The Fog of Airyll COMPLETE

Chapter 8

Hi everyone!

Thank you for reading my story - I'm super excited to hear what you guys think of this chapter (and the story so far, of course.)

Next update will happen on April, 26th 2019.

Now, with no more delay...

Chapter 8

"Ok, today's the boy's day of cleaning up! Us ladies are going outside, I'm going to show Nephelle my garden." Mrs. Greta smiled, her face glowing with pride.

"Uuh, Nephy, that's quite the honor," Wade answered, getting to his feet. "Ma knew Fox's fiancée for months, but she never showed her garden to her."

The kick Fox gave on Wade's shin was so loud that nobody could quite hide the wince of pain. "Fox!" Mrs. Greta scolded. "Don't kick your brother!"

"Then tell him not to go tellin' people about my private business!"

"It's not 'people'! It's Nephy, she's practically family already!" Wade yelled back and Nephelle's heart warmed with the words. It felt nice to be considered family, to actually belong somewhere.

For the first time, she actually felt as if it didn't matter whether she could recover her memory after all. It was nice here, she could get a job somewhere and... stay there, with the Owens. Being part of the family.

Being a part of the family dinners, reading with Wade, arguing with Fox, shopping with Mabel and maybe gardening with Mrs. Greta, if it turned out she had a knack for it. She was sure she could find out something to do with Mr. Tex too if given enough time.

Maybe... Maybe this was a sign. Maybe her old life was too dangerous, or she was a criminal and now... Now this, this memory loss... Everything that had happened... Maybe it was her chance at a new beginning. Maybe this was her chance of being happy.

"Let's go, Nephy!" Mabel smiled at her, offering a hand. "You'll love the garden, leave the boys to their discussions."

"Exactly," Mrs. Greta said, turning to throw a glance towards her husband. Nephelle felt the hard tension between Fox and Wade, as if they were both seconds away from snapping.

She wanted to help, but what exactly could she do?

Following after Mabel and Mrs. Greta in silence, Nephelle couldn't help but relax once she was out of the house. The night had already fallen, a soft cool breeze whispered from the river towards the house, bringing with it the scents of flowers and fruits in the distance.

"Here, look! Isn't it pretty?"

Nephelle blinked out of her stupor to focus on Mabel, who was pointing at the little garden with clear pride. As Mrs. Greta kneeled close to the flowers and started to inspect them, Mabel walked towards a wooden table that was close to them to pick up the instruments needed.

Still a little lost, Nephelle started to follow after Mrs. Greta and kneeled beside her on the ground.

"Here, these are my hydrangeas, I'm especially fond of them." She smiled and then turned. "These are my violets and my begonias. They can be stunning as well, but need tender care, they didn't take quite as well to our soil."

Mabel kneeled beside them with a bucket filled with the instruments. Grabbing a scissor, Mrs. Greta pointed at the hydrangeas. "Here, can you see? These leaves are dead, so we need to cut them out. I wear this scissor for exactly this reason."