He put the flower behind his ear! Julia giggled. She’d sort of thought he’d tuck it in his lapel or something, but behind the ear made Jay look like a part of nature, and not just using it as an aesthetic afterthought (aesthetic being her word-a-day word from yesterday, but she supposed she could still use it today, since today’s word—substratum—didn’t seem likely to get much use).

When Professor Myers started talking she stared at him, willing herself to absorb everything he was saying. She thought she got most of it, or some of it, or at least knew which trees were which, but the good news was that she had Jay and he was clearly already an expert on this.

An expert who already knew the exact kind of grafting they were doing today. Julia gave him another little shoulder bump, ”You’re so smart.”

Look at him, being all smart. Why wasn’t he in her house instead of Daaaavid Truebridge? Honestly.

”Let’s do Persian silk for the legume, because it sounds pretty.” She was sure all the trees were pretty, when it came down to it, but while she did like honey she didn’t like the locust part of its name. ”You pick the anti-pollutant.”