Page 55 of Unexpected Gifts

“Yes, it does. You’ll always miss her, but it won’t feel this terrible forever. Day by day, you’ll heal a little more until, finally, you’ll be able to smile when you think of her instead of cry. You’ll remember all the wonderful moments you had with her and the funny things she said or did. Our memories never fade. Not the important ones, anyway. But our heartaches lessen, especially when the person you mourn was so special and lived her life with so much love and passion. Her time here was short, but she gave her whole heart to everything she did. It may not feel like it some days when we miss her so much, but we were so lucky to be loved by her and to love her in return. It’s our greatest gift during our time on earth. To love and be loved. And without love, we would not have loss. They go hand in hand, and we must be grateful for the time we do have with those we love. Even though it hurts so much to lose them.”

Tears made Luke’s vision blurry. The smaller children had looked up from their coloring to stare at Abby.

“Mommy’s in heaven,” Jack said. “She visits me in my dreams sometimes. Last night she said her and Daddy are eating a lot of ice cream there.”

All gazes turned toward Jack.

The lump in Luke’s throat made it impossible to swallow.

“She said we shouldn’t be sad because she’s watching over us,” Jack said matter-of-factly before returning to his coloring.

“Ramona always loved ice cream,” Abby said softly, dabbing at her damp cheeks with her napkin. “She used to order peppermint, and I got strawberry. We’d walk to the gazebo andeat it, sitting on the steps, watching all the people walk by. She’d make up stories about anyone she didn’t know and make me laugh. Looking back, those were some of the best moments of my life.”

“What else would you do?” Sophie asked.

The pizzas arrived then, interrupting their discussion, but after they each had a slice or two on their plates, Abby told them more stories about some of the times Abby and Ramona had spent together as children. She told them about their unsuccessful attempt to sleep alone in a tent in the backyard, only to be scared by the hoot of an owl, sending them running back inside to their beds. There was the summer they set up a rescue center for injured birds and bugs. “That one was my idea. I’m sorry to say, no bugs were rescued, and there were no injured birds anywhere.”

One time, Ramona had convinced Abby to ride their bikes down a steep hill, and they’d ended up tumbling into a pile of hay bales. “Ramona sprained her wrist, and my forehead was all scraped up. Your grandmother was furious with both of us. Then there was the time we decided to make homemade cookies to sell at a lemonade stand. Sadly, we used salt instead of sugar. I never was much of a cook.”

The children giggled throughout the stories. Luke’s heart swelled with every word out of Abby’s mouth. The more she shared, the more he realized something startling. He was falling in love with Abby Parker.

“When we were sixteen, I came for the entire summer. Which was mostly spent in the tree house waiting for Hayes brothers ‘spottings’. We had snacks and sodas and would just hang out all afternoon, hoping to see one or more of them working around their farm.”

“Why?” Sophie asked.

Abby cocked her head to the right, clearly enjoying herself. “We had crushes on all four of them, even though Luke and Max were already in college. We thought of them as so grown up—college boys and all.”

“Which brother did you like the best?” Sophie asked.

Abby glanced over at Luke, her eyes twinkling. “This one right here always had my heart. Even though he didn’t know I was alive.”

“I knew you were alive, but I thought of myself as way too old and sophisticated for you,” Luke said, laughing. “Which was true back then. I was twenty when you were sixteen.”

“Do you still think I’m too young for you?” Abby asked, grinning.

“When you get to be our age, there’s not so much difference between thirty-six and you’re thirty-two.”

“Thank goodness.” Abby smiled shyly. “I’d hate to be crushed all over again.”

The children had gone silent, all three staring at them.

Luke flushed, embarrassed. They must seem like a couple of fools.

“I want to carry the flowers and wear a fancy dress. A fluffy one.” Lily reached for her second slice of pizza.

“Where are you going?” Luke asked, happy for the strange segue, even if he had no earthly idea as to what exactly she was trying to say.

“The wedding.” Lily took a big bite out of the tip of her piece and looked at him with innocent eyes.

“She means when you two get married,” Sophie said.

Luke felt Abby stiffen beside him.

His gaze settled on Sophie. Her expression had turned stoic and unreadable. If they’d hurt her by flirting in front of the kids, he’d be extremely unhappy with himself. He’d gotten caught upin the moment, forgetting how much was at stake for the three little people across the table.

But to his surprise, Sophie smiled, timidly at first, as if she were playing with the idea. Then, she grinned and clasped her hands together on the tabletop. “We’d be a real family, with a mom and a dad, like most of my friends.”

Luke patted his mouth with his napkin.Married. Real family.

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