After 30 Years as a Firefighter, I Bought a Lavender Farm in Oregon. The Woman Who Answered My Ad Wasn’t Looking for a Job

She laughed, and then she leaned over and kissed me, right there in front of the volunteer fire department, and half of them started clapping.

I haven’t lived that down in town yet.

Grace didn’t go back to Seattle at the end of the season.

She sold her condo in the spring and moved into the farmhouse. We run the farm together now. She handles the business. I handle the fields and the fires, though thankfully there haven’t been any more.

Our first wedding in the barn is booked for next June.

Bea came by last week to see the place. She walked the rows with Grace, then came back to the porch and poked me in the chest with one finger.

“I told you,” she said. “Lavender doesn’t care how old you are.”

Neither, it turns out, does love.

Have you ever completely changed your life after a health scare or a hard ending? I’d love to hear what you did in the comments.