October 10, 2023 – 7:18 PM
Lin had barely finished writing Buy more traffic cones when she heard footsteps in the hallway.
She looked up.
Helen appeared in the doorway carrying two steaming mugs.
"Hot cocoa."
Lin smiled.
"You made cocoa?"
"I did."
Helen walked over and handed one to her.
Lin wrapped both hands around the mug.
The warmth immediately sank into her fingers.
"Thanks, Mom."
Helen didn't sit.
Instead, she stepped closer and pulled Lin into a hug.
Lin stiffened for half a second.
Then relaxed.
She rested her cheek against her mother's shoulder.
Helen held her tightly.
No questions.
No lecture.
Just a mother holding her daughter.
After a moment, Helen kissed the side of Lin's head and let her go.
"You look exhausted."
Lin took a sip.
"I'm fine."
Helen gave her a look.
Lin sighed.
"Apparently everyone has decided I'm not fine."
"Everyone?"
"Eric."
Helen's eyebrows rose.
"The deputy?"
"Yes."
"He's observant."
Lin stared into her cocoa.
"He thinks I should see a doctor."
Helen nodded.
"He's right."
Lin groaned.
"You're supposed to be on my side."
Helen pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down.
"I am on your side."
She took a sip of cocoa.
"That's why I'm agreeing with him."
Lin couldn't argue with that.
Helen studied her daughter for a moment.
"You've been running yourself into the ground."
"The property needed it."
"The property will still be here tomorrow."
Lin looked at her.
Helen pointed gently at the notebook.
"You don't have to solve everything tonight."
Lin glanced down.
Her notebook was filled with lists.
Doctors.
Photographers.
Marketing.
Website.
Security.
Supplies.
Repairs.
People.
Plans.
More plans.
Plans for the plans.
She smiled faintly.
"I'm just trying to stay ahead."
Helen nodded.
"I know."
Her voice softened.
"But sweetheart, you don't always have to be ahead."
Lin looked up.
Helen reached across the table and touched her hand.
"Sometimes you can simply be where you are."
Lin was quiet.
Helen smiled.
"You know what I think?"
"That I'm stubborn?"
"That too."
Lin laughed.
Helen continued.
"I think you've spent so much time worrying about what might happen that you've forgotten to notice what's already happening."
Lin looked toward the window.
The farmhouse.
The fields.
The barn lights.
The hotel.
All of it had seemed impossible when she'd first arrived.
Now it was home.
Helen squeezed her hand.
"Your father is happy."
"The animals are healthy."
"The farm is running."
"And you finally have people around you who want to help."
Lin smiled.
"You forgot the bank robbers."
Helen laughed.
"I was trying to."
Lin took another sip.
The cocoa was sweet.
A little too sweet.
Exactly the way Helen always made it.
She looked at her mother.
"What if things don't go the way I expect?"
Helen didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she leaned back.
"Then you adjust."
Lin frowned.
"That's it?"
"That's life."
Helen shrugged.
"You make a plan."
"You work the plan."
"Something changes."
"You make another plan."
She smiled.
"And if something really goes wrong?"
Lin waited.
Helen lifted her mug.
"You drink hot cocoa and figure it out tomorrow."
Lin laughed.
A genuine laugh.
"That's your professional advice?"
"I'm a veterinarian."
Helen pointed at her.
"Animals don't follow schedules either."
Lin smiled.
"Fair."
Helen stood.
Before leaving, she leaned down and kissed Lin's forehead.
"Go easy on yourself tonight."
Lin nodded.
"I'll try."
Helen started toward the doorway.
Then she stopped.
She turned around.
"You know what else you need?"
Lin narrowed her eyes.
"What?"
Helen smiled.
"You need to date."
Lin nearly choked on her cocoa.
"Mom."
"I'm serious."
"Why are we suddenly discussing my dating life?"
Helen walked back toward the table.
"Because you're thirty-one, you're healthy, you're independent, and you've been living like you're preparing for a military invasion."
Lin stared at her.
"That's because—"
She stopped herself.
Helen raised an eyebrow.
"Because?"
Lin took another sip of cocoa.
"Because I have a lot going on."
"Exactly."
Helen sat down again.
"And that's why you need someone."
Lin shook her head.
"I don't need a boyfriend."
"I didn't say boyfriend."
"You said date."
"Yes."
Helen smiled.
"Dating doesn't mean marriage."
Lin looked suspicious.
"It sounds like a trap."
"It's not a trap."
"You and Mrs. Porter have been talking."
Helen laughed.
"Maybe."
Lin groaned.
"I knew it."
Helen reached across the table.
"Listen to me."
Her tone became gentler.
"One bad boyfriend doesn't mean every man is bad."
Lin looked down at her mug.
Helen continued.
"You had a bad experience."
"A very bad one."
"Yes."
She squeezed Lin's hand.
"But that's the beginning of the story, not the end of it."
Lin was quiet.
"You don't have to fall in love."
"You don't have to get married."
"You don't even have to like the man after dinner."
Lin smiled.
"That's encouraging."
Helen laughed.
"I'm saying you should give yourself the chance to meet people."
She leaned back.
"Somebody might surprise you."
Lin thought about Adam.
Then Evan.
Then the deputy.
She immediately pushed the thoughts away.
"I don't have time."
Helen gave her a knowing look.
"You had time to watch a two-hour romantic comedy this afternoon."
Lin stared at her.
"That was different."
"How?"
"Nobody could interrupt me."
Helen laughed.
"Exactly. That's the problem."
Lin smiled despite herself.
Helen stood again.
"You don't have to choose anybody."
"Just let people get to know you."
She pointed toward Lin.
"And stop assuming that because one man betrayed you, the next one will too."
Lin lowered her eyes.
That one landed.
Helen walked toward the doorway.
"A bad boyfriend is not a life sentence."
She paused.
"It's just one bad boyfriend."
Lin looked up.
Helen smiled.
"There are plenty more men in the world."
"Unfortunately."
Helen laughed.
"Fortunately."
She disappeared into the hallway.
Lin sat alone with her cocoa.
She stared into the mug.
Then, despite herself, she smiled.
"Mom really needs a hobby."
From somewhere down the hall, Helen called back.
"I heard that!"
Lin laughed.
"I know!"
Her mother's footsteps faded down the hallway.
The house became quiet again.
Lin looked down at the cocoa between her hands.
She smiled for another moment.
Then the smile slowly disappeared.
Her mother's words stayed with her.
You should date.
Lin wasn't sure why the suggestion bothered her so much.
Maybe because she'd spent so long thinking about what she had to do that she had almost forgotten to ask herself what she wanted.
She set the mug on the table.
What did she actually want?
A safe home?
She already had one.
Her parents close by?
They were here.
What did she want?
She leaned back in her chair.
A quiet life sounded good.
But she didn't want to be alone.
She wanted someone she could sit beside without needing to fill every silence.
Someone who could make her laugh.
Someone competent enough to handle a problem without turning it into her problem.
She needed someone she could trust.
Lin frowned.
"That's a pretty high bar."
Then she smiled faintly.
"It should be."
She thought about Nathan.
The memories were still there.
The lies.
The betrayal.
Being left behind.
She had spent so much time convincing herself that she didn't need anyone that she'd accidentally convinced herself she didn't want anyone.
Those weren't the same thing.
She looked toward the window.
Outside, the lights around the farm glowed softly against the dark.
Maybe her mother was right.
Maybe one bad relationship didn't mean she had to close the door permanently.
Dating didn't mean surrendering her independence.
It didn't even mean falling in love.
It could simply mean having dinner with someone.
Talking.
Laughing.
Finding out who they really were.
Lin picked up her cocoa again.
Her mind wandered through the men she'd met since returning.
Adam's easy smile.
Evan's ridiculous sense of humor.
Eric's quiet concern.
Even Lucas, with his calm presence and habit of noticing everything without saying much.
She stopped.
Her thoughts had become far too complicated.
She took a sip of cocoa.
"One problem at a time."
She smiled.
Then she looked toward the hallway where her mother had disappeared.
Maybe she would try.
Not because someone thought she was lonely.
But because, for the first time in a very long time.
She wanted to know what it felt like to choose someone instead of simply surviving without them.