“J.P., wait.” Tillie jogged up. “Show me what this surprise is, and I’ll see if I’m willing to help you out.”
Optimism—just a shred, but that was all he needed—ballooned in his chest. “That means so much, Tillie—”
“Don’t get your hopes up yet, buddy,” she cautioned, but added a glimmer of a smile when she said, “This better be good.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Nora put on the yellow dress April had given her. She’d wanted to save it for her upcoming photo shoot, but the frock was cheery, both in bold color and style, and she needed a little of that in her life. Even if she had to manufacture it through her clothing choice, she would settle for joy in whatever form was available to her.
She’d stopped checking her phone like a crazy person days ago. He wasn’t going to call. That was embarrassingly obvious. The hardest part was that he still didn’t know the truth. If he had, his avoidance would at least have some justification. No, J.P. was avoiding Nora of his own volition. Whatever romantic façade they had operated under was effectively switched off, like the water valve on a faucet twisted all the way tight.
She had to give him an ounce of credit, though. He hadn’t ignored her totally. At least he gave her the courtesy of an impressive range of creative excuses.
Nora didn’t know Waylon well, but she was aware he wasn’t a high maintenance dog. Yet somehow, the pup demanded all of J.P.’s time and attention. Every reason for avoidance revolved around the dog’s busy schedule and incessant grooming needs.
Nora thought about reaching out to Pearl, but that would involve coming clean with the fact that she hadn’t told J.P. about her involvement in the fire yet. Pearl was a kind woman, the sort that cared about others in obvious ways. She ran a community garden to grow produce exclusively for the local food bank, and that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to her concern over her community members’ wellbeing. She had a big heart and capable hands.
But she wasn’t soft, and she would be firm with Nora, prompting her to do the right thing. Goodness, Pearl would probably drive Nora right over to J.P.’s apartment and stand there, waiting while she delivered the long-overdue confession.
So now J.P. was avoiding Nora and Nora was avoiding Pearl. It was a twisty cycle of evasion, and Nora wasn’t sure how long she could keep it up.
Not with the Sunshine Days Summer Festival quickly approaching.
The whole town would come together. Neighbors and relatives and friends—all of Harmony Ridge. It was an event not to be missed. Still, Nora wondered if it might be best if she didn’t attend at all.
For a heartbeat, Nora had assumed her partnership with J.P. for the face painting booth would be the one thread to keep them together. The single reason they would need to play nice and work as a team. She even texted J.P. about it, but her question was lost in his long-winded reply about Waylon’s spa day. He whirled right around that topic, leaving Nora in a fog of frustration and utter confusion.
Her garden wasalive that afternoon. Nora’s honeybees scattered like dandelion wishes in the heavy summer air and monarch butterflies and tiny, little hummingbirds bounced flower to flower, reminiscent of a child’s game of hopscotch. There was a small kernel of pride taking root in Nora’s chest as she witnessed the heartwarming scene, aware this was mostly her doing.
When she had inherited her grandmother’s farmhouse, the landscape was barren, just old cow pasture that hadn’t been grazed or had a hoof trample its soil in years. Nora had mapped out the space for the garden first, then brought in her bees, delineating the area with decorative fencing and climbing plants that created leafy barriers over time.
Connor had said it was silly to focus on such a small segment of the property. He’d suggested an Olympic-sized lap pool with tons of hardscape decking surrounded by over an acre of artificial turf. Low maintenance and good for resale. That was his only criteria.
Nora’s criteria had been a little more specific: to create something that would bring life back to the land.
Sure, Nora had done little to the rest of the acreage since, but this garden patch was a veritable slice of heaven. It was an ecosystem, a fully functioning space for pollinators of every kind. To have even a small hand in starting it—and in keeping it going—was affirmation and approval, and Nora needed that in her life right now.
She sat on her bench, face upturned like a sunflower toward the golden rays stretching the sky overhead. Warmth glided through her, a hug from Mother Nature herself. Deep breath after deep breath followed until the calming scents of the lavender blooms soothed her senses like a breathable balm. She finally felt the languid rest of relaxation that had eluded her for weeks.
When her gaze inevitably moved to the Callahan property, she didn’t let her eyes linger on the burned rubble of the old house. Instead, she peered past the charred remains of the structure and toward the gardens Scarlett and Miles had planted months earlier. The space where Miles had dropped to one knee and asked for Scarlett’s hand. Thankfully, those flowerbeds were just out of reach from the fire’s destructive path, and the prospering plants still stood proud in the distance, a beacon of light and growth despite the decimation surrounding them. Nora knew the ramshackle house itself held little sentimental value for the couple, but those flowerbeds harbored precious memories that meant more than the empty fixer upper ever could.
It was an unlikely landscape—this contrast of despair and hope. Nora knew if Pastor Blakely put his mind to it, there was a sermon tucked somewhere in that wreckage. If she dug around in her own heart a little, Nora could piece out her own life lessons.
Opportunity.
It was just one word, but it landed in her mind with all the force of an incoming summer storm, drenching her thoughts with warmth and truth.
There was the opportunity for Miles and Scarlett to create something new, an unexpected chance to rebuild from the ground up with a new vision and resolve.
There had been an opportunity for forgiveness, one the couple hadn’t hesitated in taking. They were overly generous and understanding when J.P. had jumped to take the blame, pushing all guilt aside.
Nora had her own opportunity now: the chance to clear J.P.’s name.
Things were different in Harmony Ridge than they had been in his past places of employment. There weren’t pitchforks here. There wasn’t an angry mob ready to slander his business and the good name he’d worked so hard to restore.
But Nora knew it didn’t matter that J.P. didn’t have the hurtful words of others to riddle him with guilt. He could summon up enough of his own to effectively do the job.
And she wasn’t going to let that continue.
