The Confidence of Wildflowers

This is the first book in a two-part series, with the story continuing in The Resurrection of Wildflowers.

A prologue set five years before the main events establishes Salem's backstory. When her father dies of cancer, Salem, her older sister Georgia, and their mother, Allie, do not cry at the funeral. Salem smiles as the casket is lowered. Her father was an abusive man, and his death brings relief rather than grief.

In the present, Salem is 18 and has just graduated high school in the small town of Hawthorne Mills, Massachusetts. She has no plans for college, despite pressure from her boyfriend, Caleb Thorne, a Harvard-bound football star who wants her to move to Boston with him. Salem works at her mother's antique shop, A Checkered Past Antiques, and sells homemade candles under a small brand she created. She lives with Allie and Georgia, a nurse, in a Victorian home Allie has been remodeling.

When a new neighbor moves into the house next door, Salem finds a gruff man aggressively weeding the overgrown backyard. He tells her she is trespassing. Over the following days, Salem brings him cupcakes and lemonade, and he grudgingly warms to her. She learns his name is Thayer Holmes, a divorced landscaper who owns his own company. He has a six-year-old son named Forrest.

A cautious friendship develops. Thayer leaves pepper spray on Salem's doorstep for her early morning runs. She buys him sunglasses in return. He asks her to babysit Forrest occasionally, and she agrees. Salem quickly bonds with Forrest, a curious and fearless child who begins calling her "Cat." During one babysitting session, Forrest sneaks into the pool unsupervised, terrifying Salem. Thayer installs a fence around the pool afterward.

Salem's relationship with Caleb grows strained over the summer. He is consumed with preparing for Harvard, and his mother seems to be deliberately filling his schedule. Salem notices her growing attraction to Thayer and finds herself lying to Caleb about small interactions with her neighbor. One afternoon in her kitchen, a playful exchange between Salem and Thayer escalates. He wraps his arms around her waist and begins to lean in, but a kitchen timer interrupts the moment and he retreats.

The tension between them reaches a turning point when Caleb cancels their long-anticipated concert date for a Harvard alumni dinner his mother arranged. Salem is devastated. Thayer finds her crying outside and offers to drive her to Boston himself. He buys new pit tickets after Salem forgets her originals at the hotel. That night, they share the hotel's single king-size bed.

Salem has a violent nightmare in which she talks in her sleep, revealing to Thayer that she was sexually abused by her father as a child. He wakes her and holds her through the night, promising never to look at her differently. Back home, Salem later tells Thayer the full truth about her father voluntarily, wanting him to understand what she has survived.

As summer ends, Caleb leaves for Harvard and Salem's best friend, Lauren Rowe, moves to New York City. Salem stays in Hawthorne Mills. Her feelings for Thayer intensify, and one evening, after she brings him cupcakes, they kiss for the first time. Despite Thayer's reservations about their 13-year age gap, they sleep together. Consumed by guilt, Salem takes the train to Boston and breaks up with Caleb. She admits there is someone else but does not say who.

Salem and Thayer settle into a secret relationship through the fall. He joins her for early morning runs, revealing he has been waking up every time she has a nightmare so she does not have to be alone. He builds a home gym in his basement so she does not have to exercise at a public gym in the dark. In November, Salem reveals she does not celebrate her birthday because her father first abused her on that night. Thayer holds her while she weeps. Meanwhile, Georgia announces that her boyfriend, Michael, has asked her to move in with him.

Salem also notices troubling signs in her mother's health, including fatigue and weight loss. Allie gathers her daughters and reveals she has breast cancer. The prognosis is not promising, and she will need a double mastectomy. She admits she has already been undergoing chemotherapy in secret. Salem flees in shock and runs into Caleb, who drives her around while she processes the news and tells her he will always be there for her.

Thayer shows up uninvited at the hospital during Allie's surgery in January with food and Salem's favorite drink. That night, he tells Salem he wants to be the person she turns to and that she means everything to him. In the spring, as Allie recovers, Salem and Thayer agree to tell her family about their relationship.

For Forrest's seventh birthday, Salem and Allie decorate Thayer's kitchen. Thayer surprises Forrest with a puppy they name Winnie. When Forrest sees Thayer kiss Salem, he asks if they like each other. Thayer tells his son they are figuring things out, and Forrest approves. After a nightmare one morning, Salem goes to Thayer's basement gym, where he offers a puzzle as a distraction instead of their usual run. During this quiet moment, they exchange declarations of love for the first time. Soon after, Allie is declared cancer free. At a spring flea market, Thayer gives Salem a silver ring stamped with suns, calling her his sunshine.

Before they can tell Allie about their relationship, tragedy strikes. Forrest is angry with Thayer about a treehouse he has been promised for months. The boy runs to the backyard while Thayer unloads groceries. When Thayer cannot find him, Salem realizes Forrest may have gone into the still-murky pool. Thayer dives in and pulls his son's limp body from the water. Salem performs CPR, but Forrest is dead. Krista, Forrest's mother, arrives and collapses, beating Thayer's chest and screaming.

In shock and unable to bring herself to go to Thayer, Salem drives to Boston and shows up at Caleb's dorm. She tells him everything, including the affair that happened while they were still together. Caleb is hurt but holds her anyway, acknowledging he played a part in their relationship's failure. He drives in to sit beside Salem at Forrest's funeral.

Thayer spirals into grief. He obsessively builds the treehouse Forrest always wanted, drinks heavily, and smokes. He tells Salem the good parts of him died with his son and that he needs to let her go because she deserves more. They sleep together one final time, but Salem senses him saying goodbye. Despite her pleas, he shuts down and stops communicating.

A month later, on the night of Georgia's wedding to Michael, Caleb drives Salem home. She sees Thayer arriving with another woman. She confronts him, and a physical fight breaks out between Thayer and Caleb. Salem removes the sun-stamped ring and presses it to his chest, letting it fall to the sidewalk. She tells him goodbye.

Days later, Salem moves to New York City and into Lauren's small Brooklyn apartment. She produces a pregnancy test and asks Lauren to be with her while she takes it. The specific result is not stated, but Salem's tearful reaction and the suggestion that the universe wants not an ending but a new beginning strongly imply the test is positive. The story continues in the sequel, The Resurrection of Wildflowers.