Days of Love and Blood

you do,” Cassie persisted. “I like Johnson. Johnson likes me. It’s normal.”
    “Of course it’s normal, Cassie,” I said. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
    “ You might think that we’re hooking up just because no one else is left.”
    “No - I…”
    “But that’s not it. Johnson and I mix. I can’t describe it better than that - we just mix. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being with someone who makes you feel good after the world’s gone to shit. Everyone’s doing it. But I got lucky. I found someone who makes me feel comfortable. I found someone who makes me feel good. Even if the world didn’t go to shit, I would be with him.”
    “ You are lucky,” I said. “I am happy for you. No one is being judgmental here. If anything, we’re a little jealous. No one should be alone. You’re lucky to have someone.”
    “W hat she said is right, you know,” Ivy said with a mischievous wink in my direction.
    “About?” I asked.
    “People needing to make connections, not wanting to be alone,” Ivy explained.
    “ Absolutely.”
    “ Like with Solomon and Gretchen.” Ivy glanced at Cassie who hid her head between her knees.
    “No way,” I said in disbelief.
    “Do you see?” said Cassie as she lifted her head back up. “It’s normal. Solomon may be grieving for his Dottie, but he finds solace in Gretchen. She keeps him warm at night. They hold each other. They comfort each other. And nothing is wrong with that. After all they’ve been through - they need it. They deserve it.”
    “I agree Cassie. Completely. I just didn’t expect Solomon - Gretchen. I guess I can see it.”
    “We all need to feel it,” she said. “We all need to feel not alone.”
    “On that note,” Ivy broke in. “What’s up with Cooper?”
    “ I never know.”
    “Whatever,” said Cassie.
    “No, seriously. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
    “Liar,” Ivy scorned. “Everyone saw what happened last night. Explain that?”
    “I can’t. I don’t know. I really don’t. We’re fine one minute, he hates me the next. But when we’re good together, we’re really good. Not like you and Johnson; we’re not intimate or anything. I don’t even know if you can call it a friendship. More like a partnership. We don’t annoy each other. Usually.”
    “You fit together,” Cassie said, in a way which was beyond her years.
    “I suppose we fit together. But only because of the circumstances and only on his good days.”
    “ He doesn’t like Ben too much,” Ivy interjected.
    “Obviously. Did you see the way that guy was acting last night? Did he seem a little eager?”
    “He had an instant hard-on for you,” Ivy laughed. “Why can’t we get any young guys here that have the same affliction for me?”
    “Um - Grisham?” Cassie suggested.
    “ Really?” I said more than asked, raising one eyebrow at Ivy.
    “ Yep. He’s been after her since the day he arrived,” Cassie explained.
    “Ivy?”
    “I guess. But he’s not my type.”
    “No one is ever your type.” I looked at Cassie to explain. “She could meet a thousand guys and not one would be good enough for her unless he could name every single character in every Star Trek episode, both old and new, that ever existed.”
    “Girl’s got to have her standards,” Ivy said as she stood up. “I need some more juice.”

    We found a field of blossoming strawberry patches and blueberry bushes lining the river that ran just behind Ivy’s farm. I packed several of my mother’s wicker baskets and met Marianna, Jayde, Gretchen and Ivy by the river’s edge where Ivy and I used to go to fly fishing. I brought Ronan and gave him a basket. Marianna brought her two boys as well.
    “ Just keep in my line-of-sight,” I called to Ronan. “If you hear anything strange - anything at all - drop your basket and run to me. Yell. And don’t look behind you.” He promised to heed my warnings and did a good job of staying close to me.
    By the time I had picked my third basket, I realized I had strayed far from the river’s edge. I had been following the line of succulent strawberries and each step had brought me further away. I didn’t realize how far I had wandered until I stood up to prod my aching back.
    “Carson!”
    I whirled around to find Jayde standing behind me.
    “ Hi, Jayde.”
    “It looks like I must have followed you way out here. But I wasn’t following you, of course. Just those delicious strawberries.”
    “Of course.”
    “But