Page 44 of Big Island Neighbors
On a board painted with swirls of dark blue and purple, Paige had painted FARM STAND in huge white letters. Below it, in letters that were endearingly childish but still perfectly legible, she had paintedfresh eggs and yummy fruit.
A huge arrow at the bottom pointed left. It was lime green and covered in flowers.
“Cody’s going to put it on the corner, so all of the cars driving past our street will see.”
“That’s brilliant.” Tara caught her daughter up in a crushing hug.
“I made the flowers,” Rory put in.
“Thank you.” Tara released Paige and patted the smaller girl on the back. “It looks beautiful.”
“You really like it?” Paige asked.
“It’s perfect. This is turning into a bona fide family business.”
“I’m going to make another one for right here out front, but I need something to paint on.”
“I’m sure we can find something.” Lord knew they had enough material scattered here and there around the farm.
“Can I go to Rory‘s house now? Her auntie is making cookies.”
“Sure.” Tara grabbed a bouquet of flowers off of the farmstand. They were the last bunch of the day and looking somewhat worse for wear, but they would perk up with a trim and some fresh water. “Why don’t you take these with you?”
“Perfect!” Paige and Rory ran next door, where Dio whined in excitement at the front gate.
The sun was getting low, and Tara decided to milk the animals before making dinner. She went into the kitchen for her milk buckets and picked up her phone on the way out.
She had missed two calls from Mitch, so she steeled herself and called him back. Before starting her chores, she an earbud in and pocketed her phone.
“Hey,” he answered, his voice subdued.
“What’s up?”
“How are you?”
“Fine,” she said automatically. The question caught her off guard.
“How are the kids?”
“They’re fine.”
He was silent for a moment. Then he said, “I miss you.”
She stumbled to a stop in the middle of the yard. A young goat nosed her pocket, and a group of farm birds gathered around, waiting to see if she had any scraps for them.
“Tara? Are you there?”
“I’m here.” With difficulty, she unfroze herself and strode purposefully towards the goat pen.
Dread and frustration formed a curling mixture in her stomach.
She wanted nothing to do with this man.
Despite the odd relief of his absence, it was a hard thing to wrap her head around. This was her husband, her partner, the father of her children. Once upon a time, she had been madly in love with him.
Or rather, an old version of her had been head over heels for a long-ago version of him. Neither of those people existed anymore. And she didn’t think much of the man her husband had become.
It was then that she realized she was done. Really and truly done.
