There’d been so many question marks back then. A lot of fear and uncertainty, too. And since his brother had moved back to Silver Springs, and he’d had nowhere else to go, he’d had to face a lot of hatred. So he’d never been more grateful for anything than that one act of kindness, the memory of which—along with the love Jada had offered him since—had helped him hang on during even the toughest of times.

“I have a favor to ask you,” he told her.

“Of course. Anything. What do you need?”

“I’m thinking about getting my hair cut.”

“Okay.”

“And I have no idea what I should tell the barber.”

There was a slight pause. “Why are you suddenly considering a haircut?”

“I have a date tonight.”

“Someone special?”

When he hesitated, she said, “Don’t tell me it’s Harper Devlin.”

He didn’t see any reason not to admit it. He didn’t think their date was a secret. That was probably the most exciting part. By agreeing to go out for dinner with him, she was legitimizing their relationship as much as she could. “Yes.”

“Maddox told me you were sleeping with her!”

Tobias laughed. “Wow, okay. Thank him for his discretion.”

“You know he tells me everything,” she said, laughing, too. “But you don’t have anything to worry about. My lips are sealed.”

“Thank you. So…can you help me with my hair?”

“Of course. Tell me where you’re going, and I’ll meet you there.”

“That’s just it. I don’t know where to go. Where does Maddox go?”

She heaved a dramatic sigh. “It’s a good thing you called me. Let me see if I can get you an appointment with his stylist.”

“It isn’t a place where you just walk in?”

“No, it’s not. But it won’t take long to see if Manny’s there today and if he can squeeze you in.”

“Okay. Let me know.”

Five minutes later, she called back to say they were in luck. Manny would give him a cut if he could come right over to the salon.

As he left the house, Tobias saw Carl half-heartedly spraying the Pixie Tangerines on the trees of his father’s orchard with water. Tobias had done the same thing for Uriah three weeks ago; it was something citrus growers did to protect their harvest before a frost. Uriah had explained that since Silver Springs pixies had a long growing season—they were on the tree for eighteen months from blossom to harvest—they had to survive the winter, and although it seemed counterintuitive, spraying them with water caused ice to form when temperatures dropped, releasing heat to the ripening fruit and keeping it from freezing on the inside.