Coming Home Again: Part IV

Dustin Henry had finally come home. He had not come home to settle down and help his Grandfather run the farm, as he had once expected. He had come home to bury his Grandfather. Had he seen it coming, Dustin would have put his continuing education on hold, taken a sabbatical, and joined Grandpa Wilbur in his final months and days.

But he had not known. How could he know? How can anyone know when death will steal a loved one and turn their lives upside down?

The hardest thing, thought Dustin a thousand times, was not being able to say he was sorry. Never being able to hug his Grandpa again and say, "I love you". Grandpa knew. Dustin was sure of that. But the urge to say it one more time was sometimes overwhelming.

The only way Dustin could think of to tell his Grandpa how much he loved him was to fight to keep the farm house and land he had poured the strength of his life into.

He would not give up. If there was a way to keep his old homeplace, he would find it...he must find it.

At least he did not have to face it all alone.

Jenny Carson now had his grandmother’s diamond engagement ring on her finger, and the matching golden band was safely locked away in the little brown box now in Dustin’s lock box.

It gave him s feeling of comfort and reassurance that the ring fit Jenny’s finger perfectly…no resizing needed!

Jenny fit into his life as perfectly as the ring fit her ring finger.

No date had been set for the wedding yet. They were content for now just to know they belonged together and whatever they had to face from this day forward, they would do it together.

Feeling a sudden, inexplicable desire to walk around the yard surrounding the house and barn, Dustin ambled slowly toward the garden spot Grandpa Wilbur had used most recently for planting crops. Another fertile area on the other side of the property lay barren now, too, only used for crop rotation to keep from wearing out the soil with repeated planting.

It was late summer now and this year’s harvest had been brought in and processed before Grandpa suffered the heart attack that no one had seen coming.

Dustin marveled anew at the perfection of Grandpa Wilbur’s garden spot. The Farmer’s Almanac could have taken advice from Wilbur Henry, and pictures of his garden in full bloom could have been their best advertisement.

Grandpa knew all the tricks to repel insects and small critters that might ravage his crops. No scare crows would be found anywhere on the Henry farm.

Flowers did the trick just fine.

As a boy, Dustin had been puzzled by his Grandpa planting flowers around the perimeter of the field and scattering a mixture of small flowers throughout the rows of crops. The main thing he remembered was how vibrant and colorful the little flowers were.

Gold and orange spots always decorated the vegetable garden and made it a place of beauty for a little boy to enjoy.

In the distance, Dustin caught a glimpse of that bright orange color and hurried over to check it out.

It was one lone marigold regally standing above bright green foliage, the only sign of life in this dried up garden spot.

He was going to drive over to Jenny’s house and pick her up to spend the day with him. They had so much to talk about, plan, and work on to get ready for a fall wedding.

He would ask Jenny to transplant this miraculous marigold to the front yard by the porch where he faintly remembered Grandma Mary cultivating a flower garden, year round with whatever was in season.

Suddenly, as in a cloud of memory, Dustin remembered Grandpa Wilbur telling him why he planted the flowers near the garden. Insects loathed the scent of these lovely blossoms. The crop was safe when surrounded by dozens of marigolds.

Bit by bit, piece by piece, fragments of Dustin’s childhood were coming to life again, building a bridge between the confusion and pain of losing Grandpa and the days when love and security wrapped him in peace and safety.

He wanted that again. Sure, he would never return to the innocence of childhood, but by remembering he could rebuild a foundation on which to build a life with Jenny.

This land, this farm, was the key to rebuilding his life. He must find out what was going on and deal with it.

Who were the strangers they had seen shadowing them in the past three weeks since he had come home again? Had they gone into his house that first day he was back?

Why had they not come out in the open to tell him what they wanted.

He had to have some answers, and soon.

He would ask Jenny to go with him again to see Mr. Lucius Gray and try to find some answers.

Dustin locked the front door of the house, got into his car, and headed over to his best friend’s house to start a new day together.