A Garden Dream

by Jea Hawkins

  She and Crystal lifted their drinks simultaneously, their glasses chiming in a wordless toast before they continued sipping. Each drop of pink liquid left Emma feeling more relaxed and loose, and a little bit restless.

  After Emma finished it, she set the glass back on the bar and offered Crystal her hand. “We should be dancing,” she declared.

  “Definitely.” Crystal accepted her hand and, together, they walked onto the dance floor and began to sway. Their bodies moved together to the music. What they lacked in rhythm they made up for in enthusiasm.

  Emma closed her eyes, raised her face to the ceiling, and put her arms in the air. “I’m letting go!” she told the world, even though only the people nearest to them could hear her over the music.

  She thought she heard Crystal laugh. She knew she felt her energy shift and then her girlfriend’s arms around her. Emma looked down, settled her arms on Crystal’s shoulders, and kissed her. The smile that curved her lips was full of the joy she felt bursting from within.

  “Hey, Crystal!” The shout was sharp over the music and they both turned toward it.

  Emma felt Crystal tense against her and then her arms dropped to her sides. The bubbly excitement that filled her body only moments before was replaced with trepidation. Emma didn’t just feel it in the way Crystal’s body stiffened, but also in how the energy emanating from her shifted.

  “Madison.” The way Crystal said it was devoid of any emotion, but her voice trembled slightly.

  That was all it took for Emma to know. This was her.

  The woman sauntering toward them stopped, her gaze shifting to Emma and then back to Crystal. “You never called. I thought you were going to call.”

  Crystal’s chest rose with the deep breath she took and Emma saw her jaw tighten. “Sorry, but I never promised anything.”

  “No, but still, you should have called. Look, I’m sorry to interrupt, but…” Madison’s gaze pinged between them again. “Can we talk?”

  “No. I’m here with my girlfriend. We don’t need to talk, Madison.”

  “I see.” Madison shoved her hands in her back pockets and glared at Emma. “I didn’t realize you had worked things out. How nice for you.”

  Emma let Crystal take her hand and squeezed back to show her encouragement. “We have worked it out,” Crystal affirmed, holding up their joined hands. “I’m sorry. I thought at the time, I made it clear that I felt terrible about that night and I didn’t plan to repeat it.”

  “Yes, you did make it very clear, but I kind of hoped…” Madison’s entire body slumped with her sigh. She held up her hands and backed away. “Fine. Again, sorry. My bad.”

  After she turned and disappeared into the crowd, Crystal blinked, her gaze cast down on the floor.

  “Hey.” Emma used her forefinger under Crystal’s chin to tilt her face back up to hers. “Please don’t feel bad for that. Even in a city as big as Omaha, it was bound to happen sooner or later.”

  “But I never thought you’d have to see her, let alone know her name.” Tears shimmered in Crystal’s eyes.

  “It’s okay.” With a kiss, Emma tried to reassure Crystal that she meant what she said. “Look, we can either fight about it or both agree that it’s in the past. That’s where I put it. There’s no undoing it, but I love you too much to keep holding it against you.”

  Crystal reached up to wipe the unshed tears from her eyes and nodded. “And I love you too much to do something like that to you ever again.”

  Chapter 22

  The part of moving that concerned Emma the most was getting her plants transplanted into the lot behind the store. But the part of moving that excited Emma the most was putting her plan for the garden into action.

  Fortunately, the herbs all seemed to take very well to their new home. Crystal invited Lark to help. While the two earth witches worked together to dig holes based on the arrangement Emma had drawn out, Crystal minded the store and brought them occasional glasses of lemonade. They had been lucky to get a cooler, less humid day for their work, and get everything planted.

  A week later, the herbs were thriving in their new environment. Regular watering and plenty of sunshine had them green and growing. It helped that Emma and Crystal were meticulous about their care, watering them every morning and pulling on earth magick to acquaint them with the new soil. The plants rooted themselves firmly in the new earth. Even though it was unimproved soil, they seemed very happy with their new home.

  Emma was even more delighted to have a place to put all her potted plants. Instead of a cluster on her back porch, she had actually planted them as part of the garden. The herbs made wonderful border plants with their brilliant green leaves and fragrances.

  Now that everything had survived without a single casualty, Emma was ready to put the next step of her plan into action.

  What she hadn’t quite counted on was how hot it would be the following week as she knelt in the dirt and lay flagstones. “Jeez, I need to have my head examined,” she muttered, sitting back on her heels and fanning herself with her hand. “Why did it have to be crazy humid this week?”

  “I know, right?” Lark was helping yet again. She had contributed most of the stones from her own yard. “Where’s Crystal’s fantastic lemonade? She was all kinds of attentive last week.”

  “Maybe the shop is busy, which would be a good thing. We should take a break and get something to drink.” Emma caught her breath, picked up another large stone, and placed it next to the last one.

  The path would wind around and around the plants, a labyrinth for their customers to enjoy. It was the one thing she could think of that would make the physical space for their shop distinctive – a garden where people could see where the herbs in the shop came from. But it would also be a place where they could go to meditate and just enjoy the outdoors in a sacred space.

  “So I was wondering if you could help me out with something.” Lark rose to her feet, brushed her hands over her jeans dislodging bits of dirt, and took a few steps away to look at the sketch Emma had placed under a small rock.

  “Are you kidding? I owe you big time.” After turning the stone the way she wanted it, Emma also went to look at the sketch. “You’ve been recording the album and videos with Crystal, and helping out with this, and you won’t let us pay you. The royalties aren’t guaranteed, so I really wish you would let us do something for you.”

  “Well, I do have a payment in mind.” The wind picked up Lark’s beautiful long, brown hair. It was in a ponytail, held with several different colored ribbons. She was very playful for an earth witch, Emma thought, a trait she could really learn for herself.

  “Payment? I’m very curious.”

  Now Lark blushed and twiddled her fingers in front of her. “Well, I was wondering if you could help me get in touch with your friend, Waverly.”

  “Wave?” Emma was glad to see her instincts and vision were right on. It made perfect sense that Lark was interested in Waverly, and vice versa. After all, Crystal was a water witch and Emma was an earth witch. They were a good match for each other. Earth helped stabilize water, while water nurtured earth. Likewise, Waverly was a water witch and Lark’s earth magick was very well-suited to someone like her.

  “It’s not that I’m afraid to do it myself, but I feel like she’s not sure how to handle dating. Not sure why I get that vibe, but I was hoping maybe you could help me out.”

  Emma gestured for Lark to follow her into the shop. “I think this calls for a water break.” The shade of the building instantly cooled Emma and she went to the refrigerator for two bottles of water.

  “Hey, taking a break?” Crystal asked as she walked into the back room and picked up a small cardboard box.

  Emma nodded, her mouth full of water, and pointed at the bottle.

  “Sounds good. I’m sorry I haven’t been lending you guys a hand, but today has been kind of busy. Guess what? I just sold our last CD! I’m putting out more right now.”

  “Wow, that�
�s amazing.” Lark grinned at her and sat on the sofa next to Emma, bottle of water in hand. “I guess those videos did the trick. I can’t wait to see what MP3 sales are like.”

  “I think the videos did a great job of drawing people in. We might want to consider making a video for every song on the album and see how that works for us. Well, I better get back out there. I promise to make you ladies some lemonade soon.” Crystal went back through the doorway into the shop and set the cardboard box on the counter next to the cash register.

  Emma turned to Lark with a smile. Resting her arm on the back of the sofa, Emma propped her head against her hand and took in a deep breath. “I’m so glad the CDs are selling. I don’t know what the exact numbers are, but we’ve seen a lot of sales online, too. It probably helps that our web developer linked the videos to our store page with the CDs or embedded the videos or… something. Whatever smart web people do.”

  Lark chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, I’m glad. Crystal and I agreed to go over sales at the end of every month, so we can work out the royalties we each get. The fifty-fifty royalty split is perfectly fair, considering we each put in equal work. If things keeping going like this, we’re going to have to consider making another CD soon. This time, I’m toying with the idea of backup tracks for the songs I’m writing.”

  “You’re already writing new songs?” Emma asked.

  “Yeah. Being creative is kind of a curse, in a way. I make music because I have to, if that makes sense. It’s like how artists have to draw or paint or sculpt. They just can’t say, ‘Oh, I think I’m done being an artist.’ The ideas will be there nonetheless. The same thing goes for writers, too. They have to get those stories out.”

  “I know what you mean. Our friend, Fiona, is a writer. I think she’s happiest when she’s expressing herself.”

  “So is Crystal.” Pointing toward the front of the shop, Lark said, “That girl has something very special. She says she doesn’t, but you and I both know the truth. When she was a kid, too many people tried to bring her down. They told her she wouldn’t amount to anything, just because she was a foster kid. I’m glad you see her differently.”

  Emma followed Lark’s gesture and watched as Crystal spoke with a customer, handed him a CD, and then rang up the transaction. “What I see – what I’ve always seen in her – is her strength,” Emma said. “Water witches get the short end of the stick, in a way. Others see them as the weakest element because they can be prone to letting their emotions control them. But I see Crystal as strong because she knew she was working at a disadvantage and decided to give the world a big eff-you anyway.”

  Lark chuckled and nodded. “That’s my girl. So that’s why she makes such a wonderful singer. It’s not just the fact that she sounds good. It’s the raw emotion behind the sound and technique that makes her so special. Do you think she would make another album with me?”

  That was something Emma knew Crystal would love to do, but she brought the conversation back to Lark’s original question. “She definitely would. And as far as Wave, well, I’ll do my best. She’s complicated, to say the least.”

  “Complicated in what way?” Lark turned to face her, cradling the bottle of water between her hands.

  “As in she’s an over-sensitive empath. She still has a lot to learn as far as control and technique. The one thing that soothes her is music, which is why she’s a dancer. Or…” Emma hesitated and inclined her head to one side. “She would have been a dancer if she could have handled the competition. But she can’t take the nastiness and competition. So instead of even taking that chance, she chose to stay here and teach dance to young people.”

  Emma waited for Lark to respond, but her fellow earth witch simply hummed and took another sip of water. With that response, Emma knew she wouldn’t get any more out of Lark. Then again, she knew earth witches like herself tended not to let their feelings show, so she let it go and rose to her feet.

  “Why don’t we finish the garden?” she suggested.

  “That sounds good to me. And, hey, thanks for the four-one-one on Waverly.”

  “No problem.” If there was one thing Emma was happy to do, it was help her friends find their happily ever afters. Fiona had presented a challenge because the last thing she wanted to do was fall in love. So when Emma had a clairvoyant vision of Fiona with a beautiful, red-lipped woman, she decided to tell Fiona to avoid the woman. Of course, she knew there was no avoiding Gabe, but her little reverse psychology tactic had worked. Fiona and Gabe were one of the happiest couples she had ever known.

  Lark followed her out into the sunshine and lifted her gaze to the sky. “It’s late in the season, but it looks like you managed to transplant everything. That’s some power you’ve got. I think you could teach me a thing or two.”

  “Thanks. I’ve always had a way with plants. Not so much with people. That’s what I need to work on.” Emma folded herself down onto the ground and picked up a smaller flagstone to set on the path they were building.

  “I don’t know about that.” Lark knelt opposite her and set down a stone too. “You know, you may think you’re not what Crystal needs sometimes, but that’s just not true. We just have a different way of showing our love. I show it through music because otherwise I just can’t find the words. What do you do that’s special when you can’t find your words?”

  Emma looked across the partially-cultivated lot at the wild rosebush and smiled. “I plant,” she said. “Or I nurture the plants I find, so others can enjoy them.”

  “Yeah, I figured as much. Don’t worry – I don’t think that goes unnoticed by Crystal. She knows how you express your love. You know, when we’re working on the songs, she talks about how much she wants you to like them.”

  “Really?” Emma sat back on her heels and the warmth that suffused her from inside out had nothing to do with the radiant sun shining down on them. “She talks about me?”

  Lark nodded and picked up a larger stone, fitting it in place. “She just wants you to be proud of her. That’s the way water signs are. They want praise and we earth signs are too stingy with it. Yet we give them that structure – that container – they crave to help their lives take shape. It’s just a matter of figuring out how we can meet in the middle.”

  Those words made sense to Emma and she let out her breath with a sigh. “I know all of that, but it’s good to be reminded.”

  “I don’t think you really need it, though. Just reassurance.” Lark smiled at her and reached for another stone, and Emma chuckled.

  “Is it bad to admit that I haven’t even listened to the CD yet?”

  “What?” Lark whipped her head around and stared at her, open-mouthed. “Oh yes, that’s very bad. Here. I’m going to do you a big favor and put it on while we work. That way, you can tell Crystal what you think. Trust me when I say that’s going to mean a lot to her.”

  Lark stood again, but before she could take a single step, Emma said, “Hey, I’ll make sure you get Waverly’s contact information. I think you two will get along very well.”

  The brunette just smiled at her and nodded, then strode back into the shop. She returned with her cell phone, propped it up against a rock next to the path, and turned up the volume so Emma could hear the songs.

  At the end of the day, Emma handed Lark a phone number and then wrapped her arms around Crystal as their friend left the store.

  “I want you to know how amazing your album is and that it’s amazing because you are,” she whispered, before kissing her girlfriend.

  Chapter 23

  Lughnassadh came quickly and they gathered together as a complete circle for the first time in a long while. The month of August wasn’t just the beginning of the harvest season. They had come a long way and they were ready to celebrate.

  The six friends stood in Fiona’s kitchen, looking at the food on the table. There was more than enough to feed all of them two or three times. Emma figured Fiona and Gabe would be eating leftovers for at least a week.


  “Jeez, you’d think it was already Mabon,” Fiona said, arranging the pans, bowls, and casserole dishes around the plates and utensils. “You ladies certainly were in the mood to cook.”

  “Well, we have a lot to be thankful for now, even if it’s not our Thanksgiving just yet.” Crystal leaned up against Emma and kissed her cheek. Emma melted against her, resting her head against Crystal’s.

  There were times it seemed their roles were reversed these days. Crystal was often the pillar of strength Emma relied upon to get her through the uncertainty with the shop. It wasn’t so difficult to rely on her, Emma realized. Nor was it an admission of weakness or being any less capable of handling what came along in life. It was a reminder that without earth, nothing was born. Without water, nothing grew. Without air, nothing thrived. And without fire, nothing could be renewed. They needed each other and Emma knew she was finally okay with that.

  “I’ll say. This is quite a feast, but we have so much to celebrate that the calories are worth it.” Waverly opened a bottle of pop and poured herself a glass. “It’s good to see you two together again. Things haven’t exactly been peaceful between you both this year. It’s nice to see you back to being a happy couple.”

  Emma rolled her eyes and lifted her head away from Crystal’s. “Okay, okay, okay. That’s enough of that. We don’t need applause for working thing out. Seriously. We’re just two adults who went through a rough time and worked through it together. Every relationship is a work in progress, though, so the work doesn’t really end.”

  It didn’t surprise her that Avery stepped up to her sister’s side and put her hand on her shoulder. Avery was the one person who seemed able to settle Waverly’s constant fretting and questioning, but now that there was another possibility, Emma felt relieved. Avery couldn’t be relied upon to be her sister’s buffer all her life. It was time for someone else to step in and Emma trusted that she had inadvertently found that person for one of her dearest friends.