“You like her?”
I sigh. “Mom, I love you.”
“I love you too, but you could give me something here. I’mdyin’.”
“If I didn’t love her, I wouldn’t be bringing her home forChristmas.”
She gasps. “You love her?”
“I really do.”
“Oh… Oh…”
My father’s voice comes on the line a second later. “Whatdid you do to make your Mama cry?”
“I fell in love,” I admit.
“Well, that’ll do it. Can’t wait to meet her, Cay. If you’rebringin’ her home to your Mama, she must be special.”
I look down at the bag in my hand with a diamond I plan toput on her finger. “Yeah, Dad, she really is.”
ChapterSeventeen
HADLEY
I exhale deeply for the fifth time as we approach ArrowoodFarms. Cayden takes my hand, squeezing as we turn to see the wooden frame atthe entrance above our long driveway. “I have to stop here why?”
“What’s one truth about an arrow?” I ask the sign. Imaginingmy father’s smile as he did to me what my grandmother did to him.
I wonder about her often, if she’s happy in heaven watchingher sons all grown and living lives she would be proud of.
Though I never met her, she is very much a part of ourfamily.
“Hadley?”
I glance at Cayden. “My grandmother was steeped intraditions. She didn’t have an easy life, my grandfather was abusive and…hecaused a lot of havoc in the lives of the people I love. My grandmother,according to my father and uncles, was a saint. She walked on water and lovedher boys more than anything in this world. Whenever they would pull up to thefarm, she would stop at this sign and ask them each the same question…what’sone truth about an arrow?”
“I can imagine as ten-year-old boys they loved that.”
I giggle. “Oh, they did. Daddy says that he would roll hiseyes, and Uncle Declan was the worst. He would try to just stay silent and seeif she would give up, but she never did.”
“I see where you get it from…”
I slap his chest playfully. “Anyway, the crazy part is thatshe knew her kids so well, she imparted wisdom in this truth that would helpthem overcome their own worst fears. So, all of us have them too and while wehave never—not once—been forced to stop and say it, none of us will ever letthem drive without doing it.”
Cayden chuckles. “That’s some reverse psychology right there.”
I shrug. “Maybe in the beginning, but for me, it feels likeI get to know my grandma each time I say it.”
He leans across the center console to kiss me. “What’s onetruth about an arrow?”
“The target might move, but if you move with it, and takethe shot at the right time, you’ll never miss.”
“I like that,” he says softly.
“It’s funny how true it is. My target never stays stationaryand each time I’ve taken that shot, I’ve somehow come out okay at the end.”
“Like with me.”
