Wildflowers by Robin Jones Gunn

Author:Robin Jones Gunn [Jones Gunn, Robin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-82470-7
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2012-12-05T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

After a long afternoon and evening going over all the possible plans for the Wildflower Café, Genevieve was sure about only one thing. Steven supported her. In every way he was willing to do what needed to be done to make this expanded venture work. He seemed to understand even more than Genevieve that she needed to make the café a success.

Before they went to bed that night, Steven told Anna and Mallory that he would take them to church on Sunday. The girls took the news without questioning their dad. Genevieve was mystified.

Why, after all these years, does Steven want to go to church? It was actually easier when he didn’t go because it made it less noticeable that I didn’t go. Now I don’t feel like I can stay home.

The Ahrens family sat together again in church on Sunday, and this time Genevieve talked herself into relaxing a little more. No one had grilled her on why she had been away so long. No one acted stunned to see Steven there. The atmosphere felt open and calming. She didn’t need to be defensive.

Nothing in the music or the message particularly touched Genevieve this time. But she found solace once again in studying the stained glass window. The image of Christ as the shepherd, lovingly caring for His lambs, brought comfort to her.

After church, Leah and her husband, Seth, invited the Ahrens to their home for lunch. Genevieve hesitated, but Steven was all for it, so they went.

The drive to Seth and Leah’s home was gorgeous on that cloudy afternoon. Late June tended to offer mixed weather in Glenbrooke. By July the summer sun made regular visits and scorched all the wildflowers in its wake, but today the wildflowers filled the sides of the highway with streamers of brilliant color. The blues and yellows were especially vibrant as Steven drove the van deeper into the woodlands. Genevieve drank in the color and scolded herself for sticking so close to home when so much beauty lay only a few miles out of town.

Seth and Leah had built their house in a tranquil clearing in the midst of a spectacular wooded area, which they had inherited from Seth’s uncle. A gravel road, lined with tall lupines and bouncy buttercups, led to what looked like an enchanted cottage right out of a fairy tale. The house wasn’t overly cute or lined with fanciful gingerbread trim. It was built as a sturdy, log-framed woodcutter’s cabin. The charm came from the trees and the way they stood guard along the property’s perimeter.

“This is so pretty,” Anna said, as they parked the van along the side of the house. “If I knew how to do watercolor, I’d paint this place just the way it is.”

“You could do it, Anna,” Steven said. “What would you need? A canvas and an easel? We can get you set up. You should explore other forms of art and painting.”

Genevieve remembered when their eldest daughter had expressed interest in volleyball her freshman year of high school.

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