Chapter 16 - ROOTS AND BRANCHES
I carried Rosie’s letter downstairs, folding it carefully and slipping it into my apron pocket. The afternoon sun was casting long shadows across the kitchen as I walked out to the back patio.
Grant and Mason were still outside, though they had finished washing the truck. They were sitting on the edge of the stone planter box, sharing a bottle of iced tea, deep in conversation about something on Grant’s phone—likely a fantasy football draft or a video game walkthrough.
As I watched them from the screen door, Harper came running out from the living room, holding a crayon drawing of a tree with oversized green leaves and a very lopsided yellow sun.
"Look, Grandma!" Harper shouted, thrusting the paper toward me. "This is the pecan tree! And that's Mason, and that's me, and that's Uncle Grant!"
I knelt down, taking the paper with both hands. In the corner of the drawing, rendered in wobbly crayon lines, was a small, delicate yellow shape that looked suspiciously like a paper flower.
"It’s beautiful, sweetheart," I said, my voice catching slightly. "Where did you learn to draw that flower?"
"Mason showed me," she said proudly, pointing a sticky finger at the eleven-year-old boy who was now walking over to join us. "He said it was his lucky flower."
Mason rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly looking a bit self-conscious under my gaze. "It’s just a drawing, Grandma. Don't make a big deal out of it."
"I’m not making a big deal, Mason," I smiled, standing up and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I think it’s the best piece of art this house has seen in years."
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Grant walked over, wrapping an arm around Claire—who had just stepped out onto the patio with a fresh pitcher of lemonade—and pulled her close. The four of us, along with Harper darting around our legs, stood beneath the sprawling branches of the pecan tree as the Austin breeze whispered through the leaves.
For the first time in five years, there was no invisible barrier between us. No unspoken resentments, no lingering ghosts of accusations, no fear of what tomorrow might bring.
