Page 52 of Harvest Moon (Riverbend 3)

He winced. “I’m sorry to tell you, but the decision was made to have a double funeral, and out of respect for Mike’s parents, we went ahead and had it earlier this week. I feel awful you weren’t able to attend.”

“She’s already buried?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Gavin was silent, letting Patty come to grips with what he’d said.

“I understand. Mike’s poor parents. I never had any children, but it must be the worst thing in the world to lose one.”

Indeed it was. Even as a hole opened in his gut, he pressed forward. “They’re taking it pretty hard, understandably. They were here several days, but they had to go back to Colorado.”

Patty was quiet a moment, sniffling a time or two. “Mike and Mallory were just here in the spring. Still so in love.”

He swallowed against the lump in his throat. “There’s not much of a bright side here, but I keep telling myself at least they didn’t have to grieve each other. They went home together. That’s something to be thankful for.”

“But that poor child. What’ll happen to Emma? You said Mike’s parents left. But are they coming back? Are they going to take her in?”

“I’m afraid they’re getting up in years. Judy’s dealing with dementia, and Paul has some health problems of his own. They’re unable to raise Emma.”

“Oh no. Then what’s going to happen to her? Who did you say was there with you?”

“Laurel, my ex-wife. Mike and Mallory drew their will up a long time ago—when Laurel and I were still married. They named us as guardians of any children they might have. But obviously now...”

“Right. You’re divorced. Is one of you taking her in then—or are you asking me to?”

Gavin weighed his response. “Laurel and I don’t feel either of us would be ideal. We feel it would best to keep her life as stable as possible by keeping her here in Riverbend, in her home, at least for a while. But I’ve just started a business that promises to be time-consuming. And Laurel’s life is in Asheville now.

“There’s also the orchard to consider. As I’m sure you know,Mike and Mallory invested everything into building Harvest Moon. The business is going pretty well, and it’s harvesttime. All of this has to be properly managed, and Laurel and I wondered if you might be willing to take it on. I know this is a lot to dump on you.”

“Oh, Gavin. I just... I don’t know what to say. I don’t even know if Emma will remember me. It was months ago that I saw her last.”

Fair point. “I’m sure Mallory talked about you with her.”

“Yes, I just... I never even had kids of my own—I already said that. Sorry, I just feel so overwhelmed right now. And I’m afraid I got a bit dehydrated on my expedition. My thinking is a little fuzzy.”

“Of course. I really am sorry to have to tell you all this. Maybe you should give it some thought and call me back when you’re ready to talk.”

“Yes, I’ll do that. I don’t know how long that’ll be.” She sniffled. “That poor child. How’s she doing with all this?”

“About as well as can be expected. She’s had a little regression, but otherwise she’s coping pretty well. She’s in her own home and she has her dog. She’s young. She’ll recover from this.”

“She won’t even remember her mom and dad. That’s so awful!” Patty broke down.

Gavin offered words of comfort, but they seemed so lame. So futile in light of what was happening.

When Patty collected herself, she agreed to call back soon.

Gavin tapped the End Call button. How long was “soon”? He ran a hand across his face. Breaking the news had been awful, but it was over with now. He’d really hoped Patty would jump at the thought of raising Emma. But maybe that wasn’t fair. She was probably exhausted from her trip, and he’d just hit her with terrible news. Maybe she just needed time to process it all.

Chapter21

“When did Patty say she’d call back?” Laurel had put Emma down and joined Gavin and Sunny in the living room.

He regarded his ex-wife from the recliner, where he’d been fretting for the past thirty minutes. The lone lamp cast a golden glow on her beautiful skin. Disheveled waves cascaded over her tee-clad shoulders. As gorgeous as she’d been when she dolled up for a night out, he’d always preferred her this way—casual, a little rumpled. When she’d come home from her gardening job, strands of hair loose from her ponytail and a streak of dirt on her cheek, he wanted to drag her into the shower—and sometimes he’d done just that.

“Gavin?”

He gave his head a shake.Stay in the present, idiot. “What?”

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