“You guys ready for all this rain tomorrow?” Alexa handed the girls each a sucker.

“Eh, I’ll believe it when I see it,” I said, waving her off nonchalantly. “These weather people never know what the heck they’re talking about.”

“I don’t know, last I heard they were calling for over ten inches of rain just in the next twenty-four hours.” Her dark cobalt eyes were big and serious.

I sighed. “This is one of those times when living in the Land of 10,000 Lakes isn’t so wonderful. Nor is it great living on one, not with this much rain coming. We’ll be lucky if the gazebo doesn’t float away.”

“No shit.” She quickly looked down at Lucy and Piper and then back up at me and grimaced. “Sorry.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Girls, ignore Auntie Alexa and her potty mouth.”

“Mommy, you say that word sometimes too!” Lucy said with a big grin.

“Okay, let’s not talk about that right now.” I laughed and turned to Alexa, promptly changing the conversation. “So are you closing the shop tomorrow?”

Alexa owned a cute little flower shop in town called The Twisted Petal. She had an amazing eye for detail and was magnificent at the designs she created. People called from all over the county to place orders with her.

“Yeah, but hopefully just for tomorrow. Wedding season is just around the corner and I have a million things to do to get ready. But, no work for tomorrow!”

She locked arms with Lucy and Piper and danced around the foyer. “Oh wait,” she stopped suddenly, “I did bring a bouquet for your mom, though.” She went over by the front door and took a beautiful bouquet of roses, tulips and lilies out of their paper cone.

“Suck-up.” I shoulder bumped her, taking the flowers. “I’ll give them to her when she gets back.”

“Oh, I just saw her. She was in the garage talking to Fred. Something about sand bags.”

Fred was our maintenance man who lived in the apartment above the garage. He helped my mom with most of the outside chores and various repairs around the property. He’d been there as long as we had. He and my mom worked well together, and I was ecstatic when the girls unofficially adopted him as their surrogate grandpa.

“They’re probably freaking out over nothing. I’m still hoping those crazy weather forecasters are wrong and we won’t get as much as they think,” I said, crossing my fingers in the air.

“Pssh, you keep thinking those positive thoughts. I, on the other hand, am heading out to get some gas for the generator, grabbing a case of beer for Derek and heading indoors. Bye, girlies!” she yelled on her way out the door.

“Bye, Auntie Alexa!” they called out after her.

I left the girls munching on their suckers in the living room, while I went to the kitchen to put the flowers in water. I loved the kitchen in the inn. It was not only huge, but also warm and inviting. My mom made a point of telling every guest to please make themselves at home, so she left the kitchen open at all times. The cabinets were full of mismatched antique dishes and every small appliance imaginable. She also kept the larger-than-normal pantry stocked with all sorts of snacks and kitchen staples for people to use as they pleased. There were shelves in the pantry lined with mason jars full of fruits and vegetables that she had preserved.

I had just finished putting the flowers in a vase when the back door flew open, and Mom came, along with a huge gust of cold air.

“Whew! It’s already getting windy out there,” she said, trying to close the back door with an armful of groceries.

I set the vase on the island and hurried over to take the bags from her.

“Fabulous,” I answered sarcastically.

She glanced at the flowers on the island. “Those are beautiful!”

“Yeah, Alexa brought those for you. She actually just left. She said she saw you in the garage.”

“Oh, right,” she said. “Fred and I were debating whether to put sand bags down by the shore or not. Did all the guests leave? Any problems?”

“Everything was fine. The Richardsons said they’d be back in a few weeks.”

“Good. What about Alexa? Did she close up for the week?”

“Not sure, at least for tomorrow. She stopped by to bring you those and get the girls sugared up for me. She had to go and get a few things for Derek, then she’s heading in for the next couple days.”

Derek was Alexa’s husband. They’d been together since freshman year in high school and got married right after graduation. Everyone assumed she must have been pregnant, but they were just really in love and excited to start their life together. They had been married almost 6 years and still hadn’t talked about having kids. She told me once that whenever she heard her biological clock start ticking, she spent a day with Piper and Lucy and hit the snooze button for another year.

“Alexa and Derek are a cute couple, aren’t they?” My mom tried to ask innocently, though I knew where she was headed. I sighed, immediately wishing I hadn’t said Derek’s name.”Yes, Mom, they’re adorable. Don’t start.”

“What? I’m not starting anything, I was simply making an observation,” she said, matter-of-fact.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Okay fine, I was starting. I just think you would be so much happier if you found someone too.” She started rambling as fast as she could. “I just want to see you happy. You deserve-”

“Stop,” I interrupted her. “What makes you think I’m unhappy?”

“I didn’t mean unhappy. You’re only twenty-four years old, Kacie. You’ve been single for four years now. It’s about time you get back out there. What about the Richardsons’ son, Cameron?” She grinned and wiggled her eyebrows up and down at me.

“Mom, first of all, I have no interest in Cameron. Second of all, I’ve been on dates. None of them were what I was looking for ... I need the right guy, the perfect guy, a stable guy. I need to give up on guys that are good kissers and use my brain this time. I’ve dated the immature, irresponsible loser before. Look where it got me.”

“It got you two beautiful children, that’s where,” she said defensively, as she continued putting groceries in the cabinet.

“Of course they’re wonderful, Mom, but I wish we had a real family. Raising two five-year-old girls alone isn’t easy,” I replied, rubbing my temples and quietly wishing away the impending headache.

“Alone?” she accused, whipping around to face me.

I knew I was in trouble.

“You’re hardly alone, Kassandra!”

Uh-oh. She called me Kassandra; she never did that.

“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded, Mom. You are extremely helpful. I just meant that I wish I had a traditional family. You know, two parents…” I said quietly, tracing the raised glass decoration on the vase with my finger, trying not to make eye contact with my mom.

“Well, it’s time you got out there, Kacie, for real. Zach left, and he’s not coming back.”

My mouth dropped open as my eyes shot up to meet hers. We didn’t talk about him.

Ever. Just the mention of his name made me sick to my stomach.

She continued, her voice softer this time. “You need to move on and live your life.”