3

Madison took her time getting settled into her old bedroom. To her relief, nothing had changed in here. Judging by the dust and musty smell, no one had even been in the garret room since her last visit. She opened the window to let in the fresh autumn air. It was late September, but the day was warming up to feel like summer. She dusted and cleaned and laundered the linens from her room and then, just like Grandma used to do, she hung them on the line outside. Grandma’s clothesline went right over her hedge of lavender, which still had blooms. What a treat to have lavender-scented, sunshine-dried sheets! As she hung the last pillowcase, she remembered the time she’d strung up a clothesline outside the women’s dorm in Mongolia only to discover everything missing by the time she went to bring her laundry inside. Fortunately, she assumed, that would not happen here.

As she set the laundry basket on the front porch, she heard the sound of some kind of engine growling nearby. Peering in the direction of the sound, she observed a long, dark trail of sooty dust following what looked like a motorized minibike riding along the border of the Thompsons’ land. Curious about this and concerned that the ashy cloud would soil her nice clean linens, she decided to investigate its source. But by the time she reached the trail the bike was creating, the rider was clear on the other side of the property.

“Time to meet our neighbors,” she said to herself as she strolled over to the camp trailer. Glad she still had on her boots since the sooty dust was everywhere, she quietly knocked on the trailer’s door, feeling slightly intrusive. When no one answered, she knocked harder.

“Can I help you?” A male voice behind her made her jump.

“Oh.” She turned quickly to see a man with dark hair, slightly tinged with gray, and a neatly trimmed beard strolling toward her. He stopped in his tracks at the sight of her, his dark eyes widening in surprise.

“Madison?” He peered curiously at her. “Madison McDowell?”

“Yes.” She nodded nervously, studying him. “Do I know you?”

“You used to. I’m Gavin. Gavin Thompson.” He chuckled as he rubbed his beard. “I suppose I’ve changed. I discovered a beard is pretty low maintenance when living in a trailer.”

“You live here?” She resisted the urge to visibly gulp. This was really Gavin? The boy she remembered from her teen years?

“Yep.” He nodded, continuing forward with his hand outstretched. She extended her hand, which he firmly grasped and then, to her surprise, used to pull her into a friendly embrace. “It’s so good to see you, Madison.”

“Yes.” She stepped back, smoothing her denim jacket with a stiff smile on her face as she tried to keep her pounding heart from giving her away. “Good to see you too, Gavin.”

He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. “So you must be back from China. Your grandmother told me about your teaching job there. Sounds exciting.” He grinned. “You always were such an adventurous gal.”

“To be honest, it wasn’t as exciting as some might think. But it was certainly different. And the country and the people were absolutely amazing.” She folded her arms in front of her. “But, seriously, you thought I was adventurous?”

“Sure. You’re the only girl I knew who was brave enough to jump off the railroad bridge.”

She looked into his midnight-blue eyes, remembering how they’d always reminded her of the deepest pools in the river. Cool and dark, but she didn’t want to drown in them, or get pulled down by an unseen eddy. “So you, uh, you’re staying here full-time? Not just camping?”

“That’s right.” He patted the side of the trailer. “My current abode. Well, me and Lily.”

“Your wife?” For some reason she didn’t remember his wife’s name, but she didn’t think it was Lily.

“No. Lily’s my daughter. The younger one. Lucy is in college. Her last year too, I hope.”

“Oh, right.” She wanted to ask where his wife was but couldn’t string the words together. “You don’t seem old enough to have a daughter in her last year of college.”

“Well, you might recall that Shelby and I got an early start.”

She felt her cheeks warming. Of course, her name was Shelby. How could she forget that? It all flooded back to her now . . . how Gavin had married Shelby Fraley straight out of high school! Madison also remembered how she, at sixteen, had been dumbfounded to show up for summer on the tree farm to learn that her teenage crush was married! Who got married at eighteen? When Gavin and Shelby’s first child came along before the next Christmas, she had her answer. But no one knew how deeply she’d been hurt by what felt like a total betrayal, or how long it took her to get over it.

“Well, I didn’t mean to intrude,” she said in an uneasy tone. “I was actually just curious about that kid on the dirt bike.”

“That kid is Lily. She won’t even be twelve until January, but she’s already a serious dirt biker. Competes and everything.”

“Interesting.” Madison looked out to where the dirt bike rider, as if on cue, suddenly came roaring up from behind the pickup. Hopping off in a cloud of dark dust, the slender girl tugged off her bright blue helmet to shake loose a head of curly auburn hair that reminded Madison of Shelby. She set her helmet on her bike seat and looked curiously at Madison.

“Lily, I want you to meet our neighbor, Madison McDowell.”

“McDowell like the Christmas tree farm?”

“That’s right.” Madison smiled.

Lily cocked her head to one side. “I already met Addie, but I didn’t know she had a roommate.” She wiped soot from her hands onto the front of her soot-covered jeans, although it didn’t seem to help.

“I’m Addie’s sister,” Madison explained. “I haven’t been able to visit here for the last five years.”

“Madison’s been in China,” Gavin told Lily.

“Mongolia, actually.” Madison nodded toward Lily’s bike. “I hear you’re pretty good on that thing.”

Lily shrugged. “I’m okay.”

“I was wondering, uh, would you mind not riding so close to our property line?”

Lily’s brows drew together. “Why?”

“Oh, well, it stirs up the dust, you know . . . and the noise.”

Lily looked at Gavin. “Daaad?”

“Madison makes a good point,” Gavin told his daughter. “We need to be good neighbors.”

“But what about the trail we’re building?” she said in protest. “It has to go along the border. Like we drew it in our plans.”

“Trail?” Madison asked. “Plans?”

“Lily’s been dreaming of turning this place into a dirt bike park. You know, a destination place for other young riders like her to come and attend training workshops, camp with their families, and maybe even hold competitions.”

“Seriously? Here?”

“Yeah,” Lily said sharply. “Why not?”

“Well, this has always been an agricultural area,” Madison said lamely. “I mean, there might be some kind of zoning restrictions.”

Gavin laughed. “No worries. There are no restrictions like that out here. I already checked.”

“But what about your hazelnut orchards? Don’t you plan to replant them?” Madison looked out over the blackened, barren land. “You can’t just leave it like this.”

“Of course, I’ll plant some trees for shade and greenery. Maybe some grassy areas around the house and the cabins. But I have no desire to be a filbert farmer.”

“Me neither,” Lily chimed in with a defiant tone. “And Dad promised me a dirt bike course here. That’s why we sold our house and moved out here in the first place. We already mapped it all out with trails and camping areas and everything.”

“What about the rest of your family?” Madison asked Gavin. “Do your parents and siblings think this is a good idea?”

“My dad passed on and Mom’s in memory-care assisted living. My brothers and sisters were glad to sell their shares of the property to me after the fire took everything.”

“Oh.” Madison couldn’t imagine the negative impact a noisy dirt bike park would have on their Christmas tree farm. The whole thing felt haphazard and totally inappropriate to the quiet agricultural area. She wanted to ask if his wife approved but knew that might come out wrong too. She’d already stepped on Lily’s toes. “Well, I don’t really know what to say about all this. It’s a lot to take in. I’m curious what other neighbors along the river will think.”

“Most people are still figuring out how to rebuild their own properties,” Gavin told her. “They weren’t all as fortunate as you and Addie with your tree farm.”

“Yes, I know. I realize these are hard times for everyone. I just don’t see how a noisy dirt bike park will make anything better.”

Lily stepped forward with both hands on her hips and stared defiantly into Madison’s eyes. “This is gonna be a really cool place for kids and families to come. You’ll see. There’ll be hills and dips and all sorts of cool stuff. It’s gonna be awesome, so you might as well get used to it.”

“Lily,” Gavin scolded. “Show some respect.”

The girl stepped back. “Sorry, Dad.” She reached for her helmet, then shoved it back onto her head.

“Well, it was nice to meet you, Lily.” Madison forced a smile. “I’m sure we can think of some ways to make everyone happy about this. Maybe some sort of compromise?”

“I have riding to do,” Lily said as she slung a leg over her bike.

“Yes. And I should go too.” Madison slowly backed away from Gavin. “Good to see you. And sorry to have troubled you.” As the dirt bike roared to life, Madison hurried toward home. What a mess. And unless she was mistaken, it would probably get messier.