Page 48 of What Maple Heard

I spotted Maple and River coming through the entrance.

She was wearing a burnt orange dress, a cream cardigan, and a wide-brimmed hat. She was looking breathtakingly beautiful. River was walking next to her in a brown sweater and jeans, talking animatedly. He said something to which Maple laughed, and then held his hand. He looked at her and kept walking with a smile on his face. I walked a few steps to get in their direct line of sight. Maple was looking at the big entrance as she walked and River saw me first. His smile got bigger, and he waved. I could see his lips move to say my name, and Maple’s eyes quickly moved and landed on me. She gave me a beautiful smile and kept walking, her smile intact on her gorgeous face.

“Hope we didn’t keep you waiting too long,” Maple said, covering the few steps between us.

Maple, the way I feel for you, I would wait for a very long time.

“No, you didn’t. I got your text, hope everything is fine.” I said.

Maple nodded. “Yes, everything is fine. We can talk later.”

“Hey, bud,” I said to River. “Hey Cade,” he said and looked nervously towards the wall. “Nervous?” I asked. He nodded. “I saw you work so hard on this, buddy. I have been the lucky one to see the entire process of this wall becoming a piece of art. You did a great job, River.” I said. Maple put her hand on his arm. “I am so proud of you,” she said quietly. “For seeing this through. All of it.” River looked at me. “Thank you, Cade,” he said. “For helping me. For making the whole thing actually — fun.” He shrugged. “I didn’t think community service was going to be fun.”

“Any time, bud,” I said. “I mean that. Any time.”

He nodded once. And then — without any warning, without any preamble — he stepped forward and hugged me tight. I hugged him back and patted his back. We both remained like that for a few more seconds, and I felt as if River was not wanting to let go of me. Then again, maybe I felt what I wanted to feel at that moment. Over his shoulder, I could see Maple watching us and smiling.

When River pulled back, he spotted Brody near the wall and pointed. “I’m going to go check on the unveiling setup.”

“All the best, River.” I said.

“You’ll do great, River. I am so proud of you.” Maple said.

River looked at me once more. “All the best for your performance too, Cade. You’re going to be great today.”

“So are you,” I said.

He grinned and took off.

And then it was me and Maple.

I looked at her. “You look beautiful.”

There were so many other things I wanted to say about how she looked. I kept them all in my head. She blushed slightly and said thank you and pushed a strand of hair back under her hat.

“You said you wanted to make some changes?” I asked.

She blushed harder. “What I wanted to make changes to,” she said, “was our relationship.” She paused. “Only if you still want to. You said you wanted to win me back, but maybe you’ve changed your mind about it, and I would completely understand if you had. But I thought — I thought maybe I’d like to give it another chance.”

The entire Fall Festival of Chestnut Ridge continued happening around us. People walking, children running, fiddle music starting up somewhere on the main strip. None of it existed for approximately ten seconds.

Maple wanted to give us another chance.

That was all I was thinking when I realized she was slightly shivery and talking ten to the dozen without a pause. I took her hand. “Maple.” I kept my voice steady. “I’ve got you. Relax. Nothing has changed. I want this too.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely.”

“Because sometimes I thought maybe you were showing up out of guilt,” she said. “And maybe you weren’t actually sure about what you wanted—“

“Maple.” I held her hand a little tighter. She stopped talking. I waited until she looked at me. “I have been showing up because I wanted to show you that I’m in this for real this time. We didn’t get very far before I blew everything up. But this time—“ I paused. “This time I don’t want to leave anything unspoken. I don’t want any guessing games. I want to be clear about my intentions, and my intentions are to be here. With you. I’m not going anywhere.”

“But what if I can’t fully accept you back, even after giving it another chance?”

“Then you tell me,” I said. “And I’ll listen. This time, I’ll actually listen. And we’ll talk about whatever’s bothering you and we’ll find a way through it.”

She was quiet for a moment.