And there was nothing like the scent of damp soil and leaves to bring her back to her childhood. Mom and Dad had brought Ella and Andy to the village for every fair and festival. She remembered bobbing for apples at the Halloween Hop and sitting under a big tree on the library lawn while volunteers read stories. Whenever there was a spooky one, Andy would hold Ella’s hand, knowing she would be scared.
You’re still with me,she told her big brother.I’ll never forget a moment of it.
She felt another twinge of sorrow that Dove didn’t have a brother or sister to share her life. She and Lee had wanted lots of kids, but he’d gotten sick not too long after Dove was born, and growing their family then had been out of the question.
She slipped into the store and headed for the aisle she had in mind.
“Little Ella Bennett,” a lady’s voice called out.
Ella MacLaren, she wanted to correct them, but of course people here mostly knew her by her maiden name.
She turned to see Ginny Davies standing behind her. The older lady was smiling and holding a small plastic Christmas tree.
“Hi, Mrs. Davies,” Ella said. “How are you? How’s Sylvester?”
Ginny’s daughter-in-law and grandson had moved to Trinity Falls last winter. And no one had been happier than Ginny when Cora remarried. She and Jared Webb were super happy, and Sylvester seemed to get a real kick out of being with his new stepdad.
“He’s doing just fine,” Ginny said with a big smile. “I get to see him all the time now.”
“Dove and I are happy to be home too,” Ella told her.
“Why would anyone ever leave Trinity Falls?” Ginny wondered out loud.
“Ginny,”another lady called out impatiently from the next aisle.
“I’d better go,” Ginny said. “We’re picking up a few things to decorate the teachers’ lounge over at the school.”
“That’s wonderful,” Ella told her. “It was nice to see you.”
Ginny and her two best friends, Betty Ann and Shirley, had been practically running the town ever since Ella was a schoolgirl. From town events to fundraisers to organizing help for families that needed it, the trio seemed to have the whole town in the palm of their hands. Ella wasn’t a bit surprised that it wasn’t even Thanksgiving yet and they were already making plans to brighten Christmas for the teachers.
She hurried to grab what she needed from the shelves and even impulsively picked up something extra off an end-cap display.
“How’s it going, Ella?” the checkout girl asked politely.
Ella knew it was one of the Jones granddaughters but couldn’t remember which one to save her life.
“Great,” she replied. “How are your grandparents?”
“Awesome,” the girl replied as Ella paid. “Getting ready for Thanksgiving.”
With her purchases tucked in a bag, Ella hurried back out to the car.
Dalton would be working hard, but he was still new to the harvest, so she didn’t want to miss much time in the field. If Mom was right they might have a real chance to get things done a little faster this season with a third set of hands.
If he sticks around that long,she reminded herself.
She drove back through the village, past the community college with its gorgeous pin oaks and sweet gums blushing peach and red, and the brilliant yellow of the sugar maple leaves drifting down like snow.
The suburban homes north of the campus spread out and melted into farmland as she turned onto Route One and thought about how many times she had taken this trip since childhood.
How long can things stay the same?
But of course things didn’t stay the same, not really. People moved through your life, and other things changed all the time. The highway was coming in, and soon the little town might grow in ways that made it unrecognizable.
The thought gave her all the more reason to enjoy things as they were right now.
Harvest time was hard work, but it meant a chance to spend weekends at the farmers market. And of course she would bring Dove to Cassidy Farm for pumpkins, and pies, and pots of the brilliant chrysanthemums Mom loved to have to brighten the front porch of the farmhouse.
