That night as I lay in bed, I thought about everything that Ali had told me that afternoon. I remembered about all the years I’d spent blaming her and running. Refusing to return to my hometown, because I was afraid of what would happen if I saw her again. All the years of wasted time.
I picked up my phone from the nightstand and hit Ali’s name. It rang a few times before I heard her voice, soft and relaxed.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, fine. I just . . .” I rubbed my forehead. “Would I sound like a wuss if I said I just wanted to hear your voice before I went to sleep?”
She laughed. “Do you care?”
I thought about it for a moment. “No, I don’t. Actually, I just wanted to say thank you, for telling me everything you did today. I know it was hard. But I do appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. It felt good to get it out.”
“I’ve missed talking to you before you bed.”
She sighed. “Flynn, you haven’t talked to me before bed for a long time.”
“I know. I’ve missed it for a long time.”
“What are we doing?”
I paused, considering. “I’m not sure, but I think we might be . . . finding our way back.”
“Back?” I heard a rustling, as though she were shifting in the bed. “Do we want to go back?”
“You might have a point. What if we’re finding our way forward?”
“It’s still scary as hell.”
“That’s why we’re finding our way. No big leaps, no rushing. Just . . . taking our time.” I sensed I’d pushed enough for one night, so I added, “How’s our daughter tonight?”
“She crashed early, right after you left. She always had a lot of trouble falling asleep, did I tell you that? But lately, she’s been doing well. Anyway, she told me she had a wonderful time at girls’ night. She said Grandma put cream on her hands that smelled like roses, and Aunt Iona gave her a special hair treatment, and Aunt Maureen painted her toenails. She was in seventh heaven.”
“Mom was, too. She said they laughed and played until late. Everyone loves Bridget. Oh, I forgot to tell you, she and Graham actually got along today when he was over. I caught them playing like real, live cousins out in the backyard. Bridge told me she was teaching him how to play Robinson Crusoe.”
“That sounds like her.” She yawned. “Quite the imagination.”
“I should let you go to sleep.”
“Morning comes early. Thanks for calling, Flynn. Good night.”
“Good night, Ali. Sleep well.”
FLYNN CALLED ME AT bedtime every night that week. We didn’t talk about anything deep; sometimes, I only told him about what Bridget had been up to and maybe a few stories from the stand that day.
“You still like working at the stand?”
I thought about it for a moment. “I do. I know it’s kind of mindless, but I like meeting new people and talking to our regulars. I think Sam and I are going to start doing some advertising—Rilla Grant’s going to handle it for us.”
“That’s exciting. You know, Ali, what you and Sam have done with the farm is pretty incredible. When I think of the two of you, having that thrust on you as young as you were, it just blows my mind. You should be proud of it.”
“I think we are. Sometimes I worry that we let it take too much priority. Last year, Sam almost lost Meghan over the farm.”
Flynn made a noise of surprise. “Really? How’d that happen?”
“Oh, you know Sam. He has an overdeveloped sense of responsibility. And he thought Meghan wouldn’t want to live here. She thought he didn’t love her. They were a mess. I was ready to slap them both silly.”
He was quiet for a heartbeat. “Sometimes people have trouble seeing what’s right in front of them.”
