“You weren’t wrong.Or, not exactly.”Celia got up.“Over the past few years, I’ve lost so many writing gigs.I’ve lost thousands upon thousands of dollars.Plenty of editors have told me they aren’t interested in the environmental angle anymore.When you told me you wanted to be an environmental journalist like me, I was floored.But for whatever reason, I figured you’d become jaded by now.I figured you’d head out into the world and try to make something of yourself in, like, tech journalism instead.”
Sophie snorted and jabbed Celia in the side with her elbow.“Do you even know how insane that sounds?All I ever wanted as a kid was to be like my mother.”
A sob welled up in Celia’s throat.With Wren, so sick and tired upstairs, and Ivy, still bruised and angry, and Juliet somewhere so far away, Celia would have felt painfully alone without her daughter here.She hugged her tightly, unsure why she’d gotten so lucky in this life.But then, when her hug broke, she said, “All right.Let’s head back to the house and get cracking on your article.Let’s make an appointment with Bethany and tell her the new angle as well.”
Sophie clapped her hands joyously.“Bethany’s been dying to see you again.She said that it’s been her dream to have you write for theBluebell Cove Gazette.But she never imagined it would happen.You’re too good, she said.”
Celia laughed.“I’m not too good for anything.I’m certainly not too good for Bluebell Cove.”And I’m not too good for Landon Brooks, either, she thought, her pulse dinging in her fingertips.Maybe this is the life I was always meant to lead.Perhaps my optimism was always here in Bluebell Cove, waiting for me.
ChapterEighteen
Wren’s illness didn’t get dramatically worse after that.But as Sophie and Celia edited and perfected the article about the Smith family, they made frequent trips to Ivy’s place to keep tabs on Wren.Afterward, they told each other things like, “She looked a little bit better today?”and, “Maybe she’s right.Maybe she knows her body better than we do.”Celia wasn’t sure if either of them believed it.But sometimes Wren managed to come downstairs and eat dinner with Ivy, Lily, Tyler, Celia, Sophie, and, often, Landon, who was pleased as punch that Celia and Sophie had made up and decided to work together.
On those nights, as they watched the twilight dim over Bluebell Cove Beach and Brigade Cliffside, as the cranes working at the Smith construction site waned for the day, Wren told them wonderful stories from her travels around the world.It seemed as though she’d been everywhere and had met every kind of person and had every type of job.Despite her illness, she was larger than life.She made them laugh and believe in something bigger than themselves, much as their mother Margaret once had.
This, above all else, was what terrified Celia.Now that she had Wren back, she wasn’t prepared to say goodbye.She wasn’t sure if she’d ever properly said goodbye to their mother.She wasn’t sure if she’d ever properly mourned.Maybe none of them had.
Celia, Ivy, and Wren got into frequent screaming matches that rivaled their previous family fights.But always, their fights were about Wren’s health and their belief that she needed to go to the doctor.Celia even broke down and called Juliet to ask for advice, but Juliet didn’t answer.Instead, she texted:
How is it going with the inn?Will it be ready for opening in September?It would be amazing if we could sell it by next winter.Talk soon.
Juliet’s text felt so strange, so staggeringly outside what was really going on with their family, that Celia didn’t know how to respond to it.She had no idea how to lure Juliet back to their family and didn’t want to use Wren’s illness as a manipulation tactic.She remained quiet.Often, she prayed to God that Wren would get better on her own.“Please,” she murmured in the dark, “don’t take her the way you took my mother.I’m not ready to let my little sister go.”
Despite being with family, despite Ivy, Sophie, and Celia trying to cook for her, Wren lost maybe five pounds in July.They hadn’t known she could lose anything more.
In early August, Celia and Sophie met with Bethany to discuss the perfect publication date for their takedown article.Celia was nervous to see Bethany again and changed her outfit three times before they managed to get out the door.
They met at a coffee shop not far from the rental house.“This was where I met Landon for the first time,” Sophie admitted as they sat to wait for Bethany.
Celia rolled her eyes.“My secretive, smart girl,” she said.
“What is going on with you guys?”Sophie asked, leaning over the table to whisper, her eyes dancing.
“We’re just friends,” Celia said, her cheeks burning.She knew better than to lie to her daughter, as Sophie could see right through her and always had.But it was true that she and Landon hadn’t done anything more than hang out and talk and talk.Their conversations ranged from what it had been like to raise kids on their own, how their careers had panned out, how they perceived middle age, what it felt like to live in their bodies now, and how they perceived “love” now that they were older.Once, when they’d sat on the beach late at night, sitting in the same spots they’d always had as teenagers, they’d taken one another’s hand.Their fingers had slid in tightly.It had been like putting a puzzle together.But when the clock had struck nine, Landon had admitted that he needed to get home.Mallory was coming back from a birthday party soon, and he wanted to be there.
He still has young children at home, Celia had thought, inexplicably.Do I really want to get involved in that?
But the answer had come to her immediately.I would do anything for him.
She didn’t know whether or not she trusted that answer.She wasn’t sure whether she trusted any version of love this late in life.Did she really deserve a second chance?
Bethany arrived a moment later, breaking up Celia and Sophie’s talk about Landon and love.She looked better than she had back in high school, with long, auburn hair, thick eyebrows, and sculpted legs, and she wore a chic black turtleneck and a pair of high-waisted jeans.When she saw Celia, she gasped and threw her arms around her.
“My best friend from high school!”she cried.“You’re back!”
Celia laughed into Bethany’s shoulder, remembering how competitive she’d felt with Bethany back in the old days.Maybe she hadn’t known how to be a good friend.Perhaps she’d seen life as a crazy battle, one that had winners and losers.The reality was far more nuanced.She couldn’t believe it had taken her forty-two years to learn that.
Bethany folded her hands on the table and addressed Celia and Sophie with a delicate tone, probably because she knew an article about the Smith Company was playing with fire.“We had the article fact-checked, and it’s good to go,” she explained.“There’s going to be a fallout after the fact; we know that, and we’re prepared to have our lawyers fight back.They don’t have any legs to stand on, not when we have the paperwork going back decades that proves what we know.”Bethany smiled wider at Celia and shook her head.“I can’t believe you stumbled into this, Celia.I mean, what stopped you from releasing this a long time ago?”
Celia remembered her father’s anger, his fear that the Smith family might destroy everything he’d built.“I was scared,” she admitted.“But I don’t want to be scared anymore.”
“With our legal team, you don’t have to be,” Bethany promised her.
* * *
After their meeting with Bethany, Celia and Sophie floated back to the Bluebell Cove Inn to check on today’s progress.The previous week, Celia had begun transforming the inn into a sort of “eco-lodge,” a space that prioritized environmentalism above all else.It had felt like a necessary step, given everything they’d gone through so far.Her niece and nephew were pleased with the idea and had spent the afternoon setting up a water-conservation area for the eco-lodge, following the instructions to the letter.Celia high-fived them both and said, “With the eco-lodge angle, we’ve already got a few guest reservations for the first weekend of September.”
Sophie grinned.She’d been the one to help Celia set up the website and social media channels, advertising to environmentally minded folks who wanted to spend autumn in gorgeous Bluebell Cove.They hoped that by then, the construction site across the cove would be closed up, its cranes and bulldozers steered away to allow for continued growth and renewal.They prayed that everything would go as planned.
