Chapter 35
Chapter
Thirty-Five
F rank had watched all his children walk out of Pop’s diner in the early morning rain, fighting the gusty breezes he’d sent their way. Hoping maybe they’d remember him one last time.
People dashed, unseeing, past him on their Saturday morning errands and holding bright umbrellas. A squirrel even darted through him to escape, but he didn’t mind.
He was so proud of the young man he hadn’t even known about, proud of his girls, for choosing to do the hard, right things.
For living their one precious life while they had it.
“They’ll do well together, I think,” he said, feeling sentimental. “All of them.”
A pretty brunette sat next to him under the gazebo, unaffected by the thunderous rain like him. She didn’t even need to ask what he’d meant.
“Of course they will, dear. They just needed a nudge.”
He was finally done.
All his unfinished business was handled after what felt like both an eternity and a blink of an eye.
Some he’d expected, some he hadn’t.
“It’s time to go,” Ivy said, fingers threaded through his, and he pulled her up so they walked hand in hand. “There will be a lot less wind in this little town, though.”
Frank smiled at his love. “You always did say I was long-winded.” He waggled his eyebrows, and she chuckled lazily, at ease with him.
He took one last look at the little town he’d called home, looking lush and bright and alive.
The preciousness of life hummed in every blade of grass.
He hoped they’d never take it for granted. The smell of a summer rainstorm, the brush of a hand of someone that loved you, the gorgeous, gentle weight of your chest breathing up and down from love or laughter or tears.
He’d miss it all.
He smiled despite the ache in his heart.
He’d always hated goodbyes.
They walked by Bloom one last time, lingering as they saw all three girls jogging back and forth through the store, preparing for something special as they laughed raucously.
Love . He hoped that was his legacy.
Just love.
It’s all anyone could ever need in this wild world.
And the shops on the little town square stood unmoved in a summer rainstorm as two unseen souls disappeared into the rain.