Chapter 14 #3
“Since the beginning of the year. I just earned my yellow belt, thank you very much.” Lynn’s smile was full of pride, and who was Max to take that away from her?
“You truly are my hobby ho, aren’t you?” Max joked, bumping her shoulder against Lynn’s as they made their way to the trailhead, water bottles in hand.
“Life is short, and I have a long list of things I want to try before it’s over.”
Woodchips crunched under the weight of their footsteps as they moved briskly through the yellow-green vegetation pressing in around them.
They walked in near quiet for a little while, every now and again one of them saying something before they returned to their content silence.
After twenty-five minutes of walking, the tree canopy began to thin as the trail opened up, revealing stunning views of a river carving its path across the earth.
They approached an observation deck. Max set her water bottle down on the nearby bench, reaching for her binoculars and scanning the riverbank.
“There!” she called excitedly. “Osprey nest across the water on top of the pylons at the end of that dock.” She handed the binoculars to Lynn, who took them and held them up to her eyes.
“Very cool. Weird place to build a nest, but very cool nonetheless.”
“It’s for protection,” Max explained, visualizing the exact page in her dad’s weathered guidebook listing out everything someone would ever need to know about the bird in question. “It gives them a place where they can evade ground predators while keeping an eye out for eagles.”
“I had no idea you had such an affinity for birds.”
“You’re not the only one with hobbies.”
More silence followed as Max continued to look out over the water for other birds. Lynn, in her very Lynn way, sat with her legs criss-crossed on the wooden bench, eyes closed, hands in her lap, breathing deeply as she meditated.
“How did you know you were in love with Dan?” Max asked after twenty long minutes of the two of them quietly doing their own thing. She knew she was toeing a line with her topic choice—Dan wasn’t something Lynn liked to discuss openly, something Max had always done her best to respect.
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with Annie, now would it?” Lynn said, peering at her through one open eye, the other still shut as if she was straddling her meditative state and being present with Max.
Max glared at her, not giving her an answer, but her silence proved answer enough as Lynn opened both eyes, stretching her arms up over her head, bending to each side.
There was a beat of hesitation before Lynn answered her. “When I looked at Dan, I always saw home,” she said simply.
Max set her binoculars down, hands splayed out over the rough wooden railing weathered by years of coastal storms. “Yeah, I think I know that feeling,” she said quietly.
Lynn rose, crossing the deck to stand beside her, mirroring her position as she leaned against the railing, looking out over the water. “That’s a really big step for you.”
Max turned her head, gaze meeting Lynn’s.
“I know. But it’s one I want. I’m not scared of it.
Not this time. Not with Annie.” She drummed her fingers along the wood, thinking about all the things she wanted to tell Lynn about how amazing the last few months of her life had been since Annie had become a part of it.
“She makes my life feel like it can be big, you know?” Max whispered.
“Like no idea or dream or situation is too out there and I—” Her voice cracked.
“I’ve never felt that way about anyone. All the other girls before her felt so…
temporary? But Annie feels different—is different.
I think—I think I’m falling in love with her, Lynn. ”
More quiet pressed in around them, filled only by the gentle lapping of water against the grasses lining the riverbed, their reeds whistling in the faint breeze.
“It’s terrifying, isn’t it? That feeling.”
Max considered her. “Yeah, but it’s also electrifying. And I wasn’t expecting that.”
Lynn took a moment to collect her thoughts before she responded.
“Since I’ve known you, I’ve watched you keep the world at arm’s length.
You do it with Jack, Dani, Drew, and even me.
I used to think I was the queen of being independent until I met you.
And I get it. Independence keeps you safe.
You can’t get hurt if you never really rely on anyone.
” Lynn turned to face her, resting her hip against the railing.
“But life is meant to be shared with other people. We all need witnesses to the experiences we live, people to share them with who cheer us on along the way. With the right person, love is a launchpad, something capable of catapulting you further than you ever thought possible.” She inhaled deeply.
“It’s good to see you let someone like Annie in. She’s one of the good people, Max.”
Max hummed, smiling at Lynn’s words, because she wholeheartedly agreed that Annie Dillinger was indeed one of the best people she had ever known.