April fidgeted with a cookie, turning it around and around in her hands. “Angry, sad, and relieved, all at the same time.” All the emotions she had felt following that phone call came rushing back. According to everything she’d read in the self-help books, talking about it got them out of her heart. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Of all the places I didn’t want to go, this was right up there at the top of the list. I hated the idea of having to come back here and hoped that there would be money involved so I could leave and find a place to live. But the closer I got, the more I realized that if I didn’t face my demons, I was never going to do anything but keep making the same old mistakes. Right now, I feel like I don’t deserve this chance to get my life together. Nanny Lucy would come to me at night in my dreams and say over and over, ‘I told you so,’ and I’d wake up so angry that I hadn’t proved her wrong.”

“It’s amazing how we all saw her in a different light, isn’t it?” Nessa said. “I’ll take a turn now. My name is Nessa O’Riley”—she raised her hand like April had—“and I have trust and commitment issues. I had a fairly decent childhood, even if my folks were ultra-religious and overbearing. The only time I was ever happy was right here, which is strange since this is where April was the unhappiest. I thought I could find that childhood happiness when I got back, but all I got was disappointment. That makes me wonder if my past relationships failed because I wanted the same sense of contentment and happiness that I felt when I came here.”

April’s head bobbed up and down with every word. Her problems hadn’t been the same as Nessa’s, but she could relate to wanting something permanent and not just a flash in the pan. “Looks like coming back to Blossom is helping us all.”

“Good session.” Nessa yawned. “I’m going to get a quick shower and read until I fall asleep.”

“Me too,” Flynn said, “and thanks to both of you. I guess it does help to talk about our feelings.”

“Yep.” April grinned. “And what is said in the kitchen over milk and cookies stays in the kitchen, right? We’re trying to tear up the roots that made us who we are and plant better seeds for the future.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Nessa and Flynn said at the same time.

Flynn went straight to his room and shut the door. April leaned over the table toward Nessa and whispered, “Are you all right?”