Page 85 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
“What was it?” Asher asked.
Tiffany winked. “A new pair of very pretty, very expensive boots.”
“Boots?” Asher asked, cocking his head to the side. “That sounds boring.”
Tiffany and I both laughed as she folded her notebook back up. “Well, I wouldn’t want a toy truck, and you wouldn’t want boots. Doesn’t that impress you? Santa knows how different we all are and still knows exactly what to get us. Pretty cool, huh?”
Asher nodded. “Yeah, that is cool.”
Tiffany wandered off to fill other customers’ cups of coffee as Asher and I colored in his drawing. By the time we were done, it was a brilliant wash of colors, and I told Asher we would take it home and put it on the fridge. Then he moved on to the next sheet.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“I miss having a mommy.”
I nodded. “I know, kiddo. I miss your mom, too. Every day.”
“Lina was nice. I think Mom would have liked her.”
I nodded and tried to smile, but I couldn’t. “I think she would have too.”
34
LINA
Dandelions. There were so many dandelions.
They sprouted up from the grass all around me, their green stalks vibrant and stiff and unmoving in the breeze that swept across my cheeks. I reached for one, pulled it free of the rich brown earth, and watched as it turned into a yellow rose in my hand.
I must be dreaming.
The petals of the rose curled at the edges and then fell off to be carried away on the wind. One after another, they drifted away, being pulled toward something across the open green field that I couldn’t see. They danced in the air in front of my eyes, and I found myself walking barefoot across the grass and soil.
The earth was warm between my toes. Comfortable. Safe.
This place, even though I had never seen it before, felt like home.
As I went, I bent and picked more dandelions, which all turned to roses as soon as they were pulled from their stems. I smiled as music flowed around me, music I could feel rather than hear. It was a gentle, soothing, happy melody, and it sounded somehow familiar.
Like something I used to hum to myself in the shower.
A dark splotch appeared on the horizon. I realized quickly that it was moving toward me. After a few more minutes and more picked flowers, I realized it was a man.
He moved with careful curiosity, and like me, he bent every now and then to pick up a flower. I watched in fascination as the falling petals from my flowers caught on the wind and were drawn toward his.
Where they met, they cascaded around each other, rising and falling as if alive, catching the breeze and following it in swirling patterns up and around each other.
Becoming one.
When I reached the point where the petals came together, I threw my arms out on the breeze and lifted my face to the sky. The sun was deliciously warm. It beat down on my cheeks and forehead and warmed me from the inside out as the petals whipped around me. My giggle got caught up in the wind and echoed in my own ears.
It became impossible to stand still, and soon, I was spinning and twirling as if I could dance with the petals, too.
The man was watching me. And he was smiling.
And he was Callum Gabriel.
