10. Eden
10
EDEN
W ith her reusable shopping bag in hand, Eden watched Jack dart off in front of her between the rows of fresh produce at the open-air market, heading toward a group of kids at one end.
The new structure was enormous, with wooden rafters above, keeping the snow and rain out of the space. Booths had been set up throughout with fruit, vegetables, baked goods, crocheted bags, handmade candles, toys, and more. A sign announced that a train display would be revealed this afternoon, and that there was a Christmas Campfire happening later tonight.
A bunch of kids were selling crafts in one area, smiling proudly as people admired their work. Families wandered the aisles, chatting and making their purchases, as a ukulele band played a Van Morrison cover at one end of the big space, against the wall between the office and the bathrooms. A small crowd had gathered to listen, and a handful of kids were dancing along. Jack stopped to join them, and Eden caught up a few seconds later.
When Eden and Jack first arrived in Trinity Falls a few months ago, they caught the last of the outdoor farmers markets down in the center of town. She’d learned from some of the local residents that the colder weather and the possibility of snow meant that the farmers market closed up from late fall each year and stayed that way all winter. In the past, that just meant a break from the market until things warmed up in the spring. But this year, with the opening of a covered space north of town, near where the new highway was due to come in, the vendors had a place to set up year-round.
From what she could see, this new space was already a huge hit with the community, and Eden had heard that more things might be making their home in this part of town over time. Valentina, the young woman who owned the big swath of land, had publicly committed to using the space for the good of the community. So far, it looked like she was knocking it out of the park.
Eden wandered up to join the crowd near the band, where Jack was dancing with a boy and girl Eden recognized from his class.
“Miss Wilder?” someone said from behind her. “Miss Wilder, is that you?”
Eden turned and prepared herself to greet a parent. If you wanted to live in the community where you taught, you had to get used to mini-parent-teacher conferences happening whenever you left the house.
Fortunately for her, Eden genuinely enjoyed talking about her students. And she almost always got something useful from talking with parents, whether the parents realized it or not.
“Hi there. I’m Paige, Hallie’s mom?” the lady said with a smile, tucking a bit of her brown hair behind her ear. “Is it true that they can’t use their classmates’ names in their stories?”
“It’s so nice to meet you, Paige,” Eden said, offering the lady a gentle smile. “Hallie is such a special student and she’s been so excited to start our writing project. Has she always been a gifted writer?”
Paige’s expression seemed to melt, and instead of a frustrated customer, she now seemed like a gratified mom.
“Hallie loves writing,” Paige confided. “She keeps journals at home—fills them up as fast as I can buy them.”
“That is so excellent,” Eden told her. “You’re a great mom to support her. They say the mark of a great writer is that they are prolific. Practice really does make perfect.”
“Wow,” Paige said.
“But to answer your question, no student names is one of the guidelines. The reason I don’t want the children using each other’s names is that I’ve found that the stories can suddenly devolve into a way to make each other laugh when they try to include each other as characters,” Eden said. “I think some of these children, Hallie very much included, are capable of very high-level writing. And it will be easier to get them to focus on quality if they’re not tempted to get silly. Does that make sense? ”
Somewhere behind her, the dancing children all gave a shout of encouragement to someone.
“ Oh ,” Paige said, clearly getting it immediately. “Yes, I can see that.”
“Thank you for understanding,” Eden told her, meaning it. “You can reach out to me anytime. I want to help Hallie to follow her dreams however I can.”
“Thank you for encouraging her,” Paige said, patting Eden’s arm.
“ Mom, ” Jack yelled. “ Mom, look.”
“Oh dear,” Eden said. “I’m sorry, but I should…”
“I’ll let you go,” Paige said. “Sorry to just grab you out of nowhere. See you at the next meeting.”
Eden made her way back over to the music and had to smile at the unexpected sight of Axel Williams dancing with all the little kids.
As a teacher herself, she knew exactly what must have happened. One child had spotted him, and they’d all gone bananas until he got up there with them.
He didn’t seem too unhappy about it though. His big body moved with a surprising grace, and she suddenly remembered that being an athlete wasn’t all about brute force—it was also about agility and precision.
Women floated up to the edge of the impromptu dance floor now, some of them being relatively subtle about the fact that they were checking out Axel, others less so.
Like me, Eden thought to herself sadly. I’m just openly staring at the poor man.
It was just the way he was dancing with Jack. And the way Jack looked up at him, like a flower gazing up at the sun, made her heart throb and she couldn’t seem to look away.
This is what it should have been like with his dad, she thought to herself. Jack should have been able to feel comfortable and happy with him, not just look up to him.
Axel glanced over, and his handsome face broke into a smile when he spotted her. Eden couldn’t help her own smile widening in return. The angle of the sun changed just then, lighting Axel and Jack in a perfect beam of warm light.
A sign , her grandmother’s voice whispered in the back of her mind.
Eden frowned and clenched her hands, looking away. The last time she followed what she thought was a sign when it came to something important, she had made a really bad choice.
No more falling in love, she told herself firmly. And no more seeing signs.
There was no shortage of nice young women in Trinity Falls. Axel could fall in love with any one of them and have a wonderful life, and plenty of children of his own.
The song finished and everyone turned to applaud.
“Mom, Mom,” Jack panted, running up to her. “Did you see that? Did you see me dancing with Coach? He’s a pretty good dancer, isn’t he?”
“He is a pretty good dancer,” she agreed, looking at Axel over the top of Jack’s head.
“Thank you,” Axel said with a teasing half-smile that made her chest feel like it was full of tiny bubbles. “Are you ready to learn how to throw a ball? ”
“I’m ready to try,” she told him gamely.
“When we’re done, can we buy cookies and eat a pulled pork sandwich?” Jack asked.
“We can do a little shopping,” Eden agreed, careful to not make any promises about the food choices.
“Ready, Jack?” Axel asked. “Did you bring the ball?”
“Yes,” Jack told him. “It’s in my mom’s bag.”
Eden nodded, and patted her reusable shopping bag, where the ball waited for whatever was about to happen.
“Let’s go then,” Axel said, gesturing to the field below the market.
The three of them headed past the picnic tables and benches that had been set up outside the structure, and down the slight incline onto the wide, level expanse of snowy grass overlooking the woods below.
Eden was glad she was wearing an old pair of sneakers. It wasn’t muddy after all, but the ground was frozen and uneven. It would be much easier to keep her footing in the sneakers.
“Let’s see what you’ve got,” Axel said, nodding to Eden.
“I’ll run out really far,” Jack suggested. “And see if I can catch it.”
“Not too far,” Eden cautioned him.
But he was already off like a shot. Sometimes, she felt like she was the mother of a golden retriever instead of a little boy. Jack really loved to run.
“Okay, just throw it,” Axel told her. “Show me what comes naturally for you.”
What came naturally for her was a gentle, underhand toss. But she knew that wasn’t how it was done in football.
Sucking in a deep breath of cold, clean air, and reminding herself that she was doing this for the sweet little boy who was currently jumping up and down as he watched her, Eden drew her arm back and threw the ball for all she was worth.
It sailed up in an arc, but it pulled hard to the right before it made much progress, its oblong shape flipping end over end and dropping low before it got anywhere near Jack. It landed with a sort of plop and bounced a little on the frozen turf as they all looked at it for a moment.
Oh dear, she thought to herself.
“Wow,” Axel said gently. “That’s okay. Now we know where we’re starting.”
Eden hurried to retrieve the ball, figuring the only upside to her weak throw was that it probably wouldn’t be much trouble grabbing the ball between attempts.
“The first thing you want to do is stand with your left foot forward, like this,” Axel said, showing her.
“Okay,” she said, doing her best to imitate his stance, and relieved that he wasn’t going to laugh at her.
“Now, you’re going to hold your hand around the ball in a u-shape,” he told her, coming around to have a look. “Put your fingertips on the laces, and your thumb on the other side.”
She complied, and he nodded to her in approval.
“That’s nice,” he said. “See how you’ve got it right in the center, and there’s just a bit of space between the web of your thumb and the ball? ”
She examined her grip for a moment and nodded back.
“Try to hold it that way every time,” he told her.
“Okay,” she said, starting to get excited to throw the thing. Maybe she could get it going a little more now.
“When you throw,” he went on, “I want you to lift up your elbow and keep it up as you throw.”
She watched as he demonstrated an arm movement.
“Can you try that for me?” he asked.
“Okay,” she said.
She threw again, trying to remember to keep her elbow up.
This time the ball traveled a little farther, and since Jack was already standing closer, he was able to catch it.
“ We did it ,” he yelped, lifting the ball over his head and dancing around in a little circle.
Eden couldn’t help laughing and feeling good all over. If they had been by themselves, she might have done a little dance of her own.
“Great job,” Axel said, smiling down at her with what looked like real pride in his eyes. “Want to try again?”
She tried again, and then again, and then a dozen more times after that, with Axel correcting something else each time. From stopping her from tweaking her back, to getting her to shift her weight forward as she threw, Axel kept improving her throw, bit by bit.
Finally, she threw, and the ball moved in a perfect arc across the field.
It wasn’t a long throw, but there was something lovely about the elegant movement. Eden felt a bolt of real satisfaction .
It was only in that moment that she realized what had just happened. She had been working hard and adjusting her efforts to please a man who always seemed to want her to change one more little thing .
Normally, something like that would have sent red flags up instantly.
But there was something about the way Axel guided her and celebrated with her. He wanted her to enjoy this. And he seemed to understand that the sole purpose of her getting better was so that she could have fun with Jack and help him practice.
“That was a great one,” Jack yelled, jumping up and down.
“Yeah, I’ll have your mom ready to try out for the pros soon,” Axel joked.
He was smiling so genuinely that Eden couldn’t help smiling back.
“ Jack, Coach ,” a little voice called out from above. “ Coach! Jack! It’s me. ”
They all looked up to see Rocky Webb running down the incline and across the field to join them.
Behind him, Eden spotted Rocky’s mom, Cora, waving to them.
“Can Rocky please play too?” Jack asked Axel politely.
“Of course he can,” Axel said. “And Eden, I think you’ve done really, really well for your first day of training. Time for you to hit the showers.”
She looked at him for a moment, confused.
“It’s just a saying,” he chuckled. “Why don’t you go get a hot chocolate, and I’ll play around with the boys for a while? ”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Definitely,” he said with a warm smile, before glancing up the hill. “ Rocky. Get down here.”
Eden headed back toward the market, enjoying the sound of the boys yelling happily behind her, and the sight of all the people milling around among the aisles of delicious offerings up ahead.
She waved to Cora, who had settled on one of the benches to watch the boys playing, on her way past. Eden thought she’d pick them both up a hot chocolate and head back to the bench to join her.
She hadn’t really been planning to treat herself, but it might be a nice opportunity to spend a few minutes with Cora, who taught over at the high school.
Birds of a feather, she thought as she got in line for cocoa.
Two women were running the stand, and though there was a decent line, they kept it moving and everyone smiling.
“How can I help you?” the lady at the cash box asked when Eden got to the front of the line.
Eden was certain she’d seen the sweet lady with the twinkly eyed smile before, but couldn’t seem to place her.
“Two hot chocolates, please,” Eden said. “You’re so familiar. Did you volunteer at the book fair?”
“Oh, we volunteer for just about everything,” the other lady said, chuckling, as she popped a scoop of mini marshmallows into a paper cup of chocolate and handed it off to the man who was waiting ahead of Eden.
“We sure do,” the first lady said. “I’m Ginny, and that’s Betty Ann. ”
“Nice to meet you both. I’m Eden,” she replied. “I’m the new fifth-grade teacher over at the elementary school.”
“We heard all about you and your nice little boy,” Betty Ann said. “Welcome to town.”
“Thank you,” Eden said, smiling.
She paid for her hot chocolate and headed back to the picnic area with a sense of relief.
Since her divorce, Eden worried a lot about people judging her for being a single mom. And when she and Jack moved here in the fall, she had been terrified that people would be even less likely to give her the benefit of the doubt in a small town. Eden knew she had done what was best for Jack, but it felt good to meet new people and not get sniffs and stares, or questions about the boy’s father.
This was the right decision , she told herself for the hundredth time since the move. We were so lucky to get the chance to come here.
She was happy to see Cora still seated on the bench overlooking the field when she returned.
“Hey, there,” Eden said. “Can I join you?”
“Please,” Cora said with a happy smile, scooting over.
“I grabbed an extra hot chocolate,” Eden said, holding out a cup.
“Isn’t that for Jack?” Cora asked.
“Nope,” Eden told her. “He’s going to be begging for a cookie when he’s done playing. This is all for you—my little way of tricking you into sitting for a few more minutes.”
“Thank you,” Cora laughed. “I don’t think you needed to trick me. Those three look like they’d play all day if we let them.”
Eden glanced down at Jack, Rocky, and Axel, all running around and gesturing excitedly.
“Looks like they’re planning some kind of drill,” Eden said.
“Sounds like you’re getting lessons in football terminology too,” Cora said. “Or maybe you were always a fan?”
“Definitely not,” Eden laughed. “But football is kind of a constant conversation at our house these days. I hear that Rocky is good at footwork.”
“And Jack wants to be a tight end?” Cora asked.
“It seems that way,” Eden said, shaking her head. “I thought maybe he’d run track. He loves to run.”
“Some of it has to do with what they’re good at,” Cora said thoughtfully. “But a lot of them get inspired by a particular teacher’s passion, and it sends them off in a different direction. At least that’s the way it seems at the high school.”
“Axel definitely paid Jack a little attention,” Eden said, nodding. “I know that made a difference for him.”
She realized how that might sound and took a sip of her chocolate to buy a beat to think. But there was no point being anything but honest if she wanted to make friends.
“His dad never really gave him a lot of attention in that way,” she admitted quietly. “I think that’s why this means so much to him.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Cora said, her eyes on the field, as if she were giving Eden space and not wanting to put her under a microscope.
“I know Rocky’s father adores him,” Eden said, wanting to make sure the other woman didn’t feel bad. “We’ve seen them around town here and there. It always makes me so happy to see that they have such a bond.”
“Jared is actually his stepdad,” Cora said with a fond smile. “And they definitely have a special bond. I think Jared fell in love with Sylvester as much as he did with me.”
“Sylvester,” Eden said. “So, Rocky’s just a nickname?”
“Another thing we have Jared to thank for,” Cora said, chuckling. “He started calling him Rocky last winter and it really stuck. Plus, he loves it.”
Cora remarried and she’s happy, and so is her son…
“That’s really wonderful,” Eden said, really meaning it.
Getting out from under her own marriage and into a place where she felt secure and also knew Jack was content had been so difficult. She had never really pictured herself dating again, let alone having a serious relationship.
“I never thought it would happen,” Cora said softly, as if reading her thoughts. “I was pretty sure that my heart died along with my first husband. But we never know where the journey will take us.”
“You still love him,” Eden realized out loud.
“The heart is an incredible thing,” Cora said, nodding. “It turns out I have room for them both. But only because Jared is the right man. He knows that a tiny piece of me will always be grieving, and he doesn’t resent it.”
“When you love someone, you love all of them,” Eden said automatically.
“I like that,” Cora agreed. “That’s exactly right. And listen, I know you didn’t ask, but I wasn’t looking for anyone either. It just happened.”
Something about Cora’s turn of phrase made it seem like she thought Eden was heading for a similar situation.
“He’s a good man,” Cora went on, nodding to Axel. “He meets the kids right where they are, and he knows how to have fun. You can see how it motivates them to do their best.”
It was so true. And Eden realized it was the first time she had heard someone compliment Axel without it being about his rugged good looks or that football game he’d played so long ago.
Something about it gave her a burst of unexpected pride.
There’s no reason for me to feel that way. He’s not my man. And I certainly don’t need a silly crush right now.
But as Eden watched Axel swing one of the boys up in each arm, the three of them laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world, a side of her that she thought was gone forever swooned just a little.
We never know where the journey will take us…