Love's Answer

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Book excerpt

Chapter 1

Lilly Hemp stopped working on the flowers and looked around. This year’s flowers were doing well. All of the flowers were blooming, and the bright colors were beautiful. She was working on gathering a bunch of the flowers, ready to harvest. D. D.’s Flower Shop in Sharpville, placed a large order for an upcoming wedding. Jed Hillard and Marissa Camp ordered the flowers to decorate the church. Their wedding was only a week away, and there was a lot of excitement in Sharpville. They were a very popular couple.

Lily knew Jed from school, but she did not know Marissa. Lily had not been out and around very much the last three years. She mostly let her brother handle meeting people and making deliveries. She had a hard time associating with people since the car accident three years ago destroyed her world.

Her husband, Mark, and her two-year-old daughter, Sue, had gone along with her mom and dad when they went to Sharpville to make a delivery. Their car was hit by a drunk driver. Everyone was killed.

Lily had been at home, sick with a cold, and her world had come apart when the deputy sheriff had shown up with the devastating news. Even though he was equally affected, her brother, Doug, took care of all the arrangements, and tried to help Lily, who was almost comatose with grief. She spent most of her time curled up on her bed, crying and clutching Sue’s baby blanket.

Lily had finally stirred herself, much to Doug’s relief, and started working with the flowers again. It seemed to help her being outside working in the flower beds. She even went a few days at a time when she did not feel like curling into a ball and crying her eyes out. So many things around the place reminded her of Sue.

“You are going to have to make this delivery tomorrow,” said Doug at supper. “I have a buyer coming to see some horses.” Doug raised horses on their farm and sold them to the rodeo crowd.

Lily looked at him hard to see if he was up to something. He didn’t say anything else, just kept eating. Lily shrugged. “Okay,” she said.

When Doug finished eating and went outside, he grinned with relief. He had been trying for a while to get Lily out of the house and around people. He was worried about her turning into a recluse. It would be good for her to get out and resume life.

Lily went to check on the flowers. They were in a cool storage box to preserve them until they could be delivered. They were all doing okay. She went to gather a few extra, just in case. She had a special van to deliver the flowers in. It was equipped with a cool box to keep the flowers fresh and D. D.’s also had a cool box to keep them in until needed. She would wait until morning to load the van. She went inside and washed her hands and started to prepare supper. She was a little apprehensive about tomorrow, but overall, she was still so numb she didn’t think too much about it.

D. D., short for Danielle Denise, met Lily when she came to deliver the flowers. Between the two of them they soon had the flowers transferred from the van to storage in the flower shop. Lily decided to stop and eat before she headed for home. She also had to stop by the grocery store. Doug had given her a list of things to pick up while she was in town. She went by the grocery store first. She had no worries about things spoiling before she could get them home since she could use the cool storage in the van.

After loading up her groceries, Lily decided to stop at Danny’s and pick up a hamburger. When she went in, the place was more crowded than she expected. She spotted an empty table and headed to it. After sitting down, she noticed a mirror displayed on the table. The waitress came up and distracted her before she could read the display.

Lily ordered her hamburger and coke. She sat back to wait  for her order. Lily glanced around but didn’t see anyone she recognized. Lily looked back at the mirror. She read what it said. “True love,” she whispered. “How can I see true love in this mirror when my true love lies buried underneath an angel in the cemetery?” All of a sudden, the mirror showed a man’s face in the mirror. Lily glanced behind her to see if anyone was behind her. No one was there. She looked back at the mirror. She shook her head. “No,” she moaned. “It can’t be.”

She started to stand. The waitress came with her order. “Fix it to go,” said Lily. She looked at the girl at the table next to her. “You asked the mirror a question. You can’t blame the mirror if you don’t like the answer.” the girl said.

“You don’t understand,” said Lily. “He can’t be my true love. My true love is dead.”

“I don’t know the answer. I only know the mirror is never wrong,” said the girl.

“It is this time,” said Lily. The waitress came back with her order and Lily gave her some money and hurried out. She wanted to be as far from the mirror as she could get.

Lily decided she was in no shape to be driving, so she headed for the park. She sat on a bench in the park and drank her coke. She couldn’t eat her hamburger. Her stomach was rolling with tension. She looked at the children’s playground next to the park and felt tears come into her eyes.

As she watched the children playing, a man came into the park. He had a little boy about two years old with him. They were walking through the park on their way to the children’s playground. When they started to pass her, the man looked at her and smiled. He stopped smiling when he saw the tears in her eyes.

“Do you need help?” he asked. Lily shook her head. She was too choked up to talk. The little boy patted her on the knee and smiled at her. Lilly smiled back. He was a precious little boy. Sue had been just his age when she lost her. The man sat on the bench beside her and pulled the boy into his lap.

“I’m Samuel and this little monster is Sam,” he said smiling at Sam. “I don’t know too many people in Sharpville, yet. Sam and I just moved here a short time ago.” Sam grinned at him.

“I’m Lily and I grow flowers on a farm west of here. I just came into town with a delivery. I stopped at Danny’s for a hamburger before heading home and sat at a table with a mirror on it. It showed me a man who wasn’t in the room. I was so upset I just got my hamburger and left.”

“Ah, you looked in the magic mirror,” said Samuel. Lily looked at him, startled. “You know about the mirror?” she asked.

“Yes, Crystal, at Sam’s daycare, and I saw each other through the mirror. She was looking in the magic mirror, and I was at another mirror,” said Samuel.

 “Did you two get together?” asked Lily.

“We are still working on it,” said Samuel.

“Who did you see in the mirror?” asked Sam.

“I don’t know. He was a stranger. I wasn’t looking for true love. My love died when my daughter and husband were killed three years ago,” said Lily.

“I’m sorry for your loss. I know how hard it is to lose a child,” said Samuel.

“Did you lose a child?” asked Lily.

“Sam here was kidnapped by his mother and her boyfriend. I was going crazy until he was found.”

“Surely his mother wouldn’t have hurt him,” said Lily.

“She and her boyfriend had a sale for him. They abandoned him in the alley behind Danny’s. Luckily, he was found before the sale could go through.” said Samuel.

“Oh no!” exclaimed Lily. “Did they get caught?”

“Yes, they are in jail. With all of the evidence against them they should get a long sentence,” said Samuel.

 “I’m glad you got Sam back safely,” said Lily.

“Thank you,” said Samuel.

“Have I distracted you enough with my horror story to get you past your visit with the magic mirror?” asked Samuel with a grin. Lily laughed and looked at Sam and Samuel.

“Yes, I guess I can drive home, now,” she said.

“You can join us on the playground if you like. Sam likes to have someone to push his swing and catch him off the slide,” said Samuel.

“I would like to stay for a little while. If it’s okay with you Sam,” said Lily smiling at Sam. Sam nodded his head vigorously. He took Lily’s hand and led her toward the swings. Samuel laughed and followed.

Lily had a great time playing with Sam. Samuel mostly just stood back and watched. He stayed close by in case Sam needed him. Sam would look at him every so often, but as long as he could see his dad, he was okay. Lily finally decided she had better head for home. She hugged Sam and thanked him for showing her such a good time. She turned to Samuel and held out her hand. Samuel took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you for your understanding,” said Lily.

“I’m glad you are better. Just remember, there are always children needing our love and help. Don’t shut yourself off from life and love,” said Samuel.

 “I will remember everything you have said. You have given me a lot to think about,” said Lily. She waved goodbye to her two new friends and headed for her van. The ride home was much easier than it would have been before meeting Samuel and  little Sam.

Lily arrived home and carried the groceries, she had bought, into the house and put them away. She was humming softly to herself as she started to prepare supper. Doug, coming into the house to check on Lily, stopped in surprise when he heard Lily humming. He came inside and looked at her curiously. “Did everything go okay? You were gone so long I was beginning to get worried,” said Doug.

Lily smiled. “Everything went fine. I stopped at Danny’s for a hamburger and then I decided to go by the park for a while. It was such a lovely day,” she said cheerfully.

 “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” said Doug.

“Stop worrying about me. I’m fine,” said Lily patting Doug on the arm and smiling. Doug shrugged and turned to go back outside.

“I still have a few things to finish up outside. Call me when supper is ready,” he said.

“Okay, agreed Lily. Doug was smiling to himself as he went outside. I should have sent her to town ages ago, he thought to himself. He was very happy to see Lily being herself again.