“Where are you two headed?” James’s mom asked.

I shrugged because I had no idea.

“I’m going to show her the barn.” He kicked at some dirt on the ground, and tiny rocks scattered.

“Oh”—his mom clasped her hands together in joy—“she doesn’t know, does she?”

My eyes pinched together as I questioned what kind of mom would be that excited over a boxing setup. “What exactly is in that barn? A full-size boxing ring? Do you have a secret boxing club that I’m being initiated into? I mean, I heard it’s a good workout, so—”

“A what?” Mrs. Russo laughed, but her face was full of confusion. “Boxing?”

I had asked James once what was in the barn, and he told me that he boxed in there. I remembered that answer clear as day even if he had looked weird when he admitted it to me. He’d said he was boxing the night of the fire. I knew I hadn’t heard him wrong, but now, I was questioning everything.

Suddenly, I got excited. “Wait! Is it a horse? My dad never bought me a horse even though I asked for one every year at Christmas. Top of my list each year. Number one request. We have the property for it and everything.” I waved a hand toward our land. “But do you see a horse there? Nope. No horse. Santa hates me.”

My dad crossed his arms and fought back a shit-eating grin. “We have land for growing grapes, not for growing horses. Do you have any idea how expensive and how much work a horse is? I always told you that once you got older, if you wanted one, you could get one yourself.” He looked at James before laying a strong hand on his shoulder. “The horse wish now falls to you. Good luck.”

James gave my dad a resigned look before he glanced at me. “We’ll discuss the horse thing later.”

I stomped a foot in a mock temper tantrum. “So, there’s no horse in the barn?”

Everyone laughed, clearly entertained and amused by our antics, and I closed my eyes for a second to drown my senses in the new-to-me sounds and feel. Even the outside air had been altered by our war’s end. Or maybe it was our collective new energy that had changed it all. Whatever it was, it was palpable. And so beautiful.

“I’m going to show her and then take her to breakfast. Would you all like to join us?” James asked politely.

I prayed our parents would say no. It wasn’t that I didn’t want them there; I just wanted to be alone with him.

“No, you two go ahead. We’ll grab dinner in town this week,” Mr. Russo suggested, and everyone agreed.