Blueberry Hill, #1

by Cynthia Luhrs

  If someone would have told Ally she’d be happy in a small mountain town, and living at home again, she would have told them they were out of their minds, but here she was… happier than she’d been in a long time.

  Being here, she didn’t feel like she had to be a certain version of herself, one Ally with her friends, another with her dates. Here she could just be plain old Ally, flaws and all.

  They meandered through the tents, stopping to ooh and ah over the various wares, everything from pottery, to handmade soaps, to giant sculptures for the garden. Maybe next year after she got her flower farm started, she’d buy a giant metal giraffe to put in the field. The crows would love it.

  They each went their separate ways to the various food vendors to peruse the lunch offerings. Her mom wanted fried chicken and biscuits from the local church booth, while Mrs. Collier wanted to try the fried Oreos and local ice cream. Ally guessed when you were Mrs. Colliers age you could eat whatever you wanted whenever you wanted.

  A smile spread across her face. Age didn’t matter, Ally was her own person, she could eat whatever she wanted too. Who cared what other people thought?

  With that thought, she wandered through the area where the food vendors set up, trying to decide what to have for lunch.

  The smell of pizza beckoned her to a small booth with a long line.

  As she waited her turn, Ally listened to two guys behind her talking.

  “Was it kids?”

  The other guy with the dirty blond hair shook his head.

  “That’s what my brother thought… until we saw the tracks.”

  Ally turned sideways to better hear what they were saying.

  “It was a bear.”

  The guy with the ratty shorts and long brown hair rocked back on his heels.

  “Whoa. Why would a bear break into your brewery?”

  The blond guy shrugged.

  “Guess he wanted a drink.”

  Ally burst out laughing. She turned to face the two guys.

  “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. Did a bear really get drunk at your brewery?”

  The blond guy grinned.

  “Yep.”

  He nodded to her.

  “I’m Dane.”

  He gestured to his friend.

  “This is Rich. Don’t mind him, he’s been sampling the beer and wine and hasn’t eaten yet.”

  “I’m Ally. I saw the tasting tent. I’m on my way over there after I get my pizza.”

  The thought of a drunk bear made her laugh again.

  “I hope you’re putting in cameras so you can catch him on film if he comes back.”

  Rich swayed back and forth on his feet.

  “Dude. That bear will most definitely bring all his bear friends and have a party.”

  Ally said goodbye to them when it was her turn to order. She decided on a slice of pepperoni, and a slice of white pizza with spinach. On her way to find Mrs. Collier and her mom, she stopped in the tasting tent and grabbed glasses of mead for all of them.

  She was having cotton candy for dessert. The only question was, original, honey, or maple syrup cotton candy?

  Well, why only one? She would buy a bag of each.

  Chapter 15

  What was it about a small town festival that was so much fun? Tara and Will rode the Ferris wheel that night. Then he played a few games as she cheered him on, delighted when he won her a gigantic blueberry pillow. They ate their weight in festival food as they wandered from vendor to vendor. The homemade cinnamon buns were her favorite.

  There were musicians playing, baby pig races, and a moonshine tasting. Who knew apple moonshine would taste so good?

  The lights, the sound of the crowds and rides, and walking hand in hand with Will made Tara want to believe that she could hold on to her newfound independence, and her sense of self, but still let someone in her heart.

  Time would tell. There was no rush. She liked how they fit each other, how comfortable they were, and when they disagreed, which they did as they had differing views on a variety of topics, they still found common ground. They argued more than she had with Harry, but she felt like she knew Will better than she’d ever known her ex-husband.

  On the way back to the vehicle, Tara stopped and bought Ally a bag of maple syrup cotton candy, one of regular cotton candy in pink, a bag of honey flavored fluff, and a blueberry flavored cotton candy. Her daughter adored the spun sugar and would be delighted she’d remembered.

  When she got home, it surprised Tara to see Ally was already home.

  “Hey, you.”

  Tara joined her on the front porch, glad she’d put on a sweatshirt. It was chilly at night, especially with the breeze off the water, making Tara glad she’d purchased an outdoor heater for the patio.

  “I can’t wait to watch the leaves change color.”

  Ally sipped from a mug of hot chocolate.

  “I can’t wait until it snows and we don’t have to go anywhere.”

  Tara handed her the paper bag full of cotton candy. “I was thinking the same thing about the trees today, how nice it will be to see all the colors. We’ll have to grow corn, squash, and pumpkins next year.”

  “And acorn squash. I love it with butter and brown sugar.”

  Her daughter tipped the mug up to get the last bits of marshmallow out.

  “And to cut our own Christmas tree.” Ally set the empty mug aside, opened the bag and burst out laughing.

  “What? Don’t you like cotton candy anymore?”

  “Are you kidding? I love cotton candy.” She looked in the paper bag.

  “I’m laughing because I bought some too.” She pulled out the bag of blueberry cotton candy.

  “Blueberry? How did I miss the blueberry cotton candy?”

  She ripped open the plastic and popped a chunk into her mouth.

  “Oh. This is so good.”

  Her daughter had dragged an old afghan out with her to wrap around her as she sat in the rocking chair. Aunt Frida had friends that crocheted, they’d found several blankets in a drawer.

  Tara went in the house to fix them hot cocoa with marshmallows, and to grab a quilt to wrap around her. When she returned Ally had eaten half the bag. Her fingers, lips, and tongue were blue. How her daughter could eat cotton candy and drink a glass of red wine was beyond Tara. The thought of mixing the two together made her throat close up.

  Wouldn’t it be nice if Ally found someone here in Blueberry Hill? She was putting down roots, making a life here, so Tara hoped she’d stay permanently, that she’d finally stick to something and find her place in life.

  Ally was in the kitchen enjoying a cup of coffee when her mom stumbled in, yawning.

  “I made coffee and one of the guys working on the attic brought us bagels and cream cheese.”

  “You mean he brought you bagels and cream cheese.”

  Her mom poured coffee into a cheery red polka dot mug.

  “It doesn’t matter, I’m not ready to date yet.”

  Ally finished her bagel and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

  “Jason made me doubt my own opinions. It’s taken me a while to get over that.” She looked out the windows at the lake, wondering if she’d ever tire of the view. “I don’t want to lose myself again.”

  Her mom hugged her.

  “I understand how you feel. Now that you know, I don’t think it will happen again.”

  She spotted the canvas Ally had propped up against the fireplace.

  “When did you do this?”

  It was a field of flowers, painted solely from her imagination. Something Ally hoped to bring to life outside in the field next to the greenhouses.

  “I finished it the day you fell in the lake.”

  “It’s beautiful. Where are you going to hang it?”

  Ally shook her head, ponytail bouncing.

  “I hadn’t planned to hang it anywhere. It isn’t very good.”

  Her mom shot her an incredulous look.

  “It is. How abou
t in the living room?”

  But Ally didn’t agree. “Let’s hang it in the laundry room. Maybe when I get a little better, we can hang one in the living room.”

  Her mom was dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a tee shirt that said, What would Jane do? She looked younger since she’d left Ally’s dad.

  Her dad had called her once to see how she was doing. When he’d heard she’d moved to Blueberry Hill, he’d stopped calling. After texting and calling several times, she gave up. If he wanted to get in touch, he would.

  Her mom clapped her hands.

  “I’d love to hang original art in the laundry room too, it would feel so decadent.” A mischievous grin on her face, she said, “we could hang one in each of the bathrooms as well.”

  The painting glowed in the sunlight.

  “I’m proud of you.”

  Ally had heard her mom say those four words countless times over the years, but somehow this time it mattered.

  “Me? Why?”

  Her mom rummaged around in the drawer until she came up with a hammer and a picture hook.

  “Come on, let’s hang your painting.”

  In the laundry room, her mom said, “you’re starting over. You ended a toxic relationship, moved to a place where you don’t know anyone.”

  She hammered the nail into the picture hook.

  “Besides me. I meant moving to a place where you don’t have any friends.”

  “I really like Mrs. Collier. Dane, the guy who owns the brewery, and his brother and sister, might be friends, we’ll see. I find I’m pickier about who I want as friends, no one toxic or negative. I’d rather have one really good friend than a bunch of acquaintances.”

  Ally passed the painting to her mom. “I’m proud of you too.”

  “We’re a work in progress, aren’t we?” Her mom stepped back to admire the painting.

  “It takes courage to start over. I moved here because the cottage was a place to land. Now that I’m here, I love our town.”

  Ally swallowed a few times. She’d never thought of herself as courageous. It was a good feeling.

  “Come see the greenhouses.”

  On the way to see what she’d accomplished, Ally told her mom about the research she’d done on organic flowers. How there was a market not only in town but in the surrounding towns.

  “Wow. What a difference.”

  Her mom’s reaction pleased ally. “The goats did an outstanding job on the kudzu. I hacked a bit away. It was cathartic to do it, but talk about hard work. Thank goodness for goats. The guy said we’ll have to have them back a few more times, but eventually we’ll get rid of it all.”

  They stepped inside her greenhouse. While her mom had said she wanted the other one, once Ally told her the plan she’d come up with, she was pretty sure her mom would give her the other one as well.

  “The brick floor is really nice.” Tara wandered around touching the potting bench and pots.

  “Andy said we had good cover crops of ryegrass and clover, they’ll plow them under and get the fields and beds ready for spring. He created a spot for a kitchen garden off the patio.”

  She showed her mom the raised beds.

  “It will be nice to step outside and pick what we want.”

  “I thought so. For now, I’m planting lettuce, leafy greens, cucumbers, cauliflower, and broccoli.”

  Ally pointed to the field to the right of her greenhouses.

  “I’m going to fill that field with sunflowers. Andy said they were an easy flower to start with.”

  “It would be nice to plant bulbs around the house.”

  “I think so too, and all the way up the drive.”

  Her mom laughed. “That’s a lot of bulbs.”

  “It’s not like I’m dating, so I have lots of time on my hands.”

  They spent the rest of the day lazing in the sun, and jumping in the icy lake when they got too hot. The two of them fell asleep in the chairs, content with the day.

  Chapter 16

  A few days later, Tara was upstairs admiring the newly renovated attic space when Ally came bounding up the stairs. She’d given her daughter the other greenhouse for her flower business, deciding instead to use the attic space for her new business. While it would have made an amazing bedroom suite, it suited her purposes better this way.

  “Here you go.”

  Ally handed her twelve dollars.

  “What’s this?”

  Her daughter was practically hopping up and down. It made her heart happy to see Ally so excited about something.

  “We agreed on a dollar an acre per year. Here’s two years of payments for six acres as the other two are wooded, though I’m going to plant flowers around the house for our enjoyment.”

  Tara held the money out.

  “Okay, but you know you don’t have to pay me.”

  “It’s the principal of it.”

  Ally looked around the attic space.

  “They did an outstanding job in here. What an amazing work area. Are you going to take the deal for the clothing line?”

  Ally moved around the room, stopping at the bookshelf to admire how Tara had repurposed old cake stands, a dish drying rack, and several other pieces to hold smaller pieces of fabric, thread, bobbins, scissors and other items.

  “I think so. It’s going to be so much fun to design fabric and clothes. I’m waiting for Jameson to get back to me on the offer they made.”

  She smiled, seeing a smudge of dirt on her daughter’s neck.

  “You loved digging in the dirt as a kid. I remember when you went through your mud cake phase and we all had to pretend to eat cake all summer.”

  Ally giggled. “Evan took a big bite before he figured out I made the cake out of mud.”

  “I think the flowers decorating the cake threw him off. Remember your grandmother’s jam? You could make jam from the fruit trees. See if Mary would carry a few jars to try it out.”

  “I thought about that. Let’s go through grandma’s old recipes and try some out, see what we think. She had a great pepper jelly recipe.”

  Her daughter gazed out the window, and Tara waited, knowing she had something else to tell her. Finally, Ally turned and sat in one of the overstuffed chairs. Tara grabbed two bottles of soda from the small fridge and joined her.

  “Whatever it is, just tell me.”

  “You know the house next door, the big wood and glass one?”

  When she nodded, her daughter took a deep breath.

  “The couple who own the house are moving overseas for the next two years. They want someone to stay in the pool house, and bring in the mail. I’d send them a package once a month with their mail, keep an eye on the place, make sure the people come to cut the grass, clean the pool, and that the housekeepers come twice a month. They’ll clean the pool house as well, so I won’t have to clean. In exchange for the house-sitting, I can live in the pool house for free, all utilities included, and use the pool.”

  “That’s wonderful, honey.”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to live here.” Ally gripped the arms of the chair.

  Tara leaned forward, elbows on her knees.

  “I think it’s a fabulous idea. You’re a grown woman, you need your own space. This was only going to be temporary, anyway.”

  Her daughter looked torn between being happy and sad.

  “But will you be okay living alone?”

  So that’s what this was about.

  “If you would have asked me back in April, I might have hesitated. But now? It’s been so wonderful having you here, but don’t worry, I’ll be fine on my own.” She smiled. “And I won’t worry about waking you up when I get up early.”

  Ally relaxed. “And I won’t worry about waking you up when you don’t sleep well since I’m always up before you. I’ll be right next door if you need anything. Can we still have lunch together?”

  “Of course. You’re welcome anytime. When are you planning to move?”

  Ally t
hrew their empty soda bottles in the trash.

  “The day before Evan and Christina get here, so plenty of room for them to sprawl out.”

  Her daughter was glowing from within. Sometimes a change of scenery did wonders.

  “I’ll be over for breakfast every morning. No way am I missing pancakes or quiche, or whatever you’re planning to make.”

  Tara leaned over and smoothed Ally’s hair behind her ear.

  “I’m delighted you’ll be right next door.” Her eyes twinkled. “Isn’t their pool heated?”

  Her daughter grinned. “All year round. We can swim when it snows.”

  After Ally went downstairs to pack, Tara stretched out on the sofa. In a few days, all of her children would be here together. Evan and Emily could take Ally’s room, and Christina could sleep in the middle bedroom, or out on the sleeping porch as she’d asked about it several times.

  The house still smelled like freshly cut wood, paint, and varnish. The crew finished yesterday and a few of the boys had come back after dinner to move the furniture up to the attic. Tara had stayed up late and spent the day getting organized.

  Her own business. Never having held a job, it was a heady feeling. Mary had called a few days ago with the big news. A woman had come into the store and loved the shorts and sundresses. So much so that she was interested in having the designs mass produced and carried in her boutiques which were in Charleston, Buckhead, Palm Beach, and Martha’s Vineyard. The woman loved the name of the business, The Blueberry Cottage. She thought her customers would swoon over the flattering fit of the shorts and dresses.

  Tara had read over the offer, then promptly sent it to Jameson to review. If it happened, she would move from a fledgling business to designing for a big company. She would design two more dresses, and a couple of tote bags. And she’d design the fabrics as well. Who would have guessed her sewing skills would pay off?

  The attic space had large windows at either end. One end overlooked the lake, the other the mountains and trees. She’d put the desk in front of the windows overlooking the lake. The two cozy chairs went by the other windows.

  She had a large cutting table in the center of the room that also served as an ironing station. The top was wood with cotton batting, then ironing board fabric, and then topped with sturdy canvas. She’d gone with a print of flying pigs that made her laugh. When she needed to cut fabric, she could slide the big ironing board off the table and prop it against the table or the wall.