Calder shrugged. "We all have our jobs. My dad says each one is equally important." He was quiet for a beat and then continued. "They all balance the community."
I nodded and Xander looked away before looking back at Calder more seriously. "We should get back," he said.
Calder nodded, his eyes lingering on me. His eyelashes were ridiculously thick, his eyes a deep, rich brown. He tilted his head and pursed his lips as if he was considering something.
"I have an idea."
"Oh no," Xander said. "No good can come from this."
Calder glanced at Xander. "You haven't heard my idea."
"I stand by my statement."
Calder rolled his eyes and focused on me again. "What would you say if I offered to teach you the subjects you're not being taught in exchange for some art paper and paints?"
"Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa," Xander said, putting his hands up as if to ward off Calder's very, very bad idea. "Even worse than I thought. That's just asking for trouble, Calder."
"Look who's talking," Calder inserted, not taking his eyes off me.
"Yes," I blurted out. I did want to learn. I was hungry for it. But the truth was, I wanted to spend time with Calder and I was willing to do anything I could do to make that happen. I had surprised myself with my outburst though. I rarely interacted with people other than Hailey and her boys, and occasionally Hector, so why was it I could speak my mind with Calder? Perhaps it was because I'd spent so long with him in my own mind.
Calder smiled at me. "Okay," he said softly, not taking his eyes from mine.
Xander stood up. "All right, well, you two have fun sitting in the cellar."
Calder finally looked up at him. "The cellar would be worth it to finally get to draw on a big, clean piece of paper." He talked about paper like it was a delicious meal he couldn't wait to devour.
I bit my lip, not quite as sure now. The cellar was a very large, cavernous space under the main lodge where Hector would bring all two hundred or so of us at least once a year for a drill to prepare us for when the great floods came. I shivered just at the thought of standing in the cellar with all those bodies pressed together, feeling sick, scared, and claustrophobic.
There was also a small room down there with a heavy, metal door used during the rare time someone did something that went against Hector or the gods. They would be jailed for the amount of time it took for them to repent and then brought back up and made to sit to the side of the podium where Hector gave his sermons. They had to kneel on a piece of metal with little bumps on it from the beginning of Temple until the end. It wouldn't pierce the skin, but the look on the faces of those who had been punished that way, let me know it sure felt like it had after kneeling on it for two hours.
I never knew exactly what the transgressions were, but I watched those people—three since I'd come to live in Acadia—and I silently sent them strength as I sat behind Hector. I swore my own knees ached as I walked back up the aisle, away from them.
I came back to the present and Calder was still staring at me, waiting for my answer.
"I just . . . maybe Xander's right. The cellar seems . . ." My voice faded away as Calder's face fell. "Okay," I inserted quickly and nodded, unwilling to disappoint him. "I agree. When?" I took a deep breath. "I mean, when should we meet?"
His face broke into a grin, his straight teeth flashing. His grin transformed his face, making it, impossibly, even more beautiful. Butterflies flapped their wings in my belly. I'd seen him use his grin with others, but to be the recipient of it myself was thrilling. "Tomorrow?" he asked.
I nodded, smiling, too, probably looking slightly giddy. "Okay, tomorrow." I wanted to see him tomorrow, and every tomorrow after that.
"Okay." He studied me for a minute and I wondered what he was thinking. "I'll see you then."
"’Bye, Eden," Xander said, and jumped from the rock into the water. Calder followed behind him. They waded across the water and then walked up the small bank. My eyes wandered down Calder's muscular backside, clearly defined in the wet linen pants clinging to him. I caught myself and looked away, but before I could muster up any shame, my eyes were moving back again. Just before they ducked through the rock opening, Calder looked back at me and smiled once more. I was glad he couldn't see my blush from where I sat.
**********
The next day when I showed up at the spring, Calder was already lying back on the grass with his hands behind his head. I couldn't help the giddiness I felt to see him waiting for me.
"Hi," I said as I approached him, and he sat up. I took the large, canvas bag I had brought off my shoulder and put it down on the grass in front of him. He immediately pulled the large pad of paper out and looked up at me with a look of sheer happiness. My heart started beating triple time in my chest at the look of delight on his handsome face. He continued to rummage through the bag, and as he pulled the items out, he placed them neatly on the grass in front of him. There were several paint containers, four brushes, and a set of charcoal pencils.
"It was all I could take without making it obvious," I explained when he kept looking down at the items.
He looked up at me. "This is way more than enough. Thank you, Eden." He looked as if he wanted to say more, but was at a loss. He rubbed his hands on his thighs and said, "So what lesson should we start with today?"