Page 40 of Must Love Flowers
“After I lost Jared, I was crazy with fear,” Joan admitted. “I mean really afraid. There was the dental practice and all these people who relied on Jared for their healthcare who I needed to inform. I spent days canceling appointments and dealing with the aftermath of the unexpected shock of it all.”
“What happened to the practice? Did you close it down?” Maggie couldn’t help being curious.
“No, I sold it, but not without a lot of angst. Everything hit at once. Not only was I grieving; I believe I was in some kind of emotional shock. I had a difficult time making even the simplest decisions, like what flowers I wanted at Jared’s services.”
“How awful.” Maggie couldn’t help being sympathetic. It was hard to think of this strong woman crazed with grief and confusion. It’d been much different when her mother passed. Elaine Herbert had lingered for days between life and death, so when the news came, it wasn’t a complete shock. At the time Maggie thought she had mentally prepared herself for the worst. The loss hit her hard, and her father, too, although he showed his pain in different ways, comforting himself with beer and sleepless nights. The last week of her mother’s life, Roy Herbert had stayed at his wife’s side, never leaving her alone. When she’d passed, he’d completely broken down, sobbing as she’d never seen her father do before.
As Joan spoke about losing her husband, it brought up a lot of memories of when her mother had passed. Maggie was a good listener, and the two spoke late into the night as Joan poured out her heart.
“Do you think you’ll go back to the group sessions?” she asked, although it was clear that Joan had enjoyed it.
“I will…only…”
“Only what?”
“You’ll never guess who else was there,” Joan said.
“You’re right, I probably won’t, so tell me.”
“Phil Harrison.”
“The landscaper?” That was a surprise.
“I assumed he was married, and now I’m unsure. He didn’t mention why he was in the group, and I didn’t ask.”
Maggie noticed the way Joan twisted her hands. “Does it bother you that he’s part of the group?”
“Not necessarily, although I’ll admit he didn’t say much. If anything, I believe he was as surprised to find me there as I was to see him.”
“Did you talk to him after the meeting?”
“I wanted to,” Joan admitted, “but I got distracted by Dr.O’Brien, who wanted feedback on how I thought the meeting went. By the time we finished, Phil had already left.”
—
Friday afternoon, Maggie was in a good mood. She’d taken the last of her finals and felt confident she’d done well. The morning had started out gray and cloudy as she headed to work and then to the college campus. By the time she finished the exam, the sky was a dazzling shade of blue and the sun was out.
Maggie spent the early afternoon at the school with the two children she tutored. Both Caleb and Victoria had made progress since she’d started working with them on their reading problems.
“We only have three more weeks of school,” Caleb reminded her, as if he was carefully counting down the days. It had been difficult for him to be still, and he repeatedly bounced againstthe back of his chair. “Mrs. Patrick said if I can read at grade level, I won’t need to attend summer school.”
“That’s amazing! You’re almost there, Caleb.” Maggie knew that would give him the incentive he needed to do his assigned reading homework. Grinning, Caleb nodded, as if it was a done deal.
“This doesn’t mean you can slack off, you know.”
One bounce, then two. “I won’t, I promise.”
“Good,” she said with a wink.
Her next student was Victoria, who was a shy, sweet girl. Maggie suspected she didn’t have a great home life and had little support from her single mother when it came to completing her schoolwork. With encouragement and praise, Victoria had made great strides in her reading.
“Look at you,” Maggie said, praising the youngster, who had sounded out the wordmagazinewithout any help. “Pretty soon you’re going to be reading at a college level.”
Victoria blushed and offered Maggie a timid smile.
Maggie had grown close to both her students and was proud of the hard work they had put in and the progress they’d made. Feeling invigorated, she headed back to the house, her mind churning over ways to reward her star pupils at the end of the school year.
When Maggie arrived at the house it was after four. She found Phil busy at work, mowing the lawn.
