Driftwood Lane (Nantucket #4)(39)

“I’ll stay out of the way.”

“And our personal lives here—”

“Are none of my business.”

He was saying all the right things. He looked sincere, his brown eyes wide, his shoulders shrugging innocently.

Innocent, my fanny.

Still, she was getting a new heating system for next to nothing, and it was going to save her a ton in the end. She’d just have to put up with a week or two of . . . Jake.





Twenty-two

Meridith worked on Noelle’s scrapbook in her room all morning. She’d already bought the albums, special tape, and other supplies. In the background she could hear Jake working. The buzz of a saw as he cut out the old boiler, the sound of his tromping up the basement steps, taking parts to his truck. The thing was mammoth. It would probably take all day just to remove the beast.

Her stomach growled at noon, but she waited until almost one, when she heard the rumble of Jake’s truck backing from the drive, to leave her sanctuary.

It was silly. She couldn’t hide in her room all week. She fixed a sandwich, started a load of bedding, and was upstairs again before Jake returned.

The house was getting chilly without heat, and she needed to get moving. She made a room ready for Jake—the seashell room, located in the guest wing and farthest from her bedroom door. The pale blue and coral décor didn’t suit him at all, and she hoped that would make him eager for his own apartment.

Meridith knew she’d have to tell the children Jake was staying a few weeks. She dreaded informing Noelle of any changes, and mentally prepared herself for the possibility of a conflict ending with Noelle crying on her bed.

She hated that the girl upset so easily, hated that Noelle’s agitation always led to her own. Since living here, Meridith had become so adept at counting backward by twenty-threes that she had to vary the number to challenge herself.

When the school bus squealed to a halt at the curb, she tucked the scrapping supplies in her closet and met the kids at the door.

When they entered, Meridith asked about their day, then helped Ben remove his jacket. Before they could disappear upstairs, she asked them to sit down in the living room.

“What’s wrong?” Max asked.

“Nothing.”

Noelle plopped on the sofa. Ben curled up on one side of her, Max on the other. They eyed her warily.

Meridith sat on the armchair. “You know how Jake’s been working on the house.”

The kids stared back blankly, still as statues.

Strange. “Well,” Meridith continued. “There’re going to be some changes that I wanted to make you aware of.”

They weren’t so much as blinking. She could swear Noelle was holding her breath. Meridith had a feeling this wouldn’t end well.

“Jake and I worked out a trade.” Be firm. Take no flack. You’re the adult here. “While he’s fixing the furnace, he’ll be living here as a guest. It won’t be but a few weeks or a month at most, and I put him in the guest wing, of course.”

Only when she finished did she look at them again. Their expressions had changed, but Noelle’s was the one she watched. The frown lines disappeared. Her lips lifted at the corners.

Then just as quickly her smile slipped, and she shrugged.

“Whatever.”

“Cool,” Max added calmly, though his heel beat a nervous tattoo on the floor. “We’re cool with that. Right, Ben?”

They exchanged a look.

“Oh. Sure. Yeah, whatever.”

“I’m going to do my homework,” Noelle said.

“Me too.” Max sprang from the couch after her.

“I have math.” Ben grabbed his book bag with his good arm.

“I can help you,” Meridith said.

“I’ll help him,” Noelle called from the top of the stairs.

Ben disappeared up the stairs behind his brother and sister. Meridith watched them go and wondered if she’d ever figure out those three.

“Ben, can you set the table, please?” Meridith finished chopping the tomatoes and tossed them into the salad. Spaghetti boiled on the stove, and garlic toast browned in the oven.

“Mmm, smells good.” Max entered the house from the back door.

“Wash your hands,” Meridith reminded him.

She drained the spaghetti, poured the meat sauce over the top, then removed the bread from the oven and turned it off. The children helped her carry the food to the table.

Once seated, she tapped Noelle’s arm. “Your iPod?”

Noelle rolled her eyes but took out the earbuds and turned it off.

“My turn,” Ben said.

They bowed their heads and Ben said the prayer, then they dug in like they were starving.

Meridith was dishing out her salad when she heard Jake’s boots on the basement steps. He was finished for the day.

A moment later he appeared at the doorway and stopped short. “Sorry. Just passing through.”

His hair was flecked with sawdust, and black stuff covered his bare arms and stained his jeans.

“You can eat with us,” Noelle said. “Can’t he?” She turned innocent eyes on Meridith.

Meridith flashed her a look, pressed her lips together. It wasn’t really a question, and it was the last thing Meridith wanted.

“I’m a mess,” Jake said.