Page 90 of Falling for You Again

My brows bounce. “Is that a new Bearism?”

“With the warmth of your company, this evening is bound to become a memory that will linger like a beautiful, hand-rubbed finish. Yep, I guess it is.”

“I’ve missed those, your little life lessons,” I say, and take a deep breath. “I’m sorry I doubted you. I should have known you weren’t selling to intentionally hurt me.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you enough to tell you the truth. We both have some sanding to do, don’t we?”

I laugh softly. “Another Bearism?” He shrugs, a slight smile appearing, and I say, “Despite everything, I wouldn’t trade our family for anything. We’re like a piece of knotty pine—full of character.”

“And just as sturdy. We bend, but we don’t break.”

I bark a laugh and he chuckles, and I rest my head on his shoulder. “I think I’m ready to focus on building something new out of the ashes of the old.”

My uncle nods approvingly. “That’s my girl. Some of the most beautiful creations often come from repurposed materials.”

I lift my head to look at him, feeling my eyes soften. “Love you, Uncle Bear.”

He pats the hand hooked in his elbow. “Love you too, Melisaurus.”

Chapter 27

Waffly Good to Have Friends

Emi has outdone herself. Her waffle bar is an explosion of festive colors and syrupy sweetness, from jellies to nuts and an assortment of sugary toppings with flavored whipped creams.

“What are we celebrating?” I ask.

“New adventures!” Emi slides a platter of waffles that were warming in the oven onto the counter.

“I’ll eat to that,” Shae chimes in.

We load our plates and take our waffle mountains to the table. Tam pours a round of strawberry mimosas. We toast to our hard work yesterday. We’re all sore in super odd places from pushing and pulling and lifting. I woke with a stitch between my shoulder blades and a pain in my hip flexor.

I thank the gals over and over as we stuff our faces, and I get emotional, explaining that, yes, Mom and I are working on our mother-daughter relationship, and surprise! Uncle Bear showed up at the last minute yesterday after they’d all left. I catch them up on what happened between me and my parents and how my uncle had to give up the shop because of my dad, and that later over chowder and beers, Uncle Bear made a confession. He’d taken a long sip of beer and said to me, “I’mnot sorry to see the shop go. Truth is, I’ve been more ready to retire than I realized.”

The admission caught me off guard. “But Artisant was your life’s work.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “It was a chapter, Meli. A long one, sure, but still just a chapter. It was time to start a new one.”

“So you’re not upset with Dad?”

“I didn’t say that.” He paused, staring at the wall over my shoulder as he reflected. “I’m not happy with how it happened or that he and your mother lost their portion of the investment. I think she’s mad enough at him for both of us. I’m just going to let him stew awhile and let him think I don’t want anything to do with him. He’ll think twice before he does something stupid again,” he said with a wink at me.

While I had been out to dinner with Uncle Bear, Shae and Tam edited some of the video they’d taken yesterday and made me a few goodbye reels I can post to Artisant Design’s social media handles before I close those too. We watch them as we devour our waffles, and I’m crying again.

“How is there anything left?” I ask of my tears, laughing into my hands as I wipe my face.

We all laugh and Emi tops off our mimosas.

Shae pours coconut syrup over vanilla-flavored whipped cream. “When do you start at Stone & Bloom?”

“Tomorrow,” Tam answers for me. “Are you sure building kitchen cabinets is what you want to do?”

“No,” I say. “It’s only temporary.”

“Actually, she isn’t starting in cabinetmaking. She’s coming to work with me.” Emi takes the syrup from Shae and pours it over her plate until it puddles around her waffles.

“You’re designing kitchens?” Tam asks me.

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