Page 2 of Adventures in Spring

“I don’t know if I can do that, Mom. Seth was everything to me and I don’t know if I can let someone else in.” I sniffle.

“Seth will always be a part of you. He left you two beautiful babies, so he’ll always be with you. But I know he’d want you to open your heart and let someone else in. To share your life and the kids’ lives with someone that will love you like he did. I would tell him the same thing if it was him in this position.”

I nod at my mom. If there’s one thing I know about her, it’s that she loved Seth as much as she loves me and my brothers.

“I promise to try, Mom. I can’t promise I’ll find someone. But I won’t close my heart to it.”

“That’s all I ask. You’re my brave girl and I know you’ll find what you need. I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom. Thank you for everything that you and Dad have done for us.”

I hug my mom tightly as I feel another set of arms circle around us.

“I’m very proud of you,” I hear my dad say. “If you need anything, you ask. No matter what it is.”

“Thank you, Daddy. I love you.”

My parents are coming with me to Wintervale and staying for a month. My brothers will be joining us for the last week of my parents’ stay. We’ve always been a close family and I know they’re all worried about me starting my new life. Worried and happy for me, is what each of them have said. I’m going to miss all of them.

“Tadashi is landing in an hour, Kentaro will pick him up and they’ll head home. We can leave tomorrow morning or even the next day if you want,” my dad says.

“Are we stopping overnight somewhere? Or just taking turns driving?”

“Since we’re taking two cars and the trailer, we should probably stop somewhere. It’ll be easier for everyone.”

“That sounds good. I’ll look for a place to stop and make reservations,” I say to him.

I spend the next hour mapping our route to Wintervale, Montana. We’ll leave in a day and stop in Bismarck, North Dakota. I look around at the home I grew up in. Mixed in with my childhood memories are the memories that Seth and I created. I still expect him to walk back in the door with that beautiful smile on his face. Seth always had a smile on his face when he came home. No matter how hard his day was. He always said coming home to me and our babies was his safe place.

Rhett

My older brother Lukas started making flavored popcorn a few years ago. Now, it’s a big part of the sales at our country store. We have ten flavors to choose from right now. And once a month, he comes out with a new flavor to try. We even have a beef stew flavor. Now I know that doesn’t sound like it would be good. But it’s fucking delicious.

We all live together, in the house we grew up in. Lukas’ wife, Emmanuelle, moved to Wintervale to be with him. She was with us when we were dealing with the loss of our parents. And they tried to make their long distance relationship work. They did it for two years, but it was too hard on them. I hated to see how miserable Lukas was. They were apart for three years. When we had our parents five year celebration, our sister Felicity got Emma to come back for it. And she never left. I love seeing them so happy.

I hear someone clear their throat.

“Is there someone else that can help me?” Sabrina frowns at me.

“Nope. Sorry. I can help you or you can come back tomorrow.” I sigh.

It’s getting harder to deal with Sabrina. The only upside is that now she talks to me. But that doesn’t mean she’s nice when she does. I understand she’s still pissed at me. But when I broke it off with her, I told her that I hoped she would find someone who would appreciate her the way she deserved to be appreciated. And I meant it. She deserves all the best, I just can’t be the one to give her that.

“Why would I come back tomorrow? You’ll still be here. Just give me my pills and I can leave.”

I sigh softly and get her prescriptions together and watch her leave. One day this will get better. Downfalls of living in a small town.

ChapterThree

Rhett

“I heard Sabrina is still making trouble for you,” Lukas says as he walks into the kitchen.

I squint at him then sigh. “You’d think she would send someone else to get her prescriptions.”

“You know it’s because she still wants you.”

“I wish I felt the same. But I don’t, and it would’ve been cruel to keep stringing her along, right?”

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