Читать книгу Wanted: The Perfect Mom - T. McClure R. - Страница 14

CHAPTER SIX

ON MEMORIAL DAY, Holly closed the shop at noon. It’s fine, she told herself, everyone’s having picnics or spending the weekend at the lake.

Heading for her own family picnic, she shoved some stale cookies into a tin, hurried home and changed into a pair of old shorts and an air force T-shirt. Then she loaded her mother’s cooler packed with salads into the trunk of her tiny sports car.

“Ready, Mom?” Holly stood at the kitchen door of the bed-and-breakfast. One thing about her mother: she didn’t hold grudges. Their earlier disagreement was forgotten as they gathered supplies for the afternoon picnic at the farm.

Rose glanced around the kitchen and held up one finger. “Let me grab a book, in case I get a minute to myself.”

Holly went out to the wide back porch and sank onto the swing. Bright green tufts of lettuce grew in her mother’s kitchen garden, along with a few shoots of just emerging onions. Brilliant pink peonies, blossoming in full glory, lined the paved walk leading to the gazebo in the far corner of the yard. Holly breathed in their heady scent.

Book under her arm, Rose pulled the kitchen door shut and wiggled the knob to make sure it was locked. A bag of potato chips dangled from her fingers.

“More chips?” Holly rose from the swing.

“I had an extra bag. Those boys eat like vultures.”

“The backyard looks nice, Mom.” Holly opened her car door and sank into the driver’s seat. Her mother placed the chips on the floor and then, holding tightly to the handgrip, lowered herself onto the passenger seat.

“Thanks, honey. The gazebo your father built adds a nice touch. He’s working on a covered bridge for the little stream out back. That man works too hard.”