AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’s waiting for me.” She turned her head and looked directly at me. “Your father is here, and he’s waiting for me.”
The hospice nurse had told me how important it was that I let my mother know it was okay for her to let go. I dragged in a deep breath and steeled myself to do just that.
“Do you see him, Mom?”
A tear slipped free, and she nodded. I held her hand in mine and squeezed it gently. “Then go to him. I’m okay here. I’m going to be okay, because I know you’ll both be with me. Right here.”
I placed her hand on my chest, and she smiled.
“I love you, Mom. Thank you for being such an amazing woman. I love you, and I’ll miss you, but you can go to him now. I promise I’ll be okay.”
She looked at me one more time. Then she was gone.
The nurse put her hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Another nurse searched for her pulse. She simply looked up and softly said, “She’s gone home.”
Opening my eyes, I saw my reflection in a mirror across the room. I stared at it for the longest time before I finally stood.
I couldn’t help but think of Avery and the hurt on her face earlier tonight when I’d pushed her away. I knew I’d done the right thing. We came from two totally different worlds, and I’d be leaving to go back to Texas soon. It would be stupid to start anything, even though I wanted desperately to know what it would feel like to be with her.
I scrubbed both of my hands down my face and let out a frustrated sigh. Right thing or not, seeing her while I was here in Hamilton would be difficult.
Dropping my arms to my sides, I saw a picture of my father with his three brothers. They were all on horses, each smiling at the person who was taking the photo. They were young—all under twenty, for sure. Picking up the picture, I ran my thumb over his face.
“I sure wish you were here to tell me how in the hell to navigate this, Dad.”
Chapter Twelve
AVERY
I stepped into the greenhouse, shook off the snow, and stomped my boots.
“It’s really coming down, isn’t it?” Lou Decker called out. Lou was the manager of the you-pick farm and had worked for my mother and Uncle Michael for as long as I could remember.
“It sure is!” I said with a chuckle. “I’ve missed the Montana winters.”
Lou rolled her eyes. “Wait another month, and I don’t think you’ll be saying that.”
Smiling, I took off my scarf, gloves, and coat and started toward Lou’s office to hang them up. “Is Mackenzie here?”
“She has the morning off and is spending it with Bradly.”
That warmed my heart, and at the same time, I felt a strange pain in my chest. No, it wasn’t strange; it was jealousy—plain and simple.
“That’s nice,” I said as I made my way out of her office and down one of the many aisles in the greenhouse.
“Do you want to wait for Emily to FaceTime before we get started?”
Glancing at my watch, I nodded. “Yes, that would be great.”
Emily was Mackenzie’s younger sister, and I’d met her a couple months back when she came to visit for New Year’s. We started talking and realized we had so much in common, and one of those things was flowers. At the time, Emily was the manager of a flower shop back in New York City. I shared with her about my dream of one day owning my own flower shop, and one thing led to another. With the help of her sister Mackenzie, we decided to offer fresh-cut flowers to people by way of a subscription service. We’d grow the flowers here on the farm, as well as on the ranch side, then harvest them and make bouquets in Mason jars to deliver to people once a week, or month, or whatever they chose.
“Do you want me to do anything while we wait?”
“You can prune that row where you’re at, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” I replied as I walked over to Lou and Mackenzie’s workbench. I grabbed the pruning shears and got to work.
“Have you and Emily talked much about your joint venture?” Lou asked as she moved about the greenhouse and watered. Uncle Michael had installed a rainwater catch system for watering, and it also collected snow and melted it.
“We did talk back and forth some when I was in France. I was so busy finishing up there and packing up to move home, and she’s been busy packing up for their move to Montana, so we really haven’t had the chance to sit and plan anything out.”
Lou smiled. “It will all come to you.”
I nodded and got to work. It had always been so peaceful to work on the farm side of my parents’ ranch. I loved having my hands in the dirt and working with the plants. There was something so relaxing about it.
