Cape May Series Ebooks 7-12 Bundle

Spring hadn’t lasted long this year. Hot days arrived way too quickly. It was another year where winter felt like it rolled right into summer, practically skipping spring altogether. This wasn’t ideal for growing cold-weather crops like the lettuce and spinach that Margaret had in the ground. She needed to start getting her summer vegetable garden planted, especially since she had things she wanted to get off her mind—like Paul, her husband of fifteen years who’d abruptly walked out a month ago, leaving nothing but a note on the kitchen counter. 

I’m sorry. I need a break.

“That was it. That was all the note said. No call. No text. No discussion. No goodbye. He just left. He never came home from work one day. Turned his phone off too,” Margaret practically shouted into the phone as she tried to one-handedly hoe the garden.

“I can’t believe it!” said Sarah, her best friend since fourth grade. “I thought I knew him. I’m honestly shocked. I never thought in a million years he would do that.”

Margaret sighed. “You’re telling me. It was quite a shock, and the girls are still clueless. I had to tell our daughters that Dad was on an impromptu work trip. They are starting to get suspicious since it’s been a month already, though … Well, let me call you later, trying to hoe this garden with one hand is not working.” 

Sarah sighed. “OK, but please call me when you have time. We need to discuss this.”

Even though it had already been a month since Paul left, Margaret had just started telling those closest to her, aside from her mother. She’d needed time to process everything first. After all, she wasn’t quite sure what was happening herself. At first, she thought that he’d be back in a day or so, then days turned into weeks, and then, an entire month had gone by.

It was already 82 degrees out, and sweat poured off of Margaret’s face as she prepared her soil. It was her favorite day of the year—planting day. It was a day of sunblock from head to toe, lots of ice-cold lemon water, big wide brim hats and dirt everywhere. 

It was absolutely, positively a wonderful day for Margaret. Nothing could ruin her most cherished day of the year. It had been this way since she was a little girl helping her grandfather in his massive garden. Planting day was a tradition. It was marked on the calendar. Her husband’s desertion wasn’t going to stop her this year. 

She added fresh compost to her garden plots from her compost bin and got all of her seeds in order. It was mid-May, prime time in New Jersey to get her crops in the ground. She started all of her heirloom seeds inside under grow lights and had lots of them to plant. She was probably going to be out in this sun for hours, but she didn’t care one bit. She was ready to soak in all that vitamin D.

“Ew, why are there so many worms everywhere?!” shrieked Abby, Margaret’s six-year-old daughter. 

“I think they’re cool!” replied Harper, Margaret’s eight-year-old, while studying a long earthworm she dangled above her head.

Margaret’s two daughters were exact opposites. Abby was afraid of everything including her own shadow, while Harper liked to find and pick up harmless snakes outside for fun. If she was feeling super naughty, she’d chase her sister around with one.

Margaret wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her hand and motioned for the girls to come over. “Alright, you two! Are you helping me today or what? So far, you only seem interested in looking at the worms.”

Abby and Harper stopped what they were doing and skipped over. Abby was in a sundress and sandals and Harper in overalls, rain boots, and a backwards hat. One was dressed for helping Mom in the garden, and the other just thought she was.

Margaret looked the two up and down and chuckled. “How about you two start planting some bean seeds in the rows I’ve already hoed? You remember what I taught you about how to space them apart, right?”

Both girls nodded and raced to the seed packets, each hoping to pick their favorite before the other. 

“I want to plant the purple beans!” yelled Abby as she ran. 

“Remember to mark the rows with what you planted. Otherwise, we’ll never remember!” Margaret hollered out as they feverishly looked through the seeds.

Margaret knew the risks of having children plant seeds. It meant probably having too many seeds planted in one spot, or them forgetting what they planted before there was time to mark it. Margaret didn’t mind, though. She wanted her children to feel the awe and wonder of the garden like she had as a child with her grandfather. Plus, she knew she could always thin the seedlings out once they sprouted. And the mystery of figuring out what the unmarked plants were as they grew was actually kind of fun. The girls enjoyed helping, and she enjoyed having them out there with her.

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