe even the perfect man.
When the kids ran off with the dogs so they could all chase each other over the field, Wyatt and Sam were left alone. "I see why you like to eat out in the open, turns a simple sandwich into something special."
"It's not like this when I do it by myself," Sam told him.
"Quieter, I bet," Wyatt guessed.
