voice sounded, suddenly? Oh, she hoped not. This was ridiculous. She and Cooper had shared one silly kiss in the moonlight. There was absolutely no reason for her to obsess about it.
Melody apparently did not notice her sudden distraction, much to Olivia’s relief. “He offered to pick up the other boys after school and then bring them here to go home with me when my shift is over.”
“If you ever run into trouble with caregivers, we can certainly adapt around the boys’ schedule. I’m so happy to have you working here that I want to be as flexible as possible with your needs.”
Melody flashed her a smile as she started rearranging some potted vegetables that had been moved to the wrong spot. “I so appreciate that, but so far things are working out. I’m struggling with the same issues every mom who works outside the home has to manage. How do I split myself into five different people so I can take care of everything?”
She didn’t have children, but Olivia could certainly relate to that right now. This time in Cape Sanctuary was giving her an entirely different perspective.
Since that conversation with Caitlin in the kitchen the other night, she had also begun viewing history through a new lens.
She wasn’t sure she had ever fully acknowledged how angry and resentful she had been as a teenager at Natalie for the choices she had made and at Juliet for focusing all her attention on the garden center and Caitlin.
She had swallowed everything in her quest to be the perfect daughter. But talking to Caitlin the other day and remembering that time had brought back all those feelings of abandonment. Juliet had worked from sunrise to past Olivia’s bedtime here at the garden center. There were days she didn’t even see her mother; they only communicated through notes and text messages.
She had been a teenage girl, grieving the loss of her father and feeling as if she had lost her mother at the same time.
From her point of view, any emotional reserves Juliet had left after pouring her heart and soul into Harper Hill Home & Garden by necessity had gone to Natalie, who had been so very troubled.
Juliet had little left to give to Olivia—and even less after Natalie announced she was pregnant and keeping her baby.
Now, after she had spent three weeks stepping into her mother’s shoes, Olivia was beginning to see things differently.
Juliet had been doing the best she could under the circumstances.
They had all been in crisis mode and Juliet had chosen the more urgent things to focus on, but that didn’t mean other things or people weren’t as important.
Her mother loved her. Had always loved her. She had never doubted that, even then. No, Juliet had not been able to be the most attentive mother during Olivia’s high school years and had left her mostly to her own devices. But she had survived and had gone on to have a pretty good life, even if she was only now coming to acknowledge that she had always chosen the safer course.
It was unfair of her to blame Juliet for leaving her rudderless in a stormy sea when her mother had been doing her best to keep her own head above water.
She hadn’t realized how much resentment she had been clinging to all these years. Now that she did, Olivia knew she needed to work toward forgiving her mother.
“So far, you’re doing great,” she said to Mel. “But if you’re ever scheduled for a time that doesn’t work, don’t hesitate to let me know. We can adjust.”
“I hope you don’t think I expect or need special treatment because I happen to be the boss’s best friend,” Melody said.
“That’s not special treatment,” Olivia protested. “That’s just good business sense. I don’t want to lose you and want to do everything I can to make sure the job works for you.”
Melody smiled, but before she could answer, a customer came in asking about the best organic pest removal techniques and Olivia gratefully let her new hire handle the question.
The rest of the afternoon was so busy, with a constant flow of customers, that she didn’t have a chance to talk to Mel again.
Their conversation completely slipped her mind until she was busy restocking their fairy garden supplies and heard a sweet voice call out, “Mom! Where are you?”
She instantly recognized Charlie’s lisp and turned to smile at him when suddenly her breath tangled as she spotted Cooper walking in, surrounded by