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She nodded her head. “He was. Pete said that there had only ever been one woman who stole his heart away and, after her, no one ever compared. He often said that he had messed it all up pretty bad with her, and he had lost his chance. It never felt right for him to move on.”
I was reminded of the letter that was in the drawer in my house.
My heart thundered in my chest, as I listened to her speak of Peter. I came to a stop at a nice-looking double-story home where Arnie stood at the front door.
“He called her Lily, but that wasn’t her real name. He refused to tell me her real name, but he did tell me that a Lily was one of her favorite flowers.”
My breath caught in my throat. My mother’s favorite flowers were lilies. It was one of the reasons I loved them so much when I was a kid. I don’t remember my mother smiling often, but there were rare times when she would buy lilies. She would smile.
“I think he was talking about my mom,” I whispered, but my voice came out loud. “She loves lilies. They are her favorite flower. She said they reminded her of a time of her youth when life wasn’t so tainted.”
She was silent for a moment. “Well, your mom is deep.”
I let out a low laugh. “If you knew that woman, you would not be saying that.”
To be honest, I knew very little about my mother and Richard. I had decided to stop addressing Richard as my father now, seeing as he had made it abundantly clear that I was not his blood.
We exited my car and made our way to Arnie who stood on the wrap-around porch of the house. The house was something out of a movie. It had that old southern feel to it that just felt homey and inviting.
“Maddie,” he greeted me, and then he looked to Danny. “Danny, so good to see you. How is my little man Axel?”
“He’s good. He’s turning one in two months.”
“My God, where has the time gone? I still remember you pushing out the little rascal not long ago.” He let out a soft chuckle. He sobered up and then looked to me again. “So from what you have seen, how do you like it?”
“I love it, if I’m being honest. I’m not used to this kind of stuff, seeing as I grew up surrounded by concrete walls, but I love this. It’s so open and fresh and peaceful.”
Arnie hummed his agreement. “That it is. This was where Pete spent the majority of his time. He found that this was the place he could find solace in. Come, let me give you the tour.”
After a few hours of touring the land, I was caught up to speed on all the workings of the ranch. I had learned that this Ranch was called Lily-Bird Sanctuary. He had named the place after my mother. I wondered if my mother knew that Pete had still carried a flame for her or had her greed for money blinded her?
There was a whole zoo here. There were chickens, cows, horses, pigs and there were even goats and llamas. And Danny had helped to manage all of that. I knew now more than ever that I needed her on board with me.
I wanted to keep Peter’s dream alive, and I didn’t want to let his legacy die because it was a part of my legacy now.
“I will see you tomorrow, Maddie. I just wish Pete had been here to walk you down the aisle.”
I gave him tight-lipped smile but didn’t say anything. Of course, I would have loved to meet my biological father, but I wondered if he would have liked who I was as a person.
Even in death, people talked so kindly about Pete. He was a good and kind man. Whereas my face was plastered on New York tabloids talking about how I was unapproachable and an ice queen. I was the complete opposite of who he was.
I wondered if, maybe I had been raised in Riverroad by him, would I have turned out differently? Would I have been softer to the world instead of calloused and cold?
Danny and I walked back to my car, and I pulled out of the driveway of the house and down the winding road to the gate.
“Penny for your thoughts?” I could feel Danny’s stare on me.
“I just wonder if Peter would have liked me. He was so kind and selfless. I’m not exactly a ray of sunshine on a warm day.”
“You’re right. You aren’t but you are real, and I know Pete would have appreciated that for sure. Real is hard to come by in this day and age.”
“You two were close, right?”
“Yeah, I worked for him since I was about 16/17. He was always kind to me and was kind of like a second dad to me. He died just before Axel was born which broke my heart, but at least he got to name him.”
“He picked out Axel’s name?”
I saw her nod in my side view. “He did. His full name is Axel Peter.”
