I dashed the toe of my sneaker against the porch and laughed. “You really are hooked on my shenanigans.”
“We are,” she agreed. “Your dad wants answers, too, but he asks me to relay the information. So, start with the bunnies. We worry about those little guys.”
“Well, don’t. Because the bunnies are living their best lives,” I said. “I’ve been working with Grace’s friend, Olivia, to make a little veggie town for the family, and they love it.”
“She’s the farmer, right?” Mom said. “The one who owns Seeds of Love?”
“That’s the one.”
I told her about Olivia’s recent delivery of items for a small-scale flower bed display. “A wheelbarrow, a picnic table, a statue of a gnome in a pointy hat. It’s all so cute. We set it up outside a hutch, also hers, where the fuzzy bunny family can get out of the elements this winter and stay warm. She filled the hutch with hay, and I removed the string and pie plates from the garden’s perimeter. Grace plans to feed the bunnies when my plants die. Until then, there’s plenty of produce to keep them busy and full.”
Mom groaned. “So stinking adorable. I can’t stand it. What else?”
Then I filled her in on the status of my admirer.
“You can’t go alone,” she said. “He could be deranged.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Ask someone to go with you,” she said. “Just in case.”
I ran through a mental list of people in Amherst I knew well enough to request as a personal protection detail. “I’ll see.”
“Do you think this could be your guy?” she asked, implication of happily ever after thick in her tone.
I sighed. “I’m trying not to.” I was here to break that habit. So why was it so hard?
“What if it’s your soulmate?” she asked.
I kicked a mound of stones. “I don’t know. I guess if that’s true, things will have to take shape on their own, because I can’t keep trying to force an outcome that isn’t meant to be. Maybe I’m just not meant to have what you and Dad have, and I need to get okay with it.”
Mom made a small sad sound. “Oh, hon. You’re meant to have your heart’s desires, so be careful with your thoughts. Sometimes the lies we tell ourselves are the most dangerous ones.”
“Mom.” A lump rose in my throat, and I glanced toward the manor at the end of the lane. “I’ve made some more plans for the bookstore. Do you want to hear?”
“Please!”
I opened my mouth with the intention to outline the barest of concepts for her, mostly to direct the conversation away from my love life. But once I started talking, the words kept coming. My enthusiasm snowballed as I spoke, and I had to force myself to stop. She’d previously assured me that I could make any alterations I wanted once the store was in my name. But hearing my detailed plan to dismantle the shop as she and Dad had made it might be hard for her to hear.
“I love all of this!” she cheered, drawing a shocked smile over my face.
“You do?”
Something tightened in my gut as I thought of Davis. This was the kind of support he should receive from his father.
“Of course! I can’t wait to tell your father. Will you really get a retired greyhound?”
“I think so,” I said. “I’ll know more once I spend some time at the rescue.”
A small noise cracked over the line, and I stilled, listening closely. It took a long moment for me to understand what I’d heard. “Are you crying?”
“No.” Mom sniffed. “I’m just so happy.” She laughed through a loud sob then, no longer trying to hide her outburst. “It’s just that you’ve been unhappy for so long, and when you left I was afraid you wouldn’t want to come home. But instead, you call now, and we talk about the important things, and you’re making brilliant plans for your future. I’m just so proud of you, and so happy to be included.”
“Mom,” I croaked, wiping at each of my leaking eyes. “Jeez. Now I’m crying.”
We spoke for several more minutes before saying heartfelt goodbyes.
I dialed Cecily next.
