Cookies and Lemonade (parts 8, 9 and 10)

Crystal walked around the blue house to the backyard. She heard Nana Mae rustling around in her kitchen. This backyard held so many memories. This yard is where she played with her childhood friends, where they quarreled and laughed. This yard is where she wrestled with James Bowers that once when he wouldn’t let her play a game with him and his friends. This is where Crystal had tea parties with her friends, where they raised ‘families’ of their own, and where they traveled the world. As they grew older, this backyard became a place for gossiping, laughing and dreaming.

Crystal walked to the rope swing, a smile slowly growing on her face. The rope felt so familiar in her hand. She pulled the swing back and hopped on with as much dignity and grace as she could muster. Even though she was now nineteen she still loved the feeling of swinging. Going higher, and higher, swinging back and forth. It never got old. Suddenly she felt a push on her back. She turned her head to see James Bowers with a smile on his face. As she swung back again, he reached out and firmly pushed the swing again.

After a few more minutes of him pushing her swing, he grabbed the supporting rope and stopped her momentum. She got off the swing and they sat underneath the big maple tree. They talked about everything under the sun. They talked about their friends, most of whom were married and raising families of their own, and shared memories and new hopes and fears.

Nana Mae looked out her kitchen window and smiled. She knew the looks that passed between James and Crystal. She knew that with each word spoken and each stolen glance, Crystal and James were falling in love.