10. Lily

10

LILY

L ater that evening, Lily sat on the little sofa in Levi’s living room, looking at a baby book with Flora while Levi attended his Rotary Club meeting.

Flora mostly liked to yell at books and chew on them, which was perfectly normal at her age. But Lily still thought it was good to read to her a little.

This book she had chosen to bring over tonight was a soft, snuggly one with farm animals you could pull out and play with. Flora was very amused when Lily made the animal noises, so they had been reading it and talking about it for a long time.

At one point, the doorbell rang, and Flora dropped the little cow she had been holding and made a chirping sound, as if in imitation.

“Hm,” Lily said. “Let’s see who that can be.”

Levi hadn’t mentioned that he was expecting anyone. She placed the book on the coffee table and headed through the office space to the front of the house with Flora in her arms.

When she opened the door, she found Levi’s mother, Annabelle Williams, standing on the front steps.

“Oh,” Annabelle said, looking very surprised, then smiling a wide smile. “It’s so nice to see you Lily. And this must be baby Flora.”

“It sure is,” Lily said.

“Gah-bahhhh-ahhh-gah, ” Flora said happily.

“Well, hello to you too,” Annabelle said warmly. “Ansel is just grabbing Lucas’s old crib out of the truck to carry in for her. Where’s Levi?”

“He had a Rotary Club meeting,” Lily explained. “That’s why I’m here with Flora.”

“It’s very nice that you’re helping out,” Annabelle said. But it looked like she wanted to say something different.

Lily felt her cheeks heat. She knew she wasn’t good enough for Levi. She didn’t need his mother telling her so.

“Howdy, there,” Ansel said as he approached the porch.

He was carrying the crib like it was nothing. The Williams boys were all strapping. But that was all Ansel had in common with Levi. Where Levi had a booming voice and a quick sense of humor, Ansel was quiet and thoughtful, happiest when he was with the horses on the homestead, his son by his side. It was a miracle he had remarried last year. Winona and her daughter Parker had practically landed in his lap when they arrived in Trinity Falls .

“Go on and take that up,” Annabelle said. “We’re going to gossip for a minute.”

“Her room has the pack-and-play in it,” Lily said. “But I’m not sure you can get that up the stairs.”

“I’ve got a screwdriver in my pocket,” Ansel said as he headed inside with the crib.

“He’ll be a little while, in that case,” Annabelle said.

“Why don’t you come in?” Lily asked. “I’m not sure how Levi has his kitchen set up, but maybe we can make a cup of tea.”

“That sounds nice,” Annabelle said.

They headed inside, but as soon as they made it back to the apartment, Flora began to cry.

“Oh dear,” Lily said in a bright voice. “You’re feeling fussy.”

The brightness of her voice momentarily surprised the baby enough that she quieted.

“I’m going to check your diaper, ma’am,” Lily went on, lifting her up and giving her a raspberry on her belly instead.

Flora began chuckling and Lily laughed too, before quickly checking her diaper and giving her another raspberry.

“Nope,” Lily said. “Clean as a whistle.”

She whistled and Flora belly laughed at her. It was so worth making a fool out of herself in front of Annabelle Williams to earn a laugh like that.

“You’re so good with her,” Annabelle said, sounding impressed.

“She’s probably hungry,” Lily said, shrugging. “I’m pretty good at cheering her up, but I haven’t done a feeding on my own yet, so you might have to bear with us. We’ll get to that tea eventually.”

“May I do the honors?” Annabelle asked, holding out her arms for the baby.

“That would be great,” Lily told her. “Do you want to go see Mrs. Williams, Flora?”

But Flora was already wiggling to get to her, which made Annabelle laugh.

“You’re not afraid of a new person, are you?” she said as she took the baby and expertly tucked her onto her hip. “No, you certainly are not.”

“ Bah-BUH-bah-buh,” Flora agreed, waving one arm enthusiastically while the other wrapped around Annabelle’s elbow.

“Why don’t I get her bottle ready, and you tell me if I’m doing it right?” Lily offered.

“No, no,” Annabelle said, chuckling. “I could do this one-handed in my sleep. Why don’t you sit for a second and catch your breath? I know taking care of a baby can be a lot.”

“Thank you,” Lily said.

Annabelle waltzed around the kitchen with Flora while she expertly prepared a bottle and hummed “Joy to the World.” The singing and moving was enough to distract Flora from crying with impatience when she saw the bottle, which Lily had seen her do with Levi.

“Wow,” she said, when Annabelle handed Flora her bottle. “That was amazing.”

“I’ve done it a few times before,” Annabelle said with a smile. “Goodness, you were hungry, weren’t you? ”

But Flora was too busy guzzling her bottle to answer in her usual cheerful gibberish.

Lily grabbed her notebook and pen from the table and quickly jotted down the time and a note about the diaper check and the feeding.

Glancing up, she saw that Annabelle was already starting the kettle one-handed, with the baby eating in her other arm.

Lily had always loved her pink clothing and accessories, but suddenly she felt like her glittery notebook and pink plumed pen were just a bit childish. She looked down at them, wondering if maybe it was time to let go of silly things like this.

“Oh, are you writing down her schedule?” Annabelle asked suddenly. “That’s smart. You know I never once thought of writing it all down until my third? But it really helps to take notes, because you sure can’t remember easily when you’re not sleeping much.”

Her third…

Lily’s heart was aching before she could stop her mind from treading down the path she had spent a lifetime trying to block off.

It doesn’t matter , she told herself fiercely. I have a good life. I have almost everything I’ve ever wanted.

Her phone buzzed and she glanced down at it, grateful for the distraction.

Levi Williams

all done & getting ready to head home

it was a quick one

She smiled. She loved when Levi texted her lately, she sometimes let herself pretend he was her boyfriend, telling her about his day because he wanted to—not just because she was helping with Flora and might want to know when he would be relieving her.

She typed back, uncertain what to say.

That’s great. Flora is having a fun night. Your mom stopped by with Ansel. She’s hanging out with Flora and me while your brother puts together the crib.

There was a pause and she saw the three dots appear and disappear a few times, as if he was trying to figure out how to respond.

He’s probably worried that they’ll think we’re dating or something, she realized, her stomach twisting as shame washed over her. He doesn’t want them to think he’s with someone silly like me.

thanks again for watching her

she loves being with you

i hope my family isn’t being annoying

going to take flora to cassidy farm tomorrow

want to come?

She read his text and then read it again before putting the phone down in her lap and smiling to herself as happy tingles filled her chest. He wanted her to come hang out. He wanted to spend time with her …

“Get some good news?” Annabelle asked.

Lily almost gasped out loud. She was so surprised and happy that she had literally forgotten she wasn’t alone.

“Oh, just something about the project I’m working on at the shop,” she lied, feeling awful about it.

“That’s nice,” Annabelle said. “Levi told us all about it. You’re doing something mighty special, young lady. If you don’t mind my asking, were you inspired by the time you spent in the hospital as a child?”

So Levi was talking to his mother about her. And he was just bragging on her, it sounded like, not talking about the sad childhood story she had always hoped everyone would forget. Though Lily found that she was touched that Annabelle remembered.

“Yes,” she said, nodding. “The doctors and nurses were so wonderful. One nurse used to read to us at night. And there was another who always managed to be there to hold my hand during anything scary. Other people came in to do fun things for us like play music or put on puppet shows. I’ll never forget how much that meant, to feel like a normal kid for a little while. I thought it would be fun to give something back, even if it took me a while to return the favor.”

“Sounds like you’re doing a lot more than returning a favor,” Annabelle said, her eyes twinkling. “From what Levi says, you’ve got a lot of toys you’re giving away, and you’re getting the kids in the community into the spirit of giving too.”

“Levi’s my friend,” she realized out loud. “He’s probably making it sound like a bigger thing than it is. They’re just cute little stuffed animals to give the kids a smile. I’m not like one of those people who builds hospital wings or funds research.”

“In my opinion, it’s the small kindnesses that make the world a better place,” Annabelle said, turning back to the tea bags. “After all, you don’t remember the name on the plaque of the children’s wing at Tarker County General. You remember the nurse who read to you, and the one who held your hand.”

“That’s true,” Lily said, smiling at Annabelle and daring to let herself believe she had earned the other woman’s respect in spite of her pink pen and quirky profession.

Annabelle had turned back to their tea mugs, so Lily lifted up her phone to shoot back a quick message.

I’d love to!

It was short, but Lily thought that summed it up pretty well. She put the phone away and distracted herself with tea to keep from reading Levi’s messages a hundred more times.