Hummingbird Lane Brown, Carolyn (libby ebook reader TXT) 📖

was about thirteen when I saw it happen. I was sitting on the porch of our trailer. The neighbors owned that dog, and I hated it because it always barked at me, but I felt sorry for it that day.”

“What’s that got to do with today?” Emma asked.

“We’ve faced our biggest fears,” Sophie said. “They were as bitter as that dog eating the toad frog, but now we are past that and we can move on.”

“Yes, we can.” Emma felt like she could move on. “What about Teddy? Are you going to make up with him?”

Sophie nodded. “Let’s go unload what else we need to bring inside and set up our easels. There’s still plenty of light left in this day. I can only handle one thing at a time, Em. Today I told Mama about the baby. Teddy may never want to speak to me again, and I may have to live with that, but I can’t face it today. I’m going to get dressed and paint for a while.”

“I’ll be outside waiting for you, but I’d better not come back in here and find you in bed,” Emma said.

Sophie pointed at the door. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Emma took her phone with her and sat down on the seat of the metal-and-wood picnic table. The sun was warm, and wildflowers dotted the landscape as far as she could see. Real grass grew in spots where the shade of the trees didn’t hinder it, and a nice breeze blew her dark hair away from her face. Everything was quiet so when her phone rang, the noise startled her. She couldn’t help but smile when Josh’s name popped up on the screen.

“Hello,” she said.

“Just making sure that you’re all right,” Josh said.

“We are here, and thank you for the RV,” she said. “I was getting worried when I heard about bears and javelinas.”

“Glad you made it safely, but the place seems awfully empty without you and Sophie here,” Josh said.

“I miss you.” The words were out of her mouth before she even realized she was thinking them.

“Me too,” Josh said. “Even though you’ve only been gone a few hours, I’m realizing how glad I am that you won’t be leaving the park when Sophie does.”

“Right back at you,” Emma said. “I can’t imagine living anywhere else, Josh. I’m happy there, and I don’t ever want to leave. I’m finding me even faster than I thought I would or could. I’m not sure who rescued who today. Sophie and I both needed help. I drove for the first time in years, and she’s already feeling better.”

“That’s wonderful. I’ll go tell Arty and Filly. They’re both working behind their trailers today. Call me tonight?” he asked.

“Yes, definitely,” she answered.

Sophie got dressed in a pair of her cutoff overalls and a paint-stained shirt and started outside but then stopped and called her mother again.

“Are you really going to be all right?” Rebel asked.

“It’s the guilt that finally got to me. I saw a seventeen-year-old girl with dark hair on the plane, and I started thinking about the baby I didn’t want and lost. I figured I didn’t deserve to be happy when my negative thoughts had killed her.”

“That’s not the way to think,” Rebel said. “Could you have changed the color of your baby’s eyes or hair with thoughts? Of course you couldn’t, and you were scared out of your mind during those few weeks. Don’t blame yourself for what you couldn’t help, but from now on, you need to talk about things. Is something else going on?”

“Teddy and I had a big fight, and I don’t know if it can be fixed. I said some mean things, and so did he, and . . .” Sophie’s voice cracked.

“And is this your first huge argument?” Rebel asked.

“Yes, it is,” Sophie answered.

“Then it’s a test,” Rebel told her. “Time will tell if you passed the test or failed it. Whichever way it goes, you’ll have learned a lesson from it.”

“Thanks, Mama,” Sophie said. “I love him, but I’m just not sure—”

Rebel didn’t let her finish the sentence. “You’ve got a lot on your mind. You need to figure things out before you rush into anything. Give it time.”

“I love you,” Sophie said.

“Love you right back,” Rebel said and ended the call.

Sophie laid the phone to the side and peeked out the window above the sink. Emma was setting up the big easel for her and had laid the supplies out on the picnic table. Sophie had had friends, acquaintances, and fans, but she’d never had anyone like Em.

“Nothing and no one will ever keep us from seeing each other again, not even Victoria,” Sophie declared. She went outside and glanced out over the land at the mesalike mountain out there in the distance. “I’m going to paint that mountain with that big tree in the foreground and a whole family of javelinas underneath it. They’re as ugly as my mood has been, so it seems fitting.”

“That might get some of this mood out of your system.” Emma had set up a little tabletop easel and already had paint squirted out on a palette. “I’m going to work on a bunny that Josh and I saw when we went on our adventure. When did you know that you were in love with Teddy?”

The question came out of the blue so fast that it took Sophie by surprise. “I’m not sure. It’s been so long . . . ,” she stammered and tried to put words to the feelings she had had when she first met Teddy. “I think I must’ve loved him from the day I first saw him, but I didn’t admit it to him for a long time. Why are you asking?”

“I want to know what it feels like to fall in love,” Emma said. “How do you know for sure that it’s love, and not dependence on someone for your happiness? I have no money unless some of my paintings sell.