Huckleberry Summer by Jennifer Beckstrand

her arm, but he released her as soon as she had alighted.
    Lily reached into the backseat and retrieved the picnic basket.
    “I’ll carry it,” Aden said, taking it from her hand and gracing her with a half smile. He reached around her and snatched up the blankets too.
    His reaching brought him heart-stoppingly close to Lily, and he surprised her when he whispered, “It’s been exactly fifteen days, seventeen hours, and twenty minutes. Are you still mad at me?”
    The whispering knocked her off-kilter. Why did he get even more handsome when he lowered his voice?
    He bent his head toward her so she had a perfect view of his mouth. It was a very nice mouth.
    Mustn’t stare at the mouth.
    Couldn’t he sense that this closeness made her nervous? Lily stepped back and away from him but the buggy stood behind her, and she couldn’t go far. “I’m . . . are you still mad at me ?”
    He didn’t pull away. “I’m not mad. You didn’t do anything wrong. I, on the other hand, have been wondering how long I should give it before you forget the whole incident. Do you need a few more days to mull it over?”
    “I . . . I am fine.” With her heart pounding a wild cadence, she scooted around him and put herself at a more comfortable distance.
    Aden slumped his shoulders. “I can’t see you getting mad at anybody. It’s not in your nature to fight back. I bulldozed you, and I’m sorry.”
    The dog barreled toward Lily, and it was Aden’s fault that she didn’t completely have her wits about her. She turned as Pilot, who had been playing in the water, jumped and planted his wet paws on her shoulders. Aden dropped the blankets and the picnic basket and caught her from behind so she didn’t tumble to the ground. “Pilot, get off,” she commanded.
    Pilot, ever the innocent bystander, got down, backed away, and whined contritely.
    Lily was acutely aware when Aden released his firm grip on her. She took a tissue from her pocket and made a futile attempt to wipe the mud from her apron. “You did hurt my feelings,” she said, “but you didn’t mean any harm. Tyler thinks you are brave to speak up.”
    A shadow passed across Aden’s face.
    Lily didn’t like his cloudy expression. “I will overlook your transgression this once because your dog is a hero.”
    Aden’s mouth quirked into a grin, and he tousled the fur on Pilot’s head. “Then I hope Pilot stays in your good graces.”
    Lily gave up wiping her apron. “He won’t.”
    “Lily!”
    Lily turned to see Treva Schrock and her parents trudging up the shore to Helmuths’ buggy. Lily threw her arms wide, and Treva catapulted herself into Lily’s embrace.
    “What are you doing here?” Lily asked.
    Few people could understand Treva when she spoke, even when she formed her words with great care. But Lily spent enough time around her to always know what she was trying to say. “Came eat lunch,” Treva said, keeping her grip tightly around Lily’s waist.
    “We’re having a picnic today too,” Lily said.
    Treva’s father, a thick, sturdy man with unruly eyebrows, followed his daughter up to the buggy and shook Aden’s hand. “Hello. I am Nathan Schrock,” he said. “This is my wife Margaret. Lily is Treva’s best friend.”
    “It’s lovely to see you,” Anna said.
    “I saw squirrel,” Treva said.
    “A squirrel? Did he want to eat your food?”
    Treva wanted to tell Lily all about her picnic, and Lily listened enthusiastically while the others waited. She tried to ignore the tenderness that gathered around Aden’s eyes the longer they stood there. He was becoming a large distraction.
    “Treva, tell Lily good-bye,” said her dat. “There is laundry to do at home yet.”
    Treva reached up and gave Lily a loud kiss on the cheek. “Bye, Lily. See at gmay.”
    Holding onto her mother’s hand, Treva looked over her shoulder and waved until she ducked into her buggy and her dat drove away.
    “I’ve never seen that girl without a smile,” Anna