* * *
Harrison satat the kitchen table in Daniella's two-bedroom cottage. After she’d given him a tour of the house, she’d cooked the pasta, and he’d helped make a salad.
For two people who’d only met a few days ago, they got on remarkably well. He enjoyed listening to her talk about her life and the funny things happening around Sapphire Bay.
She didn’t mind his corny jokes, and she was a good listener. He could be himself around her, and that was something he didn’t take for granted.
His gaze wandered around the kitchen. The simple white cabinets and pale pine counter gave the room an old-fashioned charm. Daniella had added bright red and yellow containers to the workspaces, and an incredible glass bowl sat on the kitchen table.
With its rustic wooden beams, soft pastel walls, and potted plants, the cottage would be a great place to come home to after a long day at work.
“I’ll be sorry to leave here,” Daniella told him as she handed him a plate of pasta and meatballs. “It’s close to work and it’s not far from the lake. And the size is a good fit for me. With all the hours I spend at work, I don’t have to worry about a large place to take care of.”
Harrison studied the worried expression on her face. “If you can’t find anywhere to live, have you considered asking the owners if you can buy this cottage?”
Daniella pulled out the chair opposite his. “I thought about it, but there’s too much work to do. If I lived here permanently, I’d have to insulate the floor and walls. The window frames need to be fixed and the kitchen appliances need to be replaced. The outside will need to be painted in the next couple of years and the heating’s shocking in the winter. If that’s not enough to give me nightmares, the cost of a house this close to Flathead Lake would put it out of my price range.”
“Has someone given you a price for doing the repairs?”
Daniella nodded. “I spoke to a local builder named Levi. The materials weren’t too expensive, but the labor costs put everything out of reach. Because I work such long hours, I don’t have the time to do some of the work myself. I need a house that doesn’t have a lot of things to fix.”
“That’s fair enough. If you change your mind and want to buy this one, I know someone who’d help you do the work for as long as he’s here.”
Daniella’s eyes widened. “Do you meanyou’dhelp me?”
He grinned at her stunned expression. “I know how to fix things. Painting the house’s exterior will take the longest, but you’re far enough away from your neighbors that you could almost spray-paint the siding. You’ve created a great home even with everything you’d want to change.”
She nodded appreciatively. “Thank you. It may be small and a real fixer-upper, but it’s home.”
Home.The word echoed in Harrison’s mind, reminding him of the life he’d lost and his journey to find a new sense of belonging.
“Did I say something to upset you?” Daniella asked softly.
Pushing his thoughts aside, he forced a smile. “I’m okay. I was thinking about how important it is to have somewhere to call home.”
Daniella nodded and leaned her fork against the side of her plate. “Three generations of my family have lived in Sapphire Bay. This has always been more than my home. It’s the place that made me who I am, that made my parents and their parents the people they became. But I didn’t appreciate what ‘home’ meant. I had a crazy idea that there was something more waiting for me and, if I stayed in Sapphire Bay, I’d miss out on discovering who I was supposed to be.”
Harrison watched the conflict clouding her eyes. “Who did you think you were supposed to be?”
She sent him an uncertain smile. “I majored in communications management at college. I thought I’d be the next marketing guru taking the world by storm. After I graduated, I started working for a large advertising agency in Atlanta. Five years later, I was one of their top advertising managers. Most weeks, I flew around America, meeting clients. I earned lots of money, had a large circle of friends, and had big dreams.”
With all of that, Harrison was surprised she’d left Atlanta. “That’s a lot different from owning The Fairy Forest. What made you come back to Sapphire Bay?”
Daniella’s gaze dropped to her plate. “My eldest brother, Marcus, got sick. Five years ago, he was diagnosed with stage four bone cancer. He died two years later.”
“I’m sorry. That must’ve been tough.”
“I let him down. I let my family down.” Daniella’s eyes were full of regret. “Marcus was a good person. He used to tell me to enjoy life and not sweat the small stuff. But when it mattered, I wasn’t here to help him enjoy his life. I used work as an excuse so I didn’t have to see how much pain he was in.”
“Did you talk to him about how you felt?”
Daniella sighed. “I called him each week. He kept telling me everything would be okay, that my parents and Owen, my other brother, were looking after him. The last time I saw him, he made me promise to come back to Sapphire Bay. He wanted me to reconnect with my family and remember what’s important.”
“So, you came back here and started The Fairy Forest?”
“I did. It wasn’t quite as easy as I thought, but it worked out in the end. Saturday will be the third anniversary of his death,” she confided, her voice tinged with sadness. “I’m going to the cemetery with my family. Sometimes, it feels like a hollow ritual. As if being there makes up for what we lost.”
Harrison nodded in understanding. “One day, I hope it won’t hurt as much.” He didn’t know if telling Daniella about his wife would help her, but it was the right time to tell her why she’d seen him at the church. “I wasn’t at the church this morning for a project meeting. I went to Pastor John’s PTSD support group meeting.”
