Chapter 21
I felt tears rising.
“Did you listen?”
He looked at me.
“No.”
The honesty startled me.
He continued.
“I thought I knew better.
Ranata brought papers.
She had explanations.
And I let those explanations
become more important
than what I knew about you.”
He leaned against the tree.
“I taught you how to work.
I taught you to keep records.
I taught you never to spend money
before you'd earned it.”
A shaky breath escaped him.
“And then I believed
you'd forgotten every lesson
because someone else told me so.”
I wiped my cheek.
“I kept trying to tell you
things were going well.”
“I know.”
“You always changed the subject.”
“I know.”
He looked toward the fields.
“I'm ashamed of that.”
I moved beside him.
For a while,
we watched the breeze
move through the long grass.
Then Dad said,
“I don't expect you
to forgive me today.”
I turned toward him.
He continued.
“I don't even know
what I should ask for.”
I thought carefully.
“Start by asking about my life.”
He looked confused.
“What?”
“Not my money.
Not the sale.
Not Ranata.
My life.”
He swallowed.
“All right.”
I looked toward the orchard.
He followed my gaze.
Then he asked,
“What's your favorite thing
you ever grew here?”
I laughed through my tears.
It was such a simple question.
And nobody in my family
had ever asked it.
“The first peach tree.”
He smiled faintly.
“Why?”
“Because it almost died.”
I pointed toward the eastern row.
“The roots were damaged
when I bought it.
Everyone told me to pull it out.”
“What did you do?”
“I changed the soil.
Protected it from wind.
Watered it carefully.
Waited.”
Dad looked at the tree.
It was tall now.
Heavy with green leaves.
“Did it recover?”
“It took three years.”
He smiled.
“Worth waiting?”
I looked at him.
“Yes.”
He stared at me.
Something passed between us.
Not forgiveness.
Not yet.
But the first fragile understanding
that some living things
could survive serious neglect
if someone finally began
caring for them properly.
That afternoon,
Dad stayed for lunch.
We ate tomato sandwiches
at the kitchen table.
He asked about the sale negotiations.
The survey.
The developers.
The land valuation.
The months of legal review.
I answered every question.
Not because I wanted to impress him.
Because for the first time,
he seemed interested
in what I had actually done.
Before leaving,