Page 48 of April Flowers

“What was that like?” Avery asked.

“It was like magic,” Margot said. “He was my best friend and confidant. We told each other everything. We thought we had a future together.” Margot’s eyes flickered over to Noah, where he stood like a nervous statue at the counter, unsure of what to say or do.

Why was she being so open with Avery?

“But you left Nantucket,” Avery said. “Because you didn’t like it here?”

“Nothing like that,” Margot said. “I loved it here. It was my home, but I felt like I had to leave.”

Avery grimaced. “I get that. That’s what happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I was at my mom’s wake, and I felt like I was going insane. All these people were standing around, talking about my future, and I realized I didn’t want to put my trust in any of them. My mom was dead! Nothing made sense anymore! Maybe nothing will ever make sense again!”

Margot’s face echoed empathy. Noah couldn’t believe Avery was so open with her—telling her things he’d been dying to know.

Was he that bad at parenting already?

“I can understand that. Where did you go?” Margot asked.

Avery raised her shoulders. “I crashed on a few couches. I felt like I was starving. Like I could not get enough food, no matter what. I think it was the grief. I never wanted to go back to school, but it was clear at every job I applied for that I was too young to work all day, and there was no way I’d have enough for an apartment any time soon. I’d left almost everything I owned back at my house, and I felt raggedy and weird. Eventually, I went back to the place I’d run away from—the place where I’d lived with my mom—and I cried and cried. All the food was rotten in the fridge. The house felt all wrong without her.”

Avery swallowed. Tears spilled down her cheeks.

“That’s when I got the idea to come to Nantucket. But when I arrived, I got really scared. Like, I thought, what if Uncle Noah doesn’t want me? Like what if I’m a burden on his life? So I wandered around the island and was eventually ‘arrested,’ or whatever, in that swanky boathouse in Siasconset. When I got to the juvenile detention center, they fed me the worst food I’ve ever eaten, and I ate it all in like four minutes.”

Margot chuckled, sensing correctly that Avery was telling a joke. Avery smiled sadly.

Noah suddenly understood Avery and Margot needed each other. They’d gone through similar hardships. They could understand each other—and maybe nobody else could.

Not even Noah, who loved them both to his core.

Noah urged himself to leave the room and let them talk. But it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps he was there for a reason. In a sense, Avery was only able to tell him this through Margot. Maybe Margot could only tell him everything through Avery.

“I think Noah really, really wants you here,” Margot offered. “For what it’s worth.”

Avery waved her hand as though she wanted to dismiss it. “Why did you run away?”

It was Margot’s turn to speak. She took a big sip of tea and said, “My dad died.”

Avery nodded in understanding. “How did it happen?”

“There was an accident,” Margot said. “I was there, and it was, um. It was…” She put her hand over her mouth and closed her eyes.

Noah took a hesitant step forward and interrupted, “It wasn’t your fault.”

Margot cast him a look that meantyou don’t get to say that.

“I was there, too,” Noah reminded her.

Avery gave Noah a steely look that meantcan’t you see? It isn’t your time to talk.

Noah stepped back and crossed his arms. His heart was pounding.

“It was April,” Margot began, “and I wanted to start my garden for the year. My garden was my pride and joy—something I really lived for. I spent hours and hours tilling, weeding, and fertilizing. I dreamed about the bulbs, praying they’d bloom into gorgeous flowers later. During the summer, I did everything on a blanket beside my garden, eager to watchthem grow. It was almost impossible, but sometimes I lied to myself, imagining that I could see them growing before my eyes.

“That April, my car had broken down,” Margot said, “and my father offered to take me to the garden center to pick up everything I needed for the garden. I’d saved up some money at a summer job the year before and planned to spend almost all of it. My dad helped me, throwing fertilizer and bulbs and sproutings and equipment into the cart. We transferred it all to his trunk and the back seat of his car. There was so much of it that we had to put tons of it in the passenger seat, too. There was hardly space for me to sit. I wasn’t buckled; I didn’t even think about it. Right before we wanted to leave the parking lot, my father got out of the car. I couldn’t see what he was doing. Maybe he’d seen someone he knew. When he came back, he was out of breath and a little frantic. I couldn’t understand what was wrong, but I didn’t want to bother him with it. He was already doing me a big favor.

“On the way home, all the stuff in the back seat blocked the rearview mirror. He seemed a little distracted. But because of the stuff, he didn’t see the massive truck coming up from behind. Apparently, the truck couldn’t stop. Maybe if he’d been able to see, he would have gotten out of the way. The truck slammed into us from behind and threw my father and me out of our seats. I guess he wasn’t buckled in, either. Flowers and soil and bulbs were everywhere. My father was rushed to the hospital, but he died that night. Somehow, I had a broken arm and nothing else. It didn’t seem right.”

Avery’s eyes swam with tears. Noah couldn’t breathe.

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