Celeste moaned a little bit, and Lindy was up and at her side in a flash. “Hey, Aunt Celeste,” she said. “What’s the matter?”
“I think I broke my back,” Celeste replied. “We might want to look into that.”
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” Lindy took her aunt’s hand. “Can I get you anything?”
“A massage. That would really be awesome, thanks.”
“I’ll get you one as soon as I can.”
“Thanks. You’re a doll.” Celeste passed a hand over her face. “What time is it? How long until they give me happy juice and put me to sleep?”
Lindy glanced at the clock. “Not for a while—about sixteen hours.”
“Are you serious? Women have babies quicker than that.”
“Yeah, but the specialist is out of town and he’s on his way back right now.”
“And we should probably wait for him, right?”
Lindy chuckled. “Yeah, we probably should.”
“All right, fine.” Celeste paused. “So, you got everything squared away at the shop?”
“Sure did, and you missed something hysterical. Doug Wall came by, and Ambrosia scared him off.”
Celeste blinked. “Doug Wall came by?”
“Yeah. He was feeling sorry for himself because he’d driven up from Denver.” When Celeste didn’t reply, Lindy said, “Are you okay?”
“Just thinking. Are you sure I shouldn’t sell?”
Lindy huffed with exasperation. “I thought we’d been through this.”
“We have been, but that was when I just had a back injury. Now it’s actually broken, and I keep thinking that it’s a sign.”
“It’s a sign that you probably rushed using the shower chair! Come on, Aunt Celeste. You love your shop.”
“I do love my shop. But I’ve loved it for years, and I’m wondering if I shouldn’t start loving something else now.”
Lindy glanced at Alan over her shoulder. He shrugged—he didn’t know what to say any more than she did.
“Let’s talk about it tomorrow, all right? Once you’re out of surgery?”
“You know we won’t talk about it tomorrow. You’ll want to wait until I’m out of pain, and then you’ll want to wait until I’m walking. You’ll keep putting it off, and we can’t put off the hard conversations, Lindy. We have to face things. I don’t think you want me to sell, but you’re right. We’ll at least wait until after the surgery.”
The nurse came in to check Celeste’s vitals, and Lindy sat back down next to Alan. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to talk her out of this,” Lindy said in an undertone. “She seems pretty determined this time.”
“Are you sure you should be talking her out of it?”
Lindy exhaled. “I don’t know. If we’re look at this purely from the standpoint of her health, yes, she should sell. But there are other variables too—and I don’t know. I have a headache.”
Alan reached for her hand and started rubbing it. “It’s not your job to have all the answers,” he said after a moment. “She’s an adult, and she’ll figure it out. Plus, your mom’s here, and she can be a sounding board too. This weight you’re carrying—it’s not actually yours to carry.”
Lindy wasn’t expecting the tears that sprang to her eyes. He was right—of course he was. But she liked to fix things. She was a fixer. “You know what?” she said at last.
“Hmm?”
“You’re Colonel Brandon.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Actually, I’m pretty sure my name is Alan Murray. I can check my birth certificate if you want, but yeah, I’m pretty sure.”
“No, silly. From the movie Sense and Sensibility. Haven’t you ever seen it?”
“Are you talking about the Emma Thompson version, or the newer one put out by the BBC? They each have their good points, but one can never top Alan Rickman in the role.”
She gasped in mock dismay. “You . . . you stinker. I’d slug your shoulder if you didn’t have ribs. I mean, injured ribs. You know what I mean.”
He grinned. “I deserve it. Now, go on with your analogy. This is quite interesting.”
“Well, it’s like this. At the beginning, Marianne’s head over heels for Willoughby, but Colonel Brandon is calm and steady, and he’s absolutely wonderful and takes care of everyone around him. I admit, for a whole lot of my life, I’ve had a crush on Dusty Quinn, but then you came along and you’re just . . . you’re absolutely wonderful and you take care of everyone. You’re a Colonel Brandon.”
“Hmm. You know what’s even more interesting about that analogy?”
“What’s that?”
He gave her hand a squeeze. “It’s Colonel Brandon who gets the girl in the end.”
Chapter Ten
Alan had planned to find a way home after he made sure Lindy got squared away at the hospital, but he found he couldn’t leave her just yet. He took a nap on the couch in the hotel room and grabbed a clean shirt at a nearby store. He needed to see the outcome of the surgery before he left.
Lindy and Joan held each other’s hands as the orderly wheeled Celeste’s bed from the room, then they all walked down to the waiting area together. They could have stayed in Celeste’s room, but the waiting area was closer to the OR, and somehow that seemed to make it just a little bit easier.
They got settled into their seats, and Joan grabbed the remote control and flipped off the TV. “I can’t handle a home renovation show right now,” she said. “All those open concepts and gray walls—I just can’t.”
Alan leaned over and whispered, “What’s wrong with open concepts and gray walls?”
“Nothing,” Lindy replied. “She’s just saying that life shouldn’t be going on as normal right now.”
That, Alan could understand.
An hour into the surgery, Lindy got a text. “It’s from Trix,” she said, her eyes lighting up. “She says that all the charges have been filed and processed, and her case is moving forward.”
“That’s great news,” Alan replied. “I know sometimes those things take forever.”
“Her brother’s very motivated to keep on it until this one’s pushed through.” Lindy looked over at her mother, who was standing by the window and staring out at probably nothing. “When my case went south the way it did, my parents were devastated. They wanted every form of revenge they could get, and when I was the one to lose my reputation and not him, it broke them. Trix needs justice.”
“Have you ever looked him up? Curious to see what became of him?”
Lindy shook her head. “Nope. Not at all. He doesn’t deserve my time. He already took a chunk of my life away—he doesn’t get more.”
“Amazing women must run in your family. I would say amazing men, too, but I haven’t met any of them yet.”
“We’re all pretty amazing, actually.” She grinned. “So, you want to meet the men in my family?”
“I want to meet every relative you’ve ever had or think you might possibly be related to in any way.” His tone was light, but his intent was serious—he wanted to be part of Lindy’s life. He’d spent just over a week with her, and in such a short amount of time, he knew this was where he was supposed to be—by her side.
She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I think you’re the one who’s amazing. Be right back. Ladies’ room.”
She disappeared down the hall, and Alan pulled out his phone. He studied the programmed numbers for a moment, then stepped outside and dialed. “Hey, Dara? Yeah, it’s me. Yes, I’m planning to come home for Thanksgiving.” He paused. “Do you have a minute? I want to talk to you about something.”
***
The surgery went longer than the specialist anticipated, and to add to the gloom, it started to rain. Lindy couldn’t sit there another moment—she had to get out.
“Mom, text me as soon as you know anything, all right? I’ve got to take a walk or something.”
Joan’s eyes flicked at Alan. “I’m coming too,” he said, pushing to his
feet.
“Thank you,” Lindy said as they walked down the hall. “You’ve got to be exhausted.”
“Yes, but that’s what the couch in your hotel room is for, right?” He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Celeste is going to be fine.”
“I know that, but I don’t know that.” Lindy pushed through the doors and stepped out into the fresh air. “Smell that rain. Absolutely nothing in the world smells like that.”
“Agreed.”
When she stepped out from the safety of the overhang, Alan didn’t stop her. He simply walked along beside her as she followed the cobblestone path, letting the drops of water hit her neck and trickle down her back. She didn’t feel wet—she didn’t feel anything. She just needed to think.
Throughout her life, all the roads had led right back to Quinn Valley. Her parents had loved her and done every single thing they could for her, but she’d needed to plant herself somewhere else, and they’d understood. Celeste had been her safe haven, her planter box where she’d bloomed. If something happened to her aunt . . .
No. Nothing was going to happen. The surgery would be successful, even if they had been in there an hour and a half longer than they’d said.
Finally, Lindy’s phone buzzed with a text, and she snatched it from her pocket. “She’s out of surgery,” she said, waving her phone in the air. “She’s out, and she’s in recovery.”
They retraced their steps as quickly as they could and entered the building only to be stopped halfway across the lobby by a nurse. “You can’t track all that water in here,” she said. “What did you do—go puddle jumping?”
“I’m sorry, but my aunt just got out of surgery, and I need to see her,” Lindy said, a sob breaking her voice. “Please. I know we’re making a mess—bring us some mops and we’ll clean it up. But we’ve got to go in.”
The nurse pursed her lips. “I’ll grab you a couple of towels, and I’ll call housekeeping. Wait right here.”
With the promised towels wrapped around their heads, Alan and Lindy continued on to the surgical wing, where they found Joan in tears. “She’s going to be all right. We knew she would be, but now we know,” Joan said, wrapping Lindy in a giant hug.
“See?” Lindy said to Alan over her mother’s shoulder. “I come by it honestly.”
He didn’t reply. He just leaned against the doorjamb and grinned, toweling his hair.
***
Two days had gone by since the surgery. Alan actually did hitch a ride with a UPS truck and had gone home to get some rest, but he’d promised he’d come back the next day. Celeste was still in a lot of pain, but she had her sense of humor, and the doctors were very pleased with her progress.
Joan was taking a nap at the hotel and Lindy was taking a turn with her aunt when Celeste patted the bed. “Come here a minute, hon.”
Lindy obediently sat.
“It’s time to have that hard conversation, Lindy.”
“I was hoping that with all the surgery drugs and whatnot, you’d forget all about that.”
“I’ve got a mind like a steel trap. Let’s talk about this. Everything in life goes in cycles. Remember the scripture about times and seasons? I’ve had a wonderful time with Scentiments, but its season has come to an end. I’m not very old, but I’m certainly not very young, and it’s obvious that my recovery from this is going to take a long time. I can’t ask you to stay on—you’ve got classes to take and a life to live. It’s time for us to contact Mr. Wall, Lindy. He’s a little odd, but he’ll take good care of the place.”
“I told him to his face that I would never let you sell to him,” Lindy replied.
“Oh, you did?” Celeste chuckled. “He annoyed you that badly?”
“Worse. Such things must not be allowed.”
“Then we’ll find another buyer. But this can’t continue, hon. We both know it, don’t we?”
Lindy pressed her lips together. She wondered if she had the courage to say what she was thinking, what she’d started thinking about in the rain and hadn’t been able to stop thinking about ever since. “Here’s the thing, Aunt Celeste,” she said at length. “You have always been my rock. You’ve been my strength. You gave me a place to hide, and then you gave me a place to start over. Scentiments isn’t just your store—it’s part of my healing, and that had nothing to do with essential oils or lotions, but everything to do with you. You’re the shop, and the shop is you, and the shop is me. You’re in me. We’re all knit together. That’s why I can’t bear the thought of you selling—it would be like losing a piece of my soul.”
“For me too,” Celeste admitted, wiping away a tear. “But I don’t know what else to do.”
Lindy continued like she hadn’t heard her aunt’s comment. “I’m dropping out of school, and I want to come on board as your partner,” she said. “Yes, I love animals, but I’ve never loved anything like I’ve loved the shop. It fills up my heart. It makes me happy. These last two weeks, even though I’ve only run it at partial capacity, it’s been such a blessing to me, and I want to get my hands in there and try new scents and hold sales and give everything a fresh coat of paint. I want to sink into it and let it sink into me. Please don’t sell, Aunt Celeste. Please let me do this.”
Celeste reached out and grabbed Lindy’s hand, her cheeks sodden with tears. “Of course,” she said, sniffing. “Of course. This is the perfect answer, and it’s what I’ve always wanted, but I thought your heart was set on becoming a veterinarian.”
“My heart’s set on finding my way, and this is my way,” Lindy replied. “So . . . is that a yes?”
“Yes, it’s a yes, you silly girl. Now get down here and give me a hug.”
Lindy squeezed her aunt as tightly as she dared, grinning at how similar it was to hugging Alan. Well, only the need to be careful. Hugging her aunt was absolutely nothing like hugging Alan in just about every other way she could think of.
Chapter Eleven
“Not bad, not bad,” Lindy said as she watched Celeste take a few steps with her walker. A male nurse stood beside her, holding tight to a belt he’d put around her for stability, but for the most part, she was holding her balance on her own.
“Five steps today, and we’re going to call that good,” the nurse said. “We’ll go for six tomorrow.”
“I don’t know. I think she’s kind of rocking that wheelchair,” Lindy said. “You should just keep her in it forever.”
“Not on your life, missy,” Celeste said. She turned to Joan, who was grinning in the corner. “You promised me ice cream.”
“Sure did.” Joan took hold of the handles on the wheelchair. “Let’s head down to the snack bar.”
Lindy watched them go with a smile on her face. The last few days had been tricky where Celeste was concerned, but she had nothing but hope. The natural stubbornness that ran in the family would see them through this too.
She’d been inside most of the day, and a walk sounded nice. She grabbed her sweater, then headed for the front doors, eager to catch some whiffs of autumn smells and feel a chilly breeze or two.
As she stepped outside, she saw Alan walking toward the building, along with a pretty young woman.
“Hey there,” Alan said, wrapping her in one of those gentle hugs. “How’s Celeste today?”
“She’s doing great. She asked about you this morning.”
“Well, here I am, and I brought someone along with me,” He stepped back and motioned toward the girl. “Lindy, this is my sister, Dara.”
“Hi, Dara. Did Alan make you play chauffeur today?”
Dara smiled. “Yes, he did. I don’t mind, though.”
“I can’t wait until Friday—that’s when I taper off the strong meds and can drive myself again. Still can’t lift boxes, but baby steps, right?”
Lindy reached up and touched his cheek. “Don’t be in too much of a hurry to get back to work. I like the scruff.”
Dara cleared her throat. “Should I just wander off somewhere
while the two of you make eyes at each other?”
“You could, or we could go to lunch,” Alan said. “Your choice.”
“Food,” both girls said at once, and they headed off.
When they reached the restaurant, Alan requested their most private table, and after the orders were taken, he glanced at Dara. “I brought my sister here for an important reason, Lindy,” he began. “Not just to drive me around, although that’s pretty handy.”
Lindy looked at Dara curiously. “Oh? What else is he making you do? His laundry?”
“No, although I would if he asked.” Dara played with the wrapper of her straw. “He told you what happened to me.”
“Yes, he did. No details—just enough that I know he cares about you.”
Dara smiled. “Well, he’s told me a lot about you—and I know for a fact he cares about you.”
Lindy knew it too, but her cheeks still felt warm. It was nice to hear it from his sister, who was probably a little bit more objective than she was at the moment.
“Thing is, Alan called me the other day, and he told me about this amazing girl he’d met, and how impressed he was by everything she’d gone through, and he wanted me to meet her. So here I am.” Dara shrugged. “But then he asked me if I’d ever considering getting counseling.”
Lindy almost held her breath as she waited for Dara to continue.
“I can’t do everything you’ve done, Lindy. I can’t press charges—I just can’t. But Alan and I have spent a lot of time talking over the last two days, and I think I’m ready to see a counselor. I couldn’t before because everything was so raw and . . . I just couldn’t, but now I want to see if I can find myself again. I got lost in the middle of all this, and I miss myself.”
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