Page 39 of Lovewell Lane

Through the reflection in the mirror, I watched Margo give Tessa a look. Tessa giggled and reached for Margo’s outstretched hand. I lifted the bag of supplies and my cooler to pack it in the truck. Margo stepped over to grab the remaining box, and we all headed outside.

“What’s your wish for summer, Margo?”

Margo bit her lip while thinking. “My wish?”

“Mhm, everyone gets one!” Tessa said.

“Is this a seed party thing or a fairy thing?” Margo asked. Her head tilting my way told me she was directing the question toward me.

“Seedling Party. It’s tradition to make a wish for the summer ahead as you plant the first seed.”

“In that case, maybe, my wish is that the Honey Festival will go on? That happens in the summertime, right?” I clenched my fists around the steering wheel. Of course, she would say that. She always knew the perfect thing to say.

“That’s my wish too,” Tessa agreed solemnly. “Daddy, do you think it will happen?”

“You’ll have to make your wish and see, honey.”

We all pitched in to decorate. I made sure Margo had decorations that didn’t require any ladders, which meant my job was hanging up the streamers. The barn was where we typically had work meetings and stored our farm equipment. Today, its primary purpose was a celebration, so we needed to dress up the weathered wood into something more cheerful.

I overheard Tessa excitedly telling Margo all about the Seedling Party traditions. Margo seemed just as enthused about the prospect of bringing luck to the farm as Tessa was. It was all just to bring people together, really. The traditions didn’t actually mean anything.

I finished hanging streamers and climbed down to find Margo braiding Tessa’s hair. Margo looked up at me guiltily. “Sorry, we’ll get back to work, this will just take a second.”

My heart warmed at the sight of Tessa sitting happily for Margo. She hated it when I did her hair most mornings. Apparently, I was too heavy-handed despite my efforts to brush as softly as possible.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re almost finished,” I soothed.

Spending the morning like that with just the three of us did a lot to calm my nerves. Margo mostly spoke with Tessa. She kept her entertained while I finished preparing food and drinks, and they both helped me carry it all back to the barn.

Maybe having someone else around this one time wasn’t so bad.

People started arriving, and my peace quickly disappeared. Sam arrived with Lila and Sienna in tow, the latter ditched us to run up to Tessa immediately. I was happy Tess had a best friend, I don’t know what I would’ve done growing up without Andy.

“It looks great,” Sam said. “We came a little early to help set up, but it looks like you have it covered.”

“Margo helped,” Tessa said proudly. She ran over, pulling Sienna’s hand with her, to give Sam a hug. “Our wish is for the Honey Festival to happen this summer.”

Sam shot me a look. I was grateful he pushed so hard to make sure we gave it one last effort. Though, next year, I wasn’t sure how I’d break it to her that her wish wouldn’t change anything.

Lila handed me a basket of rolls. “Thanks for inviting us, Sienna has been so excited.”

“Of course, you’re always welcome,” I gruffed. Small talk wasn’t my best skill. I knew it wasn’t Lila’s either, which worked to our benefit. She was the only person outside of my family that I trusted with Tessa, we had an unspoken friendship because of our kids.

More people arrived, and my confidence waned. I think around the twentieth handshake, I was done. I retreated to the corner of the barn to pretend to do something on my phone. Which was a dead giveaway I was hiding, because I hated my phone.

Margo walked up to me. “Looks like everything is going well.”

“Uhuh,” I muttered. Looking around, people had started setting up lawn chairs all around the barn and outside. The fold-out tables that I set up were surrounded by people ready to plant the first seeds of the year.

“Should we make an announcement… that the seed planting can begin? I’m new to this stuff.”

“Right.” I’d completely forgotten. Usually, my dad would give that sort of speech, but this year he was noticeably absent. I stood up to go find him. “Seen Slick anywhere?”

“No,” Margo said. “Want me to look?”

“It’s fine. You can stay close by. Maybe it will fend off Mrs. Nelson.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Do tell.”

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