The sleep would do her good. He used her pretty fiercely, so some recovery time was in order.
Yawning, he cuddled her close. As sleep claimed him, he was thinking how utterly amazing it was that they found each other on a planet inhabited by billions.
Her body hummed from the aftermath of Arnie’s masterful lovemaking. Each new sensation brought surprises and revealed things to Summer. Things like how glad she was her common sense prevailed the other times she’d almost gone through with sharing her body.
“I’m glad I waited for you.” She whispered the words into his shoulder.
His arms held her closer, and Summer fell slowly into her dream world.
She dug the toes of her bare feet into the earth and inhaled. The sun glowed in a cloudless sky and warmed her skin as she stood amidst a field of glorious sunflowers.
Subtle scents hung in the air. She loved nature in every form. Loved the addicting California weather as much as she loved a rainy day. In her mind, it was all good.
As she walked along with her arms wide and hands skimming rows of yellow blooms, Summer felt a connection to the physical world—the plants and animals. There were other things too. She sensed stuff. Always had. Even as a young girl.
Two birds circled overhead. The flutter from their wings got her full attention. Her know-it-all big brother would make fun of her for imagining she could hear wings flapping.
Her dreamscape grew foggy, and then a memory from long ago surfaced.
“Whatcha got there, Summer?”
Summer smiled at her dad and held up a jar of fairy twinkles. In a voice letting him know she was the most serious twelve-year-old on the planet, she said, “Spring pixies.” She shook the jar. “They make the best twinkles even though they aren’t fully grown yet.”
Her electrician dad was gruff and big-hearted. Howard Warren was a superstar in her eyes. He raised her and Reed, worked hard, went to church three times a year, and never complained. Not even about her flighty mother or how Marie Warren forgot all of them existed after she ran off to live a life without her husband or children.
He sat on the edge of her bed. The smell of cigarettes and fabric softener filled her nose. It was her chore to do the laundry, and lately, she’d really been focused on which dryer sheets smelled the best.
“And what’s the plan for these, um, newborn pixies?”
Her smile grew bigger, happier. She could always count on her dad to play along even though he had no idea what half of what she said even meant.
“They’re for a report in Mrs. Wiffan’s class.”
“She’s your English teacher, right?”
“Yep. We’re doing a unit on Harry Potter! Isn’t that cool? Anyway, my pixies are for an oral presentation on magic creatures.” She curled her lip and made a face. “Most of the boys are doing dragons.” Her snort indicated what she thought of the uninspired choice. “Missy is doing birds. Like Cinderella birds. It’s pretty clever even if she’s ripping off Disney.”
He tapped the jar in her hands. “Did you poke holes in the lid? For air?”
Inside her head, Summer giggled at how awesome her dad was for playing along. The twinkles tucked inside the jar were several strands of fishing wire that she dipped in glue and covered in glitter. They both knew the jar was empty other than that.
“Of course.” She tilted the jar that had once held spaghetti sauce and showed him the tiny holes in the lid. “Reed helped. He hammered the nails because, well, because he’s Reed.”
The loving expression on her father’s face filled her heart. “Speaking of your brother, don’t forget about the game this Friday. He’s already got the baseball scholarship, but we still have games to cheer on.”
“My brother. The high school jock.”
They laughed and jostled each other with shoulder shoves.
“Both my kiddos are jocks,” Howard Warren proudly declared. “Nothing better than a full trophy case.”
“Maybe I’ll go to the Olympics someday.”
“You can do anything, Summer. Anything you set your mind to. Whatever makes you happy.”
She sighed dramatically. “Yeah, but I didn’t get my Hogwarts letter when I turned eleven,” she said with a shrug. “So I guess that means it’s a Muggle life for me. But that’s okay cause I like people.”
Putting the jar down, she nodded to it. “I’ll let the pixies out before I go to school.”
“That’s very kind of you, Summer. You wouldn’t want to scare them off. No need to subject