I drew my head back in confusion.
He winked. “I might have gone to Boston a few times to check up on you.”
“What?” I said with a gasp. “I never knew you came to Boston.”
“Your mother told me you needed to find your own way back. But I’ll admit, I was pretty angry with you. I’m sorry for the cold greeting I gave you the other day. I know better.”
I shook my head. “I don’t blame you for being mad at me, Daddy. I up and left you guys to tend to the farm and to implement all my silly ideas.”
“Your ideas are not silly, Abby. I’m just glad you stopped running, and you’re finally home now.”
Lifting up on my toes, I kissed him on the cheek. “I’m glad I’m home, too, Daddy.”
“Even if things don’t work out with you and Bishop?”
Nodding, I wrapped my arm around his, and we started to walk down the row. “Even if.”
As we strolled, Daddy said, “This field yielded some amazing lavender. I think this spring it will be even better.”
“That makes me so happy.”
He stopped and kissed my forehead. “Good. That’s all I want for you, Abby. To be happy.”
“I know, Daddy.”
“Come on. Your mother dried out a lot of the lavender, and she even had some tea made with it.”
“What? She didn’t tell me that.”
He laughed. “Don’t tell her I said this, but it’s actually good.”
Another weight slowly lifted from my shoulders as I pretended to zip my mouth shut and toss away an invisible key. “My lips are sealed.”
Bishop
“We’re going to have a lot of people huddling around this firepit this season,” Ken said as he placed the last stone.
My mind had been reeling ever since Abby left earlier. Once I pulled myself together, I had driven back down here to finish the firepit with Ken. We had one down by the barn, but it had always been the plan to build a second one up on this hilltop.
Abby’s plan.
It had been her idea to build the first firepit and offer hot chocolate and s’mores kits to our customers. It had been such a huge hit the last few winters—along with the popular idea to let folks cut down their own trees—that I had decided to finally build the second one. And I built it in the exact location Abby had suggested.
“Bishop?”
Ken’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “Yeah?”
“You okay?”
I brought my hand to the back of my neck to rub at the ache that had started building there earlier. “Honestly, no. I don’t think so.”
He gave a nod, then looked out over the snow-dusted hills. “Looks like the snow has stopped. You think we’ll get much more?”
I looked up at the sky. “Nah. I don’t think so. Would be nice to have a soft layer down for opening day, though. Something about the snow being on the trees makes it a bit more magical for folks.”
“I agree. We’ve got a couple weeks to get some more, so that’s good.”
There was obviously a conversation the two of us were stepping around, neither one of us willing to touch it.
I slapped my gloves onto my leg. “Let’s clean up—I’ve got a date tonight.”
Ken paused for a moment, then bent over and started to pick up the tools we had used to dry stack the stones. We worked in silence, cleaning up the area.
When I shut the back door of my truck, I looked at Ken. “Just say whatever it is you’re mulling around in your head.”
Ken frowned. “Is she back?”
“Yeah,” I said with a single nod. “She’s back.”
I got in my truck, shut the door, and drove down the hill to the workshop that was located a few hundred yards from the main barn. After I unloaded all the tools, I headed to my office in the barn and pulled up my emails. I stared at the same damn one for at least ten minutes before I gave up. My head just wasn’t in it.
I had put my phone on silent after Abby left this morning, so I pulled it out of my pocket and saw I had three texts and one voicemail.
The first text was from Jax.
Jax: Looking forward to tonight. I bought a little surprise for you.
Arabella had sent the other two.
Arabella: Could you give me a call when you get a chance?
Arabella: Never mind, Aiden found her.
I pulled my brows in as I stared at her second text. What did that mean?
I opened my voicemail. It was also from Arabella.
“Hey, Bishop, it’s Arabella. It’s almost three thirty and, well…I know Abby was coming to talk to you this morning. She’s not answering her phone and her folks haven’t seen her since she left to go talk to you. Did she…did she make it? She was emotional yesterday, and I wanted to make sure you didn’t…I mean…she didn’t… Oh hell. I don’t know what I mean. Could you just let me know if she stopped by?”
A small smile spread over my face, and I hit Arabella’s number. She’d always had such a huge heart and clearly still loved Abby like a sister. I wondered if she’d laid into her yesterday.
No, Arabella wouldn’t hurt a fly.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Arabella, it’s Bishop.”
“Did you not get my second text?”
“I got it.”
“Oh. Well, Aiden found her up on Lone Mountain Trail.”
I straightened in my chair. “Why was Aiden up on Lone Mountain?”
“Well, I was worried about Abby, and when she wasn’t answering me, well…you know me. I sent a search party out to find her.”
I nodded. “She okay?”
“Do you really want to know?” “What’s that supposed to mean, Arabella?”
“What it sounded like, Bishop.”
I let out a disbelieving laugh. The woman on the line was not the Arabella I knew. When I didn’t reply, she went on.
“She told me you wouldn’t talk to her because you didn’t have time. I would think that someone who drowned his broken heart in whiskey and women the last two years would want to finally get answers. Apparently, you don’t.”
“What the hell?” I asked. “Abby comes back to town and you grow some balls. You want to call me out? How about I call you out? You’re the last damn person to talk about drowning out anything. You hide up there with your bees and pretend like you didn’t break Hunter’s fucking heart. I guess Abby took lessons from you.”
God Almighty. When had I turned into someone who so easily lost his temper?
“Do you know what the saddest part of your little speech is?” Arabella asked.
“Enlighten me,” I snarled.
“If you only knew the real reason why Abby left, and I…and why I…” Her voice cracked, and I closed my eyes. Suddenly, she cleared her throat and spoke in a calm, clear tone. “You’re a real asshole, Bishop, do you know that?”
“So I’ve been told,” I said softly.
Then, as if nothing had erupted between us, she put on her happiest voice and ended with, “Enjoy your date tonight.”
The line went dead, and I sat there for a moment, the phone still up to my ear. I was immediately hit with guilt, and I squeezed the phone and yelled out, “Fucking hell!”