her grave. It feels like the right thing to do.
Tilting my head to the side, I glance at her headstone and the fresh flowers I placed there today. Each week she gets new ones, and they’re always dahlias. The girls at the flower shop I get them from know me by name and the story behind me buying them. It took a year for the owner, a woman in her late sixties, to ask who they were for, claiming the lady must be extremely special. I confirmed she was, then proceeded to tell her they were for my deceased wife, and that just because she was gone, didn’t mean she shouldn’t continue to get flowers.
Each week I come in for Molly’s flowers, I end up staying for a little while to talk to the owner and her daughter. I’ve seen the way the daughter, who is about my age, looks at me. I know there’s interest there. She’s a sweet woman, and I’m sure would make a lucky man very happy, but I’m not interested in other women. Molly was my heart. Besides the pieces I gave to my kids, Molly still holds the rest of it. There’s none left to give anyone else.
Sitting up, I brush the grass from my hands. “What time are you supposed to be at Jenna and Bryant’s house?” I ask Gemma.
“In an hour.”
“Are you spending the night?”
“Yeah, I think so. They said they may be out late tonight. I figured I’d crash there and have them drive me home in the morning.”
Gemma’s been watching Violet and Elaine for extra money the last few months. She can easily come to me if she wants money, but she wants to earn it on her own. I’m extremely proud of her for making that decision. Violet is only three years younger than Gemma, which puts her just under the comfortable age to watch her little sister herself. Her and Gemma are still pretty close, so watching her and Elaine gives her a good excuse to visit her friend.
“Just make sure you’re home in time to go to Gamma and Papa’s for lunch tomorrow.”
“I will,” she says, pulling her long mass of red hair into a ponytail. It’s amazing to see how much she looks more and more like her mother every day.
“Are you able to make lunch tomorrow?” I ask Gray. “They were just complaining about how much they miss you since you went to college.”
“I was at their house only a couple of weeks ago.”
“Yeah, but they’re used to seeing you at least once a week.”
His phone beeps, and he pulls it from his pocket. “Yeah, I’ll be there,” he says before looking down at the screen. His lips tip up, indicating it must be a message from Andrea. The boy is smitten.
We stick around for a few more minutes before we clean up our mess. I pull Gray into a bear hug and he takes off. While Gemma carries the blanket to the car, I turn back to Molly’s grave.
Just as I always do before I leave, I kiss my fingertips and then press them against the top of her headstone.
“I’ll see you next week,” I tell her. “I love you. Forevermore.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
LINCOLN
Ten Years Later
Dear Linc,
Today is the day I become Mrs. Bradshaw! You can’t see it, but I’m smiling so big right now. I don’t think the smile has slipped from my face at all today. Marrying Lincoln, I’m not sure it ever will slip from my face. He makes me so incredibly happy. Like so happy I’m not sure if I even remember what it’s like to not be happy.
We leave for college tomorrow, so we won’t have a honeymoon. But I’m completely okay with that because we’ll be moving into the apartment we got together. Yep, my grin just grew bigger. I’m going to be living with Lincoln! I can’t believe it! It sounds silly, but we get to play house. For real house, not like when we were younger and played in the fort Lincoln’s dad made for us.
Last week we went shopping for all of the things we’d need for the apartment. I got these super cute hand towels for the kitchen, a beautiful comforter and sheet set, and some huge fluffy towels. Lincoln’s parents spent a ton on kitchen items. Mom and Dad got us a bed with a beautiful headboard with matching dresser and chest of drawers. I laughed when I saw the look on Dad’s face when