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Before she could comprehend what was happening next, a pair of strong, scrawny arms were thrown around her waist.

Freya hugged her tightly, sobbing lightly on her shoulder.

Alana glanced up at Leo, arms held out, unsure of what was happening.

He nodded his encouragement, then made his way down to the guest shed with her things to give them some privacy.

She tentatively wrapped her arms around Freya. “Frey?”

“I’m so sorry,” Freya admitted. “When I told you to leave, I didn’t really mean it. I didn’t think you would take me seriously.”

“Why would I not?” she pressed back, hands on her sister’s shoulders. “I would do anything to make you happy.”

“Don’t you get it, Alana? I never wanted you to leave! I wanted you to fight me and convince me that you wanted to stay home. I don’t want to go through the pain of having you gone ever again. I was trying to protect my heart by being so hard on you, because I couldn’t fathom the idea of you leaving this place one more time.” Freya cupped Alana’s wrists with her hands. “I realized you were right. When you were gone, it was so much easier to bury myself in the work of keeping this place running. Then when you came back and you started taking things off my plate, I…I felt like I was losing my sense of reality. Seeing you every day reminded me so much of her and how she was not here, and it…it broke me.”

Seeing tears running down her sister’s cheeks was so uncommon, the sight was unsettling. Alana wiped at them with her sweatshirt sleeve. “You’re not broken. You’re sad, and you’re finally getting the space to grieve.”

“I don’t want to grieve. I want to work. I want to feel okay.”

Alana fixed a flyaway bang that was getting in Freya’s eyes. She needed a trim, and she noted to offer her one later. “And you will. Slowly, over time, you’ll feel a little better. I’m not an expert, but this summer I learned that the only way to handle your grief is to let yourself walk through it. I ignored it for three years too. Except ignoring it only brought me right back to where I started. Emotionally, and physically.” She cocked her head, a smile turning up at the left corner of her mouth. “Although I’m happy it did. It brought me back to Papa and Bean. To Leo. To you.

“After Courtney died, and then Mom got sick, I spent a lot of time angry at the soil. I thought it betrayed me. I thought the magic was punishing me for my mistakes. But I think after all of this, I learned there’s a lot more to it.”

Freya sniffled. “Like what?”

She glanced out at the fields. Without the fruit, the color of the grape leaves started to turn, from lush green to green-yellow with golden tips. Soon they would be lush with fall colors before they dropped to the earth and the vines went to sleep. Another harvest finished. Another season to prepare for.

“Having a truly beautiful day is one thing, but having a day where something could go wrong? I learned that having that contrast gives our lives deep meaning. It reminds us how lucky we are to have what we have, and to enjoy it for as long as Mother Nature will allow.”

She focused back on her sister. “I know we have a long way to go, you and me. But I promise I’ll do whatever I can to mend what fell apart, and to be there when you need me.” She sucked in a breath, then let it out slowly. “As long as you also promise to be patient with me when I inevitably fail too.”

“I promise.” She wiped at her face. “I won’t be perfect, but I’ll try.”

Alana lifted a pinky finger to her sister, brow raised. Freya took it like it was second nature, a motion they’d performed countless times. They each kissed their hands to seal it.

“That’s all I can ask for,” Alana replied.

She wrapped her arms around Freya’s shoulders and pulled her tight in a hug. Freya cried some more in her arms, and for the first time in many, many years, Alana comforted her sister. She rubbed her sister’s back and whispered over and over that everything was going to be okay.

Eventually Freya pulled back, then lightly shoved Alana’s shoulders. “Really, Alana? How the hell were you going to get to the bus station?”

Alana threw up her arms with a laugh. “I don’t know! I hitchhiked the last time. I figured I could do it again.”

“In the middle of the night?!”

“Well, yeah!”

Freya clicked her tongue. “For a woman who can be really smart, you definitely have your dumb moments.”

“Aw, you think I’m smart?”

She shoved her playfully one more time. “Don’t let it get to your head.”

Alana threw an arm around Freya as they made their way up to the house. “Too late.”

Freya was the first one to recognize Alana wearing the opal ring. She pointed at it when they all sat down for dinner hours later.

Alana lifted her hand, letting the opal stone sparkle underneath the kitchen light. “I haven’t worn it a while.”