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Laney shook with silent laughter as she nodded. That wasn’t a worry for her at all. “No, it’s perfect. I thought you were going to sell the farm and I didn’t know how to ask you why.”
“Oh, honey, no.” Claire leaned back and smoothed her hand over Laney’s face. “I don’t want to replace the stove if they want to renovate, you know?”
Buddy nosed at Laney’s knee, wanting in on the emotional cuddle. She made room for him, then asked her mom, “And where will you go?”
Claire smiled. “Wherever I want. I might move into their house in the short term. Or stay here, if you wouldn’t mind having a housesitter. And I’ll look for a nice apartment in town. Maybe I’ll travel a bit more before my knees go.”
“That sounds amazing.” Laney kissed her mom’s cheek and hugged her tight.
That night, after a big family dinner and a double-header movie night, where the kids picked the first movie and the grown ups picked the second one, Bean unexpectedly asked if she could spend the night at Aunt Evie’s house. So Laney and Kyle unexpectedly had the school house to themselves.
They walked Buddy up and down the lane a few times, then sent him to his bed beside the tree. Laney told Kyle what her mom was thinking about the farm, and he echoed all of her own thoughts. “When is she going to tell them?”
“I assume tomorrow morning.”
“That’ll be fun.” He caught her hand and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “Hey, speaking of gifts…can I give you one early?”
“Is it private? Naughty? Not for mixed company?” She bounced her eyebrows up and down.
“You wish.” He sprawled in front of the tree and tugged her in between his legs, putting her back against his chest. “It’s sweet. And I don’t want it to be rushed past in the chaos of tomorrow morning.”
“Okay.” She smiled up at him. “I have a present you can open tonight, too.”
He kissed her temple. “You first. Grab that big one there. The heavy looking rectangle.”
She leaned over and grabbed it with both hands. It felt solid, and yes, very heavy.
Resting it across her thighs, she ripped the wrapping paper open.
Inside was a wooden sign. In the centre of it was the silhouette of three people. Two grown ups, and a growing girl. Around them were the words, The House on Memory Lane. And two dates, ten years apart.
“Oh, wow,” Laney breathed.
“This will always be where you let me win you back,” he murmured. “This is where my most favourite memories are made.”
“I love it.” She twisted around enough to kiss him. “I love you.”
He smiled down at her. “Can I take you upstairs, wife?”
“Not yet,” she said, her heart skipping a beat. “Your present first.”
She scrambled away to grab it, and he took the sign, setting it against the coffee table. When she came back, he was sitting up on the couch. She sat in front of him on the floor and leaned against his knee. “Here,” she said. “It’s what I found in the attic yesterday.”
He took the compact package and carefully opened it, revealing a project she made in the only art class she managed to take in university around her pre-med program.
A snow globe.
“Where did you get this?” he asked, turning it around in his hands, making the snow swirl like it had all day.
“I made it.”
He looked at her in surprise. “Really?”
“Yeah. It was my last art glass. We sculpted the people inside, and then worked with the glass art students to pick the right colour for the globe.”
“Oh, yeah, it’s kind of blue, isn’t it?”
“Like a winter sky.” She bit her lip. “It’s us.”
