“Donny, don’t.”
“—move in with me?”
Andrea’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What?”
Donny opened the box to reveal a single key on a Whidbey Island key chain.
“I’m not saying you have to come live with me, just that it would be nice to have you think of my home as your home too, not that you don’t have your own house, and I would never dream of taking you away from your sisters and your mother. I just want you to know that you’re welcome to come and go as you please and—”
Andrea placed a finger against his lips, halting his word vomit. “Thank you. I love it,” she said with a smile before raising up to touch her lips to his.
Donny released a relieved chuckle. “This went better than I expected.”
Andrea smiled, then turned back to the tree she had been observing. She felt Donny’s hands circle around her shoulder, bringing her back close to his chest. “I love you,” he breathed against her ear.
Andrea smiled and lifted her hand to rub his. Her smile fell when she realized that she was disappointed that Donny hadn’t been planning to propose.
After choosing the tree, she followed him to his house and helped him set up and decorate the tree before heading home.
Andrea sighed, resting her back against the door. How could she have felt so shattered when Donny opened the box to not see a ring? She didn’t want to think about why she had been so disappointed. Shaking her head, she pushed away from the door and went for the stairs.
Just as she stepped on the first rung, a noise coming from down the hall caught her attention. She moved away from the stair and went to investigate.
“Mom? What are you doing?”
Andrea stared at her mother in alarm. Becky slowly turned her head to look at her daughter, who was staring at the walker. She gripped it with her hands, then back to her face.
“Let me, let me help you.” Andrea sprang into action, making her way to her mother. Becky shook her head no and stopped her in her tracks. She watched her mother turn and then used her strength to roll the walker forward. She itched to go over to her.
Becky slowly continued to roll herself forward, but on her fourth step, she stumbled, almost falling and the walker going out from under her.
“Mom,” Andrea spoke up in alarm, rushing to her.
“I’m fiiine,” her mother affirmed, continuing to roll herself forward as if nothing had happened before.
Andrea watched helplessly as her mother rolled herself to the back door and disappeared through it. After a few minutes of just staring at the door, she finally decided to go through it.
She found her mother sitting in one of the wicker chairs, staring out at the water. She took a seat across from her and stared out at the water.
“I kn-kn-knoow y-you’re sca-scared. I-I a-am sc-scare-d t-too, but I a-am h-happy to h-have you a-all here with me. Th-That is en-enough for m-me.” Becky looked over at her daughter, her brown eyes reflecting her love. “I l-love y-y-you g-g-girls. Always. J-Just be h-ha-happy.”
Andrea reached over to grasp her mother’s frail hand in hers. “I love you, Mom,” she expressed. Her mother was dying, but she had accepted that. It was time for her and her sisters to acknowledge it.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
“Shianne! Carly! Over here!” Rory waved excitedly at the two women disembarking the ferry.
They both looked up and waved vigorously, their faces breaking into bright smiles. As soon as they were standing on the dock, they quickly made their way toward Rory, their carry-ons in tow.
The three women crashed into each other as their arms came up for a group hug. They laughed uncontrollably. Rory used the back of her hand to wipe at the tears that settled at the corners of her eyes and tried to calm down.
“You guys don’t know how happy I am to see you both,” she expressed.
“Trust me. I don’t think you’re as happy as I am. A whole year of teaching in Japan and being away from my best friend and everything familiar has taught me to appreciate all the memories we’ve made so far and the ones we’re going to make,” Shianne commented.
Rory smiled knowingly at her best friend.
“I just wish I’d been here to help you with all these plans and maybe sock that mother-in-law of yours. I can’t believe it’s only four days until the wedding,” Shianne continued to say.
