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Roy did as she said as she shut the door. She walked overtook the couch and sat and then swept out her arm for him to sit on a recliner.
"This flowers are lovely," she said.
"Do you think Beverly will like them?"
"I do."
Mrs. Young smiled, her gaze leaving the flowers to drift over to Roy. "You know, Beverly is a wonderful girl. She's been working since she was old enough. She... Her father and I and Beverly, we were all saving up money so that we could go on a trip of a lifetime. We were all going to go to Europe, exploring and sightseeing. I... I suppose you know the my husband passed away."
"I do," Roy said softly. "I'm so sorry. I hope you and Beverly will still go on that vacation."
"Maybe one day. I think both of us might want to stay close to home, but... Did she tell you I'm a traveling nurse? It's not the easiest of jobs, and Harry and I, my husband, we decided that we didn't want to move around from job to job once we had Beverly. Yes, as a construction worker, he could've picked up and moved easily enough, I suppose, once his jobs finished up, but Beverly with her schooling... Harry and I talked many times about my just coming back and being a more traditional nurse in the canyon here, but why I lost about the traveling aspect is that I go where help is truly, desperately needed. There's nothing like knowing you are truly making a difference in the world."
"That sounds wonderful."
"It is. I mean, maybe one day, we will be able to see the beaches of Italy, the rolling hills of France, see if there is hustle and bustle of London at night like one of my patients claimed. Have you ever traveled abroad?"
"I've never left the country," Roy said. "I haven't been to many states either."
"I've been to all but five of them."
"Alaska? Hawaii?"
"Hawaii was where Harry and I went for our honeymoon. As for Alaska, I did a three-month stint there. I haven't been to Montana, South Dakota, Arkansas, Colorado, or Ohio. I suppose at this point, I might see if I can get jobs at all of them, even if only for a few weeks, but... not just yet. Beverly needs me, I think, and I... I need her. In between jobs, I would come home for a period of time, and when Beverly was in school, during the summer, we would try to survive on just Harry's income so that I could spend most of the summer here with them. I... I just wish that I would've done that more. I'm not ashamed to say I have some regrets. A job... one you love... it's a blessing, but sometimes, it does require a sacrifice."
"I'm sorry," he murmured.
Mrs. Young waved her hand. "It's on me, and it's what Harry and I settled on as the best for us, so... but every time I spend time with Beverly, I'm amazed. She very much is her father's daughter, and I love her to pieces. She's always had a wild imagination but was hardworking student in both grade school and high school. She knew she had to make grades if she wanted to go with her father out to his work. Her motivation... no one is motivated like she is. She's as passionate as can be."
"I can tell."
"Although, I will say, there was a few times teachers would call to let us know that even though Beverly was doing well in their classes, that she would sometimes get too caught up in her own world that she was having a difficult time staying focused on her classwork."
Roy laughed. "Maybe it was the fact that she wasn't engaged in the material? But that she still would do well in the class is great."
"How were you as a student?"
"I did well enough. I struggled with English the most. I didn't like to write essays. Generally, I do better speaking than I do writing."
"Beverly didn't care much for English either," Mrs. Young said. “One of my favorite memories is one time when Harry got sick. I nursed him to sleep, and it was in August. Late August. Just before school was to start again, and I asked Beverly if she wanted to go for a walk, but she said no, took my hand, and we went out to the backyard and lay down on the grass and just watched the lightning bugs dance around us in swirls of life.”
With each story Mrs. Young shared, Roy got an understanding of who Beverly was and why he felt so connected with her. He could see why she was so desperate to keep Nails R Us going, not just for her father and his memory but for herself. She and her father had shared the same goal. Beverly wanted to pursue something that gave her passion, something that made her feel alive. He could see why working at Hidden Creek Orchard meant so much to her. It showed how despite all the struggles life threw at her, no matter how difficult things got, she still held onto hope that one day everything would work out for the best.
ChapterTwelve
Once Beverly was finished with work for the day, she texted her mom to say that she was going toe a bit yet. There was something Beverly wanted to do before heading home.
She wanted to visit her father.
For the most part, Beverly didn't like cemeteries. Maybe it was because she didn't like to think about herself dying, but after what happened to her father, she didn't like the idea of losing anyone else in her life. She had even been afraid for her mom on the flight home, but it wasn't as if her mom was going to drive how many hours to get home on a rental car. That would've been crazy.
Living in fear was no way to live, but that wasn't the issue.
Beverly was consumed by grief.
There were times when she could see the sun shining, when the grief wasn't oppressive and made it feel like she couldn't breathe. The moments especially seemed to come for her when she was with Roy or anytime she was in the thick of work.
But that simple phrase Roy had said... he had had no idea the storm of emotions he had triggered within her.
