Chapter OneAllison struggled to find her festive spirit in between her joyful heart’s desire, the path of achievement she’d devoted herself to, and the stifling match her mother had chosen. Taking a deep breath, she summoned her courage to release Professor Mort Hebert’s hand.
Allowing her sparkle to come through her composed and polished persona, Allison gracefully grabbed her sister by both hands, and they swirled in a circle in the middle of the dance floor. Madeleine’s wedding gown and Allison’s emerald maid of honor dress flowed out in a whimsical white-and-green cloud of taffeta, lace, and tulle.
“Oh, Maddie, everything is just perfect! So magical,” Allison said. She spoke with so much joy, she hoped the whole wedding crowd could hear her over the band playing a fast bluesy rock tune.
“Allison, I’ve missed you so much. I can’t wait until you’re back home for good.” She stopped swirling and hugged her sister.
Allison could feel the discord and the distance that had been between them melting quickly. “Almost there. One more semester to graduate. But you better stop being mushy, or we’ll mess up our makeup. Our every move is being recorded.” Allison beamed her signature broad smile at her little sister. “So, are you ready for your wedding night? Or do we need to have the talk?” Allison smiled with a mock-serious look.
“Seriously? I’m not puritanical like you. I know I’m a sinner. But I’m proud of you for waiting until you’re married. Very admirable. You better watch out for Dr. Death, though. I heard Europeans have a different take on the matter than we do.”
“I wish you wouldn’t call him that. Mort is a perfect gentleman. Besides, he blessed the sacrament the first day I met him. He would never do anything to jeopardize his faith or his job, for that matter. Besides, I trust him completely.”
“Oh, good. That is reassuring.” Maddie rolled her eyes. “But are you sure about him? I mean, what about Jonathan? You just don’t seem all that…”
Allison felt her joyful expression fading into defensiveness.
“Oh, never mind. I’m probably just jealous that he gets more time with you than we do these days.” Maddie kissed her sister on the cheek.
Allison looked down and tried to recover her happy face. She felt horrible that she had missed all the wedding planning, but every time she’d tried to come home, somehow Mort needed her there for this event or that. She had felt isolated from her friends and sister for the past six months. She didn’t know how to make everyone happy. She didn’t know how she was going to do it, but she would just have to figure it out. Her own happiness depended on it.
“Maddie, I feel like I’ve missed so much being gone these three and a half years.”
“I know it’s been hard around here without you. Losing Grandma Emma and Grampa John both and having you gone. That just leaves Jonathan and Luke and me against Busy Bea. You were always the buffer.”
“You know how to deal with her, Maddie. Actually, better than me. I just do what she wants, but I’m not really sure that’s the best thing to do.”
“Yeah, probably not. I know it’s selfish, but while you’re doing what she wants, she doesn’t pay much attention to the rest of us. With you gone, she’s trying to micromanage Emma’s Flower Shop and Nursery, and she doesn’t know a thing about it.”
“Don’t worry. She’s still micromanaging my life from afar. Why do you think I started dating Mort in the first place?”
“She thinks she has to run this perfect family to impress Grandmother Scott.”
“Yeah, and that’s impossible. Grandmother Scott has a permanent sourpuss face. Do you think she made that face when she was a kid and it stuck?” Allison said with all seriousness.
They both looked over at the table where Grandmother Scott was talking crossly to her daughter-in-law, Bea. Allison and Madeleine’s father, Spencer, sat next to his mother, wearing his quiet smug look. When Grandmother Scott stopped talking, she realigned the edges of her mouth with the bottom of her chin.
Allison and Maddie broke out in laughter.
“How does she even do that?” Maddie asked, gasping for air in between giggles. Allison hadn’t laughed like that with her little sister in what seemed years although it was only just before her mother had practically ordered her to date Mort.
Luke and Jonathan set their drinks down on the head table and made their way through the crowded dance floor.
“Allison, she’s mine now,” Luke said.
Allison offered Madeleine’s hand to her new husband and bowed as though she were a gentleman excusing himself from a lady. She found it very amusing to pretend to be proper since Southern California had a such a casual atmosphere.
Allison watched Luke swirl his bride around the dance floor while holding her tightly.
“Wanna dance?” Jonathan asked.
“Absolutely!” Allison gazed up into Jonathan’s shining obsidian eyes. She marveled once again at how such a bright light could come from such dark eyes.
Not everyone considered Jonathan to be good-looking, but Allison had always thought he was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. His skin was deep brown like the center of a black-eyed Susan. He wore a closely trimmed beard that was soft and scratchy at the same time. His tightly curled black hair was cut close, almost military style, and his head seemed to have a permanent dent around it where his cap usually sat.
“I think this is the first time in all these years that I’ve actually seen your head, Jonathan.”
“It probably is.” He gave her his sideways grin.
“Is that old hat you always wear the same one Grampa gave you on your first day at Emma’s?”
He chuckled. “Yep. I never saw the need for another one.” He changed to a low, serious tone. “Just like you, Allison. Once I saw you, I never saw another.”
“Jonathan, please. Don’t bring this up again. We’re having such a good time.”
Allison tore her gaze from Jonathan’s obsidian eyes. She forced her focus on the twinkling lights interspersed among hundreds of flowers that draped over the dance floor.
“You know I’ll always love you. The preacher is still here. The place is still decorated. You and Maddie can trade dresses.” He gave her that gorgeous toothy grin she loved.
“Oh, Jonathan.” Allison looked down from the lights and followed the happy bride being twirled around the dance floor by her beloved groom. “You know that I’ll always love you too, but you know how things are. We can’t. I…”
“Alli, when are you going to start making yourself happy for once?”
“Making others happy makes me happy.”
“But you can’t be responsible for other people’s happiness, especially someone like Busy Bea. She isn’t even in charge of her own happiness. Being perfect won’t control how she treats you.”
Allison looked around the room and spotted her mother. Jonathan must have sensed it because he twirled her away.
“Honestly, Jonathan. I know you and Grampa John have both told me that a million times, but I just don’t understand what you mean. I don’t want to control anyone.”
She looked up into his eyes, hoping to convince him once and for all, but she could see that she hadn’t.
“I really hope you get it soon because I’m afraid that if you don’t you’ll really lose yourself to that Dr. Death. There’s definitely something fishy about that guy.”
Allison felt her whole demeanor sinking into the floor. “But he…”
Jonathan let her off the hook by interrupting her. “How long is Busy Bea going to make us wear these monkey suits anyway?” Jonathan fidgeted inside his tuxedo without letting go of Allison.
She was grateful for the change of subject. “If it were up to her, forever. Oh, speak of the devil—here she comes.”
“Jonathan, the band is having a problem with the power or something. I thought you said they were set up,” Bea said as she grabbed Allison away from him.
“Mom, we’re dancing. The band sounds fine to me. Jonathan—”
“It’s okay, I’ll go see what they need.” Jonathan smiled as he interrupted Allison.
She marveled at how Jonathan never lost his joy no matter what her mother threw at him. “Mom, I wish you wouldn’t treat Jonathan like a servant. Grampa left him an equal share of Emma’s as he left me and Maddie.”
Allison wished her mother would accept Jonathan and stop thinking of him as that poor African American kid from the wrong side of the tracks. She thought that maybe her mother would accept him if he belonged to their church. Allison felt guilty that she’d failed at her attempt to convince Jonathan to join her church. But he was stubborn, just like Grampa, and although he believed in Jesus, he chose to steer clear of traditional organized religion.
“Allison, you’re forgetting your manners. You have left your beau alone for far too long.”
“Mom, he’s occupied.” Allison looked around the reception area for Professor Mort Hebert and found him deep in a discussion with a group of professors. She dutifully approached the group.
“Ah, Allison. At long last,” Mort said in his distinctive French accent. “You know Professor Bluff and—”
“Of course, I’ve known them my whole life. How are you? It is so good to see you all again.” She smiled at the group of researchers and professors.
“Your grandpa would have loved this night. He was so proud of his two granddaughters. I know Maddie is a talented administrator like your grandmother. But you, Allison, he always saw you stepping in to take his place in the research side of the business. And don’t you worry—we all know you had the equivalent of a PhD before you went for your bachelor’s. You’ll do great things in this field.”
“Thank you so much, Professor Bluff. It’s always been my dream to return to Emma’s Nursery and Flower Shop to continue Grampa’s legacy and his research contracts with you and all the other professors. Jonathan will do innovative things as well. He’s done a great job running Emma’s, don’t you think?”
The professors and their spouses looked around at the expansive tree section of the nursery covered in millions of lights and red roses lushly decorated for the reception.
“Yes, indeed,” Professor Bluff answered. “Jonathan outdid himself and anyone else on this wedding.”
“I heard he started a Bible group for youth here at Emma’s,” said Professor Sloan, dean over religious studies at the Christian college where they all taught. “Let’s see… What did they call it? Seeds?”
“Sprouts,” Allison said.
“Yes, of course, Sprouts. What a clever name.”
“Yes, he’s training teen boys the way Grampa taught him. They listen to the Bible while working with plants. Grampa always said that boys weren’t meant to sit in a room all dressed up. The land is theirs to toil, and that’s where they’ll find their connection with the Creator.”
“Well, your family, and the community, are extremely lucky to have Jonathan. How did your grandfather find him?”
“He was a friend of Luke’s. The two of them came to Emma’s one day when Luke and Jonathan and I were about fifteen to pick up an order for Luke’s dad, Bobby. Grampa saw something in Jonathan, and he hired him that same day. He’s been here ever since.”
Jonathan and Luke suddenly appeared one on either side of Professor Hebert. “Enjoying yourself, Professor He Burt?” Luke slapped him on the back just as he had taken a drink, nearly spilling it on his suit.
“It is Eh-bear,” Professor Hebert said, emphasizing the French pronunciation of his name. He gave a small cough and inspected his suit for spilled punch.
“Where is a bear?” Jonathan looked around, acting innocent.
“No, my name is pronounced eh-bear, not he-burt.” Professor Hebert was visibly perturbed.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. We’ll just call you Dr. Death, Mort,” Luke said dragging out his name and popping the T while simultaneously slapping him on the back again.
Allison came to his rescue. “Don’t mind them. They’re just a couple of jokers.”
She grabbed him by the hand and led him to the dance floor. They could hear the group of professors laughing with Luke and Jonathan. Allison knew that everyone was watching Professor Hebert dance her around the floor. She felt like a sparkling jewel in her green taffeta maid of honor dress, dancing with an elegant and brilliant man. Allison was so happy.
She looked up into Mort’s face and saw a man out of his element, a Frenchman in an uncouth society. She thought how wonderful it would be to be married to such a sophisticated, prestigious man, a graduate of the University of Paris, a professor at a Christian college, and a leader in the church. Even her mother and father approved.
She was happy to have their approval, for once. She was used to bending to her mother’s will. She didn’t have any other choice. In fact, as she danced with him, it reminded her of how he’d looked that night at the gala, when her mother had insisted she go out with him. He’d been asking her out for months. She hadn’t really been able to figure out why. She didn’t think they had any chemistry together, but he was relentless in his pursuit.
He was good looking in an exotic European kind of way and sophisticated. Maybe too sophisticated for her. She was a dirt girl, born to be a nurturer of flora, and he was a man of letters on the subject of horticulture. Her only problem was that she couldn’t picture him here at Emma’s Nursery and Flower Shop. Hopefully, he would get a position at one of the local colleges if they were to marry.
“Allison, my dear, you look lovely tonight. Most women begin to lose their polish as the night wears on, but somehow, you become even more radiant,” Mort said.
“Thank you, Prof… Mort.” Even though they’d been dating now for six months, she still hadn’t settled in on what to call him. A formal distance between them kept her off balance. She wondered if it was from her or him. He said all the right things—things that Jonathan and Luke would have found corny but women loved to hear. Her stubborn anxiety would not subside. He was so aristocratic, and she was so American. Her mother was excited about him and told her that it would come in time. Her father was a stiff kind of guy, and her mother adjusted. So Allison had decided to adjust. But she didn’t want to think of anything like that tonight. Her life-long friend had just married her little sister, and they were so happy. Settling for contentment, she could dance here with Professor Mort all night.
“Allison, darling, why do you not give the tour of your family’s grounds?”
“Sure, I can show you around. Let’s go.” She led him out of the reception to a small footbridge over a slow-running brook and into the perennial area, which had been set up for the wedding. The nearly endless selection of colorful flowers had been placed around the perimeter in an impressive design. An elaborate arch of roses of various shades of red stood empty and dark at the front of the rows of white wooden folding chairs. The automatic misters hissed, sending sparkling drops over the various colorful blossoms of impatiens and dianthus. The farmhouse-style building that housed the offices and flower shop was also lit up with lights on the outside but was dark on the inside. Fresh potted flowers decorated the wraparound porch in a beautifully rustic display.
“That’s the flower shop. Plus it has the offices that Maddie uses to keep the books and where Jonathan manages the orders and contracts.”
“Is that where your grandfather kept his research notes and logs?” Mort asked.
“Yes. He called his office ‘the crow’s nest.’”
The office was set off from the rest of the building. It had three walls with huge windows overlooking Emma’s property. Two rows of greenhouses, the barn, the outdoor display area, and the tree section could be seen from there. The office was separated from the inside display area and floral workshop by a wall-sized plate glass window.
“He said he could see the whole operation from right there at this desk.”
She stepped into the dark display area. Her footsteps echoed across the empty shop as she led Mort to the crow’s nest. Taking a deep breath, Allison savored the mixture of soil, flowers, and ink that flooded her senses as she stepped into the office.
“It’s just as he left it when he passed over a year ago. He was so organized, there was no need to move anything.” She lovingly glided her hand over a neat row of log books on a built-in counter. Mort did not seem to be listening. Instead, he fingered the file cabinet, opening and closing each one softly.
“In fact, Jonathan records the research results in these log books just like Grampa used to.” Allison was eager to redirect Mort’s attention back to herself. “But he waits for me to come home on break to write up the reports. I’ve been helping Grampa write reports since I was about twelve. Grampa John and Grandma Emma passing within days of each other has left a huge hole.”
“That is a lot of trust your grandfather had in you,” Mort said.
She smiled proudly. “Yes, I guess he did.”
“Do you trust me, my dear?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?” Allison had no reason not to trust him. She wondered why he would ask that. Couldn’t he see that she did? She would try harder in the future to show her trust. She respected and admired him, and she loved him in an awestruck way as though she were dating the horticulture version of a rock star. He was well into his life at age twenty-eight, while she had yet to reach her twenty-first birthday. He had completed his PhD and postdoc programs in record time and had become one of the youngest tenured professors ever at her college. Although at times she wondered why he hadn’t pursued a more prestigious college rather than settling for a Christian university, she assumed he had chosen this path out of religious fervor.
“In fact, Maddie had always wanted to get married at Grandma Emma’s cottage, but no one could bear to move their stuff around, so they opted for the nursery. Come on, let’s get back to the reception.”
“Not just yet, my dear.” He romantically scooped her up by the waist. “I want you all to myself.” He guided her out of the office and shop, back into the night lit with thousands of twinkling lights.
They walked arm in arm past the beautifully decorated wraparound porch of the farmhouse converted to offices, display area and floral workshop.
“Back here are the greenhouses. This is where all the real work happens, like growing all the flowers and the research we’re contracted for.”
He held her snugly to him as they walked between the two long rows of a half dozen greenhouses on each side. He felt stiff in his European tailored suit. It made Allison feel rigid on the inside.
When they arrived at the last greenhouse, Allison pointed to a big old-fashioned red barn. “There’s the barn where the mower repair shop is and all our equipment and supplies are stored. Upstairs is Jonathan’s apartment.”
“He lives here? In the mechanic’s garage? Tsk.” He gave a motion of his hand in an arrogant gesture of disapproval.
Allison glossed over his disrespect. She wasn’t in the habit of taking up for anyone, not even herself. She tried to muster a matter-of-fact tone. “Yes, he has since he was sixteen. Grampa had an apartment built for him in there.”
Professor Hebert opened the door of the last greenhouse and ushered Allison inside.
She could hear the faint music in the background. “We better get back. We’re going to miss the party.”
“You know how much I like to have you to myself,” Mort said.
The greenhouse filled with tropical greenery and rare roses was warm and humid, and Allison started feeling uncomfortable in her taffeta dress. She was trying to hang on to the mood she had accomplished earlier when dancing, but it was fading quickly. Professor Mort seemed to have a morose effect on her frame of mind.
“Look, I almost blend right in to the vegetation in here.” Allison giggled with forced delight. She twirled around, and when she came back to face the professor, he was down on one knee.
He held out his hand to her. “Will you marry me, Allison Louise Scott of Emma’s Nursery and Flower Shop?” He popped the p of shop, mocking the American accent.
At first, she thought he was joking. She laughed. “Oh, do get up. You will soil your trousers,” she said, imitating his formality.
“Well, will you?” The simple words sounded flowery in his French accent.
She thought about if she should answer in French, but she feared his criticism of her pronunciation. She didn’t want to ruin the moment. She knew she shouldn’t take so long to answer. He would get the idea that she didn’t want to. She wondered if she did want to or if she really had a choice.
Suddenly, her promise to Jonathan to come back to Emma’s flooded over her. She put the thought aside. She would sort it out later.
After all, the professor was her perfect match. Everyone said so. Well, her mother, father, and Grandmother Scott did. Maddie, Luke, and Jonathan couldn’t stand him.
About the Author: Since her birth was considered a miracle, Kimberly Frost Pinkney has always had a sense of purpose and thirst for spiritual truth. Raised in the boondocks of New Mexico, pegged “Loco Hills” because the hills were on one side of the road one day and the other side the next day, she had a vivid imagination that blossomed from listening to the tall tales of her dad, who influenced her love of public speaking and reading. He also gave her his entrepreneur spirit, which guided her in starting, growing, and selling her own small businesses, including starting her own financial consulting practice.
Kimberly shot professional photography and video for musical acts, corporations, and churches for television broadcast. She dreamed up and ran CrunchTime Popcorn in the Gas Lamp District of San Diego, two Major League Baseball stadiums, and several concert venues, where she mentored young adults from all over the world. There, she made a smoothie for Major League Baseball MVP Ryan Braum, who broke his record and Petco Park’s with three homeruns and a triple that same day. Yes, he came back the next day for another one.
Buying and restoring abandoned properties, Kimberly made it possible for young people to become homeowners. Her quest for truth, a good story, and cooler weather led her on great adventures.
Kimberly has lived in the Rocky Mountains, in a loft overlooking Boston Commons, and on a yacht. She studied Greek and Latin at Harvard, stand-up paddle boarded the San Diego bay, invested in a mansion in the California mountains to turn it into a homeless shelter and resting place for traveling missionaries. She circumnavigated America in a forty-foot motorcoach, visiting churches of all kinds.
Kimberly has hiked many trails to settle down with her husband, David, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to write, draw, hike, garden, and feed hummingbirds. Her goal is to inspire others to seek and find peace, freedom, and joy.
Title: The Secret Garden Devotional 
Title: To Stand in the Breach 
Title: A Strike to the Heart 
Title: As Silent as the Night 
Title: Matters of the Heart 
Title: Reclaiming Hope in Wishing Bridge 
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