Page 106 of A Return For Ren

“I’m sorry you’ve lived with this. You didn’t need to. I know you want me angry and I am, but it’s hard to stay that way when I see you like this. You’re the one with the demons, Ren. You need to work them out more than me.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is. I’m here for you to talk this through. Your father isn’t. You never got to make it right with him and I think being a father yourself now, that is where your guilt is really coming from.”

A few tears escaped and he nodded his head. “I can’t get past this.”

She hugged him tightly. “He was still your father and you need to grieve that he is gone. Go ahead and do it now.”

She held onto him while he shed his tears. She shed them with him, but they were for different reasons.

34

Our Sister

Three weeks later, Ren was back home for another week and Zara was going to the spa with the Bloom sisters.

Ren had left last weekend and she’d planned on going to see him this weekend, but a storm was in the forecast for Sunday when she’d be driving home. An early March storm could drop a lot of snow but not have it stay.

Either way, it was best to not go when he’d be back to her house next weekend.

“Thank you, girls, for inviting me to your spa day,” she said when she met them at nine. The place was opening and they were in the reception area checking in.

“Anytime,” Poppy said. “I love a good spa day. Lily can normally be convinced to come but never Rose.”

“I know you all work on Saturdays too,” she said. Those girls had always put their jobs and careers first. Building their business.

“We do and don’t,” Lily said. “Family is more important. We’ve got a good team that is holding down the fort for us. The store is covered and the plant knows to call us if they need anything. Saturdays are light workdays if that and Sunday is family day now, right girls?”

“Yes,” Rose said, frowning.

“Oh, stop,” Poppy said. “You don’t need to be in the shop on Sunday any more than me. If someone comes in for a custom piece they can set an appointment or talk with Daisy and you know it. We have more staff so that we can have an actual life outside of work now. And thanks to Ren, Heather is thrilled her data is clearer. She’s a nerd like that and has been talking about it nonstop.”

Zara grinned. “I have to say it is nice to not work nights and weekends,” she said. “I do my paperwork then, but it’s much quieter after five.”

“As it should be,” Lily said. “And you are always invited to come with us. You’re my sister now too.”

It warmed her heart to hear that said. “Our sister,” Poppy said.

“Which means Poppy and Lily want to know what is going on with Ren,” Rose said, “and that is why Poppy decided we all had to get our toenails painted in the winter and facials when we are done. But she promised me lunch, so I came along for that.”

She laughed at Rose’s comment. “Pedicures and facials sound like the best thing ever,” she said.

The four girls were called to the back and put in the chairs for their pedicures. The water filled in the basins and salts added with the jets on. “We are going to let you all soak your feet for about ten minutes before we come back,” the attendant said. “Can we get you a drink or a cookie? Some lemon water?”

Once they had their drinks and were left alone, Poppy said, “Give us the scoop. Ren and Max were in town for two weeks straight and then they’ve been gone for a week. How do you feel? How is it working out?”

“I think it’s working out well,” she said. “I’ve never lived with anyone before and my house isn’t that big, but not small either. We weren’t in each other’s way. It was tight in the bathroom in the morning, but since Ren is working from home, he stayed out of my way.”

“You’re getting into the habit of being a mom again, aren’t you?” Lily asked.

She sighed. “Yes. I miss Willow. Don’t get me wrong, they all grow up, but when she was that age it was so much fun.”

“She’s fun now,” Poppy said. “I love having her overnight.”

“She’s at a great age,” Zara agreed. “Much more interaction.”

“Willow loves you as much as she loves all her aunts,” Lily said. “You were her first and a mother to her long before I came into the picture. She talks all the time about Aunt Zara and how much fun she always had with you.”