Winter Garden

“Good luck, Nina. I mean that. ”

“Thanks,” she said, and hung up.

She looked around the dark, dingy room, feeling the echo of machine-gun fire along her spine, and she was tired of all of it. Exhausted. It was hardly surprising that her latest photos were crap. She was too tired to concentrate, and when she did finally fall asleep, dreams of her father invariably wakened her.

His last words nagged at her lately, the promise he’d elicited. Maybe that was her problem. Maybe that was why she couldn’t concentrate.

She’d failed to keep that promise.

No wonder she’d lost her mojo.

It was back in Belye Nochi, in the hands of a woman she’d promised to get to know.

In the first week of May—only a few days earlier than she’d planned—at just past seven in the morning, Nina drove into the Wenatchee Valley. The jagged Cascade Mountain Range was still covered in snow but everything else was dressed for spring.

At Belye Nochi, the orchard was in full bloom. Acres of apple trees boasted bright flowers. As she drove toward the house, she imagined her father there, walking proudly between the rows with a small, black-haired girl beside him, asking questions. Are they ready yet, Daddy? I’m hungry.

They’re ready when they’re ready, Neener Beaner. Sometimes you have to be patient.

She’d matured alongside those trees, learning along the way that she wasn’t patient, and that farming didn’t interest her; that her father’s life’s work would never be hers.

In the driveway, she pulled up in front of the garage and parked.

The orchard was alive with workers who moved through the trees, checking for bugs or rot or whatever it was they looked for.

Nina slung her camera bag over her shoulder and headed for the house. The yard was a vibrant green so bright it was almost hard to look at. All along the fence line and on either side of the walkway, white flowers grew in clumps.

At the house, she didn’t bother knocking. “Mom?” she called out, flipping on the entry way light and taking off her boots.

There was no answer.

She went into the kitchen.

The house smelled musty, vacant. Upstairs it was as quiet and empty as below.

Nina refused to feel disappointed. She knew when she’d decided to surprise Mom and Meredith that it might be a little dicey.

She went back out to the rental car and drove up the road toward her sister’s house. At the vee in the road, a truck came toward her.

She pulled over, waiting.

The truck slowed down and stopped beside her, and Jeff rolled down his window. “Hey, Neens. This is a surprise. ”

“You know me, Jeff. I move like the wind. Where’s Mom?”

Jeff glanced in his rearview mirror as if someone were coming up on his tail.

“Jeff? What’s wrong?”

“Meredith didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

He finally looked at her. “She had no choice. ”

“Jeff,” Nina said sharply. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Where is my mom?”

“Parkview. ”