Page 103 of An Adventure For Aster

“That is a very sweet thing to say,” her mother said. “We did try.”

“And you succeeded. Now it’s time to let your kids take care of you.”

“Don’t even go there,” her father said. “Life is much easier for us now. It really is. Just because we aren’t out buying expensive cars or going on trips doesn’t mean we aren’t putting things away for the future.”

This had never come up before.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

Her mother smiled. “Your father and I live a very frugal life. We paid the house off last year.”

She did know that and was so happy for them, but that didn’t mean there weren’t things that needed to be done in the house that cost a lot of money.

“Which is great,” she said.

“We are investing money now. I’ve never had a retirement fund. When we retire, I’ll only receive social security and it won’t be much. Your father does have a retirement account from the marina and we are lucky that his employers set it up years ago and contribute to it annually, but they never had to.”

She hadn’t known that either.

One of the reasons she went into teaching wasn’t for the money she’d make during her career, but the security when she retired with benefits and pension. Crazy, she knew, but again, it went back to planning her life out.

Not always in a good way for some.

“I’m so glad to hear you guys are doing that.”

“We don’t want our kids to care for us. So please, don’t worry about us. Just because we’ve got more money and fewer expenses and mouths to feed doesn’t mean we will be wasteful. We’ve known our children would get married at some point in their lives and have planned for our parts in it.”

“You’re not paying for my wedding,” she said firmly.

Her mother grinned around a mouthful of food. “You’re already thinking that way? Guess it is going well. And we got off track. I asked how Aster was today.”

She’d talk about that because she didn’t want to talk about wedding plans that she wasn’t making.

Maybe she had a few moments where she thought of it, but nothing she’d voice to anyone.

Could be nothing more than everything going on with Brooks and Ivy’s wedding and her thinking of things she’d like or do.

“He said that he and Carrington—that was the girl he saved—both testified. He wasn’t asked a lot of questions from the defense. I get the feeling Carrington’s testimony hit him hard. She is going through counseling and lives with bodyguards.”

“That’s sad,” her mother said. “It’s like her life has changed so much.”

“Yes,” she said. “But Aster also said that he has a feeling that they know who ordered the abduction. It was a comment that Carrington said to Aster and her father shushed her. So maybe it will end soon. But Tucker, Carrington’s father, had asked if Aster could keep in touch with his daughter. That she needs that right now too. Carrington is living with a lot of guilt that Aster lost his military career.”

“That’s sweet in a way. And noble too,” her mother said.

“I don’t think Aster is the type to hold a grudge about that,” her father said.

“No,” she said. “He’s told me more than once Zane gave him a dream job. He loves plants and flowers. He’s been tending to them outside of Zane’s cabin now. He has plants all over the house. He’s got a great green thumb.”

She’d never thought of it the way he’d explained, that having the plants when he was in the service was just a sign of life and that there was more out there than the battle they fought daily.

It just told her that he could see outside his bubble and maybe she couldn’t. Or didn’t do that great of a job with it.

“So he’s done?” her mother asked. “He can leave tomorrow?”

“Yes. He’s going to help Daphne finish packing, load everything up and leave tomorrow. They are going to find a hotel tomorrow night and get a few hours of sleep before they hit the road again. He said he’s driving home Saturday and not stopping until he gets here.”

“It will be a long trip but so worth it to get home and not drag it out in a hotel another night,” her father said.

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