‘Definitely cheesy. Hallmark card cheesy.’
‘Nothing wrong with a good Hallmark card.’
We’d reached the end of the driveway and emerged onto the large lawn that surrounded the house. A load of washing flapped in the breeze on the washing line on the back lawn. There was the sweet smell of rose in the air from the pink flowers blooming near the deck. Despite myself, I felt a jolt of happiness. My childhood home. She’d had it repainted since the last time I was here. The walls were a crisp, clean white, the shutters around the windows navy blue. Built in the nineteen forties, the six-bed, four-bath house was two stories high, and just over three thousand square feet in total. Sitting on four and a half acres, most of which was covered in trees, the house perched right above the beach. This far out of town and with the nearest neighbor two acres away, we were lucky enough to have it to ourselves. The beach itself was sandy, but the shoreline was rocky. At low tide, it was dotted with rock pools and a natural swimming hole. I could smell the water, hear it lightly lapping against the rocks. Inexplicably, I felt the need to feel it on my skin, even though I hadn’t swum in the ocean in years.
‘House looks good,’ I told her.
‘Thanks. I had Hudson and his boy paint it two summers ago. They replaced a few worn boards, tidied the whole thing up for me.’
Hudson’s ‘boy’, Owen, was my age. ‘How is Owen?’
‘Good. Married. Couple of kids.’
‘Who’d he marry?’
‘Out-of-towner.’
‘She nice?’
‘I haven’t had a lot to do with her, but seems so. Stays at home with his kids.’
‘Her kids too, I’d imagine.’
‘Obviously not a career woman.’
‘Because there’re so many careers on offer here,’ I drawled sarcastically.
‘Life is what you make of it, Taylor.’
‘You sound like Forrest Gump.’
‘He’s a very wise man.’
‘He’s a character in a movie, Mom.’
‘Whatever. Anyway, they’re always advertising for new realtors. And like I said, there are plenty of empty shops in town.’
‘And the fact that they’re empty isn’t a giant red flag to you?’
‘No. Just people bringing the wrong businesses to town. Like the lady who opened that…’ She waved a hand in the air as she tried to think of the words. ‘I told you about it – she had crystals and those little stone buddha statues. Dragons. Angels. Books about mythical creatures and self-help books written by ladies with too much money. No call for any of that around here. Three months she lasted before she upped up and left in the middle of winter.’
‘I don’t blame her. Winter here can suck the life out of you.’
‘Don’t be so dramatic. Anyway, she didn’t leave because of the weather.’
‘Whatever her reasons, good on her for trying.’
‘Now, an art gallery/tattoo studio,’ she said pointedly. ‘That’d go down well with the touristsandthe locals.’
I smiled at her sweetly. ‘The second you’re back, I’m leaving.’
‘We’ll see.’ She checked her watch. ‘I need to finish packing.’
‘You’re not packed?’ I fished my phone out of an inside pocket on my jacket and checked the time myself. ‘Jesus, Mom. Talk about leaving it to the last second.’
‘Don’t stress. It’s just a couple of last-minute things.’
‘It’s not me who’ll be stressing if you miss your flight.’
