“Happy birthday, Sis,” Daphne said loudly, setting the little box on the counter next to me.
“What’s this?” I asked, surprised.
“A slice of birthday pie. Cherry streusel. Your favorite. There’s even a candle in there so you can make a wish.” She leaned forward and gave me a quick squeeze.
“You remembered.” I was touched.
“And there’s an envelope waiting for you at home,” she added. “It’s a round-trip ticket to Costa Rica from Damien and me, if you want to come visit?” Her sentence ended on a question.
I understood the gift for what it was. A peace offering and an invitation to come see her new life, to be a part of it. “Can I come in January when I’m desperate for some vitamin D?” I asked with a smile. “And can I drink fruity cocktails out of halves of coconuts?”
Her face broke into a grin. “Come whenever. You can have all the coconuts and vitamin D you want.”
Across the room Damien gestured for her, calling her name over the happy din. His hands were full of dirty pie plates
“I better go,” she said. “Damien and I are on cleanup duty.”
I blew her a kiss. “Love you much,” I said.
She caught the kiss and pressed it against her cheek, grinning. “Love you more.”
I watched her go, feeling proud and grateful. I was sad she was going far away, but glad she was following her own bliss.
“Are you going to make a wish?” Eve asked, gesturing with her ginger ale to the box with the slice of pie in it.
I opened the top of the cardboard box and looked at the candle stuck in the latticed top of the pie. I’d honestly never liked lemon meringue. Mom had made a cherry streusel pie like this one every year on my birthday, just for me. It was my favorite. I pulled out the candle and sucked the jammy filling off the waxy end. What did I want to wish for? I closed my eyes and thought of Aunt Gert and what she’d told me about finding her own way. I wanted that too, more than anything.
“Help me follow my bliss,” I whispered, the words equal parts hope and prayer. “Show me how to seek joy and give joy to others. Show me what comes next.”
43
What came nextwas shoveling goat poop.
The day after I handed over the keys of the Eatery to the new owners, I moved part-time to Vashon, taking Eve up on her offer to stay. It was early May, a perfect time to enjoy the rural respite of the island. Daphne had just left with Damien to start her yoga certification in Costa Rica. Dad had improved significantly and could now manage on his own with a little help from Ramona, and Aunt Gert was around to keep an eye on Dad if he needed something when Ramona wasn’t there. It was time for me to move on. The problem was, I had no idea what exactly I was moving on to. While I waited for inspiration to strike, I helped Eve with the goats. I’d been here a few weeks, and it was proving to be a therapeutic effort.
“When in doubt, shovel shit!” Eve said cheerily, coming out of the house with two Mason jars of clear green liquid. “It clears the mind.”
“And the sinuses. Phew! This stinks.” I brushed a wisp of hair back from my eyes and dug my shovel into another pile of dirty straw. The goats bleated and tried to nibble the tops of my rain boots and generally made nuisances of themselves as I cleaned their pen. It was hard,smelly work, but I was glad for the manual labor. It got me out of my own head and let me focus on something tangible, a welcome break from the existential wrangling going on in my mind.
Eve leaned over the girls’ pen and handed me one of the Mason jars. I took the jar and set down my shovel. Time for a breather. I let myself out of the pen, and we stepped out of the barn into the bright sunshine. Spring on Vashon was glorious. Most days were in the seventies with a light breeze. Everything was green and blooming. It felt like heaven on Earth.
“I’m getting ripped biceps.” I grinned. I sniffed the contents of the Mason jar. “What’s this?”
“Mint-grapefruit kombucha,” Eve said. “My newest concoction.” She liked to experiment with brewing kombucha and kept a huge glass jar of it in the pantry with a floating black fungus thing on it that looked like a jellyfish. I took a sip.
“Pretty good. It needs a low note, though. Ginger maybe?”
Eve tasted her kombucha. “You’re right.” She took another sip. “You’ve got a good palate, Lolly. You have a knack for combining flavors that really work together.”
I nodded and took a long swallow. “I’ve been having a thought about that.”
“Oh?”
“I told you about the business I had created when I was with Rory, right? Lolly’s Pops?”
Eve squinted in the sunlight. “Organic popsicles, was it?”
“Botanical popsicles with flowers and herbs. I saw a pamphlet in the home office advertising them the day I spent in Florida. The pictures were beautiful, and the flavor combinations were really unique. You can see the petals suspended in the popsicles. It was a creative idea.” I took another sip of kombucha.
