Free More by Heidi Marshall

you, Kate. Again, I’m so sorry to have disturbed you. I can come back later.” He turned to walk out of the garden.
    “Don’t be silly,” she replied. “You’re here now, and it sounds like you’ve got a job to do.” She looked towards the house and saw that it was quiet and dark. Knowing her mother was still asleep, and not sure how to make an exit from this awkward scene, she approached Jacob. “Can I help you with the stream?”
    “Oh no, of course not,” said Jacob quickly. “This is my job. And besides, it’s not easy work. I’ve got a truck full of river rock that I need to lay down.”
    Picking up a pair of work gloves and heading towards a wheelbarrow, Kate said stubbornly, “Are you saying I’m not cut out for hard work? I’m helping. End of story. I love working in my mother’s garden, and besides, I’m not above a little manual labor.” Kate inherited a stubborn streak from her mother.
    Jacob, who was very used to dealing with Olivia’s hard-headedness, realized it would do him no good to argue. He nodded his head and helped her load the rocks from the bed of his truck onto the wheelbarrow. After Kate made several trips back into the yard to drop off the rocks, Jacob began to work on the pump while she distributed the rocks in the trench. They both made friendly small talk every now and then, but were mostly focused on the work.
    When the last piece of rock had been laid in the trench, Jacob motioned towards the pump and asked, “Would you like to do to honors?” She nodded, tired from the work but excited to see the result of their labor. She flipped the switch to the pump and immediately the water began to flow over the rocks and into a small pond below.
    “Yes! We did it!” said Kate, high-fiving Jacob. He smiled, revealing deep dimples in his tanned face. She crossed over the small bridge that straddled the now running stream and sat down on the ground, exhausted from the work and ready to enjoy the soft trickle of the flowing water for a few minutes.
    Taking a seat next to her, Jacob asked, “What was it like growing up here?”
    With a distant smile, Kate replied, “Amazing. I have so many wonderful memories of cooking with my mom, and playing sports with my dad, and…” her voice trailed off and she looked at a patch of bare land towards the creek that Olivia had not yet transformed with her green thumb.
    “What is it?” asked Jacob softly.
    “My dad,” she whispered. “I loved my dad. I was his little princess. I was nine when he left me and my mom to marry someone else.” She kept staring at that patch of land.
    “It was so hard for me to understand,” she continued. “I heard my parents fighting one afternoon. I knew they were having problems, but I never actually thought they would split up. And just like that, he was gone. My life changed forever that day.” She looked over at Jacob. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I don’t know you at all.”
    “You don’t have to,” replied Jacob, “but I’m a good listener.”
    Maybe her guard was down because of the early morning hour, or maybe there was something attractive about talking to a complete stranger who had no preconceptions of her, but Kate saw kindness in his eyes and decided to continue. “My mother is an incredibly strong woman. She’s the most amazing person I know. But when my father left, she fell apart. I heard her crying herself to sleep every night. She wouldn’t eat. She wouldn’t leave the house. It was like every ounce of joy had been sucked out of her life.”
    “I didn’t know what else to do but to take care of her. Sure, I knew I was the child and she was the parent, but I knew that she needed me. I cooked the meals. I did the laundry. I did everything I could to support her but also give her some space. And every day it pained me to see how this man we both loved and trusted had completely ripped her life apart.”
    “It can’t have just been Mrs. Henry who had her life