Gretchen slept after her appointment in radiology, and Drew left her snoozing to go get the kids. Jess pulled open the door and climbed into the cab of Drew’s truck first, saying, “Hey, Drew,” like they were old friends.

“Hey, there.” He grinned at the easy-going nature of the boy. Janey had done a great job of raising him on her own after her husband’s death in a ferry fire. Drew had been one of the first on-scene, but the scuba cops had done the bulk of the work in getting survivors back to land, where Drew and his crew could then work on them. If Drew remembered right, Jess had been a baby when his father had died.

Dixie climbed up after Jess and pulled the door closed. She didn’t say anything, and Drew wondered what was bothering her. He wasn’t sure how to ask, so he put the truck in gear and headed toward the farm.

“Your mom’s asleep, so we’ll go see her after dinner,” he said, glancing over at the girl. Dixie barely nodded.

The elementary school sat south of Main Street, so he took the central vein out to the Lavender Highway that led north. “You guys want to stop and get a snack?” Duality came into view, and Drew’s mouth watered.

“Sure,” Jess said. Dixie said nothing.

Drew’s heart kicked out an extra beat as he turned into the parking lot. Everyone piled out, and Drew positioned himself next to Gretchen’s daughter. “What’d you do in music today?” he asked.

“We didn’t have music today.”

“Oh. Well, what did you have instead?”

“PE.”

“Do you like PE?” He opened the door and held it for the kids while she said, “Yeah, I guess.”

“One thing, okay guys?” he called after them. “Whatever you want.”

Once he had his pancake wrapped sausage link, and the kids had their candy, they got back in the truck. He said, “So, have you guys been out to a lavender farm before?”

“Yeah,” Jess said in a bored tone, and Dixie said, “My great-grandparents owned a farm. My mom says I came to visit when I was little, but I don’t remember.”

“We have horses and goats and chickens.” He glanced at the kids, glad Dixie was talking again. “What do you want to do first?”

“Horses,” Jess said.

Dixie said, “Goats.”

He chuckled. “We’ll have time to do it all.” They arrived at the farm in fifteen minutes and Drew called, “Ma?” when he got out of the truck. His mother appeared on the front porch of the farmhouse, wearing an apron and a wide smile.

“That’s my mom,” he told the kids. “She’s made cookies, and she can’t wait to feed you guys dinner.”

She received the children with a hug for each of them and a quick, “Hello,” before taking them into the kitchen to get a cookie. Drew supposed he probably shouldn’t have bought them candy on the way out, but as they petted goats and fed chickens and finally saddled horses, neither of them seemed pale or ill.

“Up you go, Jess.” Drew held out his hand to help the boy up, but Jess didn’t need it. He landed in the saddle like he’d ridden a horse every day.

He grinned, and Drew pulled out his phone. “Let’s take a picture for your mom.” He still hadn’t answered Yvonne’s text. He wasn’t sure if he should, or if he should simply delete it. He’d been devastated when she’d left him, and it had taken a year before he’d stopped blaming himself for the break-up.

He pushed Yvonne from his mind and tapped to take the picture.

“Don’t send it to her,” Jess said, his smile slipping.

“Why not?” Drew admired the photo and turned to help Dixie onto her pony.

“She gets nervous about me doing stuff like this.” Jess wore a disgruntled expression when Drew faced him again.

“You don’t think she’ll find out? You aren’t going to tell her?” He tapped the stirrup. “Right there, Dix. Left foot.” The girl stumbled a bit, but Drew righted her.

“Probably not,” Jess said. “I’ll just tell her about the goats and chickens.”

Dixie pushed off the ground and Drew helped her land in the saddle. “Oof,” she said, surprise racing across her face before it split into a smile.

He gathered the reins of both horses and led them out, thinking about what Jess had said. He’d never known Janey to be afraid of anything. In high school, she formed the rock climbing club and led the group into Olympic National Park on weekends.

Of course, that was before her husband had been killed when the ferry he piloted from the northern point of town over the United States border and into Victoria, Canada had caught fire and sunk with him on board.

“Maybe we shouldn’t ride the horses if she’s going to be mad about it.” Drew glanced over his shoulder, and the identical looks of wonder and joy on Jess’s and Dixie’s faces squashed that idea real quick. So Drew put his worries to rest—he could deal with Janey Germaine’s wrath if he had to.

He walked them through the neat lavender rows, pointing out the different varieties of the plant while Blue and Chief kept the overeager chickens away.

“What’s that?” Jess asked, pointing to something on his right. Drew followed his finger and spotted the old wishing well his father had installed a few years before his death.

He chuckled and changed course. “I don’t suppose either of you have any coins with you?” He certainly didn’t carry cash and when both children said they didn’t either, Drew said, “Well, just another reason to come out here again.”

They arrived at the old stone well, and Drew helped Jess and then Dixie down. “My dad built this,” he said, peering over the edge. “My brother—you guys know Chief Herrin, right? He’s my older brother.”

The kids nodded and joined him with their hands splayed against the rough rock of the well.

“Anyway, Chief Herrin really wanted to make the high school football team. So my dad would come out into the fields every night and practice with me and Adam.” Memories flooded Drew’s mind, all of them happy, with footballs being thrown while the sun set and laughter filled the sky as they headed back to the house for their favorite treat: ice cream sandwiches.

His mom made them from scratch, using a thin, crispy gingerbread cookie and lavender honey ice cream. Drew had gotten his love of eating ice cream from his father and his obsession with crafting ice cream from his mother.

“Anyway,” he said, realizing he’d fallen silent and that Jess was now staring at him. “The summer before Adam’s tryouts, Dad came out here and started building this wishing well. He said he needed the water this far out anyway, and if Adam tossed in a quarter every day for a month and made the same wish, he’d get what he wanted.”

Dixie stepped closer to his side. “Did he do it?”

“He sure did.” Drew reached up and ran his finger along the top of the roof, which went to a sharp point. The well had seemed so magical when his father had first built it. “Adam came out every day for a month with a quarter he’d earned by raking grass, or hauling lavender, or working around the house for my mom. He’d toss it in, close his eyes tight, and make his wish. Silently.” Drew made eye contact with both kids, smiling at them. “That’s the trick. You can’t say your wish out loud.”

Dixie closed her eyes for a few seconds. “I don’t have a quarter.”

“Like I said, we’ll have to come back.” The sun was starting to edge toward the ocean on the west, so Drew turned his back to the well and leaned his weight into the wall. “I’m sure I can rustle up some quarters for us.”

“I already know what I want to wish for,” Jess said, copying Drew and leaning into the well too.

“I don’t know that we’ll be able to come every day,” Drew said.

“Maybe you could come and make our wishes for us,” Dixie suggested.

“But then you’d have to tell me your wish out loud.” He tapped her on the forehead. “I think once is probably enough. Come on, we better get back before dinner starts.” He helped the kids back onto the horses and led them back to the barn.

He showed them how to brush down the animals and put them in their stalls. When they approached the house, a forest green SUV sat in the driveway, which meant Janey had arrived. Adam’s truck sat beside it.

“Looks like we’re last.” Drew increased his speed. “When we get inside, let’s get washed up quick, all right?”

“Drew?” Dixie’s sweet voice lifted into the sky.

“Yeah, sweetheart?” He paused and let Jess go into the farmhouse first.

“Mom said you were there when I was born.”

He crouched in front of her. “I sure was.” A sense of pride filled him, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“So you knew my dad.”

Drew straightened as he exhaled. “I knew your dad a little bit,” he said. “He and your mom lived out here. Right over there.” He pointed southwest, where the frame of another house could barely be seen through the trees. “I wasn’t living here, so I wasn’t real close with them. But I knew your mom a little bit from when she came to visit in the summertime. And yeah, I knew your dad, sure.”

Dixie’s hand fitted into Drew’s. “I miss my dad. Do you miss your dad?”

The question took Drew by surprise, and that grief that normally allowed him to go about his day undisturbed hit him hard behind his heart.

He managed to nod, and his voice was only a little rough around the edges when he said, “Yeah, I miss my dad.”

“But you have Joel now.”

Drew didn’t want to go into how he’d been a lot older than Dixie when his dad died, that he hadn’t lived at home when his mother got remarried. But all he did was nod. “Yeah, I have Joel now.” He pushed the door open and tugged on Dixie’s hand to get her to enter first. She went inside, and he looked up into the sky, hoping for one last breath of peace before the craziness of dinner began.

Then he faced the bright, loud atmosphere of the farmhouse and joined his family and friends. As he greeted his brother and put the forks out where his mother dictated, he realized there was one person missing.

Gretchen.

Somehow they all fit around the dining room table, and Joel said a blessing on the food. Conversations broke out, about school, about the farm, about the National Park, about the happenings of the police department. Drew enjoyed the vibrant, boisterous meal more than he’d thought he would, and as Anita stood to join his mother in making coffee, Drew leaned back in his chair.

“Can I go play with Chief and Blue?” Jess asked his mom.

“If it’s okay with Drew.”

“Sure, go on. There are balls in the box in the utility room next to the washing machine.”

Jess started to get up, and Dixie did too. They rummaged around in the box to find a toy for the dogs, who waited with their tongues hanging out of their mouths. Blue whined, as if he thought he could find the ball faster.

“So did you ask Gretchen about coming out and staying here at the farm?” His mom placed a steaming mug of coffee in front of him.

Drew’s whole body seized, but he managed to lock his gaze onto Dixie’s. “Mom,” he said quietly.

“I just don’t think it would be good for her to try to manage on her own. It’s not necessary.”

Drew looked to Janey for help. He wanted her to jump in with, “Oh, I’ll be there to help her,” but she sat silently, watching him.

“We have all those bedrooms upstairs,” his mom continued as if an awkward hush hadn’t fallen over the table. “She’s going to need help.”

“She has a broken foot,” Drew said. And we’re not together, he added silently. “She can’t go up and down stairs.”

“I can help her,” Dixie blurted out as she rushed toward the table. “And Drew, you could come help too, right?” She looked from person to person at the table. “My mom would love to stay out here. She talks about her granddad’s lavender farm all the time.”

Janey finally leaned forward and touched Dixie’s arm. “We should talk to her about it first, honey.”

“Can we go now?” she asked. “Mom said we could come visit her tonight. We can ask her right now.”

Dread filled Drew, and he pressed his eyes closed in a long blink. “I can take you to see your mom.” He pushed back from the table and headed into the utility room to get his jacket.

He found Janey with Dixie in the front living room, zipping Dixie’s sweatshirt before the little girl practically skipped out the front door.

“This is a bad idea, right?” he asked Gretchen’s best friend.

“Oh, I don’t know.” She tucked her hands in her back pockets. “Depends on how it’s presented. Gretchen doesn’t like to accept help or be viewed as a charity case.” She put her hand on Drew’s shoulder as she passed. “Good luck.”

Drew chewed on her words all the way to the hospital, but he still couldn’t figure out a way to ask Gretchen to come live at the farm with his parents—who she probably barely knew—and make it seem like it wasn’t for her benefit. How could he make it into something they needed from her?

In the end, he didn’t even get a chance to say anything. Dixie beat him to the room and had barely burst through the door when she said, “Drew’s mom said we can come stay at the farmhouse while your foot gets better, and I really want to.”

Gretchen looked up from the magazine she was reading. “What?”

“Please?” Dixie ran to her mother’s bedside. “Please, please, please? They have horses and chickens and this wishing well I need to throw a quarter in every day and make a wish or it won’t come true.”

Gretchen scoffed in helplessness and looked over Dixie’s head to Drew, who still had no idea what to say.