Page 151 of Lavender Lake
“Sure,” I said. “That makes sense.”
“You’ve been thinking about her, too.” She looked at me.
“Hard not to,” I admitted.
“You seem different. Lighter. Almost . . . dare I say, unburdened.”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah. I think you’re right.”
“You haven’t told your job yet, have you?”
“No. Not yet.”
Hadley nodded slowly. “I think you should go back to New York. Permanently.”
“What?” I whipped my head around to look at my sister, my twin. “Why?”
“You’ll get bored here.” Hadley shrugged. “I love it here. I love riding, I love mucking out the stalls and feeding the chickens. But you don’t like any of that.”
“No, I don’t,” I agreed.
“So, what are you going to do here, Salem? Drive Dad to his physical therapy? Finally let Muddy teach you how to crochet?”
“I haven’t thought about it.”
“Youshouldthink about it. Look, I want you to stay. More than anyone. It would be a perfect life for me if you came home. But it won’t be enough for you. At some point, you’ll get restless. You’ll want to move on, move away.”
“Are you saying I can’t want something different?” I asked.
“I’m saying that I know you. And this won’t make you happy. Not long term. And that’ll kill me. Watching you wither and grow resentful.”
“Mom settled here,” I pointed out. “Nomad spirit and all. She found a way to be happy here.”
“She had a purpose,” Hadley said gently. “Outside of Dad. Outside of us. She was a vet and she had her practice. What do you have, Salem?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“Don’t worry about—are you kidding me? All I do is worry about you.”
I took her hands in mine and forced her to face me. “That’s not your job anymore. You don’t need to worry about me. You need to take care of yourself and the baby. You need to be happy and in love.”
“Yeah right,” she muttered. “I’ve always worried about you. That’s my job. That’s who I am.”
“Then do me a favor,” I said. “Put it out of your mind for now. Because tomorrow is all about you and Declan and the start of your life together. That’s all you need to think about.”
She smiled. “I’m getting married tomorrow.”
“You’re getting married tomorrow.”
“It’s strange, you know? Being so happy, but missing Mom so much.”
I swallowed. “Yeah.”
“I wish she was here.”
My eyes slid away from my twin sister to peer out at the family ranch behind us, the tent visible from our spot, the nicker of horses in the barn audible.
“She is, Hadley. She is.”
