Drew lay in bed, Gretchen’s messages brightening his phone screen—and his life.

I want to rely on you. Her message appeared on the backs of his eyelids even after he closed his eyes. He wasn’t sure how to respond, so he let his phone drop to his chest, where he held it over his heart as it pushed love throughout his body with every pump of blood through his veins.

He didn’t want to tell her he loved her in a text. That didn’t feel genuine, and he wanted to see her face, breathe in her perfume, and kiss her when he told her how he felt about her.

So she’d made a mistake. After she’d explained more about what she’d wanted the weekend to be, he’d forgiven her. He understood the feeling of simply wanting a day away from everything, though he didn’t seem to mind taking care of his day job, cutting flowers for her, entertaining Dixie and Jess, or working around the farm.

But he wasn’t a single dad, alienated from his parents, or running his own business.

He’d forgiven her, but he hadn’t gone out to the farm with them. Dixie had asked him to. She’d said she needed to start making her wish again, as it hadn’t come true the first time. His curiosity burned through him as hot now as it had earlier. He didn’t want the little girl to suffer, but he’d needed a few hours to himself.

Which was silly, really. He’d had most of the day to himself. But with his winning ice cream recipe now in his notebook, with ideas for garnishes in a list underneath, Drew finally felt relaxed.

And not a moment too soon. With the Lavender Festival in only a month, he needed to make the ice cream a few times and make sure it was consistent every time.

Exhaustion made his thoughts slow. Before he fell asleep, he sent I want you to rely on me. How can I help you with that? to Gretchen. He silenced his phone and set his alarm. Because he didn’t really want to talk to her about what she needed this late at night. He also didn’t believe she actually did rely on him. She wanted to, and that alone was a big step for her.

Big enough for now, he thought as he drifted to sleep.

He enjoyed his new reality. One where he worked with Gretchen in the flower gardens, drove into town with her, shared lunch with her, and held her hand while they wandered through the downtown park where the Lavender Festival would be held.

A week passed, each shift he worked with Russ filled with questions. Did he like this job? Why did he like it? Should he take over the farm Joel had bought? Could he dedicate his life to cultivating lavender?

He didn’t know, and he didn’t bring it up to anyone.

He took Dixie and Jess out to the wishing well, fed goats, and ate dinner with everyone out at the farm, getting no closer to an answer. Joel never brought it up again, but the idea of quitting his EMT job and moving out to the second farmhouse plagued Drew while he was awake and asleep.

As July dawned, he begged out of dinner one evening and went to his brother’s house. He found Adam in the kitchen, pulling a frozen pizza from the oven. “That smells good. Got enough for two?”

Adam practically slammed the sheet tray on the stovetop. “Sure. Help yourself. I don’t feel like eating anyway.”

Drew’s eyebrows rose at the same time his heart pounded. “Bad day?”

“Bad week,” Adam practically growled. His jaw worked, and Drew knew it was just a matter of time before the whole story would pour from his mouth. So he got down two plates and served them both a few slices of pizza.

Adam sat at the bar, glaring at his dinner like it had done him a personal wrong. Drew joined him and ate a slice. “Okay, so I’ll talk. Did you know Mom and Joel bought the farm next door hoping I’d take it over?”

Adam swung his head toward him. “They did?”

Drew swallowed and lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Do I look like a lavender farmer to you? Be honest.”

“I think you can do whatever you want,” Adam said, and the words slammed into Drew’s chest. It was something their father would’ve said, and looking at Adam’s long nose and light hazel eyes, all Drew could see was their dad.

Emotion surged up his throat, where he barely managed to contain it. He nodded and said, “Thanks, Adam.” He lifted another bite of pizza to his mouth. “I’m ready for the Lavender Festival. In just a couple of weeks, you’re going to have to start addressing me as ‘your majesty’.”

Adam snorted, a slight laugh coming from his mouth. He picked up a piece of pizza, finally. “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

Drew chuckled with his brother and finished eating. When Adam did too and still hadn’t said anything, Drew asked, “So why the bad week? I haven’t heard anything around the hospital.” And though the police department was housed in another building, the EMTs, firefighters, and policemen often knew each other’s business.

“Anita broke up with me.” Adam sounded positively discouraged. Drew should’ve known there was something seriously wrong—more than just job problems—when he’d first seen his brother making food from a box.

“Oh, wow. I’m sorry.” Drew wasn’t sure if he should touch Adam. Give him a brotherly pat or something. He’d never really discussed his romantic relationships before. Adam hadn’t dated a whole lot, and it was usually Drew drowning himself in ice cream recipes and rhetorical questions when things went south with a woman.

“What happened?” he asked.

“She said she ‘wasn’t feeling it’. Whatever that means.” Adam stood and put their plates in the sink. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“All right.” Drew respected his brother’s privacy. “But I’m here if you want to talk.”

“Nothing to talk about. Back to the job.” Adam stepped over to the living room, where he sat in the middle of the couch and flicked on the TV. “I took an extra night shift tonight, so I have to go back in a little bit.” He obviously wasn’t focused on the television, as it blared an infomercial for a copper brownie pan that Adam already owned.

“See you later, then. Be careful.” Drew let himself out, wondering what he could do to help his brother. He stopped by Andy’s Anchor on his way home, an idea growing in his mind.

“Hey, Drew.” Andy Parker finished wiping a table and grinned at him. “What can I get you?”

“You close at eight, right?”

“Right.”

“My brother loves your giant chocolate chip cookies, and he’s on the late shift tonight.” Drew pulled his wallet from his back pocket. “How much for whatever you’ve got left to be delivered to the station on your way home?”

The following day, Gretchen drove herself and her van full of flowers—a healthy amount of lavender included—into town as it was Drew’s day off. He’d promised her he’d bring Dixie for lunch, and he busied himself around the farm with the girl’s help.

They fed all the animals, went out to the wishing well, and then spent hours in the fields, harvesting and pruning lavender. Gretchen had been out in the fields next door all week, clipping the wild lavender blooms and making them into beautiful arrangements for the upcoming festival. It seemed the whole town was abuzz with lavender love as the days until the town’s biggest event dwindled.

And Loveland Lavender Farm was going to be ready.

“Why don’t we do all the rows in the front?” Dixie asked as Drew bypassed them after bringing in their first harvest.

“Because the tourists will come next week and want to harvest their own,” he said. “We save those rows for them.”

“And that’s when Donna and Joel will sell all that stuff they’ve made.”

“Exactly.” His mother had been making oils, soaps, and lotions for months. Joel had been in the kitchen, perfecting his lavender peanut brittle. Drew knew how to make the lavender into oils, of course, but all he did was provide the flowers for his mother. Dixie had been labeling bottles and keeping his mother company. “Joel puts up a wooden roof for her booth,” he added as he saw his stepfather wrestling the structure from the storage barn. “See?”

Dixie waved, though Joel couldn’t return the gesture, and Drew chuckled. “Let’s get another load in, then we’ll bundle everything and get it hung. Then it will be time to get over to the flower shop.”

“Right. Lunch.” The girl skipped up to him and put her hand in his. “Drew, do you like my mom?”

Drew swallowed and looked at Dixie. “Of course I do, Dix.”

“Are you going to ask her to marry you?”

“I don’t know.”

Her face scrunched up. “Well, I think you should. Then we can all move into that other house.” She pointed to the farmhouse next door.

“Is that what your mom says?” Drew arrived at the row of lavender where he’d left off and pulled out his shears. The already pruned lavender left little clumps of eight-inch high greenery. He thought it was as beautiful as the plants with tall lavender flowers shooting from them.

“She keeps saying she’s going to ask Joel about the house, but she never does.”

Drew chewed on this information as he gathered a fistful of lavender and snip-snipped it, leaving him with the perfectly pruned undergrowth and a handful of the prized plant that was bringing thousands of people to Hawthorn Harbor.

“My mom tells me stories about my dad every night,” Dixie said.

Drew startled, his clippers almost slipping from his grip. “That’s great.”

Dixie went on, working on the plant next to him with a simple pair of scissors, the way he’d learned how. He could do three plants for every one she did, but he didn’t mind. They filled their baskets and went back to the barn to bunch the plants by length, rubber band them, and hang them by paperclips in the root cellar.

“Go wash up,” he told her. “And then we’ll go into town.”

He stepped around the side of the house to help Joel get the rooftop in place. With open sides so people could approach the lavender from any direction, the wooden legs supported the pitched roof easily.

Joel was slathering on a fresh coat of white paint, after which he’d staple fresh and dried lavender stems to decorate.

“Joel?” Drew approached slowly, his hands tucked in his back pockets.

“Yeah?” He kept the paintbrush going up and down, up and down.

“I’ve been thinking…” He cast a look over his shoulder to the farm next door. “I think I’d like to give lavender farming a try.”

Joel froze, the brush falling to his side as he brought his eyes to Drew’s. The air between them held plenty of July heat, but it was as if everything had stilled.

“All right.”

Drew wasn’t sure what he would do with his EMT job. He helped around the family farm, but he knew Joel worked ten-hour days even with everything Drew did. And the farm next door was wild, uncared for these past five years.

“It’ll need a lot of work,” Joel said. “You’ll probably need help.” He dipped the brush in the bucket of white paint and went back to work. “But I can have the lawyer draw up the paperwork to make it yours.”

“How much do you want for it?”

“Oh, come on.” Joel kept working without a single beat of hesitation.

“You bought it.”

“We bought it for you.” Joel gave him a knowing look. “It’s a gift.”

No mortgage. No debt. It was a huge gift, and gratitude swelled within Drew. “Thank you, Joel,” he said with as much sincerity as he felt rushing through him.

He wandered over to the fence separating the properties. He’d always loved living out here, and this way, he’d be closer to his mom and Joel as they aged. He could carry on the Loveland Lavender Farm traditions.

And he couldn’t help thinking about what Dixie had said—that he should ask Gretchen to marry him so they could all live in the farmhouse together.

Behind him, Joel’s phone rang, and Drew started toward the house, realizing how late it had gotten. He paused when Joel said, “Oh, hello Gretchen.”

He met Drew’s eye with obvious surprise in his. His mouth dropped open a little, and he stammered something unintelligible. Drew edged closer, concern coursing within him.

“What’s she saying?” he asked.

Joel moved the phone away from his mouth. “She just asked if I’d sell her the farm next door.”