An Invincible Summer (Wyndham Beach #1)(63)
“Damn, you should have been a lawyer.” Natalie wiped away tears.
“Yeah, that was as good a closing argument as I’ve ever made.” Grace was weepy, too. “Maybe better.”
“I’m hoping to put this house on the market in six weeks. I know I need to have some areas painted and the bathrooms refreshed, but I don’t see any reason to drag this out. Can I count on you to help me get it ready?” Maggie directed her question to Grace.
Grace nodded. “Of course.”
“Me too,” Natalie said. “Winter break starts on Friday. I can come over and help over weekends and next week.”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you both. Now, I’m sure there will be some things you will want to have. I’m going to tag everything I’m taking with me, but everything else is up for grabs. If there’s something you want, put your name on it with a sticky note. I’ll be having my stuff moved into storage in four weeks, then I’m having a house sale.”
“Like a garage sale? It’ll make you nuts, Mom, everyone running through the house, picking up your stuff.” Natalie wrinkled her nose. “Sure you want to do that?”
“I’ve hired someone to run the sale. I won’t be here because you’re right. The process would make me insane. So we’ll have the sale, and anything that doesn’t sell gets donated. I suggest you start thinking about what you want from this place before then.”
“Do you already know what you want to keep, Mom?” Natalie asked.
“Yes, for the most part. I’ve more or less inventoried in my head, so I’m clear on what I want to take.”
“How ’bout we take a few hours now to tag whatever you’re taking with you, so Grace and I know what’s left for us to fight over?”
“No fighting. There’s plenty for both of you. But yes, I should tag my things sooner rather than later. You can help with that. Thanks.”
Well, that didn’t go too badly, Maggie thought as she searched a desk drawer for a pad of sticky notes. Could have been worse. For a moment she did think it was going to spin out in a flood of tears, but it ended well.
She turned back to the table and realized Grace was crying.
“What, Gracie?” Maggie asked.
“I was just thinking how this has been my home my entire life.” Grace reached for the box of tissues that sat on the wide window ledge. Maggie had left it there when she’d had a crying spell of her own in the wee hours of the morning. “Everything that ever happened to me started here.”
Natalie sat next to Grace and nodded. “She’s right, you know,” she told Maggie. “Our whole lives have revolved around this house.”
“I understand that, girls, I do. This house has been the hub of my life for thirty years. Some of the most important times of my life began—or ended—under this roof. But I’ll never move forward with my life as long as I stay here.” She watched her daughters’ faces as she spoke. “And it’s time for me to do that.”
“Do you think Daddy would understand?” Grace blew her nose, then got up to toss the tissue in the trash.
Maggie nodded. “I do. He was the last person in the world who would have held any of us back from doing something we believed in.”
“Yeah, he was great about things like that.” Natalie wiped away a tear of her own. “Even when I told him I was pregnant and that I’d kicked Jonathan out, but I was keeping the baby, he never questioned me. Never asked if I knew what I was doing. He just told me to be true to myself and do what I felt was right and he’d be there for me one hundred percent. And he was.”
“He always said that. And think before you act because you’ll have to take responsibility for your actions.” Grace winced. “No small bit of irony there.”
“Well, I do believe if he were here now, he’d encourage us each to live our lives and be true to ourselves.” Maggie leaned back against the counter. “Don’t think I haven’t been hearing his words in my head these past few days.”
“Mom, if you’re okay with selling the house and moving back to Wyndham Beach, I’m okay with it, too. I’ll miss having dinner with you on Sundays, and Daisy will miss seeing you so often, but you’re right. It’s your life. Your choice.” Natalie tapped her fingers on the tabletop. “I remember that house. I always loved visiting Gramma in the summer.”
“Me too. It was always fun,” Grace agreed.
“Well, don’t expect it to look much like what you remember. The new owners changed it a lot. Thank God, we can paint over most of the whiteness, which made the house seem so cold. And of course there’s the addition, which changed the second floor and the kitchen. But in retrospect I kind of like the new master bedroom and the bath, and the kitchen could be fun to cook in. Once we get rid of all the white, of course.”
“Mom, no offense, but you’re not much of a cook,” Natalie pointed out. “Dad and takeout saved us when we were growing up.”
“I can’t argue that your father was the real cook in the family, but I don’t remember any complaints the nights I put dinner on the table. Besides, I can learn. Yesterday I ordered all Ina Garten’s cookbooks. I’ve been watching her shows on TV,” Maggie replied. “She makes everything look easy, so I’m game.”