A Wildflower Summer

by Caroline Flynn

  Nancy answered on the third ring, calling Jason by name. She had call display, then. The woman sounded far more awake than he’d been when he answered Lily’s call. Just as he suspected, they had one room available—and only one room, which was pure luck considering the area’s population seemed to triple this time of year—and she would be ready and waiting for them when they arrived. He had a feeling she would have made room even if there hadn’t been an available bedroom.

  As he spoke into the phone, Jason took aimless steps, moving for the sake of doing something. When his gaze rested on the back passenger window, he stopped. The little girl in the car seat faced the window, though her eyes were closed. She reminded him of one of the porcelain dolls his mother used to keep on a shelf in the downstairs rec room, smooth and elegant and fragile. Her blonde corkscrew curls could have been fake, they were so perfect. Carlie’s hair was curly, but it was hurricane curly, as his mother had fondly referred to it, every curl doing its own thing, some tighter than others. Lily’s daughter was the personification of angelic as her chest rose and fell softly with each easy breath.

  Jason knew better than to believe the cherub-like mask—he had been a father long enough to know that even angels delighted in a little devilishness now and then—but, still, the sight of her, with long lashes and high cheekbones that brought out her resemblance to her mama, was enough to give him pause.

  He needed to help this little girl and her mother. The desire to be useful propelled him forward. Jason thanked Nancy for the third time and hung up.

  ‘You’re all set,’ he announced. ‘There’s a room waiting for you at the bed and breakfast in town.’ He turned away from the window.

  Lily let out a sigh. ‘That sounds great. Thank you for making that call. Are you sure you don’t mind giving us a ride?’ She ran a hand through her hair, the straw-colored strands loose with a subtle wave.

  ‘Unless you’re up for a little nighttime stroll.’ His mouth curled up at the corners.

  ‘Only if you come with us to show the way,’ she countered.

  Humor, he thought. That’s a good sign. The woman had suffered enough unexpected blows tonight that he wouldn’t have faulted her for being a little ornery if she felt so inclined. He definitely preferred the amusement, though.

  He shrugged. ‘Walking’s not really my thing, if I’m being honest. It’s—hmm, what do you call it? Oh, right. Exercise.’

  ‘Guess I’d better wake Eden, then.’

  ‘Should I get earplugs from the truck?’

  Lily turned, a grin forming on her lips. ‘Do you have two pairs?’

  He stifled a laugh, shaking his head. ‘Nah, I guess if you’ve got to deal with the high-pitched wails of a rudely awakened preschooler, I won’t let you go through that alone.’

  ‘My hero.’

  He knew she was kidding, but Jason refused to kid himself. He didn’t want to be anybody’s hero, regardless of how nice it sounded on her lips.

  Lily walked around to the passenger side of the car, then paused. Jason could almost see the wheels of her mind whirling. She looked to him, to the car, then to his truck and back again, assessing it all. ‘You’re going to tow the car in the morning?’

  There it was. He wondered how long it would be before she became really, truly cautious. No one was trusting enough to jump into a truck with a stranger in the middle of the night with the promise of a bed to sleep in and repairs on a broken car come dawn.

  Jason didn’t move. ‘My employee’s got the tow truck here on another call. All I have at the moment is my pickup truck.’ He pointed back toward the Dodge. ‘I’ll come back and tow your car once Branch is done with the tow truck. As for Edwin and Nancy’s place, if you want to Google the bed and breakfast, be my guest. You’ll see the number listed, and I can show you it’s the same number I just called on my cell.’ Pulling his wallet out, Jason slid a small white rectangle across the hood of the car. ‘There’s my business card, more proof that I am who I said I was, and I can give you something in writing that attests to the fact I’m going to tow your car to my repair shop and do up an estimate for the repairs required. Does that ease your mind a little?’

  In the darkness, it was hard to tell for certain, but he was pretty sure Lily’s cheeks flamed red. ‘I’m not saying you’re a serial killer or a convict or anything …’

  He couldn’t help it; he laughed. ‘No, you’re being a protective mama bear, and you’re caught between a rock and a hard place at the moment. I get it, Lily, I do. If it would make you feel better, I’m sure you can call the listed phone number for the bed and breakfast and Nancy would be more than willing to come and pick you two up, if that would make you feel more comfortable.’

  The silence that ensued made Jason wonder if she was about to take him up on the offer. ‘Do you want some kind of deposit for the towing call or something?’

  ‘You’ll be at the Bergeron’s. I can settle up with you in the morning once I’ve had a chance to thoroughly look over the car.’

  Her eyes narrowed, skepticism reflecting in them. ‘Just like that.’

  He nodded. ‘Just like that.’ He would have made the same deal with any other person in the small town. Port Landon did things a little differently, but in the end, people honored their word and they made good on their promises. Jason was a member of Port Landon, through and through.

  After a moment’s hesitation, her shoulders lowered slightly. ‘Let me get Eden, then I’ll grab my purse and lock the car up.’

  ‘Don’t worry about the car seat. I’ve got Carlie’s in the back seat of my truck.’

  Lily opened the car door and ducked inside. Jason could hear her cooing and whispering to Eden, attempting to wake her up without startling her too much.

  A little voice asked, ‘We here?’

  Through the shuffling and moving about, Lily replied to her daughter’s question. ‘No, baby, we’re not there yet. I don’t really know where we are, but the convicts here sure are nice.’

  ***

  All in all, Eden handled the rude wakeup call a lot better than Jason thought she might. Judging by Lily’s raised eyebrows as she tucked the young girl into the car seat in the back of his truck and did up the buckles, she was surprised by her daughter’s demure response as well.

  Usually when kids met strangers, it went one of two ways—they either played the scared or shy card, or they talked their new audience’s ear off. That had been Jason’s experience, anyway. Eden’s mild reaction to being jostled awake was in part, he guessed, to her blatant curiosity about him. The little girl’s eyes, though heavy, rarely left him. She didn’t say anything when he gave her a small smile and a little wave. She just watched him from the backseat unabashedly.

  He tried not to notice, but Jason thought maybe Lily was watching him out of the corner of her eye, too.

  It would have been funny if he didn’t wonder about her reasons for it. Sure, she didn’t know him and he didn’t know her, and he had called in a favor for her—and offered her the benefit of the doubt that she wouldn’t somehow skip town and leave him holding the bag when it came to her car and her room at Nancy’s bed and breakfast.

  But had the woman never had someone offer to help her out without asking for something in return?

  Jason hadn’t really thought about it, he’d just done it. Offered the help without thinking about it. He didn’t think that made him come off like a serial killer, but … her words, not his. He didn’t know her story, but he didn’t think extending a friendly, helping hand was the wrong thing to do. Everyone needed a little benefit of the doubt sometimes.

  ‘So, you live in Chicago?’ He waited for her to close the passenger side door and buckle her seatbelt before he turned the key, letting the engine roar to life. He did a three-point turn in the middle of the road and headed into town, leaving the Port Landon welcome sign glowing in the blaze of his tail-lights.

  Lily shook her head. ‘I will, once I get there.’

  He nodded lik
e he understood, even though he didn’t. ‘So, you’re moving there, then.’

  ‘That’s the plan.’ Eyes trained out the windshield, she didn’t look at him. ‘My stuff is in storage right now until I find a decent long-term rental for Eden and I.’

  The lampposts of Main Street glowed like fireflies up ahead in the distance. ‘Staying with family?’

  She turned. ‘Playing Twenty Questions?’ Her eyes sparkled in the dashboard lights.

  ‘Trying to stay awake.’

  ‘Awake is good when you’re the one behind the wheel.’ She went back to staring at the road in front of them.

  He hadn’t meant for it to sound like an interrogation, just a simple search for information disguised as innocent chatter. Badly disguised.

  Jason asked himself why he cared. He didn’t. Not really. It wasn’t his place to be asking questions he didn’t need the answers to. He promptly swallowed down any others he might have spoken aloud.

  ‘Well, this is Port Landon.’ The Main Street was vacant save for a few vehicles parked along the side of the road. The wrought iron lampposts cast light into the darkened storefronts, offering shadowed glimpses of the items that would be available for purchase once the sun rose and the Closed signs were flipped to Open. ‘It’s not much, but it’s home.’

  ‘Have you always lived here?’

  Lily’s question caught him off guard. Not only because she hadn’t seemed keen on being on the receiving end, but because it was personal. Related to him, not to her car or her current situation.

  ‘Yeah, I have,’ he replied honestly. ‘Except for a year when I moved to Grand Rapids for school, I’ve never left.’ He cast a glance in her direction. When Lily’s gaze met his, there was something in her eyes that startled him. He couldn’t figure out what it was.

  ‘Do you regret it?’ Her voice grew quieter. ‘Not leaving, I mean?’ The startled expression she wore transformed into wide-eyed horror. Lily was swimming in a little regret of her own after saying those words out loud.

  On the outside, Jason shrugged. ‘Like I said, it’s home.’ On the inside, he was bemused. There was more to that question than mere curiosity. There had to be.

  It has nothing to do with you, he promptly reminded himself. Leave it alone.

  Unfortunately, Port Landon was a small town, and it took little time to drive from one end to the other. He turned off Main Street and made another immediate left, revealing the massive Victorian home with its fancy gothic era charm. As he expected, the front porch was lit up and Nancy was standing in the front window, her graying hair wrapped in a silk scarf, awaiting Lily and Eden’s arrival. Jason’s chance to delve further into his conversation with his passenger had passed, which was likely for the best.

  ‘Welcome to the Bergeron’s bed and breakfast,’ he announced, pushing the gear shifter into park. ‘They’re good people. You and your girl will be comfortable here.’ He leaned forward, peering up toward the sky. The old house had been fully restored and meticulously maintained. It never ceased to amaze him when he saw it, drawn in by its high-reaching peaks and ornate moldings. ‘What do you think?’

  Lily looked just as mesmerized by the old-world mansion. ‘I think, for tonight, it’s home.’

  Chapter 3

  Lily

  For weeks, Lily had played this Friday morning over and over in her head, daydreaming about what it would be like. This wasn’t at all what she’d had in mind.

  The bed and breakfast was great—gorgeous, even. She had never slept in a king-sized four post bed before, let alone one with Egyptian cotton sheets and a plush down-filled duvet. And the pillows, there were so many of them, so soft she melted into them. Eden had crashed almost immediately upon being laid down on the bed, and the mattress was so immense that Lily had slept all night without being pushed out of bed by her daughter’s sprawling limbs, a bed-stealing tactic the girl had mastered as a toddler.

  Nancy Bergeron was an absolute sweetheart, too. No wonder Jason hadn’t thought twice to call her in the middle of the night. Donning a comfy-looking terrycloth robe with striped pajamas peeking out from under it, the woman had incessantly doted on Eden from the moment they stepped onto the front porch. Lily had heard it all before—how she was such a precious child, that her feathery long eyelashes were worthy of envy—but it didn’t slow the flood of pride that rushed through her by hearing those things once more. The woman was just as attentive to Lily herself, making sure she had towels and toiletries and a glass of water before being ushered up to her awaiting bedroom. Nancy had to be at least in her late sixties, if not early seventies, and she took her role as hostess seriously, lovingly blurring the lines between innkeeper and honorary mother figure to all who inhabited her home.

  But it wasn’t where she and Eden were supposed to be. Right now, she should have been hunkered down at the battered table in her hotel room, cheap coffee steaming from a paper cup in her hand while she scoured the rental ads of the Chicago Tribune. She should have been watching Eden play with the purple unicorn and carriage she had chosen as a parting gift from Lily’s best friend, Danielle, a teary ordeal that had left both women’s eyes red and swollen despite the happiness they had both hoped would be found at the end of Lily’s travels. She should have been swiping through her phone to see what kind of response she had received from the countless dream job applications she had submitted while gearing up for her first day at her for-now job as a full-time barista at Starbucks the following Monday. After all, no one could waltz into the big city and scoop up a luxurious fashion design career on a whim, no matter how many years they’d yearned for it, or how determined they were to prove to their ex—and themselves—that childhood dreams could indeed come true. There might have been a time when Michael’s dismissal of her passion for designing had wounded her, even held her captive behind the steel bars of her own fears and worries, all purely based on the doubts he had helped to root deeply in her mind. Lily’s move to Chicago was her chance to escape the ghost of him as well as the lingering deprecation of her talents he had instilled within her. She vowed to pay her dues, start at the bottom, work her way into the industry she longed to be a part of, and be a shining example to her daughter that one’s heart was worth following, always, even when it was scarred or broken.

  All she had to do was make it to the city.

  Instead, she was in a fancy bed and breakfast nowhere close to Chicago, holding the most delightful cup of coffee in a stoneware mug, with a car that didn’t run and a hotel reservation that hadn’t been cancelled in time and therefore was nonrefundable. The clerk she had spoken with the night before advised her she could dispute it with the manager when he arrived today, and seeing as the fourteen-day reservation in question had tied up a significant chunk of her money, Lily had every intention of doing exactly that. It was the only chance she had of paying for Cruella’s repairs. She wasn’t above begging at this point.

  She was so conflicted by the unexpected turn of events, Lily didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. After all, it was hard to be completely devastated when the coffee she was drinking was so unbelievably good. She had a funny feeling the silver lining was going to tarnish real quick once she made her way over to Forrester’s Auto later that day and found out just how much her lack of planning had cost her.

  ‘Coffee’s pretty good, huh?’ Nancy scurried into the kitchen, her arms full of bagged bagels and breads. She went to work arranging them in the oversized basket on the counter. Just another detail that made the country kitchen resemble something out of a magazine. The room was huge, but the hefty island in the middle of the work area and the massive table with ten oak chairs around it helped to rein in the size of it. White-washed cupboards lined two walls, one boasting the stainless-steel sink and matching oven, the other with a long hutch that stretched across it, set up like a shabby chic coffee bar. The fancy coffee machine and multiple kinds of roasted coffees to choose from had been a highlight of Lily’s morning.

  If she could call
it that. The kitchen was vacant save for her and Eden, purely because the other guests had been up and gone for hours before they had managed to drag themselves out of that glorious bed. Even when she had trudged down the rich walnut stairs and saw the sunlight streaming in the windows, she didn’t regret sleeping in. She’d needed it, and so did Eden.

  Now, with her daughter still in the same pajamas she’d been in last night and her bouncy curls wrangled into two unruly ponytails, and with her coffee cup almost drained and the clock ticking by unforgivingly, Lily needed to figure out her next steps.

  Because that’s what Lily Brentwood did, she made plans and executed them. It’s who she was.

  ‘This coffee is better than pretty good, it’s fantastic,’ she replied. ‘Where’s it from?’

  ‘It’s from our very own coffeehouse,’ Nancy gushed proudly. ‘Down on Main Street. You should check it out while you’re here. You can tell Allison I said hello.’

  Lily loved Nancy’s eclectic style. No one else she had ever known could pair a raspberry pink maxi dress with a beaded patchwork shawl and make it work the way she did. Her collection of silk scarves was also impressive. Today’s scarf was a deep plum and yellow motif, and her grayish silver locks were pinned in an intricate knot and wrapped in it. With her graceful way of moving about, the woman resembled a hippy fairy godmother.

  ‘Not sure I’ll be here that long,’ Lily replied noncommittally, more for her own benefit than anything else. ‘But I will try. Thank you again, Nancy, for opening your home up to us so late last night.’

  The older woman waved a hand before turning back to her meticulous bread arrangement. ‘Dear, that’s my job. And even if it wasn’t, there isn’t a thing is this crazy world that would stop me from giving somebody a roof over their head if they needed it. And Jay Forrester knows that.’

  ‘Even for a complete stranger.’ She didn’t mean to sound so condescending, but there were so many factors about this—they didn’t know each other, it had been the middle of the night, she opened her arms and her home without any questions asked—that Lily had a hard time comprehending. The woman was a saint, there was no other way to put it. Luckily, Nancy took no offense to her skepticism.