by Kat Brookes
When Violet said nothing more, just sat dipping her tea bag, Lila said, “I know you resent me for what I did to your brother.”
Violet’s gaze lifted.
“To your entire family, for that matter,” Lila went on. “And I don’t blame you one bit. Looking back as an adult, I see now that I had other options—none of them easy—but I didn’t have to leave Sweet Springs.”
“Why did you?” Violet asked. “Did you think Mason would cut you out of his life?”
Lila hesitated, trying to gather the words to explain.
“He loved you,” Violet insisted. “I may have been a young girl at the time, but I was old enough to understand that my brother’s heart had been broken by your leaving.”
“I left Sweet Springs because I loved your brother with all my heart. If you believe nothing else, please believe that.”
“You cared for him so much you ran away with his child, never to contact him again?”
“I know how it must look to you,” Lila conceded, “but I truly believed that your brother wanted to become a preacher like your daddy had been. He talked so often about admiring what your daddy did, his devotion to the Lord and how he longed to serve the Lord, as well. I thought he was referring to someday preaching to his own congregation. I didn’t realize it was the mission trips that he was referring to. So when I found out I was carrying his child, a child neither of us had planned for, a child created outside of the bonds of marriage, I knew that my staying here would put an end to his plans, to all his future dreams.”
“Even if he had wanted to preach and that hadn’t worked out because of the situation, Mason could have found new dreams.”
“Nothing seemed that simple back then,” Lila admitted, feeling tears grow in her eyes. “I was young and scared because of my own family history, and I knew what it would mean for your brother, for your family, if word got out that he had fathered a child out of wedlock. And you asked if I thought Mason might cut me out of his life because of the baby. To be honest, that was a fear I had in the back of my mind. So yes, that played a part in my decision to leave everything I loved behind.”
Moisture filled Violet’s eyes, too. “Oh, Lila. I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I can’t imagine having to deal with such adult issues when I was seventeen. I was overwhelmed enough just trying to decide which dress to wear to my school dances.”
“No, I’m sorry,” Lila told her. “For keeping Finn away from the best thing that could have ever happened to him. For denying my son the family he’s always wanted. For letting my past decide my future instead of trusting in the love of those around me and in the Lord.”
“Thank you for saying that,” Violet said with a soft sniffle. “I know you’ve spent some time at our house since you and Mason began working things out where Finn is concerned, but I felt like I had to keep up my guard for Mason’s sake. Especially after Jake decided to give you a chance. Someone had to be looking out for my family so you couldn’t hurt us again. But as I’ve watched you and Mason together, seen the change that’s come over my brother since you came back into his life along with his son, I began to realize that your being back in Sweet Springs might be a blessing after all.”
Lila, overcome with emotion, could barely speak. Swiping a stray tear from her cheek, she managed, “Mason’s been far kinder than I ever expected him to be.”
“That’s Mason for you,” Violet said. “All heart. And very good at making others believe he’s happy with his life. No matter how big a smile he’s put on over the years, no matter how loudly he might laugh at times, I saw what others didn’t. Knew what they didn’t. That Mason’s heart was forever broken after you left. Until you came back.”
Lila felt her heartbeat quicken, but she said nothing. Didn’t know how to respond. Because her heart was suddenly hopeful that Mason might not have stopped loving her completely. She’d certainly never stopped loving him. At the same time, her head cautioned her to tread carefully.
Violet went on. “I asked you to accompany me today to try and lessen the divide between us. Knowing now what I do, that Mason still cares for you, and I think you care for him—”
“I do.” She did, even more so now than when they were younger, which she would have never thought possible. But they’d both grown up and could now better understand he’d stolen her heart all over again, even when it was already his to begin with.
“Then I’m hoping we can close that gap altogether. For Finn’s sake as well as for Mason’s.”
Sniffling softly, Lila nodded. “I would like that very much. And I promise to earn back your trust, your entire family’s trust. My son’s, as well.”
“Finn’s like I was, Lila. Too young to truly understand the depth of it all.”
“It’s so hard,” Lila groaned. “I don’t want to burden him with the painful parts of my past, but there are some things he needs to know. Beyond that, all I can do is be the mother he deserves, loving him with all my heart as I await his forgiveness.”
“He’s a sweet boy,” Violet said with a kind smile. “I’m sure his forgiveness will come soon.”
“I hope so,” Lila said. “I couldn’t bear losing his love permanently.”
“You won’t,” Violet said with conviction.
Lila sent her a grateful smile, praying Mason’s sister was right.
“There’s something else Momma and I wanted to ask you,” Violet said. “Would you be interested in helping us with the peach festival like you used to?”
Shock didn’t even come close to describing the way she felt at that moment. Shocked and blessed all at the same time. Thank You, Lord, for this opportunity to not only set things right with Mason’s sister, but to have a chance to be a part of something that once meant so much to me. Lila nodded. “I would like that very much.”
“Finn, too,” Mason’s sister said with a smile. “If that’s all right with you.”
“I think he would enjoy that. Thank you for including us in something so special to your family.”
“We all talked about including you in the festivity preparations and agreed it was the right thing to do,” she explained with a smile. “Well, except for Mason.”
Lila’s smile sank. “He didn’t want us to be included?”
Violet shook her head. “Oh no, that’s not what I meant. We didn’t tell Mason what our intentions were, just in case today didn’t go as I had hoped it would. But it did, and now Finn will be a part of something his grandpa started years before, while supporting his daddy’s upcoming mission trip to the Congo.”
Anxiety stirred in the pit of Lila’s stomach at the mention of Mason’s plans. She had no right to ask Mason not to go, but she desperately wanted to.
“Lila?”
She blinked her troubled thoughts away and forced a smile. “Just tell me what I need to do to help.” She couldn’t change Mason’s journey, but she could help to make sure he had the funds needed to go into this mission trip fully prepared. And then pray that God would bring him back safely to her and their son.
* * *
“Can I have a pie?” Finn asked as he eyed the freshly baked, individual-serving peach pies cooling on the kitchen counter.
“Those are for the market bakeshop,” Mason explained with a smile, remembering days gone by when he’d been the little boy standing at the kitchen counter.
His momma walked over and lifted one of the slightly warm pie tins from the counter and then grabbed a fork from the drawer. “I don’t think anyone’s going to notice one little pie missing from the bakery display case,” she said, setting it down on the kitchen table. Then, turning to Finn, she held the fork out to him and inclined her head toward the lone pie resting atop the checkered tablecloth. “It’s all yours.”
With a squeal, Finn dropped into the kitchen chair. “Thanks, Gramma!” he said, digging his fork right in.
“I guess they won’t miss two, either, then,” Mason said with a grin as he helped himself to another of the cooling pies, grabbed a fork and then settled himself across from his son, whose sun-tinged cheeks were already filled with a forkful of peach pie. So this was how his own daddy had felt, sharing the fruits of his labor with his children. In Mason’s case, his son. The first of the next generation of Landerses.
“Make that three,” Jake chimed in as he crossed the kitchen and grabbed a pie for himself.
With a sigh, Constance grabbed two more forks from the kitchen drawer and then picked up a pie. “Might as well make this a family thing.” She handed one of the eating utensils to Jake and then joined them all at the table.
Lila and Violet found them when they stepped into the kitchen moments later.
“Momma,” his sister gasped, “are those the pies we made this morning for the market bakery?”
“Maybe,” their mother muttered past a mouthful of pie and a grin.
“They’re really good, Gramma,” Finn said between chews. “I bet you’ll sell lots of them.”
“Not from this batch,” Violet said as she scooped up one of the remaining pies and took her seat at the table. “There’s almost none left to sell.” Reaching out, she snatched Jake’s fork out of his hand. “You’re done, so you won’t be needing this any longer.”
“I’m glad you like them,” his momma said, laughing happily.
It was the first real laughter Mason had heard from her since his daddy died. Hearing it made his heart incredibly happy.
“I’ll make another batch tonight,” she told them, apparently not the least bit ruffled by the thought.
“I’ll help you, Momma,” Violet volunteered.
“Thank you, honey,” their momma replied. “Now, Lila, grab yourself a fork and a pie and come join us.”
“I don’t want to intrude,” she replied. “I just came in to see if Finn was ready to go home yet.”
“Not yet,” her son replied without hesitation as he feasted on his pie.
“You’re not intruding,” his mother assured Lila, telling Mason that his family, at least two-thirds of it, had finally forgiven Lila and was now welcoming her to be a part of their lives. Violet, he had faith, would come around, as well. Their acceptance of Lila meant more than they could ever know, considering the ever-deepening feelings he had for her. “Now, come and join us.”
Lila grabbed herself a fork before picking up one of the few remaining mini pies from the counter.
“Sit here,” Jake said, freeing up the chair closest to Mason as he moved to one of the vacant chairs at the other end of the kitchen table.
His momma turned to Violet. “How was your trip into town? Were you girls able to pick up everything I needed?”
It was only at that moment that it settled into Mason’s thoughts that his sister had just arrived with Lila, not at the same time as her. He immediately stopped chewing the forkful of pie, his gaze shifting from his sister to Lila and back again. How had he missed such a momentous happening when it had been right there before his eyes?
“Wait a minute,” he mumbled, forcing down the bite of pie he’d been enjoying. “The two of you drove into town together?” Prayers did come true.
“Not only did we drive into town together,” his sister said with a smile, “Lila and I had tea at Poured with Love and then did some shopping for Momma.”
Mason was tempted to ask Jake to pinch him, certain that this had to be a dream, but he recognized the sweet, subtle scent of vanilla that filled the air around him: the perfume Lila always wore. Dreams didn’t come with smells, as far as he knew, so this moment was actually happening.
“How...” he began. “What I mean is—”
“We are Finn’s family,” Violet explained. “It was time that Lila and I talked things out, which we did today.”
He looked to Lila, taking in her relaxed smile, and his heart warmed. “Glad to hear it.”
“You’re not mad at Momma anymore?” Finn asked with a frown.
Violet shook her head. “I’m trying to move past my anger.”
“Why?” he asked in genuine confusion.
“Because offering forgiveness is the Christian thing to do,” his sister told Finn and then looked to Lila. “Especially when the person being forgiven recognizes what they’ve done to cause the hurt and is genuinely seeking to make amends for it.” Shifting her focus back to Finn, she went on, “Your grandpa Landers taught us that from the time we were young children, sharing that same message over the years during many of his Sunday sermons.”
“Grandpa Landers was a preacher?”
“For most of his life,” Mason answered.
Finn took a moment to take that information in before looking beseechingly to his aunt Violet. “But what if you’re too mad to take someone’s I’m sorry?”
Mason saw the hurt those words caused Lila as she struggled to blink back tears. He wanted to reach out, to cover her hand with his own and give it a gentle squeeze of reassurance. But he held back.
“Anger can be a heavy weight on one’s heart,” his momma said, her tone gentle. It was a subject she and Mason had discussed in depth after he’d learned that Finn was his son.
“We’ve all made mistakes or have done things we regret,” Mason told his son. “You, too, I’d venture to guess.”
Finn pressed his lips together. Then he looked to Lila before lowering his gaze to the table. “I asked God to take me away from you and let me live with my daddy.”
Lila gasped, bringing a shaking hand to her mouth.
Their son looked up at her, regret in his eyes. “But I didn’t really mean it. I just don’t want to live so far away from my daddy and Gramma Landers and Gramma Tully and Aunt Violet and Uncle Jake and Grits and Honey.”
Mason watched as Lila turned to gather Finn in a loving hug. A surge of emotion swelled in his chest as their son, instead of pulling away as he had been doing, accepted and returned his mother’s embrace.
“We’ll find a way to make things work,” Lila told Finn. “Maybe I can find a job teaching closer to Sweet Springs.”
Their son’s face lit up with pure joy at that possibility. “You mean it, Momma?”
A sheen of unshed tears blurred Mason’s vision as he watched the emotional exchange between the two. The moment touched his heart. His son finally was moving toward forgiveness where his momma was concerned. His entire family had accepted Finn and, eventually, Lila. And then to hear that there was a possibility of Lila and their son moving to Georgia, maybe even to Sweet Springs itself. He wanted them near, wanted to make that dream he and Lila had once shared—of having a future together—a reality. Wanted it more and more with each passing day.
“Yes,” Mason heard Lila say as he fought to control the onslaught of emotions he felt at that moment. “Coming back to Sweet Springs has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” she told their son. “Having to face my past. Admitting a truth I’d been holding inside for so long. Seeking forgiveness. But returning to Sweet Springs after all these years has also helped me to heal emotionally, to reconnect with the Lord, and has reminded me what true heart’s contentment really is.” She looked to Mason, smiling tenderly.
He returned her smile, understanding completely what she was referring to. With Lila back in his life, in his heart, and a son who was a living reminder of the love between them, he, too, knew the true meaning of a heart’s contentment. Looking down at Finn with a tender smile, she said, “I want you to know that same kind of happiness.”
“I have a daddy now,” Finn replied and then glanced around the table at the smiling faces staring back at him, “and a whole new family. That makes me really happy.”
“Me, too, son,” Mason said, his voice husky with emotion.
“Us, too,” his momma joined in, bringing about
nods of agreement from Violet and Jake.
Lila looked his way, and her smile softened even more. Mason knew at that moment that he would do whatever it took to keep Lila, the woman he loved, in his life. He made a silent vow at that moment to bring his family together for good as soon as he returned from his mission trip, because every day spent without them was one day too many.
Chapter Eight
“Here’s the last of the dance floor,” Jake said as he lowered the remaining sheets of foam-backed plywood onto the ground next to Mason.
Mason sat back on his heels and dragged a rolled-up sleeve across his brow. He and Jake had finished up the harvesting a few days earlier, a little sooner than anticipated. That gave them a little more breathing room when it came to getting things set up for the peach festival that coming weekend. “I’ll get those hinged together with the rest and then we’ll be ready to put the vinyl flooring over it.” Though his family always hosted the peach festival, they had finally gotten smart this year and figured out a way to build an outdoor dance floor that could be disassembled and stored away.
“I’ll go grab the flooring,” his brother said and then strode off around to the back of the main house to the pole barn they’d erected five years before to store festival supplies.
Grabbing the top sheet of the remaining dance floor pieces, Mason settled it into place and then reached for a hinge to attach it to the portion he’d already put together. Then he grabbed his cordless drill and a handful of screws to secure the hinge to the plywood.
“Tired of mowing this big old front yard so you’ve decided to cover the entire yard in plywood?”
Grinning, Mason stopped what he was doing and glanced back over his shoulder to find Lila standing there. “Never thought about it,” he admitted. “But that would allow me to spend more time doing other things, like taking long walks with you through the orchard.”
“That would be nice,” she said with a smile.