Page 60 of The Last Lavender Sister

Aster drove through town over and over again, shouldering the grief. She couldn’t sit still. She couldn’t read a book or focus on a dish. Driving made her feel like she was doing something in a world where she felt entirely helpless. Homer’s Bluff, while comforting, was also haunted. She passed the fire hydrant that had busted the summer of fourth grade. They’d put on their bathing suits and had the best sprinkler party while her mom had looked on, laughing and snapping photos. Larry’s Last Stop and the night Sage had won the dart throwing competition and had his photo in the paper. Her bench in the center of town. The Lavender farm where her father had worked his hands raw and her mother had stayed up all night making the budget work for a business and raising four kids. Hole in One with her mural still on display. Baker Street and her old house. The vet clinic where she’d held baby Dill and nursed him back to health. Aster could scarcely breathe, reliving those moments in snatches.

But everywhere she drove, she felt Brynn all over. She had from the moment she’d set foot in town. They’d not shared the same space since that day in the hotel lobby. There had been a few letters, surface level at best. Brynn had pulled herself back emotionally, and that had hurt. But when the response time between letters had grown longer and longer, Aster got the message. When they’d stopped altogether, it had felt like her heart had been ripped from her chest. She’d lost her person. And now she’d lost another.

As she drove, Aster heard her mother’s words in her head.You’re going to need someone to walk in the rain with.Life would be better if those fences were mended.

She didn’t allow herself to think. She drove automatically to Brynn’s house, got out of her car, and stood there in the driveway. Lost. Seeking. Wounded.

Within sixty seconds, Brynn opened the door, stepped out, andstared. She nodded and made her way to Aster steadily. “Come here.” And Aster did. Brynn wrapped her up and held her. The world slowed down, and a sense of peace descended. Temporary or not, Aster needed this. She reveled in it, the first true comfort she’d felt in days. Brynn’s arms around her, the way she smelled, the softness of her skin, the tickle of her hair. Aster was right back to everything good and memorable in life.

But she couldn’t stay here.

She let go, aching deeply at the loss.

“I’m so sorry, Aster,” Brynn said, her eyes sad. “There are certainly no words.”

“Thank you,” she mumbled before sliding back behind the wheel of her car. “I just wanted to…”

“I know,” Brynn said. She stood in the driveway as Aster pulled away looking like there was so much more to say. If there was a time, this wasn’t it. They both knew that.

The funeral was a blur. People. Food. But mostly heartbreak and a true confusion about how life proceeded from here. Nothing felt quite the same without Marilyn Lavender in the world to lead them. Brynn hung in the background, attending every event but giving Aster space. The siblings were there for each other with little touches, squeezes, or hugs. None had many words as they existed in the aftermath. Their father cried but not much in front of them. He’d retreat to his bedroom, and they’d hear him in there, sniffling and trying to muffle the sounds. They’d cry themselves, listening.

“Can you stay a little longer?” Marigold asked. Aster lay with her head in her sister’s lap as she stroked her hair softly on their parents’ couch. It had become their gathering spot all over again, echoing their early years. It had been over a week since the funeral, and the family was slowly returning to normal activities. Aster was needed in Boston, even if her executive chef had been incredibly understanding about the time off. They’d covered for her, but the kitchen was stretched thin.

“I have to be back in Boston by tomorrow night for dinner service.”

“Damn.”

“I’ll be back.”

“Yeah,” Marigold said quietly, and everything about the tone of her voice said she didn’t fully buy it. Of the four of them, Marigold was the sweet and soft one, no matter how robust her bravado could seem,and she was holding tightly now to each one of them. Her family. Aster identified.

She sat up. “I want to come home. I don’t know how soon I can make that happen. It might take a while. But I need to be here. I want to be.”

“Really? I thought your wandering spirit had finally found adventure.” She said it with a smile, reluctant but proud at the same time.

“I can still wander. But there’s no reason I can’t home-base here.”

Marigold cupped her cheek with one hand. “I would love to see your very cute face every day, you know.”

“I’m not cute. I’m in my thirties.”

“You will always be five,” Marigold said and placed a hand on top of Aster’s head.

“MG?” she said. “You doing okay?” Marigold was great about worrying about everyone else, but Aster wondered who worried about her.

“You know me. I’m always okay.” Aster wondered how honest she was being. Marigold loved to play matchmaker, but where were her own prospects? She was beautiful, vivacious, and full of life. Aster wondered what exactly held her back. Maybe one day, she’d find the love of her life and settle down. Hopefully, she wouldn’t blow it like Aster had.

She flew back to Boston a different person than the one who’d landed in Kansas. She’d lost part of her and gained a new appreciation for what she had left. She could still experience the world and keep those she loved close to her. New goal? Beat Sage’s baby to Homer’s Bluff.

Chapter Fourteen

There was a rumor of a new restaurant going in halfway between Homer’s Bluff and Wichita. There wasn’t a ton along that route, so this place would require a deliberate trip. The last place that had occupied the space hadn’t fared so well, and the building had sat empty for years.

The rumor mill was busy with what kind of place it would be and, namely, who was opening it. A big corporation was one idea. Or a national chain was installing a new location. Maybe Aster Lavender was giving entrepreneurship another go. Obviously, that was the theory Brynn couldn’t get out of her head. She resisted the urge to track down a Lavender that very moment to find out for certain. With the loss of Marilyn less than half a year ago, the group had had a rough time of it. Tyler would know, and she hadn’t said anything. But Tyler also knew what a sensitive subject Aster was and would choose her moment. It was possible that moment hadn’t arrived yet.

But when Sage Lavender showed up at her practice with his sidekick Buster who was in need of his annual vaccinations, she seized the opportunity for some casual fishing. “How are you guys doing lately? Your family.”

“Breathing again, but it’s been a process,” Sage said, scratching behind Buster’s ears.

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