Smith

     “Hi Smith.” Dillon smiled at Evie.

     Evie heard the sound of spitting. “I guess that be y we just keep lectin’ you?”

     “What did you think of the show?” Dillon asked. 

     “Waitin’ on ‘nother show.” She spat.

     Evie leaned up, “what other show?”

     “Spect he’d ask fur your hand.” She spat. “Weddin’s make me cry.”

     “Done did.” Evie held up her hand, the ring sparkled in the moon light.

     She spat, “when u tiein’ the knot?”

     “Now, if she’d let me.” Dillon teased. 

     “U not gitten’ yunger. What ‘bout babies?”

     Evie blushed, “I’m a little long in the tooth to be poppin’ out babies.”

      Smith spat, “maw was 55 when she had me. Thought she was done with the change n all.” She spat, laughing, “one more bun in the oven.”

     “She was a better woman than me.” 

     “Evie brought some snacks. Wanna join us?”

     She spat, “snacks?”

    Dillon helped Evie out of the back of the truck. It was then she noticed the shotgun draped over Smith’s arm. They spread out the blanket to sit on. Makin’ sure not to put it in Smith’s chaw juice. Remarkably they didn’t see any. Dillon handed her the basket and she sat with her back against a tire. Dillon sat beside her. Smith spat before she sat across from them. 

     Evie spoke as she emptied the basket, “I tried to cut out a shooting star but the tail fell off.” The sandwich she handed to Smith was in the shape of a star. She pulled out a full moon and a crescent moon. “I tried to make them festive. We have some nabs, some chocolate, nuts and hot chocolate.” Dillon held a cup while Evie poured, passin’ it over to Smith.

     “Milk or water,” Smith asked?

     “Milk?” Evie answered. 

     Smith nodded at Dillon, “a keeper this one.”

     Dillon kissed the top of her hand, “I know.”

Sunshine Valley 

You’ve got to be kiddin’ me

    Dillon took the basket from Evie puttin’ it in the backseat of his truck as she hopped in the passengers seat. He turned her around so that her knees were at his waist, “madam,” he grinned. “Do not deny me the pleasure of helping you in my truck.” He kissed her. 

     “Sir, if it is pleasure you seek, I will not deny thee.” 

     He trailed his thumb across her cheek, “I’ve missed you.”

     As he walked around the truck, she saw him. Really saw him in the pole light. She didn’t say anything for a while. When she looked at him he was grinnin’ from ear to ear. She gushed, “you had your tint taken off the front.”

     “Lowered,” he never stopped smiling. “I scared you. Even though you know it’s my truck, with my windows that dark, you can’t see who’s driving.”

     She kissed him, then caressed his cheek, “that was very sweet.” He took her hand in his and kissed it. “How was tint that dark legal?”

     He winked, “who’s gonna pull the sheriff over?” 

      “You booger.” She teased. “Smith isn’t gonna shoot at us is she?”

     “We’re gonna go around and above her house. But I did call her to tell her we would be in the area. More for our safety than hers.”

     Evie loved the drive up the mountain. As they drove, she searched her memory, “don’t think I’ve ever been up the mountain in the dark.”

     “It’s truly a different experience. What’s in the basket?”

     “Nothing heavy. Some crackers. Thermos of hot chocolate. Couple peanut butter sandwiches. Snacky type stuff. Do you think we will really get to see the aurora borealis tonight?”

     “They are sayin’ tonight is our best chance.”

     “I guess we’ll find out together.”

     Once they past Smith’s house, the road turned into an old logging road. Dillon got out, walked around the front of the truck, came back and put the truck in the lowest gear it had. Evie laughed, “that is what dad called ‘bulldog’.”

     “Your dad was always comin’ up with colorful turn-ah-phrases.”

     The truck whined with each roll of the wheels. Shaking and bouncing its passengers as they inched toward the top of the mountain. Evie couldn’t stop laughing. “What’s so funny?” Dillon asked. 

     Between giggles she spewed, “this.” With each bounce, she just laughed that much harder. By the time they reached the top, she was in tears. 

     He back the truck up so that they had the best few of the night sky from the bed of the truck. They worked together to spread out the sleeping bags so they had something more comfortable than metal to sit on. Dillon threw a blanket in the back as she retrieved the basket. 

     About 11:30 pm, the sky started its show. Evie stood up watching the colors fight for supremacy as they danced across the horizon. Like waves washing on shore they flowed back and forth. “Beautiful,” Evie sighed. Rejoining Dillon.

Sunshine Valley

Your day

     Rebecca walked through the door to the amazing smell of food. “Hey baby.”

     “Hi, sweetheart.”

     “What’s cookin’?” She asked playfully.

     “Spaghetti. How was your day?”

     “Wild. You?

     “I bumped into Evelyn at the grocery. Not literally of course.”

     “I thought she had all her food delivered. There is always someone over there.”

     He shrugged, “don’t know. Something isn’t right somehow. She broke down in the middle of the produce sobbing. I just sat in the floor with her. Felt like she needed a hug.”

     Rebecca froze in place. A fork in one hand and a plate in the other. “ You didn’t.” She hissed.

     “No. It wasn’t my place.”

     She continued setting the table, “damn straight it ain’t.”

     “Widow Blake showed up.”

     “Attention seeking. That’s all that is.”

    Simon had so much he wanted to say but he let it go. 

Sunshine Valley

Featherless biped

     Dillon found Evie sitting on their soon to be back porch wrapped in a blanket watching the sun set. As he set down, he picked her up putting her on his lap. As she snuggled in he asked, “feel better?”

     “I guess I’m the talk of the town?”

     “Widow Blake called me.”

     “Dillon, are you sure about me? As a featherless biped, most days, I’m okay. But it doesn’t seem to take anything for me to fall apart. Are you honestly sure you want to deal with this kind of stress?”

     He had to take that question apart with questions of his own. “Featherless biped?”

     “Plato defined a ‘human being’ as a ‘featherless biped’.”

     “I’m no walk in the park.”

     “You’re the most laid back featherless biped I know.”

     “Be that as it may.” She could feel him shrug. “Why didn’t you call or text me?”

     “I never know what you’re doing. It would kill me if I sent you a text and distracted you causin’ something bad to happen. To you or someone else.”

     “I understand that. You are my top priority.”

     “You’re mine. So we will need to work something out.”

     “Agreed.” He paused for a moment, “1 Corinthians 13:4-7.” Tree of Life Version “‘Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not brag, it is not puffed up, it does not behave inappropriately, it does not seek its own way, it is not provoked,
it keeps no account of wrong, it does not rejoice over injustice but rejoices in the truth; it bears all things, it believes all things,
it hopes all things, it endures all things.’

As Christians, we seek a love like this. How many of us can say, we love like this? Not only a romantic partner but ourselves.”

     Evie rose up in his lap. “Are you saying to me that you are going to love me like that passage?”

     “It is my goal to try.”

     “I need to love myself like that?”

     “I can’t tell you how to feel. The best I can do is tell you how I feel and try my best to show you. Though at times, I’m sure the words get lost.”

     She blushed, “I get that. It is much easier for me to love you like that than it is for me to love myself.”

Sunshine Valley