I also assigned an entire senior student body committee to take care of the day-to-day functioning of the campus so that I could try to spend as much time focused on the things that mattered to me the most.
“The garden is looking nice,” Rob said as he walked by me while I was on my hands and knees scooping soil out into little piles to make room to plant the seedlings.
“Thanks,” I smiled.
“Sorry,” he said as he started to walk away. “I didn’t know you were out here, or I wouldn’t have come this way.”
“Rob wait,” I said as I stood up and brushed my dirt-laden hands on the front of my jeans. “We don’t need to avoid each other; I don’t hate you.”
“You sure about that?” he asked. “Because it sure kind of seems like you do.”
“I don’t,” I said. “I’m not even mad at you. I’m just not ready to trust you again.”
“Ouch,” he said as he made a wincing face. “I deserve that.”
“Yeah, you do,” I agreed.
He slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I guess being an undercover cop made being secretive so normal that it didn’t even feel like it was the wrong choice to make. In my defense, I was just trying to protect you.”
“I know” I said. “So, let’s stop trying to avoid each other and just see what happens, okay?”
“Okay,” he said as he smiled.
“How’s campus security stuff going?” I asked, shifting back into Headmistress mode.
His shoulders rolled back. “Good. I trained a whole team of guys and honestly there’s not really anything threatening the campus anymore so we’re mostly just walking around saying good morning to beautiful girls planting gardens.”
“That’s good to hear,” I said through my laughter.
“How are the guys doing? I haven’t seen them around much so you must be keeping them pretty busy.”
“Adam is working on the halfway house and I think he’s already had a few kids come in, and Michael is working on the stargazing observatory which I can’t wait to see when it’s finished. Maybe we can all have a glass of champagne and a little private opening celebration when it’s done.”
“I’d like that,” Rob said. “Back to walking. Good luck with your garden.”
I smiled and then watched him walk away. I didn’t like the feeling of watching him go. I hoped that we could eventually get back to how things had been before David was killed.
The garden was coming along so beautifully, and I had cleared a large space right near where one of the dingy cemeteries had been. Don’t get me wrong, I adored the gothic charm of cemeteries and would never dream of putting a garden over the top of one. But next to one seemed like a perfectly good idea. Especially next to the little rundown one that needed a little sprinkling of beauty. I had the guys help me clear a plot for the garden and then went and got all the most beautiful flowers that I could think of: pansies, snapdragons, marigolds, and a whole bunch of things that I didn’t even know the names of but just thought were too beautiful not to have. I also got the seedlings that I was currently planting into rows.
I had already forgotten what kind of tree they were, but right now they just looked like tiny baby trees that were happily guarding the border of my flower garden bed.
Since it was a Sunday and the fall season had just started up again, there weren’t many mandatory classes going on campus today, mostly just some optional course options like outdoor painting and Zumba. When I was done planting my seedlings, I picked up my empty pots and tools and headed back to the apartment to clean up.
I had just decided to call it an apartment now since it didn’t actually resemble a dorm at all.
No one was home when I got there, though, so I hopped right into the shower to wash all the sweat and dirt off, and then towel dried my hair after I had gotten out and gotten dressed. The temperature was perfect for jeans and a tank top with a light flannel thrown over it. I wanted to see the guys, so I thought I would go surprise them and see what they were up to.
And I went to see Adam first.
The on-campus halfway house was right near the cafeteria. That was his idea because he thought it would make it easier for the kids to be right near the food, which they seemed to agree with. He had turned one of the smaller, old gymnasiums into a little house by constructing it with divided rooms and installing plumbing for bathrooms and a small kitchen area. Currently it was suited to hold at least a half dozen kids, although he wanted it to be able to help much more. Two teens had already moved in, even though it wasn’t completely finished yet. Adam had found them on the street one night, one right after the other, while he was out shopping for building supplies for the halfway house. He found the nineteen-year-old guy first and convinced him that coming to the halfway house at Lineage was a much better option than trying to sleep near people’s parked cars to block the wind.
Then he found the seventeen-year-old girl as he was coming out of the hardware store.
She was crouched down in an alleyway alongside the building and he had unintentionally scared her when he went to see if she wanted help. She was super hesitant at first and even more timid when she got into the car and saw the other guy already sitting there. But on the ride back to campus, Adam had lightened the mood and earned their trust by talking to them both about his experiences when he was homeless. By the time they were all back at the halfway house at Lineage, both of the teens had made friends and fell asleep curled up together in the one bed that Adam thankfully had already moved in. Now, even though there were more rooms and more beds, the two teens still stayed together and were practically inseparable.
“Hey, this is looking great!” I called as I walked into the halfway house and saw Adam painting some really cool graffiti-style murals on the walls.
“Thanks,” he smiled proudly. “I wanted it to keep it looking like it had the vibe of the streets, but in a cool artsy at-home sort of way.”
“I think it’s absolutely perfect!” I beamed.
Adam was totally the right guy for this. Not only did he have a huge heart for helping these kids, but he also was super artistic and creative and was the kind of cool guy that they would trust and respect.
“My mom would have been so happy to see this,” I said as I looked around the house and poked my head in and out of the rooms. “She would be so proud of you too.”
“Awe,” Adam blushed. “It’s the least I can do to give back for the things your mom did for me. This was a good idea, Lisette; making these things and honoring those people that we cared about and lost. I know it wasn’t the most popular decision to come back here for a bit, trust me I was pretty damn freaked out about it myself. But I definitely think it was the right thing to do and I think that the stuff we’ll accomplish in this year will matter to a lot of people for a long time.”
He set down his paintbrush and grabbed my hand to show me something. We walked down to the end of the hall where he had built a little storage room. The same kind of storage room that was at the old halfway house where my mother was killed. She used to gather supplies for the kids and keep everything in the storage closet; everything from snacks, to shoes, to books, to teddy bears. You name it and she had it. Adam opened the door to the closet and when I looked inside, I started to cry. There were shelves on the opposing walls, but the wall at the back of the storage room, the one that you faced as soon as you opened the door, had a big, beautiful mural of my mother. With sweeping colors and broad brushstrokes accenting a smile I knew I’d keep close to my heart for as long as I lived.
I threw my arms around Adam’s neck and hugged him.
Then when I let go of the hug, I still kept my arms around his neck and looked into his shining eyes.
“Thank you,” I said. “It’s perfect.”
Adam leaned forward and kissed me, and I got lost in his kiss. The feeling of his tongue swirling inside of my mouth and standing here surrounded by all of his beautiful art, made me think about that painting with the swirling starry night. And in that moment I knew that I couldn’t go back to Asheville without him either.
My mind started to fill with the idea of the three of us just staying together forever and I wondered how feasible, if at all, that would be.
I stayed in the halfway house for a bit longer to watch him paint. He even gave me a brush and let me try my hand at a section of the mural. I also got to meet the two kids that were living in the house. They seemed really nice and very appreciative, and they were both excited to start some college classes next week since part of the arrangement of living here in the halfway house was that they both had to and got to take classes. It was all just such a good thing we had going here, and I knew that I was right about my mother being proud.
When I left the halfway house, I hiked over to the auditorium. That was where Michael was building the stargazing observatory. The auditorium had an old attic at the top of it, which I think they used to use for storing costumes and props and things for the theatre performances. It worked out perfectly because Michael was able to cut a hole right up through the roof and add a rooftop level to the building that was accessible through the attic. He also installed skylights in the roof so that if it was raining and you didn’t want to go outside on the rooftop, you could sit in the attic level and watch the stars from there.
When I got into the auditorium, I walked over to where the pull-down ladder was and then made my way up the shaky staircase and into the attic. Michael had already made the attic a super cozy space and had used a lot of the old red velvet theatre stuff to make it seem like a magical land of nostalgia. Even more magical was the rooftop though.
“Hey,” I called up from the attic when I saw him walking around up there trying to figure out how to install a giant glass dome to put over the moveable telescope.
“Hey,” he said as he smiled and swung himself down into the attic with me.
“How’s it going up there?” I asked.
“Well,” he sighed. “It’s frustrating.”
“Frustrating?” I felt my lips drop into a pout because I didn’t want the project to be frustrating for him. I wanted Michael to enjoy it and create it into something truly special. “Do you need some contractors to help you out?”
“No, that’s not the kind of frustrating I mean,” he answered. “The mechanics are coming along great, come see.”
He lifted himself up onto the rooftop and then helped me up alongside him. It looked incredible. He installed a wrought iron railing that was wrapped with tiny little twinkling lights, spots to sit and little tables to set your drinks on. There were two giant telescopes that he had mounted to the rooftop that could turn to face any direction in the sky. He had Adam come paint the constellations on the floor of the roof so that it looked like you were walking among the stars, and was now installing a beautiful glass dome that could house and protect the telescopes when they weren’t being used.
