Fire Is Your Water. Jim Minick

fell off.

      “I said don’t watch.”

      The room was quiet as they stared at their plates and ate.

      “I’m getting the building crew lined up,” her father said. “And the materials should get shipped in two days.” He talked with his mouth full, a piece of biscuit stuck to his moustache. “Just wish Nathan could be here.” Then, under his breath, “Just wish I hadn’t put up that wet alfalfa.”

      “You just leave it there,” her mother said. “No need to feel guilty for things done and out of your control.”

      Her father didn’t look up from his plate.

      Out of the corner of her eye, Ada watched him. He ate slowly, moving his jaw sideways like a cow. On his forehead, the thin line of scar reminded her of when she was eight. They’d been skipping stones at the pond. Somehow her father had stepped in front of her just as she slung a rock, and that shale hit him right on the forehead, slashing a bloody gash three inches long. She wished she had known how to heal then, to stop the blood. She wished she knew how to now.

      Ellie’s car horn sounded as Ada put her dishes in the sink. Lucky barked his greeting. “Don’t you touch these,” she warned her mother. “Daddy can do them, or I’ll do them tonight.”

      “Yes, dear.” Her mother closed her eyes when Ada kissed her on the forehead. She kissed her father and hurried out the door.

      Ellie and Ada said hello and fell into a comfortable quiet. Ada liked this early hour, the half-light of dawn, the receding darkness shrouding the land. It reminded her of all those years of morning treks to tend the cows. In a barn that no longer stood.

      Ada focused on the road and her day ahead. She liked her job—the time with Ellie and Aunt Amanda, the bustle of people. She’d started two years ago, during her last year of high school, with the goal of saving up money for college. Her parents had offered to help, but she’d wanted to do this on her own, that sense of pride. By her figuring, she would have enough to cover tuition by the end of this summer. Just last week, she had mailed her application to the nursing school in Harrisburg.