Ella and Dove pulled on boots and coats and headed out the front door.
“Grandpa’s back hurts,” Dove said softly as they headed to the car.
“Yes,” Ella said.
“He doesn’t like to talk about it,” Dove said.
“No,” Ella said. “But we can help him by being gentle and doing as much ourselves as we can, right?”
“Right,” Dove said. “But can the doctor fix him?”
“Some things are hard to fix,” Ella said.
Her dad had herniated discs in his lower back, and while injections had helped a couple of times, she strongly suspected that he was at the point where he had to think about surgery now. But of course he wouldn’t even discuss it.
She wasn’t sure if he was afraid, or didn’t think they had the money, or both. But it hurt to see him in pain and trying to hide it. He’d worked so hard all his life. He deserved to enjoy himself.
“Does Dalton live with us now?” Dove asked.
“He’s going to stay with us for a while,” Ella told her.
“What does that mean?” Dove asked.
“I’m not sure,” Ella admitted. “Is that okay with you?”
“He’s nice,” Dove said, nodding. “He let me put faces on the pancakes.”
“I told him that breakfast was Grandpa’s job,” Ella heard herself admit out loud. “It probably wasn’t very nice of me.”
“But Grandpa’s back hurts,” Dove said. “Maybe he needs a rest.”
“Well, I have a feeling Dalton’s back is going to hurttomorrow,” Ella said. “I remember my first sweet potato harvest.”
She had woken up the next day feeling like she couldn’t move. And the only medicine for it was more harvesting.
“Can I help?” Dove asked.
“If you want to help out after school, maybe we can give some of the potatoes a bath,” Ella offered. Washing the potatoes was fun, and it helped them look nice in their crates at the farmers market.
“Yeah,” Dove said happily.
By the time they pulled up at the school, Ella was feeling better about things.
Dove gave her a big hug and then hurried off with her backpack, golden ponytails swinging with the rhythm of her sprint.
She’s getting to be so independent,she told Lee in her mind.I wish you could see her.
She pulled out onto Sycamore and made a left on Ambler. Her task in the village wouldn’t take long. She’d told her father she had an errand to run mostly to get him to take a break.
But thinking about how she’d felt after her first harvest reminded her of the perfect thing to grab while she was in town.
And maybe it’s a bit of an apology too,she thought to herself.
On the corner of Ambler and Park was Gabriel’s Pharmacy, the most iconic shop in Trinity Falls. Ella pulled into a nearby parking spot, put some change in the meter, and headed onto the sidewalk.
Trinity Falls was beautiful in every season, but Ella especially loved the fall and winter.
Right now, the sandstone sidewalks were decorated with fallen leaves, wet from the rain. The brilliant colors lifted her heart, even though they made the walkway a little slippery.
