“Would you sell your soul, Ashwin Tailor?” Maggie asked him sternly.
“I don’t know anymore,” he said.
“I think you’d better sleep on all of it,” Maggie told him. “You’re at a crossroads right now, and you won’t have these choices again.”
“I think it might be too late,” he breathed,his heart shattering all over again as he heard Allie’s words in his mind, her pain evident from her broken tones.
“We’ll see,” Maggie said. “I don’t envy you, young man.”
Looking over at the sweet woman in her simple dress, her skin tanned and lined, and muscles strong from working long hours on a farm all her adult life, he knew to his bones that she was telling the truth. Shedidn’tenvy him. She was living exactly the life she wanted, and it had nothing to do with money.
“You really are one in a million,” he told her, shaking his head.
“So I’m told,” she chuckled. “But I think you’ll find there are an awful lot of one-in-a-million type folks around here.”
“How do you do it?” he asked her. “You raised six kids and you’re running a farm, and you’re still so happy. That can’t be easy.”
“Life is compromise,” she agreed with a smile. “You figured that part out already. But when I was younger, I made a habit of asking myself each night if I was satisfied with how I spent my day. And if the answer was no, then I did what was in my power to do a little better the next day.”
“That’s it?” Ash asked.
“That’s it,” she said, rising from the sofa. “Speaking of which, I’d better get out of your way. It was a pleasure to spend the evening with the little lady. She’s awfully smart and she has really happy energy. Reminds me so much of Allie at that age.”
Ash couldn’t help smiling at that. He walked Maggie to the door and helped her on with her coat.
“Get some sleep,” she said, patting his cheek before she headed out the door. “Things are always clearer in the morning.”
The next day,Ash awoke early as always.
He had made some of his best decisions in the still of the morning, waiting for the sun to rise.
But as he opened his eyes, he thought about Maya’s future and realized there was only one decision to make.
Ash grabbed his planner before he even got out of bed and jotted down a list of everything he needed to get done.
By the time his plans were made and he’d done his morning exercises and showered, the sun was up.
It was time.
He was going to make his dreams a reality, no matter what it took.
24
ALLIE
Allie sat at one of the small tables in the ice cream shop, looking out the big front windows at the park across the street.
Small children were playing by the swings while their parents and caregivers chatted on the benches. Couples walked hand in hand, and shoppers greeted each other on the sidewalks, shifting bags heavy with gifts from one hand to the other as they talked.
But in spite of all the happy hustle-bustle, she couldn’t keep her eyes from the pavilion, where Ash had spoken with her and slipped that pretty ring on her finger.
It was all pretend,she reminded herself.
“Two maple creemees,” Charlotte said, sliding into the seat opposite Allie’s and blessedly distracting her from the view.
“Hey,” Allie said. “Thank you.”
“What’s a favorite sister-in-law for?” Charlotte asked, quirking a brow before digging a spoon into her treat.
