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“Is it okay if I leave these here? We’re still looking.” I explained to the guy working the register. He looked young, maybe sixteen with long straight black hair and eyes so dark they were nearly black.
“Yeah, sure.” His voice was higher-pitched, confirming that he was young and probably the son of whoever owned the shop.
I rejoined Willow at a display of small—I’m talking miniscule—hand-blown glass animals. It didn’t look particularly Native American to me, but what did I know.
Willow studied the animals closely.
“I’m looking for a cow and a sloth,” she mused, tapping her lip. The headdress dipped down covering her brows. “Help me look and it’ll go faster.”
I scanned the animals and quickly spotted the most important one. “Cow.”
“Sa-weet!” She cried and picked up the tiny item. “You’re mine.”
We scanned the display for a few more minutes but came up empty on locating a sloth.
I was so torn up about that fact.
Not really, but I acted like it for Willow’s sake.
We looked through the store until Willow found something to take back to her brother—she’d already gotten her dad the hedgehog rock when we first started our trip.
When we stepped up to the register the guy was gone and an older woman had replaced him. Her hair was a silvery gray and fell halfway down her back. Her face was wrinkled like old leather, but there was something timeless about her. She smiled at us both and I saw that she was missing most of her teeth.
She dipped her head towards us. “Hello.”
The words were surprisingly clear despite her lack of teeth.
“My name is Sihu.” She smiled at each of us as we set our things down.
“I’m Willow,” Willow introduced herself as she took the headdress off and placed it on the counter as well.
“I’m Dean,” I replied, shoving my hands in the pockets of my jeans.
She pointed at herself. “I am a seer.”
“Oh, wow.” Willow nodded at this information. “That’s cool.” She glanced up at me and the look on her face said she had no idea if she’d said the right thing.
“I see great things for you,” Sihu reached forward, across the counter, and patted Willow’s cheek. “Great things,” she emphasized.
“And this man,” she pointed at me, “I see him by your side always. Your protector.”
“Uh…” Willow glanced from Sihu to me. “Thank you?” It came out sounding like a question.
It seemed to do the trick, though, as Sihu nodded and began ringing up our items.
We each paid and headed back out to the car.
We picked up food and drove around until we found the perfect place to park.
I grabbed a blanket from the trunk that I’d forgotten about and spread it down on the ground. The whole area was mostly dirt and sand, with a sprinkling of cacti. We had an amazing view of the mountains, though.
Willow sat down on the ground and began rifling through the bags. She pulled out the box that contained her chicken sandwich and stretched out her legs before setting it on her lap.
From the car, I grabbed one last thing. I’d spotted it at a store we stopped at earlier in the day and somehow managed to keep it hidden from Willow, but now I wanted to give it to her.
I sat down and pulled the object from behind my back.
She gasped at it and reached for it, pulling it against her chest and hugging it.
