Page 116 of The Life We Left Behind

“You never know.” Trace looked out the kitchen window for a minute, deep in thought. “We probably have enough space that we could set up a practice field.”

“That’s an amazing idea, Dad!” Cade ran back into the kitchen, his lunch in one hand and the glove in the other, practically bouncing on the spot in excitement.

“We’ve still got eight minutes. Let’s go check out a spot that could work.”

And they both ran out the kitchen door, each as excited as the other.

I looked at Blake in exasperation. “Surely he’s not being serious.”

We might have had the land, but did I really want an entire baseball practice pitch set up outside? Not that I really had any idea what that was.

“Admit it, you love this.” She smirked at me before shoving a piece of avocado toast into her mouth.

I knew she liked avocados!

I grinned and shrugged, reaching for a piece myself. This was pretty amazing, but maybe I’d keep that to myself for now. You know, in case I needed to put a stop to whatever crazy idea they’d come up with next.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

DELANEY

Iwalked into the kitchen and went straight to the sink to wash my hands. I really needed to put in some better washroom facilities out in the barn that we were using for the cider mill, especially because we were already getting to the point of having to think about bringing on some employees to help out.

I quickly pulled out my phone and added it to the never-ending to-do list I seemed to have created over the last two days.

Summer was already closing in, and I really wanted to get far enough ahead that we could get enough batches prepared to start taking it to competitions next year. I might be getting ahead of myself. Hell, I didn’t even have a bottle and label design yet. Let alone a confirmed steady supply of fruit. But I knew I could make this business a success, and it felt like I was reclaiming a part of my childhood.

So many memories seemed tainted now that I knew what my father had done. His intentions might have been good, or at least the ones where he thought he was doing what was best for me. But I didn’t know if I could ever forgive him for the outcome.

He took Cade’s father away from him, and then, in his guilt, he’d deprived him of a grandfather as well.

I’d spoken with my therapist yesterday for the first time in a long time, and we had scheduled regular Zoom sessions now that I’d moved away from the city. She said it was a positive step that I’d finally returned to this place that I’d avoided for so long. I hated admitting that she’d been right about facing the reality of the people who lived here. In my mind, I’d turned them into something they never were. It had always just been my fear pushing me away, and now I was trying to deal with the terrible realization that if I’d just done it when she’d first suggested, Trace and I would have discovered what had been done to us so much sooner.

My head was a mess, but I was working through it, and I knew Trace was too. Just being here with us had changed him. He was completely devoted to his son, and he’d fallen into family life as if he’d been with us all along.

For now, we were concentrating on making new memories together rather than looking at all the ones we’d missed out on. It was bittersweet, but I was looking at this as an opportunity to build the life we’d always wanted. It was a second chance we wouldn’t have had if I’d stayed away. We were both older, more mature, and stronger after all the things we’d been through. Maybe we wouldn’t have been ready for this family dynamic when we were teenagers. Now we were coming into it as fully formed adults, and the relationship we were building together made us stronger than ever.

“Mom!” Cade shouted, skidding into the kitchen on his socks. “You’re back!”

“Erm, yeah. I was only out in the barn, you know?”

He waved his hand in front of him. “Yeah, yeah, I know, but I’ve been waiting for you to get back.”

“Okay. Any reason why?”

I leaned back on the sink to watch my son. He was clearly excited about something. I smiled. Trace and I weren’t the only ones who’d changed. Cade was flourishing in Willowbrook. He’d only been at school for a week, and he had a solid friendship group already, an invitation to join the baseball team next year, and he was possibly the happiest I’d ever seen him. This was saying a lot, considering that Cade was generally always a happy kid.

“Dad promised we could have a picnic down by the pond for dinner tonight.” Cade’s eyes darted to the kitchen window as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “I wanted to head over. I’m starving.”

I looked at my watch. It was coming up to dinner time, so there was no reason why we shouldn’t. It might be a little early, but he could always have a snack later if he wanted.

“Sure, let me just change my clothes and we can head over. Or if you want to go, I can catch up with you.”

Cade took a step toward the door and then shook his head. “No, Dad said I needed to bring you.”

I squinted at him in suspicion. He was up to something. I could read this kid like a book, and when he drifted over to the fridge to stare inside and hide behind the open door, I knew he was on to me as well.

I shrugged. I’m sure it would be harmless. Cade didn’t really have it in him to do anything I’d be worried about. He was a good kid. Moving to Willowbrook may have given him a freedom he hadn’t had before, but I wasn’t worried that he was going to take too much of an advantage of that. He was also only nine. Hopefully, we still had a couple of years before he realized just how easy it was to climb out his bedroom window.

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