A Storm in the Desert (On Hold)

Chapter Ten

Lily held her finger to her lips as Colin and the girls traipsed up the stairs to the deck.  

"He's sleeping, so we're having lunch out here." 

Lily had set sandwiches, fruit and veggies out on the table and pumped hand sanitizer into the girls' hands as they told her all about Jason's property.  

"And the horse's names are Lady and Tramp. Can you believe that?" Ambra rolled her eyes, just saying the words.  

"What's wrong with those names?" Lily asked. 

"MOM! They're dog names, don't you know anything?" Ambra moaned.  

Lily smiled at Colin who winked back and added, "It's a wonder he's survived up here so long without you girls to tell him these things." 

Lily looked back at her plate, fiddled with a carrot.  

"What was your favorite part, Miss Esme?" Colin asked.  

Lily felt Esme cuddle closer under her elbow. 

"The tiger lilies," she said, softly.  

Colin nodded seriously, "Ah, yes, the tiger lily pond." 

Lily looked at Colin and thought, don't ask. "What's the tiger lily pond?" 

Colin dropped his napkin on his plate and leaned back in his chair, "Well, You may or may not have noticed the absurd number of tiger lilies all over this property." 

Ambra snickered but continued to eat under her mother's threatening eye. 

"I noticed a few around the drive way."  

Colin laughed, "A few? He loves them. It started as a joke years ago, Ronnie hated lilies, every kind but especially tiger lilies, hated the mess they made if they weren't trimmed right, didn't like how they smelled, they were cheap, only came in orange, the list was endless. So Jason thought it was funny to give his mother bouquets of lilies for every occasion he could think of. He started doing it in junior high, and he never stopped. When he bought this place, Ronnie ordered 500 lily bulbs and had them sent down here to him. He was married by then and Ronnie knew April would absolutely hate them too, so she thought it was a good joke. She thought April would never let him plant them." Colin looked over at Lily, "He planted every single one she sent then found a catalog and ordered something like a thousand more, every color he could find." 

Lily laughed and shook her head. 

"I know, turns out he really does like them, his favorite flower, he says." Colin reached for his bottled water, took a drink and smiled a little. "Last year he had Stella and Jake cut damn near every bloom on the place and send them for her funeral. There were lilies everywhere you looked. I'm sure it made her laugh, though Lisa, his sister, was fit to be tied." Colin looked at the girls, "Alright now, we've had our lunch, time to pick strawberries, who's coming?" 

Both little girls jumped up and ran to pull him out of his seat. Lily didn't say anything as they tromped back down the stairs.  

"Mom, Grandpa says there is angel food cake mix in the kitchen and whip cream in the freezer!" Ambra called back.  

Lily watched them trundle out of sight hand in hand, and then cleaned up lunch. She finally located the cake mix on the top shelf in the walk-in pantry. Debating whether to get a chair to stand on she stretched, just brushing the box with the tips of her fingers, managed to push it further back on the shelf.  

"Damn." 

Walking past the still sleeping Jason, she brushed her fingers softly through his hair as she moved by, then hefted a chair and headed back.