Walking across the yard to the house, I look up at the moon, and I think about the ring on my finger. New beginnings, healing, the start of good fortune and blessing. Pausing, I listen for the sounds of my mother. I even listen for my dad.
Family doesn’t stop going just because you can’t see it. Family is something that is unbreakable, forever. It’s in the trees, stretching up to the heavens. It’s tradition and laughter and love. My final thanks is to them.
We’re starting a new family, and this family isn’t afraid of the tornado.
This family can fly.
Epilogue
Taron
Noel and I were married in the spring when the trees were blooming and the crocuses were bursting through the soil.
She wanted to wait until the fall, plan a big event to be held after harvest, but I couldn’t wait. We’d been apart so long and worked so hard to get back together. Even four months felt like too long to wait.
We were married in the orchard in April, as soon as the weather turned warm enough for Noel to wear the dress she’d chosen.
I’m sure every husband thinks this, but Noel was the most beautiful bride I’d ever seen. She wore her sexy hair in two braids right at the top of her head with peach blossoms woven into the crown. The rest hung in waves around her shoulders. I’m a big fan of her hair, but her dres
s took my breath away.
The top was sheer lace with a type of bra top covering her breasts, then it was long in a mermaid design. She looked like something out of the sea with her hair and her dress. I simply stood at the front in my tux with Sawyer, Leon, Patton, and Marley, trying to convince myself this wasn’t all a dream.
The guys were blown away by Dove… and Noel. Of course, they were, and my little sidekick asked if she could sing a song in our wedding. I can’t get over how she loves to perform. She told me dancing wasn’t a good enough talent for the pageant, so she wanted to try singing. Like I was going to tell her no.
At our spring wedding, she made her public debut with “Love is Like a Butterfly,” and while I don’t really like that song (I know, I’m wrong.)—when I heard my little girl’s sweet voice singing it to her mother and me while we stood under peach trees covered in pink blossoms… it became my favorite “Aunt Dolly” number.
A gentle wind carried the fresh scent around us as we swore to love each other, honor and cherish each other as long as we live.
They’re words I’ve promised to her every night since I came back. They’re words I dreamed of saying to her every night we were apart, and sealing them with our little girl singing to us was more than I could have imagined.
What else I couldn’t have imagined was my mother showing up at the wedding. Noel insisted we invite her, even though I said she wouldn’t come. Guess who lost that bet?
Lucille Rhodes showed up in all her Tennessee Mountain glory, wearing a cream top and a peach skirt, her white-blonde hair styled long over one shoulder, and Dove was immediately in love with her. The feeling appeared to be mutual.
“You look like Aunt Dolly!” My daughter said the minute they met.
My mother wrapped her fringed, embroidered silk shawl tighter around her slim shoulders and evaluated the six-year-old. “You look like me. What’s your name?”
“Tara Dove Noel LaGrange Rhodes. What’s yours?”
That was enough to make them fast friends. Anybody with that many names, no matter how old she was impressed my mom. By the end of the wedding they were making plans for Dove to go and stay with her in Tennessee and visit “Aunt” Dolly’s amusement park.
Fast forward two months, and we were busting our asses, sweating it out in the harvest. My injury held me back some, but I was able to get in there and do everything but haul palettes. We had another successful season, and the new trees put out shoots and sent deep roots.
Just like our family.
Noel planned the grand opening for her store to coincide with the start of the Peach Festival. She was terrified, first that no one would show up and then that everyone would show up and she would sell out of everything and have to close the store and everyone who came later would be mad at her.
I think my beautiful new wife can be a little nutty at times, and I love her for it.
“Baby, you’re just going to have to close your eyes and jump.” I slid my fingers through her beautiful hair as she laid her cheek against my bare chest.
“I’ve dreamed of this for so long…” Her voice was terrified, and I just kissed her and held her, doing my best to comfort her.
She didn’t sleep the whole night.
She let me know—she was awake for my snoring, for Dove’s nightly arrival around 2 a.m.… Our baby is having a tough time staying in her own bed, even with Akela there. I wake up every morning with a little girl’s foot in my face and our daughter sleeping upside down between me and her mamma.