Everyone who had loved Lauren was here. Jen stood next to him with her three children—Sebastian getting tall and gangly, little Octavia, pretty in her blue dress, a cloud of dark curls around her perfect face. Leah, now almost three, was trying to climb out of Darius’s arms to get into mischief. Josh smiled at her; she reminded him of Lauren so much. Next to them, Donna and Bill, who had gotten married last year. His own mom and the Kims. Ben gave him a nod, ever reassuring.

Asmaa was talking about the garden, and how families came together here to grow their own vegetables, to teach kids about botany, to have a beautiful oasis in the city. Josh was so grateful to her for still doing the good work that had given him a second chance to meet Lauren, and later, the chance to give back and get out of his shell when he was grieving. Mara from RISD was here, and Bruce the Mighty and Beneficent, who had donated ten grand in Lauren’s name.

Radley, the world’s best friend, stood with his fiancé, Frank the Realtor. They had their own place now, just down the road from the house in Cranston. Sarah was here, too, of course. Good old Sarah. She was dating Mateo, one of Josh’s engineers, who was five years younger than she was and, from all appearances, smitten.

There was another person here. Someone Lauren had never met, someone standing at Joshua’s side, her hand in his.

His wife.

Pretty Rose with the pink cheeks and dark hair, now even more beautiful. She was pregnant, though they were keeping that to themselves until the first trimester was past. Josh suspected his mom knew, though, because when they’d come here, she had handed Rose a bottle of water and asked if she wanted a chair.

His mom caught his eye and smiled. Yep. She knew. That was fine.

Josh looked at the dogwood tree, now nearly five feet tall. Its trunk was straight and strong, and the blossoms Lauren had so loved seemed to float on the air, perfect in their simplicity, their beauty.

It would grow well here.

“I’ll turn it over to you, now, Josh,” Asmaa said.

Rose squeezed his hand. “You’ve got this,” she whispered. He kissed her temple and went to the microphone.

For more than three years now, he’d taken good care of Lauren’s tree. It was time to give it a home. All these people would know this was Lauren’s garden. They’d all come see her tree. Someday, Josh would bring his kids to this garden, and they would play here.

It was nice to think Lauren would see them.

His throat was tight, and everyone was looking at him. Right. He was supposed to talk now.