She waved me off like I was being ridiculous. “Nonsense. It was the most logical choice. I’ve been struggling with those stairs for quite some time now, and this house is too damn big for me. I’m sick and tired of having to clean it. Honestly, sweets, you’re doin’ me a favor. I’m not as young as I used to be. My soul might feel like a fresh-faced twenty-something, but my bones refuse to get onboard.”
She liked to talk as though she was feeling run down, but there wasn’t a doubt in my mind the woman could run circles around me. “Haven’t you heard? Eighty-three is the new thirty.”
She scoffed, lifting one of her perfectly penciled brows. “Tell that to my hips and knees. I was doing yoga in the garden the other day and nearly got stuck in downward-facing dog.”
I laughed for a good long while at the vivid image she’d painted. Once it tapered off, I looked across the table to find her studying me, her eyes shrewd. “What?”
“Nothing. Just glad you’re still able to laugh like that after everything.”
I swallowed, my throat suddenly feeling thick. “Laugh like what?”
“With abandon, my darlin’ girl. A woman gets knocked down the way you did, she could lose that. Puts my heart at ease that you’ve managed to hold on to it with all the ups and downs of late.”
God, I loved my aunt. Not for the first time I thought of how much my family was missing by regarding Sylvia as nothing more than a nutty hippy spinster. Was she a little nutty? Absolutely. However, she was more bohemian than hippy. And she wasn’t a spinster. Far from it, actually. My aunt had her “lovers” tucked away for whenever the need arose, but she lived her life on her own terms and never felt the need for a man to be a permanent fixture. It was an arrangement that worked well for all parties involved.
And she was so incredibly wise, always had been. Our flesh and blood were missing out on the wisdom she could impart.
I loved that she had faith in me, but I wasn’t sure if I deserved all of it. I watched my finger as I traced the rim of my glass, mumbling, “Yeah, well, it’s all because of Ivy. I might be rocking in a corner somewhere if she wasn’t around for me to take care of.”
“What a load of hogwash,” she chided before taking another dainty sip. “You got knocked down by that human piece of garbage you called a husband. Then that waste of oxygen he’s shacking up with kicked you while you were down. As if that wasn’t bad enough, those vultures we’re related to came to pick over your carcass as you lay bleeding. And here you are, sitting right before my very eyes and laughing. That precious girl up there might partly be the reason why, but the rest, my lovely Hayden, is sheer resilience and a spine of steel. And no one can take that away from you. Hear me?”
“I hear you,” I said softly, a smile pulling at my lips.
“Good.” She knocked on the table decisively. “It’s a good thing you’re here. Not just because the mountain air will work wonders to soothe the soul and calm the mind, but because there’s somethin’ in the water here that makes the men folk all kinds of fine, believe you me. If I were forty years younger. Phew.” She waved a hand in front of her face, making me laugh again.
“Believe me, Sylvia, the last thing I’m in the market for is a man.” Tell that to your vagina that’s still thinking about Micah the sex god, the little devil on my shoulder said. “But it’ll be nice to have some eye candy.”
“If it’s eye candy you want, then you’ve come to the right place. Why, just next door there’s a man who could make your spine melt and your mouth water. Bonus, the fine young man wears a badge. Them boys in uniform are really somethin’.”
I already knew all about melting spines and watering mouths, and I seriously doubted Sylvia’s next-door neighbor could compete.
We spent the next few minutes catching up and finishing our cocktails. Sylvia left a short while later, taking the cobblestone path out back to her apartment, and I moved through the house, shutting off the lights and locking up before climbing the stairs to my new room.
It amazed me how, as soon as I laid my head on the pillow, I felt like I was exactly where I was meant to be.
It was on that thought I fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
Chapter Five
Hayden
I’d officially been in Hope Valley for a week and a half, and with each passing day, I grew happier that I’d taken Sylvia up on her offer. I felt a peace in this small town that I hadn’t known I was missing until I experienced it.
I’d worried about putting Ivy in daycare while I worked the shop since she had stayed home with me every day since she was born, but the moment she caught sight of the coloring station, she was in heaven. She loved the place and was already making friends with the other kids.
Aside from adding a few personal touches, I hadn’t changed much of Sylvia’s—my—house. To me, it was perfect just the way it was, from the chunky crocheted afghans to the macramé wall décor.
Every evening after work, Sylvia took Ivy and me through yoga poses to help us relax and unwind from the day—my girl was surprisingly good at yoga—then I’d make dinner for all of us. I’d forgotten how nice it was to eat a meal as a family, sitting around the table and listening to Ivy as she regaled us with exciting tales of the life of a preschooler.
Once I put her down for bed, Sylvia and I would share a cocktail, sometimes at the kitchen table, but more often in the back garden where I found it the most tranquil. She told me stories about the people she knew in town, going on about kidnappings and drug dealers and such. Most of what she said sounded too farfetched to believe. Hope Valley was a quiet, idyllic little town you’d expect to see in a Thomas Kincaid painting. I couldn’t imagine it being a hotbed of criminal activity.
Still, as she ordered, I made sure to lock all the doors and windows, even when Ivy and I were home. Although I hadn’t met our new neighbor yet, it was comforting to know there was a police officer living right next door.
I was finding my footing at Sylvia’s shop, Divine Flora. She was slowly starting to shift the responsibilities of running the place to me while teaching me everything she knew. I’d always been good with plants and flowers, but she was teaching me how to make eye-catching arrangements as well as the fanciful little fairy gardens I’d fallen in love with at first sight. It was only a matter of time before she’d be able to come and go as she pleased.
I was in the zone, clipping the stems of flowers I thought would look pretty together and stuffing them into a really cool art-deco vase when I heard the bell over the door ring. Looking up from my work, I watched as two women walked inside, heading straight for the counter where Sylvia was working.
One was a short, curvy woman with huge doe eyes and an incredible head of long, thick hair. I wasn’t sure if it was dark blonde or a super light brown, but whatever the case, it was gorgeous. She was also sporting a noticeable baby bump. The other woman was equally curvy, only taller, and she also had incredible hair that was a red several shades darker than my own.
“Hayden,” Sylvia called from across the shop. I looked her way to see her waving me over. “Come over here for a second, darlin’. There’s some people I want you to meet.”