“GOOD,” HUNTER RESPONDED. And then he grabbed my hand without warning, yanking me toward the house at a near trot.
I expected to be pulled up the steps toward the front door. But, instead, we slipped between a row of bushes and a wooden fence line to enter a backyard that I’d barely had a moment to explore during the four days I’d been in residence.
Now that I was finally able to set foot in Celia’s more private sanctuary without rain dripping into my eyes, I saw that her gardening hadn’t been relegated to the front of the house. In fact, the backyard’s infrastructure suggested that my mother spent quite a bit of time amid the greenery and tranquility of this more hidden arena. There was a burbling fountain, an enticing bench, a sculpted Japanese maple...and two terrified amber eyes peer
