Chapter 1 #2
She remembered when she used to tell him that very thing, back when he still thought he could cook.
Now she just removed the knobs when she was done cooking.
She was tempted to point out that she’d been on his errand, off looking for his missing hearing aid charger, when the stove got dangerous, but why bother?
“Where’s your sandwich?” he asked as she turned away.
“I’m going back for it,” she said, even though she had no intention of having peanut butter and honey.
It was easier to play along than explain.
By the time she brought back her coffee to sit with him, he wouldn’t remember.
Then as she went up the porch steps, her phone rang from her pocket.
Planning to ignore it, she peeked at the caller ID to see it was Jewel.
And since her daughter rarely called, she answered.
“Hey, Jewel,” she said pleasantly. “How’s my favorite girl?”
“I’m your only girl, Mom. But I guess I’m okay.”
Honey heard the terseness in her daughter’s tone. “So, what’s up?”
“It’s Cooper. I’m getting worried.”
“Well, Cooper is almost fourteen. It’s natural to be a little concerned.
But she’s always been a good girl.” Honey poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table, tracing a finger over the wood grain.
This old oak table once belonged to her grandmother, right here on this very same farm.
“I’m worried about the new friends Cooper’s been making.”
“Oh, new friends?” Honey felt a spark of concern. She’d worked in a middle school for twenty years, long enough to know that new friends could be good . . . or bad.
“You know how kids are, Mom. How influential peers can be at this age.”
“Yeah.” Honey sipped her coffee.
“Especially to a girl with low self-esteem.”
“Since when has Cooper had low self-esteem?”
“Since her best friend Molly dumped her and started talking smack about her.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.” Middle school girls could be so cruel.
“So Coop started hanging with these new friends, and I don’t like to judge anyone, but they seem pretty rough. I think their parents totally ignore them.”
“That’s not good.”
“And school lets out on Thursday.” Jewel’s tone was desperate.
“And you’re worried about her being unsupervised for the summer?” Honey brightened. “Why don’t you send her up here to visit? I could actually use a hand.”
“With Dad?”
“Well, him . . . and farm work and lots of things.” Honey looked out the window to where the lavender field was just starting to green up, but the weeds were greening up too.
And then there were the pumpkins that hadn’t been planted yet .
. . She doubted CT would be up to it this year. “I’m positive we could keep her busy.”
“And out of trouble.” Jewel let out a relieved sigh.
“And your dad would love having her around.”
“Tell me the truth, Mom. How is Dad?”
Honey stood, phone in one hand and coffee mug in the other, and went to look out the back window. CT was still sitting peacefully at the picnic table, peeling his banana. “He’s okay. Well, for him, anyway.”
“But the illness. How is he handling it?”
“Oh . . . the same as before. He forgets things. Overreacts to things. Tires out pretty easily. Not much has changed since the last time we talked. Only perhaps . . .” She bit her lip.
“A little worse.” Okay, that was an understatement.
But why worry Jewel? She had her hands full single parenting a teenager and running a struggling business in a less than stellar economy. “How’s the art gallery doing?”
“About the same as the last time we talked,” Jewel parroted her. “Not so great.”
“Maybe with summer coming it’ll pick up?”
“Look, Mom, I have an idea.” Jewel’s tone was suddenly lighter. “What if Cooper and I both come back to Oregon? We can help with the farm and spend some time with Dad while he can still remember our names.”
Honey felt slightly defensive, as well as uncertain.
She’d welcome help but knew Jewel could be a handful at times.
And while the farmhouse had enough bedrooms, the shared spaces would be a challenge.
How would it feel to share her kitchen with a stubborn young woman with strong opinions on almost everything?
Who knew where that might lead? Add to that mix a teenage girl recently uprooted from her friends—it sounded like a recipe for disaster.
“Oh, I don’t know, sweetheart.” Honey tried to think of a tactful rejection. “That’s a big change for you and Cooper. It’s too much to ask of—”
“It’s not too much. In fact, it’s settled. My friend Jess has been begging to buy my gallery since Christmas, and I’d almost made up my mind to sell to him. It was a fun project, but I’m done now.”
“Really?” Honey wasn’t so sure. “You love that gallery.”
“That was then. This is now. Honestly, Mom, I think we’ve come up with the perfect plan. Cooper and I will help you with Dad. And I’ll have more time for my art, something I’ve missed lately. Plus, it’ll get Coop away from her new friends. It’s decided. I’m going to call Jess right now and—”
“You need to give this careful consideration, Jewel,” Honey interrupted. “That’s a huge life decision. Don’t be too hasty and—”
“I’m not being hasty. It’s been silently percolating in me for a while now.
I just didn’t have time to really wrap my head around it.
But we’re coming, Mom. You can count on us.
I gotta go. I need to work out a deal with Jess and a dozen other things.
Talk to you later. Love you.” And before Honey could protest, Jewel hung up.
Honey just shook her head as she went to finish cleaning up her eggs.
Frowning at the messy skillet, she pulled out a Brillo pad and began to scrub.
Jewel was too impulsive. Dropping out of college just one semester before graduating.
Then her hasty marriage to wealthy Rodney Benedict, a man with four failed marriages behind him.
What a mismatch that turned out to be. Then her ill-timed pregnancy, hoping it would save her unraveling marriage.
Even if marrying Rodney had been a mistake, Cooper was a treasure.
Then without thinking it through carefully, Jewel had invested her entire divorce settlement into that art gallery—just a few months before the COVID pandemic hit. Although, in Jewel’s defense, Honey thought that had turned out all right. So why did she want to abandon it now?
Honey ground the steel wool into the cast iron with a vengeance.
Sure, not all Jewel’s impulsive choices had foreseeable results, but leave it to that girl to jump out of the frying pan and straight into the fire.
Honey just hoped her impetuously headstrong daughter would come to her senses before letting history repeat itself . . . again.