Chapter 12
Harmony
The next morning, I walked down Main Street and went straight to Maple Valley.
The main house was buzzing with life and smelled like cinnamon and buttercream.
Elyna was in full event mode, commanding the kitchen like a general.
It wasn’t just the wedding weekend and Thanksgiving weekend.
It was Braden’s second birthday, and the Thornes had decided to celebrate it all in one long stretch of love and chaos.
Phoenix stood at the counter, trying to assemble a toy truck with missing screws while Elyna frosted cupcakes shaped like pumpkins. “You’re supposed to put the wheels on first,” she scolded, swiping icing off his nose with her finger.
He grinned, leaning in to kiss her. “You’re the boss, Wildflower.”
“Don’t you forget it,” she said, laughter spilling through the room.
Braden squealed from his high chair, smashing frosting between his hands, proud of himself like only a two-year-old could be.
The whole kitchen erupted in laughter, and for a moment, I just stood there, watching.
The golden light streaming through the windows, the hum of voices, the warmth of a family that felt so solid it almost hurt to look at.
Something twisted in my chest. Not jealousy exactly, it was more like longing. A soft ache for something I’d lost before I even knew how to want it. The sound of Elyna’s laughter brushed against something inside me that had been quiet for too long.
“You okay?” Sandy asked gently from beside me, as she set a tray of cider on the counter.
I smiled, small and practiced. “Yeah. Just… happy for them.”
She gave my shoulder a squeeze. “You belong here more than you think, kiddo.”
Maybe. But belonging had always come at a cost for me.
After lunch, we took Braden outside to the orchard for cupcakes and pictures.
The wind danced through the trees, carrying that sharp sweet scent of apples and damp earth.
Braden toddled through the grass while Phoenix chased after him, both of them laughing.
Elyna followed with her phone, snapping photos that would no doubt end up in the wedding video she was piecing together.
Eric appeared from behind one of the trees, carrying a wooden crate filled with cider bottles. His shirt clung to him in all the right places, sleeves rolled up, skin dusted with sunlight. When his gaze found mine, something inside me stilled.
“Hey,” he said, voice easy but warm. “You hiding out here?”
“Not hiding,” I countered, though my heart was still catching up. “Just… taking it all in.”
He set the crate down beside me, following my gaze toward Phoenix and Elyna. “They look good together.”
“Yeah. They do.” My voice caught a little, and I tried to cover it with a smile. “They make it look easy.”
He looked down at me then, really looked. “It’s never easy. They just fight for it anyway.”
That simple truth lingered in the air between us. The ache inside me shifted with less pain and more possibility. The sound of Elyna’s laugh drifted across the field again, and I felt Eric’s presence like gravity.
“Braden’s going to have everyone wrapped around his little finger,” I said, smiling as Phoenix swung him higher.
“He already does,” Eric replied. “But that’s what family’s for, to make the world feel a little safer while it can.”
His words settled deep, too close to something I’d buried years ago.
Before I could respond, Elyna called us over for a photo.
The whole family gathered near the old maple tree.
Pierre was pretending to scowl, Asher was holding a balloon that had already half-deflated, Phoenix with frosting on his shirt.
Eric stood beside me, our shoulders brushing just enough to make my pulse trip.
After the pictures, as everyone drifted back toward the house for dinner prep, I lingered behind.
The sky had turned honey gold, the light catching in the orchard rows.
I traced a hand over one of the thistle stems from the centerpiece box I’d carried out earlier, its purple bloom small but fierce.
It was stubborn, surviving where it shouldn’t. Maybe that was why I loved it.
When I looked up, Eric was still there. He’d been watching me.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said, forcing a small smile. “Just needed a second.”
He studied me for a moment, then nodded. “You keep finding excuses to come out here.”
“Maybe I like the quiet.”
“Or maybe you like not having to explain yourself.” He cocked his right brow and gave me a crooked grin.
I met his eyes, startled by how easily he saw me. “You always do that; see too much.”
“Bad habit,” he said, voice low.
The sound of Elyna calling for him broke whatever held us still. I turned toward the house, brushing my fingers along the thistle one last time.
“Coming?” he asked smiled faintly.
“Yeah. Just catching my breath,” I sighed.
As I walked back toward the porch, laughter rose from inside, warm and alive. The kind of sound that promised forever to anyone brave enough to believe in it. I wasn’t sure I did, but as the wind lifted through the orchard behind me, I thought maybe, just maybe, I wanted to.