The Edge of Juniper Read Free

yet found the right pup.
    They didn’t have any answers for me, none at all, and told me I was jumping the gun.  I latched onto the fact that they said they were merely considering a separation.  I considered lots of things I’d never actually do.  The way I saw it, their trip would be part service work, part marriage retreat.  Dad reinforced that idea when he said they hoped the shared sense of purpose and vision would bring them clarity about the state of their marriage.
    I pictured them building their marriage from the dirt up; strengthening it along with the school walls they built.  Maybe they’d laugh together as they raced wheelbarrows full of rocks.  Maybe they’d reminisce as they smoothed concrete floors.  Maybe they’d sit outside at night, using their logical words to fix every problem, like they always did for me.  Dad would come home needing a haircut badly, and Mom would cut it.  It wasn’t just possible, I thought it was likely.  It would be okay, no need for jumping any guns.
    Mom was looking forward to eight weeks with no technology.  I was not looking forward to that part.  In case of emergency, I had a number I could call, but there wouldn’t be regular contact.  I could handle it though, and I was looking forward to hanging out with Celia all summer.  She was the closest thing I had to a sister.
    I hoped I hadn’t wrecked everything by sneaking out.  Maybe this summer wasn’t off to the best start, but I was certain it would get better. Juniper had always been an oasis, a place I escaped to while my regular life was on pause.  Last year, Uncle Todd borrowed a speedboat from a friend, and took us all to a nearby lake.  Mom and Aunt Donna just watched and sipped sweet tea, my dad drove the boat, and Todd taught Abe and me to water ski.  He tried to teach Celia too, but she only fell once before giving up.
    Abe got it on his second try, and the whole crowd of us cheered so loudly, I’m sure we scared all the fish in the lake.  When it was my turn, Uncle Todd floated next to me in the water, holding me steady and helping keep the skis straight, before the boat took off.  I fell at least twenty times, but I kept trying until I got it.  I’ll never forget the way it felt to fly over the lake, my eyes squinting against the spray hitting me in the face, Todd hooting and whistling from the water, and the rest of my family cheering from the boat.  That was Juniper to me.
    The bedroom door opened again, and I turned toward the sound.  This time it was Celia.  She went to her bed and lay on top of the covers.  “Are you okay?” I asked.
    “Fay, I’m fine.  Grow up.  I can handle a little lecture from my mother.”  She stood and stalked into the bathroom.  She’d been telling me to grow up since we were little kids.  Most of the time, she said it to tease me, being that she’s younger, and it made me laugh.  I didn’t laugh this time though, and when she came back into the room, I pretended to be asleep.
     

2
    L aughter woke me , and I smiled into my pillow.  At home, only my alarm ever woke me.  My parents left for work early, and though I could have caught a ride to school with them, I preferred to get a little extra sleep.  Freya and Finn would show up, likely running late, hand me a slice of cold toast, and drive us to school.  They were twins, and they made me an honorary triplet, on account of my name also starting with an F.
    I got out of bed and put on my bathrobe, apprehensive in spite of the laughter, wondering what the fallout from sneaking out would be.  But when I approached the kitchen, my heart squeezed in a delicious way.  Uncle Todd and Abe were thumb wrestling, and Todd was letting Abe win.  “You crushed me again, Abe!  Do you hide cans of spinach under your bed?  Lift weights in the middle of the night?”
    Abe cracked up at his dad’s goofiness.  I sat down by Celia, who had just finished setting the table.  Donna scraped some eggs