Limoncello

Chapter 2

"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." ~ Audrey Hepburn

—

Maeve was most definitely a morning person. Many of her early mornings consisted of tending to her gardens. She would always start in the backyard, where she grew her produce, pulling weeds and harvesting whatever was ripe. Afterwards she would move to the front yard, where all of her flowers grew, making sure they all looked just as pretty as the day before.

It had been exactly a week since the band had moved in across the street. She had been put into a group chat with them shortly after giving her number to Folio. Maeve had told them that she figured it would be best to wait a week before she had them over for dinner, to give them time to settle in. She would never admit it, but it was mainly so she would just have time to plan. The band was okay with that plan, and they also let her know that whenever they were practicing, she was welcome to come over and listen. She took them up on that offer.

She had cleaned her house the day before and went out to tend to her gardens first thing Saturday morning. She'd already done her work in the backyard, harvesting all of the ripe produce and herbs she would need for later in the day. Now, she was tending to her flowers while also trying to pick a few so that she could make a nice flower arrangement for the centerpiece of her dining room table.

—

Folio was not a morning person. At all. Yet, he was awake. Early. On a Saturday morning. He had tossed and turned all night because all he could think about was their plans with Maeve. His excitement was akin to a hyper child waiting to see what Santa Claus had left under the tree on Christmas morning.

He had not been up this early during the week they had lived in the house. Now, at 8am, he was the only one awake. He groggily shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing his tired eyes as he went to grab a bottle of water. As he took a sip, he found himself glancing out the window. He was surprised to see Maeve hunched over her flower beds. Surprised, but certainly pleased. In only his pajamas, which only consisted of a pair of basketball shorts, he slipped on some shoes and cautiously stepped outside. He noted that the bright morning sun was already beginning to warm the air as he walked down the driveway and across the street.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked as he approached Maeve, his voice raspy with how tired he was.

Maeve gasped and jumped a bit before turning around and looking up at him. She let out a sigh of relief, "You scared me." She said with a soft laugh. "You snuck up on me like a ninja!"

A soft smile painted his features as he crouched down next to her, "Sorry."

She couldn't help but smile at how cute he looked. His hair was a mess, eyes droopy, his smile small and tired. His morning voice also caught her by surprise, in the best way possible. "To answer your question," she started, pausing to wipe a bit of sweat off her forehead with her forearm. "I'm just doing some gardening."

He nodded and furrowed his eyebrows, "You always up this early?"

"Of course," she chirped. She didn't think that 8am was that early, but he obviously did. So, she kept that thought to herself. "I'm assuming you're not, though." She raised an eyebrow at him and pushed her glasses up her nose.

He looked down at the ground as his cheeks started to heat up and shrugged before looking back up at her. "Not usually, no."

She nodded, "So how come you're up?" It didn't come off as accusatory or rude, just genuinely curious and possibly concerned.

"Honestly?" he chuckled, "I'm just really pumped for dinner tonight. Couldn't sleep."

Maeve had to bite back a giggle as she playfully nudged him. "Oh stop it. You're not being serious."