Chapter 16 #3
Drawing the curtains back, I unlock the sliding door and walk out onto the deck.
There are five white Adirondack chairs I couldn’t see before lined up between the kitchen and Zander’s room.
I go down the steps and head left to see the trees in bloom.
I sure hope it doesn’t take long for this heavy feeling in my chest to ease from the humidity.
Purposely keeping my breaths deep and steady, I walk around the house to the first flowering tree in the front yard.
There are hundreds of tiny hot pink blooms hanging from the branches and scattered on the ground, but few leaves.
I step forward and place my hand on the trunk, grounding myself.
It smells heavenly, kind of like a lilac bush.
My foot bumps into something solid on the ground when I move closer.
Bending over, I brush the dried leaves and pine needles away to see a bronze plaque sitting on a small, triangular grey stone.
It reads Chinese fringe tree, “Loropetalum.” Neat.
I wonder why there would be a plaque for this tree in a home yard.
I pick a fully opened flower from the lowest hanging branch and meander down the nicely planted row.
The next two trees are the same type, with slight variations in the pink hue, so I continue along.
My sneakers crunch on the dried debris that seems to have gathered at the side of the house.
A magnolia tree is next to the corner of the house.
I can recognize it from the leathery leaves.
The branches on this one are easy to reach, so I pluck a flower at shoulder height and inhale a sweet but citrusy scent.
I check for a plaque, and sure enough, there’s one at the base of the trunk.
A second magnolia tree is planted beside the first. Grabbing a flower, I find there’s not much smell to this one.
From the back corner of the house, all the way to the edge of the backyard, are fruit trees.
I stop at each one, picking a blossom. Some blooms are fading; others are emerging, with scents of honey greeting me.
Most are white with tinges of yellow. The plaques tell me they are types of peach trees.
Next are cherry trees that smell sweet like roses.
I’ve seen the cherry trees in Washington, D.C.
, before, so the pink blooms are easy to identify.
Finally, a pungent smell comes from a lone pear tree.
I round the corner of the yard towards the live oak.
There's Spanish moss hanging from the branches. I’ve seen pictures before, but the tree is truly majestic in person.
Huge, curved meandering branches grow from the central trunk, some almost touching the ground.
Greenish lichen or moss covers the bark, which appears black in many places.
It’s the largest tree I think I’ve ever seen in person.
I sit against the trunk on the lowest branch and lean my head back.
It’s cooler here under the large canopy.
I close my eyes and breathe for a few minutes. I feel almost peaceful under here.
A chittering sound has me opening my eyes.
Gazing up, I see a squirrel two branches above, looking down.
He’s bigger than the squirrels in Virginia, with a fluffier tail but a similar brown color.
He hurries towards the trunk when he makes eye contact and bounds around to the back of the tree.
I can still hear him talking, but it’s getting lower in volume.
As I stand up, I brush off my butt and grab some Spanish moss, then start leisurely moving towards the other side of the yard.
A mix of leafy green and bare trees lines the property’s right side.
There are a bunch of shrubs and dead bushes in front of them, so I decide to skip digging around for the plaques.
Soon I’m nearing the garage. It’s definitely a brand-new structure. Not wanting to enter without Zander, I keep going. A lattice on the far side of the garage holds hanging purple wisteria blooms. I grab a cluster of blooms and breathe in their sweet smell.
As I turn towards the front of the house again, the front door opens and Zander steps out. “Hey Summer,” he smiles. “I saw you through the windows. What are you up to?” He’s got shorts and an old t-shirt on now, hair messy.
“Nothing, just wanted some fresh air, so I took a walk around the property.”
“Springtime in the South is pretty,” he concedes. “This,” he waves a hand around, “is all thanks to my grandma. She could grow anything. People would come annually to see the blooms.”
“Really?” Like having a father, I never really thought about my other grandparents. We had Nana until she passed away when I was younger. I didn’t have a grandpa since he and Nana divorced before I was born.
“Yeah. Sadly, it’s not as pretty anymore with the property vacant for years. I have a black thumb, which doesn’t help matters,” he jokes.
I nod and shuffle my feet back and forth. Is that where I got my interest in plants? I wonder. The flowers are so pretty here. Being in the mountains, it’s mostly evergreens in my hometown. We don’t have flowering trees other than the odd apple tree someone planted in their yard.
“Looks like you have quite a collection of blossoms there,” he nods towards my hands. “Shall we find something to put them in?”
“Okay,” I say as I follow Zander back into the house to the kitchen.
“Do you want a vase or something else?” He asks.
“Um, well, I didn’t pick them long enough to put them in water. Maybe a bowl of some kind?”
“Alright, let’s see what we can find.” Zander goes through most of the cupboards and pulls out a shallow glass bowl. “Will this work?” He asks.
I nod and arrange the blossoms on top of the Spanish moss. I take a few minutes to get everything arranged to my liking. When I look up, I see Zander smiling at me. “What?”
“Did you know you were humming?”
“No, I wasn’t,” I shake my head. I haven’t hummed in over a year. “I’m going to put this in my room. I’ll be back after my call with Sarah,” I say as I rush down the hall, feeling very uncomfortable.
“I’ll be in the office when you’re done,” he hollers.
I set the bowl beside the picture frame on my nightstand. I don’t hum. He must have been mistaken. The thought of humming makes me feel edgy.
Checking my phone, I see it’s 3:30pm already. I was outside for almost two hours. That’s…crazy. I grab my laptop off the desk, kick my shoes off, and get settled on the bed again. Powering it on, I call Sarah.
“Hi Summer. How are you?”
“I’m…I don’t know, actually.” Definitely weirded out with a range of emotions running through me, and my heart is beating too fast.
“Did something happen?” Her brows furrow in concern.
“Zander said I was humming a minute ago.” Looking up at her on the screen, I reply, “I don’t hum. I haven’t since before the accident. He must have been mistaken.”
“Okay, let’s back up a bit. What were you doing prior to?”
“I took a walk around the property because I needed a minute to myself. There are all these trees blooming everywhere. They each have a metal plaque on the ground in front of them, identifying the tree. It smells so amazing outside, and Zander told me his grandmother planted all of them.”
“Is that what I see in the bowl beside you?”
I glance over and grab the bowl to show Sarah. “Yeah, aren’t they pretty? The gigantic oak tree out back was covered in Spanish moss, so I arranged the blossoms on top of it.”
“It’s beautiful, Summer.”
“Thank you. I wish you could smell them.” I take another deep lungful of the sweet essence. The amazing scent calms my heart.
“Summer, if I remember correctly, didn’t you have an interest in plants before the accident?”
I suck in a breath and freeze. I did, but I haven’t even looked at a plant since. Sue had a nice backyard, but I never went out there since I had no desire to help her with her flowers.
“Breathe for me, Summer. You’re going to be okay. Just breathe.”
Releasing the air from my lungs, I stare at the bowl in my hands.
I walked around outside and gathered flowers.
It wasn’t a conscious decision. It simply felt…
right. I was at peace. It's been so long since I felt that way. “I don’t know what happened. I didn’t even think about what I was doing, Sarah.
Why did I do that? Why now?” This is so strange.
“You’re healing, Summer. You came a long way while living with Sue, and I’m so proud of you for that. Existing in that town, surrounded by memories, held you back. It’s hard to move forward when everything around you serves as a constant reminder.”
“But I just got here today. How is that possible?”
“Sometimes all it takes is a change of scenery for a breakthrough. Think of it this way: nothing similar is currently around you. The scenery, the houses, the weather, the people, and even the smells are different. Correct?”
I nod. Can it be? Did this new environment do all this? Was my mind waiting for a new start?
“No one knows you or your story there. You can be anyone you want. You are free in a sense.”
I look up at Sarah and smile. A genuine smile. She’s smiling back at me, too. I’m free. That’s a good way to put it, but I sober up thinking of Sue and Jake.
“What did you think about? You lost your smile.”
“Sue and Jake. What about them? I feel bad that I could move on so easily.”
“There was nothing easy about getting to where you are today, Summer. Sue played an important role in your recovery. She gave you love and space, and a stable environment when you needed it. Jake also provided comfort and security for you. They will both continue to provide those things for you as you move forward. They contributed to your ability to pick flowers today, for the first time.”
“I don’t want Sue to think she failed somehow.” Feeling uncomfortable that Sue could think she was anything less than a lifesaver to me freaks me out.