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I turn back to watch my wife concentrating intently on gluing green leaves onto what looks like a stick she might have picked up in our backyard. My heart squeezes hard again.
Her social media presence used to be photos of vegetables and flowers. Then she let us start putting photos of her up. Now she’s interacting. She’s reaching out. She’s letting some of our people get to know her. But she’s still doing it in a way that works for her. She can sit in our kitchen—I can tell she’s at our center island—and answer questions from her keyboard and not have to get up in front of anyone.
This is…so good.
It’s not traditional. It’s nothing my grandmother or mother has ever done. I’m certain my grandmother does not have email. But this is great. People can see how sweet and intelligent and passionate Abigail is and she won’t have to deal with public speaking.
I take a deep breath. “This is fantastic.”
Jonah claps me on the shoulder. “I thought you’d like that.”
I look up at him. “Thank you.”
“You could have watched it on replay. They’re recording it for anyone who misses it. But I thought you’d like to see it right away.”
I nod. “Yes, thank you for showing me this. But also…for helping protect her. And us. And please thank Linnea. She’s been a wonderful friend to us both. And she’s been so good with our public relations. And not forcing Abigail out into the public eye.”
He nods. “I’ll admit it was self-serving of me to get you a girl in the beginning,” he says with a smirk. “But Linnea is happy too. This is what makes her such a great agent for her siblings. She knows how to make people shine. It’s a gift. She’s wonderful at bringing out people’s gifts and talents. And there’s no question that Abigail has several. It’s just a matter of finding the best way to highlight them. Linnea will be a great agent for the new princess.” He gives me a wink.
I laugh, suddenly feeling lighter. My eyes are back on the screen and I see Abigail smile brightly. I quickly unmute the meeting as she begins talking.
“I’m so excited to see how all of your projects grow and see what we can learn together,” she says to the kids. “Thanks for doing this with me. I love to talk about gardening and growing things, and I never had a group of friends to do that with until I went to college. Then I moved here and besides Prince Torin, I don’t have people to talk to about all of this. I’m so glad I found a new group of friends who are into all of this. Our gardening club is going to be the best.”
And just like that she wins all of the kids, and their parents, over.
They get to call themselves friends with the Princess? They get to tell people they’re in a club with the Princess? Yeah, she’s got a club. But it’s not just a gardening club. It’s a fan club.
And I’m the president.
Chapter 35
Wait ’Til I Tell Ye
On INSTAGRAM
[PHOTO IMAGE is of a brown ceramic coffee mug with a popsicle stick stuck in it and green construction paper leaves glued to the stick]
CAPTION: Lindsey: Okay, I’ll admit it. I tuned in and I made a tomato plant seedling out of paper, glue, and popsicle sticks. Check it out. I’m in the Princess’s gardening club! Sure, I tuned in to see and listen to her and not because of the arts and crafts. It was our first look! But she’s charming and sweet and yes, of course, I’m coming back next week. See you all there!
Chapter 36
Abigail
I’m nearly vibrating.
I know it’s adrenaline and endorphins and all of that but…that was fun.
Linnea answers on the second ring. “Hey, Abi! You were so great!”
“That was amazing! Right? It went well? It felt like it went well.”
“It went really well. It was perfect,” she assures me. “We had a lot more kids on the call than expected! I’m sure some of it was because of their parents’ curiosity about you, but I really think they’re going to come back! I’m really proud of you! Well done.”
I feel warmth bloom in my chest and spread. That feels good. I can’t wait to tell Torin about it. I’m so glad we recorded it. I want to show him.
And I try to ignore the niggle in the back of my mind that reminds me of why I chose tomato plants for the kids to pretend to plant today.
If a few of them really get into gardening, you definitely need to start them with tomatoes because they’ll grow fast enough from seed that you’ll still be here to see their finished crops.
