Page 33 of Love's Harvest
“It would be a help to have you here.You could have fun dressing up and handing out candy to the kids who come through the store,” said Sarah.
“Now that my dad is home, I’ll do it,” said April.“He and I have had a long talk, and we agreed to make our own decisions, not rely on my grandmother to tell us what to do.He’s only been home a few days, but he’s changed.I like it.”
“That’s wonderful,” said Sarah.“Thanks for agreeing to help for Halloween.It’s a big deal in town and thrilling for the younger kids.”
“I didn’t get to do much last year.I had to stay home to hand out candy to the kids in the neighborhood.So, this year will be fun.What should I dress up as?”
“Anything you want as long as it isn’t too scary,” said Sarah.
“Okay.I’ll think of something,” said April smiling.
Wyatt appeared.“Do you have anything heavy that I need to move for you?My work downstairs is done for the day.”
Sarah noticed the way Wyatt was trying not to look at April and how he couldn’t stop himself from doing so.Playing along with his request, she said, “Nothing heavy to move, but you can restock some of the shelves up here with items we just checked in.”
“Okay, no problem.Glad to do it,” said Wyatt.
April smiled at him, and his ears turned red.With his blond hair, blue eyes, and muscular body he was awfully cute.
Sarah showed Wyatt where to place things and then she went to her office so the two young people could be alone.April was fully capable of doing the work without Sarah’s supervision.This would be a test for her.
Luke followed her into the office and lay down on the rug.But his ears continued to twitch as conversation between April and Wyatt took place.
Watching him, Sarah’s lips curved.“Luke, you’re the best dog ever.”
He gazed up at her and thumped his tail against the rug.
She thought of all the changes in the last couple of days and was amazed at how normal her “new” life seemed.
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Sarah got ready to attend the grief support group she’d signed up for.She was lucky she had parents who could watch the girls for a couple of hours while she went to it.They’d used babysitting as a lure to bring her back to town but were faithful about following through.The girls adored them and rightly so.They were wonderful grandparents.
It was a cool and rainy fall night.Sarah wished the girls and her babysitting father goodnight and then walked to her car parked in her driveway.She had a one-car garage that had some old furniture stored there.Unloading it was another project for her to do now that she could face making those changes.
She drove to the Unitarian Church sitting in the middle of town and parked.Sitting inside her car, she drew deep breaths.She was someone who held her feelings close to her.She’d tried the group right after she moved back to town but wasn’t settled enough in her mind to want to confess a true part of her feelings.Now, she hoped she was ready.
Inside the church, in one of the social rooms, she found a small group of people and was surprised to see April’s father there.The others appeared to be older.She unclasped her hands and realized this might be easier than she’d thought.
Blake gave her a nod in greeting, and she went and sat down in the empty chair beside him so she wouldn’t have to stare at him from across the circle of chairs.
“I’m surprised to see you here,” he said to her.
“It’s been a while in coming, but I realize I need to do this.I like the idea that anything spoken here will be honored as confidential,” said Sarah.
“Me, too,” said Blake.“I’ve kept a lot of feelings stuffed inside, tried to escape it.But April needs her father, and I intend to stay.”
“What will you do here?”asked Sarah.“Aaron and Brad Collister own the Meadows and are always in need of help if you have any skills they can use.”
“I’m renting a house, but I intend to buy one in town.I could use their ideas for renovation,” he said.
“Oh, in that case, you’ll want to talk to Dani, Brad’s wife.She’s an architect and is fantastic at designing additions and upgrading homes.Have you found a house you like?”
“I have an idea I’m developing for housing,” he said.“As far as a job is concerned, I have a degree in financial management and was doing that kind of work for a company outside Boston before my wife died, and then I sort of crashed and burned.”
“Do you want to continue in that line of business?”asked Sarah.
“No,” said Blake firmly.“I purposely chose to hit the road and get as far away from a corporate lifestyle as possible.Now, because of April, I want to be home with her every night.These are difficult years for any child, and she’s had way too much to deal with.I thought it would be helpful for her to be with another woman, my mother.But as close as they sometimes are, April needs a different homelife.”He shook his head.“I uprooted April from her school and handed her off to my mom and ran.I’ve been pretty screwed up.”
