The timer on the oven went off, and his mother went over, put an oven mitt on, and opened the door. The kitchen soon smelled absolutely delicious, and Gilbert’s mouth started to water. He needed to get in better shape though, because while he put all of his effort into building his business, he neglected his health. And he’d definitely gained some weight. Of course, he figured moving to the farm would help with that as well.
“I think my kids are going to be spoiled. They’re going to expect to walk into a kitchen that smells like baking cookies and have a warm tray of the same sitting on the counter waiting for them.They’re going to be disappointed when we move out and that doesn’t happen anymore.”
“Larissa is an excellent little baker. I think she might be excited to get her own kitchen. And I remember Mrs. Labach threw some wonderful parties. I was in the kitchen a couple of times, and it’s gorgeous. Larissa will not be disappointed.”
“Well, I can’t thank you enough, because I know she didn’t learn to bake from Desire.”
He clamped his mouth closed over anything more. He always tried to say only the very best things about Desire. He didn’t want to dishonor her memory in any way. He wanted his children’s memories of her to be happy. After all, she was their mother, and they didn’t need to know that she was a cheater. He had gotten over it himself. If she hadn’t been diagnosed with cancer, it’s possible that they would have gotten divorced, but in his eyes, God had saved his children from that, and now it was up to Gilbert to keep the secret.
“It’s been a joy and a pleasure to have the children. Honestly, I’m a bit sad that you’re going to take them. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled that you’re going to be home so much more and the children are going to see you. They need that so much. But… The house is going to seem so empty without them.”
“You have Isadora.”
“True.”
Isadora and her three children were napping currently. Isadora had had her baby in March, and it had been a healthy baby girl. She had gotten her divorce finalized in June. Those had been hard months for her, and she still struggled now, in October.
“She’s not doing so great,” Gilbert said.
“People said the same thing about you last year this time. And pretty much all year. Not everyone understood why you had to spend so much time away from your children, and they talked.”
“I figured they would. But I had to be able to support my family. It’s my job to provide.”
“I know, son.” His mother put up her hand. “You don’t need totalk to me about it. I supported you all the way. I did feel bad for your children, but you were in an impossible situation. With the embezzlement that had gone on, plus the neglect from you taking such great care of your wife… Something had to give. And I think you made the right choice, keeping the kids in the school system here and leaving them with me. I am not perfect, but I did the best I could, and I don’t think anyone ever loves like a grandmother does.”
“You could be right about that. Although, I love those kids pretty fiercely myself.”
“I know you do. And now, it’s your time. So, I’ll be a little bit sad, but I know I’ll see you guys again and plenty. And you know you’re welcome here anytime.”
“We’ll have to establish a regular game night or something. That way, you can look forward to it, but it won’t overwhelm you. You do deserve to have a little bit of a rest.”
“If God wants me to rest, He can take me to heaven, and I’ll rest there. But as long as I’m here on earth, God has work for me to do, and I’m going to do it with everything I have.”
His mother put a cookie on a plate and set it in front of him without asking if he wanted one.
He couldn’t resist a warm chocolate chip cookie, so he picked it up and started eating. But he was going to get back in shape, lose some weight, spend more time with his children, and…do all the things that he knew he should do but hadn’t had time for the last year.
He did admire his mom. She lived what she believed better than anyone he knew. He hoped when his children got older, they could see the same thing about him.
Chapter Four
“Are you ready for the tour?” Jane asked as Gilbert got out of his car and met her at the front of the house.
“I’ve been looking forward to it,” he said honestly. He hadn’t said anything to his children the night before. He figured that if some of them were up this morning, he might invite them to go, but they were all sleeping in, so he let it go. He didn’t want them to get their hopes up for nothing. After all, there might be something wrong with this property. He wasn’t going to buy a property that needed a lot of attention.
Also, the words that his mother had said had spun around his head the night before. They loved Summer, their counselor, and he wasn’t sure how they would feel about buying this property. Excited or aghast. Either way, he didn’t want to deal with the reactions until it was a reality or at least until he was sure he was going to be putting an offer on it.
Of course, he told Jane to come prepared to write up an offer for him, because if he liked it, he was going to jump on it. In this market, properties didn’t stay for sale long before they got snapped up. And he wasn’t going to lollygag around.
“All right then, let’s get started.”
He glanced to the right, where, beyond the barn, a woman with a long blonde ponytail worked with a really pretty horse. Not that he knew anything about horses, he just knew this one was nice to look at. And she seemed to know what she was doing, as it trotted around in a circle with her holding some kind of rope.
She didn’t look up at him, and he watched her for a couple of seconds without fear of being found out. It was like she was deliberately ignoring them.
“That’s the owner, Summer Labach,” Jane said in a whisper, as though the woman could hear her, despite the fact that there was probably one hundred yards between them. “The info on the property says that she will vacate the premises for showings if she can, but she makes her living from working on the farm. So she can’t leave just any time. I believe she is a horseback riding therapist.”
“Yeah. I didn’t know if that was her or not. My kids have been in therapy here for more than a year, since before my wife died. Obviously I never brought them here.”
