Page 30 of Candy Cane Dreams
She reached for the picture. Apparently Lilly wanted to hang it on her own refrigerator.
Kate hid her smile.
"Let's ask your dad and see what he says."
They pushed back away from the makeshift table that they had set up at the side of the candy cane shop, and Lilly grabbed the paper, running over to her dad and waving it.
Jack, looking rather handsome in his white apron and rolled-up sleeves, glanced down at his daughter, saw her animated and excited expression, and his own face brightened in a huge smile as he looked up and his eyes found Kate's, questions in them.
Kate shook her head and then said, "Lilly drew a picture of her mother, and we were hoping it would be okay for her to go up and hang it on your refrigerator?"
"Of course. I should have thought of that before. We have lots of pictures of Mommy on the refrigerator, but none that you drew yourself. You go right ahead and put it wherever you want to." Jack looked with so much love at his daughter that it tugged at Kate's heart. She didn't want the two of them to continue to suffer, and she prayed fervently that she would be able to do something that would break through the wall of silence that Lilly had built around herself.
Once they had talked a bit more and Jack had sent her up to get a shower, he waited until he heard her steps climbing upstairs before Jack looked back at Kate. "That's encouraging." It was a comment that was also phrased as a question.
Kate nodded her head. "I thought so. She almost seemed ready to speak, although when I asked her if she wanted to write a sentence about her mother, she declined."
"I know it has something to do with her mother's death. I don't know if Lauren said something to her, or if she saw something that traumatized her, or if she feels guilty somehow. I wish I knew what the problem was, so that I could help her." Jack ran his hand along the counter, his fingers fisted.
Kate's heart went out to him. Obviously, his daughter was exceptionally important to him, and it warmed Kate's heart to see a parent who cared so much about their child.
"I'll see if I can get to the bottom of it. Maybe we never will. Maybe she doesn't even know. But the fact of the matter is, she can speak, and I think once we knock a hole in that wall, the words will start tumbling out faster than she can stop them. I just don't know what will punch that hole, you know?"
"That's kind of what the doctor said." Jack looked frustrated. "That eventually she'd start talking, because there was nothing physically wrong with her. It's just... it's been years."
Kate nodded. She could understand the frustration. No one wanted to see their child miss essential parts of their childhood because they were unable, or unwilling, or whatever it was, to speak.
Jack looked around, as though he were trying to get his bearings. It was then that Kate realized he seemed a little frazzled.
"Is there something else wrong?" Kate asked.
Jack blew out a breath and then gave a small laugh. "Good problems, I guess. You know that the town nominated my shop to be the featured attraction at the festival opening, which I appreciate, since I just lost one of my biggest customers this year."
"Oh no."
"Yeah. They've been on the fence for a while, and I'd hesitated getting started on the things they normally order because I didn't want to have a huge stock that I couldn'tsell, and they order a custom candy cane that doesn't get sold anywhere else."
"And they didn't order it this year?"
"No. They went with a larger company—it's cheaper, offshore, and I just can't compete."
"Oh, that's too bad," Kate said, wishing there was something she could do about it. It made sense that companies wanted to go with a less expensive option. She couldn't fault them for that. The problem was when those things were less expensive because of fewer governmental regulations and taxes and red tape. If they were exploiting their workers, that was a different situation altogether.
She blew out a breath. "So... it's a good thing that you're being featured in the festival, but…?"
"Yeah. So now I have the time and resources to do the festival; I just feel terrible taking time away from Lilly to really do what I would like to do."
"Well, you have a helper now, remember?"
"I didn't even ask how things went at the farmhouse," Jack said, shaking his head as though frustrated at himself.
"You have a lot of things on your mind." Of course he did. His daughter who hadn't spoken, grief over losing his wife, and huge financial responsibilities. Plus, he wasn't even doing what he wanted to do. "Everything was fine. It might have been a little bit dusty, and you could tell that there hadn't been anyone in there for a while, but no animals had made any inroads, and the key was right where you said it would be."
"I'm happy about the animals and the key." He grinned. "Is it going to be suitable?"
"Yes. Absolutely. It's more than I expected and has everything I could possibly need. It's even prettier in the daytime. I came out the door this morning and saw cows grazing in the pasture. I will be sad to leave it."
"Yeah. It's gorgeous there."
