gaze.
“Cute.” The sea breeze whipped around, making me shiver, reminding me I should keep moving. Callum was only a few columns up. I could reach him.
“The baby ones are called pufflings,” he said.
The trivia made me smile.
Austin examined the ocean. “We’ll have fish tonight.”
Before I could explain that I’d rather be eating pretzels and chocolate dip on a plane home, I caught sight of something cupped in Callum’s palm. I stilled and everything in me froze. He held a small plant. The thin stem had three rounded, slightly fuzzy-looking sage-green leaves. I scrambled toward him without care, ignoring the poking rocks and uneven edges. I climbed until I stood one higher than him and grabbed his wrist to get a closer look. “What have you done?”
Callum’s eyelids half-lowered, and he moved to withdraw.
I wrapped my second hand around his wrist and raised my accusing gaze to him. “You picked it. You picked the solo bluebonnet from Trallwyn.”
“I’d not seen one. We don’t have bluebonnets here.”
“That plant is native to and only grows in Texas. It doesn’t belong here.” I looked at its small roots and swallowed. “And now it won’t grow anywhere.”
“It was alone in a planter in the lab and despite the Texas common belief, it’s not illegal to pick bluebonnets.”
“We planted the seeds two years ago. We did everything to make the seeds grow. We nicked some. We froze some. We rolled some in sandpaper. And none of them germinated. Except one.”
His eyes brightened, and he touched the corner of a leaf. “It was probably a lack of sun or water, more climate control than seed preparation. You should have left it in its natural state.”
I shook his wrist. “One grew. One grew out of two years of work and you picked it. Was it shoved in your pocket this whole time?”
He smiled. “It’s nothing like the silk flower you gave me before the decathlon.”
Austin climbed a step toward us. “What do you say, guys? Think we can drop a fishing line?”
Hide the evidence. I didn’t know why I felt the urge to protect Callum, but I covered the bluebonnet sprout with my hand and spun toward Austin. “Maybe. I don’t know how far it is.” I urged Callum’s hand down behind me so Austin wouldn’t see what he’d done.
“What you got there?” Austin asked, eyeing our hands.
“Nothing,” I said, my voice pitched high.
Lisette caught up to Austin. “What are y’all looking at?”
“Nothing,” I said again. I looked at Austin, searching for a distraction. “Coach is going to be pissed that you didn’t make the game.”
Austin nodded. “Yeah, looks like Prep had a chance after all.”
Sean made a cut-off sound and abruptly stopped. He gazed off in the distance and his expression twisted. “There it is.” Awe and fear shook his voice. He jerked his head no and wrapped his arms around his body.
I pressed on Callum’s hand. “We’ll talk about this later.” I let go and moved around an outcropping of rocks to see what Sean had spotted.
Above us, a medieval church hung on the cliff, grey stone composite patched with bright green moss. Weird. The moss in Texas was pale green; this was almost neon. I moved higher, invigorated now that our destination was in sight. The others hurried too, all but Sean, who’d slowed to a hesitant walk. Austin got there first, and then me.
I bent to go under a gap in the broken wall surrounding the grounds, stilling on the other side. I couldn’t decide what was more fantastic: the partly ruined structure or the ancient Irish crosses bordering the path. A circle lay in the center of each traditional cross, marking them as Celtic. The place felt foreign and magical.
“We made it,” Callum said.
Sean stood behind him, shaking his fair head. He crossed himself before moving forward with wide, fearful eyes and pinched lips.
I walked slowly too, but not out of superstition; I was taking in everything. We went under an arched
“Cute.” The sea breeze whipped around, making me shiver, reminding me I should keep moving. Callum was only a few columns up. I could reach him.
“The baby ones are called pufflings,” he said.
The trivia made me smile.
Austin examined the ocean. “We’ll have fish tonight.”
Before I could explain that I’d rather be eating pretzels and chocolate dip on a plane home, I caught sight of something cupped in Callum’s palm. I stilled and everything in me froze. He held a small plant. The thin stem had three rounded, slightly fuzzy-looking sage-green leaves. I scrambled toward him without care, ignoring the poking rocks and uneven edges. I climbed until I stood one higher than him and grabbed his wrist to get a closer look. “What have you done?”
Callum’s eyelids half-lowered, and he moved to withdraw.
I wrapped my second hand around his wrist and raised my accusing gaze to him. “You picked it. You picked the solo bluebonnet from Trallwyn.”
“I’d not seen one. We don’t have bluebonnets here.”
“That plant is native to and only grows in Texas. It doesn’t belong here.” I looked at its small roots and swallowed. “And now it won’t grow anywhere.”
“It was alone in a planter in the lab and despite the Texas common belief, it’s not illegal to pick bluebonnets.”
“We planted the seeds two years ago. We did everything to make the seeds grow. We nicked some. We froze some. We rolled some in sandpaper. And none of them germinated. Except one.”
His eyes brightened, and he touched the corner of a leaf. “It was probably a lack of sun or water, more climate control than seed preparation. You should have left it in its natural state.”
I shook his wrist. “One grew. One grew out of two years of work and you picked it. Was it shoved in your pocket this whole time?”
He smiled. “It’s nothing like the silk flower you gave me before the decathlon.”
Austin climbed a step toward us. “What do you say, guys? Think we can drop a fishing line?”
Hide the evidence. I didn’t know why I felt the urge to protect Callum, but I covered the bluebonnet sprout with my hand and spun toward Austin. “Maybe. I don’t know how far it is.” I urged Callum’s hand down behind me so Austin wouldn’t see what he’d done.
“What you got there?” Austin asked, eyeing our hands.
“Nothing,” I said, my voice pitched high.
Lisette caught up to Austin. “What are y’all looking at?”
“Nothing,” I said again. I looked at Austin, searching for a distraction. “Coach is going to be pissed that you didn’t make the game.”
Austin nodded. “Yeah, looks like Prep had a chance after all.”
Sean made a cut-off sound and abruptly stopped. He gazed off in the distance and his expression twisted. “There it is.” Awe and fear shook his voice. He jerked his head no and wrapped his arms around his body.
I pressed on Callum’s hand. “We’ll talk about this later.” I let go and moved around an outcropping of rocks to see what Sean had spotted.
Above us, a medieval church hung on the cliff, grey stone composite patched with bright green moss. Weird. The moss in Texas was pale green; this was almost neon. I moved higher, invigorated now that our destination was in sight. The others hurried too, all but Sean, who’d slowed to a hesitant walk. Austin got there first, and then me.
I bent to go under a gap in the broken wall surrounding the grounds, stilling on the other side. I couldn’t decide what was more fantastic: the partly ruined structure or the ancient Irish crosses bordering the path. A circle lay in the center of each traditional cross, marking them as Celtic. The place felt foreign and magical.
“We made it,” Callum said.
Sean stood behind him, shaking his fair head. He crossed himself before moving forward with wide, fearful eyes and pinched lips.
I walked slowly too, but not out of superstition; I was taking in everything. We went under an arched
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