The Fruit of My Affection

Previously

…A gentle breeze swept through the trees, carrying with it the sweet, intoxicating perfume of ripe fruit. Elara closed her eyes, breathing it all in. The scent of apples, peaches, strawberries, and the subtle, earthy fragrance of the soil. It was the scent of her life, a life she had cultivated with her own hands, with her heart, and with the unwavering love of the man beside her. The sign at the entrance of the orchard, painted in their shared handwriting, seemed to echo in her mind: “Here, everything that is done with love, flourishes.” And it did. It truly, beautifully, did.