CHAPTER 8:

Winter slowly drifted away, and maiden spring danced in, bringing the flowers up out of the ground, warming the air, and causing birds to sing in a sweet staccato trill. Belle grew older, started producing her first milk, and the chickens grew more active, scratching up worms and seeds. The lake melted, fish jumped, clouds were white and puffy, and sleeves gradually grew shorter.

Elli's wedding was on the second of spring. Gray was waiting outside the church as I walked up, feeling awkward in a skirt instead of overalls, or jeans. He joined me, as I walked through the door, into the flower-bedecked church, and asked me if I would sit beside him. I accepted gladly, and we sat down, ready to watch the service. Right before it started, I realized that I still had my work gloves on, and ran outside, to drop them in the bushes to retrieve later. Work gloves did not go with a dress, I was sad to find. I came back in, just as Mary walked up to the bench where Gray sat.

She asked, "Gray, can I sit beside you, please?" I watched closely, to see how he would respond. He looked up at her and said, MY boy said, "No, because Claire is sitting with me. Sorry, Mary." She looked as though he had slapped her in the face, and stalked back to her parent's seat.

I walked back to his pew, just as the organ music was starting to play, grabbed Gray's hand, and turned my attention to the door. It opened, and in came Elli, holding Stu's hand. She looked fabulous, in an A-line dress, with a pale blue ruffly material between the openings of the white fabric in the front. She seemed to float up to the altar, and the ceremony began.

From the opening vows, to the final kiss, the wedding was beautiful. I was conscious the entire time, of Gray's warm hand, but managed to keep a straight face. We walked out of the church, and he didn't look at me, but instead looked at the ground. I knew what he was probably thinking about, and diverted my eyes as well. He finally did raise his face, caught my eyes, and reached for my hand, when a soft flying projectile fell out the sky, and hit my head with a FLUMP. I squeaked a bit, and then looked down to see what had hit me. It was Elli's bouquet! Gray bent down, and picked it up.

Elli glided down to us, laughing. "Gray, you caught the bouquet! That means that you will be the next to marry! It was supposed to be a girl, but, you'll do." She looked delighted, and the blue bow on her head shook as she giggled.

Gray reddened slightly, but thanked her, and we continued to walk down the road, towards my farm. Conversation was not made, but it was a comfortable silence, both of us just enjoying the warm breeze, so perfect after the cold, miserable winter. The cobblestones were no longer wet, and the sweet smell of toy flowers swirled around our heads.

When we arrived at my farm, Gray looked as if he was going to say something, but appeared to have thought better of it. Instead, he pulled Elli's bouquet out, and extended it to me. "Here. She said it should go to a girl…you should have it." His eyes looked to the right, away from my face, almost fearfully.

I accepted the pretty bunch, and selected a tall Trick Blue Flower out of the bouquet.

"Here." I threaded it through his buttonhole. "Now you can have a piece too." He closed his eyes and smiled, in that absolutely adorable way of his, and thanked me. He then backed up, turned, and walked swiftly away. I carefully watched him leave, and followed him a bit further. When he reached the blacksmith's, he took the flower out of his buttonhole, smelled it, and just stood, holding the flower, and leaning on the fence.

Inwardly celebrating, I went inside to take off the skirt that I wore, and unbraid my long hair. I then went out to feed the animals, and water the seeds I had planted. I found the flower that had been blooming in winter, and was pleased to find a new bud on the tender young stalk. Taking care not to tread on it, I let the cows out into the fence, and then stood, leaning against the fence, feeling closer to Gray than ever.

The new talked-about festival was the Spring Thanksgiving. It was time for the boys who had been presented with chocolate something-or-the-other, to return the favor with cookies. I had talked to Ann quite a few times, and she seemed confidant about receiving some from Cliff, who had asked her on dates more than a few times.

I uncomfortably shifted, and asked, "Are there levels of cookies, like in the winter thanksgiving?"

She thought a moment, before replying, "No, I don't believe so. I think that they are all the same."

I rubbed my arms nervously. She eyed me, and told me that I had nothing to worry about. She then looked up at the darkening sky, and told me that she had to go help her father. She gave me a hug, then dashed up the road, in the Ann-ish way that, I supposed, attracted Cliff to her.

I went inside, and looked at the calendar. Spring 12th. Satisfied, I moved to the mirror, and stared at my face, trying to see what it was that might attract Gray to me. Hmmm…my nose was pretty average, if not a tad long. My eyes were soft blue, exactly the color of the ring that Gray had given me. My face was, Claire, and I squinted, still trying to discover something extraordinary, that would shed light on Gray's thinking. Why did the other boys like their girls? Kai like Popuri, probably because she liked him so much. Rick liked Karen, maybe because she was funny, or maybe because she forced him too, an idea that made me laugh. Cliff liked Ann because she was so feisty, and Tim liked Elli because she was sweet. What was I? I was sweet, not as sweet as Elli maybe, but my own version of the word. I made Gray laugh, which was a positive. I was a bit girlier than Ann, but not so much as Mary, or Elli. I finally arrived at the idea, that Gray liked me for being Claire, which was a comforting thought, as I didn't, and couldn't change that fact. My analysis complete, I stood up, and went outside to mine.

The night before the festival, I ran up to the Inn, opened the door, and made my way up the wooden stairs, feeling that this familiar stairway was my friend. I opened Ann's door, and walked in, to find her lying on the floor, looking up at the ceiling. I called out to her,

"Hey, Ann!"

She sat up, and asked, "What's up?"

"How would you like to spend the night with me? You know, like when we went in together to deliver our cookies. Whatcha think?"

She leaped up. "That sounds great. Could you stay here, instead of us going to your house? That way, the boys won't have to walk all that way, and invade your house."

I agreed, and we went to get some supplies, and a change of clothes. Upon return, we found the guys out in the hall, arguing over their room, and the matter of knocking.

We waggled our fingers at them, stopping the fight for a second, and went into the room, closing the door behind us. We stayed up into the night, but finally went to bed, exhausted, but excited, smiling, as we snuggled into the comfortable twin beds.

I woke up, as the light streaming from the window hit my face. I squinted, glanced at the table beside me, and hopped out of bed, partly arousing Ann. She followed my gaze, and leapt out of bed, confused. The bedside tables were empty! I turned around quizzically, only to find two plates of steaming sweets on the low table behind us. I pointed to it and said, "Oh, there they are!" We went to examine them. Ann's were pumpkin cookies, which I personally thought was nasty, but she liked. Mine were cinnamon, and they smelled delicious. We each took out a hot cookie, bit into them, and choked.

"Oh, gross! No sugar. Cliff forgot the sugar!" Ann groaned, wrinkling her nose.

"Gray put in sugar, but WAY too much cinnamon. These are like fire!" I shot back, struggling to swallow, but still smiling at the same time. It was nice that they had tried, at least.

We parted, after many laughs, and I ran back to my farm, all the more infatuated with Gray, who was no worse in my mind, despite the spicy cookies in my hand.