Kendra Lee is dirt poor. Fletcher Cadwell? Not so much.
The two Stanford students return home for the summer and somehow manage to cross paths in... his yard? After finding out that Kendra was hired to be a gardener for the summer, Fletcher is com...
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The car slows to a stop in front of the Cadwell's estate after fifteen minutes of driving in the passenger seat of Vicky's car. She's one of Wren's friends from home, and by home, Kendra really means here, where she is currently living. In Wren's home. She drums her fingernails against the door of the car to deflect the path of her thoughts.
Her curls bounce around the shape of her face as she turns to me with a smile. "Here we are!"
No comment on the size of the house, the enormity of the windows facing the front yard, or how a surprisingly large pond sits next to the front door. Normal people stuff. But Kendra reminds herself that these are not normal people she is with, how she has chosen be one of them. She bites back the awe, and instead offers Vicky a quick thank-you. She is out of the car and in the backyard in a whirlwind of seconds, breezing through finery and various neutrals. And suddenly, the green is welcoming her, settling around the soles of her shoes. The garden has always been more impressive to Kendra than any facet of the Cadwell's estate. Sprawling with exotic and rare species of flora, placed in such a pointed, planned, perfect way. Nature, guided.
Kendra settles down on one of the various chairs on the patio and slips her sneakers on. They're old, from her last few years of high school, and spotted with remnants of hiking trips and cross country practice. Their wear makes them the perfect footwear for gardening, so Kendra has no qualms about wearing them to sweat and dig.
After grabbing her tools, she decides to start today's shift amongst the hydrangea patch by the back of the yard. Their estate backs up to some sort of private bay, so Kendra watches the water every so often as she yanks, and pulls, and grabs at the finicky, insistent plants that do not belong.
A sudden chirp through her wireless headphones jolts Kendra out of her daze. She taps a finger to one of them, and Wren's voice filters into her ears: "Hey, toosh! Just wondering if you were good to have dinner with Vicky tonight. She had offered to pick you up from work, so I thought she could just stay over with us and eat."
Kendra nods in person, and suddenly feels silly, sitting alone in the middle of a garden patch. "Yeah, of course. What are we having?"
Wren hums uncertainly through the phone, taking a few seconds to think. Kendra uses this as an opportunity to wipe her brow with the bandana sticking out of my pocket. It's pale green.
"Sushi?" She finally says. "Mom gave the chef a week or two off for vacation, so we're on our own for a few days." Wren laughs. "I don't know how we're supposed to survive without her."
Kendra's lips twist into a smile as she grips the stalk of a particularly tough weed whose roots have sunken deep into the ground. "That sounds great. I'll be done by 7, so I'll see you then."
"Okie- bye toosh!"
Soft music once again returns to the curve of her eardrums, numbs her thoughts. In the calm moments that follow, mind only consumed by the menial task of weeding, Kendra's mind wanders.
