Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“Lynnea, when we’re done here, we’ll go to the store and buy the flowers. Okay?”
Lynnea beamed and nodded. “Can I dig the holes?”
“Of course. We can get done a lot faster if you help Gemma.”
“With what?”
“When she pulls a weed, if you could stick it in the bucket—that way, when she’s done weeding and I’m done mowing, we can head to the store.”
“Okay, Mommy.” Lynnea came down the steps and picked up her pair of blue gardening gloves. They matched Rafe’s, while Gemma’s and Nadia’s were pink.
The three of them set out to make their front yard look the way it had last spring. After rewatching the tutorial on how to start the mower, she managed to get it going on the second pull. The girls cheered, making Nadia feel like she’d finally succeeded at something good in the past year. She supposed surviving was an achievement unto itself.
As she mowed the yard, she took notice of the other things that needed to be done. The white picket fence needed a new paint job, and there was a loose brick in their walkway. One of the clapboards had warped on the house and would need to be replaced. And the house needed to be painted. The fence and walkway she could manage. The rest, she’d have to hire someone for, and that would cost money. Money she didn’t have.
Nadia finished the front yard and made the girls move to the back while she mowed there. The section of yard Rafe had removed at first thaw last year for a swing set had finally filled in with grass. The girls had never asked about the swing set, which sat in boxes under the awning of their garden shed. Nadia could sell it, or maybe Kiran could bring some coworkers over to put it together for the girls.
She’d ask her dad about the swing set: whether they should put it up or sell it. In hindsight, she wondered how much Gemma would use it and how long Lynnea would be interested in it. It seemed like a massive undertaking for one or two years of entertainment.
Nadia watched the girls. Gemma used the foam kneepad to kneel on as she thrust her trowel under the weeds. Lynnea lay on the grass, staring up at the sky. Nadia followed her gaze. Clouds moved above them, creating shadows and optical illusions. If she lost focus, it started to look like the sky was shifting overhead.
Instead of restarting the mower, she went over to Gemma, tapped her on the shoulder, and motioned her to follow. Nadia lay next to Lynnea, while Gemma lay on her other side. They held hands.
“Do you think Daddy can see us?” Gemma asked.
“He can,” Lynnea said. “He’s always watching. Right, Mommy?”
She believed he was. “He is.”
They stayed there, staring at the clouds, pointing out what they thought the shapes looked like, and laughing. It was the laughter that warmed Nadia’s heart, that told her they were going to be okay. They’d never get back to the time when Rafe was in their lives, but they’d find a medium—happy or otherwise—that would help them move on.
They lost track of time, until Lynnea’s tummy rumbled. They laughed and finally got up. Gemma pointed out the impressions their bodies had made in the ground.
“You can’t mow us!” She placed her hands on her cheeks and dropped her mouth open, making an O.
“Let’s go get some lunch,” Nadia said. “I think nuggies are in order.”
The girls jumped up and down, cheering.
They ran inside, bumping into Reuben.
“Hey, where’s the fire?” he asked as he caught Lynnea in his arms.
“We’re going to get nuggies!” she said in jubilation.
“Do you want to come with us?” Nadia asked.
“Nah, you ladies go. I’m going to finish the backyard.” He set Lynnea down, hugged Gemma, and then went to his sister. “I told you I’d mow.”
“I know, but it’s something I needed to do today.”
Reuben nodded as if he understood. “Make a honey-do list,” he told her. “We’ll tackle projects together. First thing: clean the refrigerator.”
Nadia’s eyes went wide. “What? Why?” She sidestepped and went to the refrigerator, tugging on the door. When it opened, she gasped. “Lynnea,” she muttered under her breath.
“That’s my guess, but I didn’t want to accuse either of them or ask them.”
“I’ll clean it when I get back,” she told Reuben. “I promised them nuggets; besides, they didn’t mean it. They were trying to be helpful and brought me lemonade, Reuben. You should’ve seen them, coming out onto the porch like they were the parents and I was the teenager doing Saturday chores. I can’t be mad at them.”
“Nope, but we can teach them some responsibility.”
Laughter erupted from her. Being the only boy in the family, Reuben had gotten away with everything. One “Mom” from him, and Sienna and Nadia were in trouble, even when they hadn’t done anything to warrant it. She patted her brother on his shoulder. “You’re hilarious. Leave the mess—we’ll clean it when we get back.”