Page 53 of Harvest Moon (Riverbend 3)

“When’s Patty calling back? Did she sound like she might want to take Emma?”

“She said she’d call soon—I don’t know if that means hours or days. She was overwhelmed and worn out from the sailing trip.”

“I’m sure she was shocked and devastated by the news. We all were.”

“And we’ve had a week to process this. It’s only fair we give her a little time.”

“But the deadline... that hearing Darius mentioned. I guess I was hoping she’d be eager to take Emma, and we could get all this settled. Was she upset about the funeral?”

“She didn’t seem too upset about that, but I was dumping a lot of information on her.”

“I hope going ahead without her wasn’t a mistake.”

“Nothing we can do about it now.”

“You’re right.” Laurel picked up a teddy bear and straightened his polka-dot bow tie. “I tested the apples while you were upstairs with Emma earlier. The Red Delicious are ripe, so a crew’s coming to harvest those tomorrow.”

“I’m glad you know what you’re doing with those trees. I wouldn’t have a clue.”

Her lip curled upward at the corner. “Plants are kind of my thing.”

“And you’re very good at it. I saw you planted the funeral flowers out front. They look nice.”

“They’ll grow well there in the sun.” She set the bear down and leaned forward as if she was about to stand.

“Tell me more about your promotion,” he blurted.

She shrugged and settled back against the sofa. “Not much to say, really. It’s a matter of waiting to see what Diane decides.”

“When does Rich retire?”

“Beginning of the year. His wife is battling ovarian cancer, and he wants to be there for her.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. She can’t be that old.”

“Just fifty-six. She’s lucky, though. They discovered the cancer early because of an unrelated injury.”

“I think Avery’s mentioned that’s a tough one to catch early.”

“How is Avery doing? I saw her at the funeral”—Laurel gave a humorless smile—“but she didn’t exactly stop to chat.”

“She started a clinic here in town and is busy running it. She’s doing well. I’m proud of her. She’s dating a guy named Wes Garrett now. One day last summer he came off the trail sick as a dog, and the two of them hit it off. He’s my business partner, though he’s still working his full-time job till the business gets off the ground.”

“And you’re still working at the campground?”

“Just part-time now. Enough to justify my living there.” They hadn’t found a replacement for him, so the office manager kept begging him to come back. There were times he was tempted.

“And Cooper? I heard he’s sheriff now and married to boot.”

He couldn’t tell if she had the scoop on Katie—namely that Gavin had dated her first, then lost her to his brother. Good times. “Katie moved here to work at the clinic as a nurse—old friend of Avery’s from undergrad.”

“She must be very special. Never thought I’d see the day Cooper settled down.”

“They’re a good match.” He could finally say that and mean it. Once he’d realized his feelings for Katie were more about wanting to live again, moving on got a lot easier. Besides, when he remembered the way he’d felt about Laurel, it was obvious he’d never been in love with Katie at all.

Laurel pulled her phone from her pocket, checked the screen, and thumbed something in.

Recalling the text she’d received from that guy yesterday, his stomach soured. “That your boyfriend?”

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