“Mom invited him to dinner tonight, hoping to break the ice for you, but he said that would be too much pressure for you and Dylan,” Violet informed me.
I scoffed, feeling incredulous. That was too much, even for my mother. “Pressure? Ya think?” I responded in my second language—sarcasm.
“Lily, please don’t be mad. We’re just trying to help.” She glanced at me before Calla twisted and pulled her hair again, adding levity to this conversation and preventing me from losing it completely.
“I’m not mad exactly. I just forgot.” I sighed and reflopped back on the couch. “I forgot what it’s like to be here in the thick of it with all of you. I forgot what it’s like to have you all in my business every day.”
Dad laughed. “Lily-girl, we missed you. You’ve been gone a long time, and you’ll be the focus for a while.”
“How am I going to tell Dylan that his birth father is here in town?” I said, letting my frustration at this impossible situation go. For now, anyway.
Dad smiled at me and hugged me into his side. “You’ve been honest with him his whole life about who his father is. Just stick with that and tell him straight out. That kid is smart beyond his years. He can handle it.”
“You make it sound so simple.” This would not be simple. I was already flipping out about the possibility of seeing Luke again.
“Being honest makes things simple,” Dad said with a smile and stood up. “But it won’t be pretty if we’re late to dinner. Let’s head out. Girls, don’t take too long.” He winked at me and Violet, then went over to Dylan’s table, ruffled his hair, kissed his cheek, and headed for the door. He climbed into his police SUV—Dad was the chief in Sweetbriar—and drove off.
“Lily, I have to close up. We’ll meet you at the house.” Violet finally gave me my baby back with a longing look then headed to the counter.
“Come on, Dyl. Let’s go to Grandma’s. Later, guys!” I called to Finn and Nick.
Chapter 3
Lily
Iknew the exact moment that this place had stopped feeling like home. I had come back for Christmas break right after Luke had broken our engagement and gone back to Afghanistan. That day, I’d looked around and seen nothing but memories of a life I’d still wanted but could no longer have. Every time I came home after that all I could see were ghosts of the past.
The thought of driving all day, then seeing my entire family was exhausting. I wanted to go home, take off my bra, eat ice cream, cuddle my kids, then go to bed. But I had missed my family, so I agreed to dinner. It only took about ten minutes to get from Violet’s shop to my parents’ house, but that ten-minute drive was like traveling into another world. The road snaked out of a small town full of shops and activity and into mountains dotted with pine trees and covered in mist.
“Mommy, it smells clean. Like the tree hanging in Papa Jed’s car but way better. I think I can smell the sun and the sky up here. Can you smell it too?”
“Yeah, baby, I can. It smells like home to me.” I had grown distracted by the memories that started to rise in my mind, just like the misty sunshine we were driving up into.
“I can’t wait to see Grandma. She’s making me a chocolate cake. She told me she’s going to set the world record for the number of layers. It might even reach the ceiling. Don’t tell her I already ate snickerdoodles. I don’t want to hear the words, ‘Too many sweets will give you a tummy ache.’”
I smiled at him in the rearview mirror. “I’ll keep your secret. But just this one time. After tonight, the ‘too many sweets’ rule is back in effect. Deal?”
“Deal. Too bad Calla can’t eat the cake. When will she be able to do stuff? She’s so boring. She just lies there and poops and burps and gets drool everywhere. She’s sort of gross.”
“Aw, she’s cute too. Admit it,” I teased.
“I guess so. I like it when she smiles at me. It’s too bad she doesn’t have a dad anymore.”
I froze in my seat. “Are you okay, bud?” It had been over a year since Will died. Dylan’s grief was no longer as overwhelming as it had been in the beginning. But it still popped up in random observations that made him realize the finality of Will’s absence. Sometimes it still hit us both hard.
“I miss Daddy Will, and I was remembering when he showed me how to ride a bike the last time we were here. Then he put me up on his shoulders and I could touch the bottom of the super tall trees in the yard. Who’s going to teach Calla?”Daddy Will? Not justDaddy?
“We can both teach her. We’re great bike riders.”
“Yeah, but you’re really short. No way you can help her touch the trees.”
“Grandpa will be there. And you have four uncles who can reach them. They used to climb those trees all the time. We’ll make new memories together, Dylan.”
“Okay, but IrememberDaddy. Calla won’t ever be able to remember him like I do. It’s not fair.” His voice trembled like he was close to crying.
“It will be our job to tell her all about what a great man he was.” Now I was about to cry. At this point, thinking of Willwas mostly bitter and hardly ever sweet. As time moved on, hopefully, the balance would shift.
“Okay, I can do that. Mommy, is my dad Luke back in this town now?”
