Susannah's Garden (Blossom Street #3)(37)

The story just got worse. Susannah resisted the urge to scold her daughter. She had other concerns. “How’d you get into the house?” After that episode with Doug’s missing ribbons, Susannah never left without double-checking the doors and windows.

Chrissie grinned. “I know where Grandma hides the spare key in case anyone needs to get in.”

Susannah frowned. As far as she could recall, her parents had never hidden a key for easy access.

“Years ago Grandma showed me the place.” She smiled at Susannah. “I was praying like crazy that the key would still be there behind the brick and it was,” she said triumphantly.

As youngsters, Susannah and her brother had found a loose brick in the back of the house. The key fit behind it perfectly. Looking at the bricks, no one would suspect anything was hidden there. Susannah had completely forgotten about it and was surprised to realize their hiding place might still exist.

“I put it back,” Chrissie assured her.

Deciding she needed a cup of tea, Susannah stood and filled the kettle, putting it on the stove to boil. “Your father knows you’re here?”

Chrissie didn’t answer right away. “He found out when he came home from work. I left him a note.”

“Chrissie!”

“Mom, it was awful without you. Besides, I wanted to be here in the worst way. I love Grandma and I want to be with her. And you, too,” she added as if in afterthought. “All Dad and Brian cared about was having me cook and clean for them. I was their slave. Even when I tried to make interesting dinners they complained. Okay, so the chicken curry didn’t turn out like the one on the Food Channel, but at least I tried.”

Susannah remembered her husband’s reaction to the recipe, but Chrissie was right; she was making an effort and clearly it wasn’t appreciated. She was right, too, about being close to her grandmother. It might be a real help to have her daughter here, if for no other reason than the closeness Vivian shared with her granddaughter.

Chrissie sat back in the chair and braced her bare feet against the edge so that her chin rested on her knees. Her hair fell forward, obscuring her face. “I phoned Jason this morning.”

“Oh?” Considering how adamantly Chrissie had insisted she didn’t want anything more to do with him, this was no small concession. “How’d it go?”

“Bad. He said he wasn’t seeing Katie, but I don’t believe him. He also said he thought it’d be best if we broke up. That’s fine by me—all he had to do was be honest.” She sounded nonchalant but Susannah suspected that was merely a pose.

Susannah patted her daughter’s forearm. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

Chrissie shrugged as if it wasn’t important, but Susannah could tell that she was hurt.

“Don’t be mad at me for coming. Please, Mom, I just had to get away. I needed to talk to you and it isn’t the same over the phone. I promise I won’t be any trouble.”

After the last few days of frustration and backbreaking work, Susannah welcomed the help—and the company.

“Actually, I’m glad you’re here.”

“You are?” Chrissie sounded so relieved. She tried to hide the fact that she had tears in her eyes. “How’s Grandma doing? I’m really worried about her without Grandpa.”

Susannah struggled with her own emotions. “She’s not adjusting as well as I’d hoped.”

“How do you mean?”

“Mom’s doing everything she can to make sure she’s miserable.” Every conversation involved a litany of complaints. The food tasted terrible, the people were unfriendly, the rooms were too cold, and so on. Susannah had stopped listening.

“My being here will cheer her up,” Chrissie stated with such confidence that Susannah believed her. “The thing is…”

“What?”

Chrissie sighed audibly. “I don’t think Dad’s going to be happy about the way I left.”

That was no doubt an accurate prediction of Joe’s feelings. Susannah suspected some of those messages were his. “Don’t worry. I’ll square it with him.” She turned to her daughter. “As for you, now that you’re here, I expect you to work.”

“Sure.” Chrissie gave her a tired smile. “Thanks, Mom, you’re the best.”

The sad part was that Susannah didn’t feel she was the best at anything. Certainly not at being a daughter or a wife. Not even being a mother…

CHAPTER 14

Vivian was delighted when her granddaughter showed up the next morning. She’d just finished her breakfast—the eggs were cold and the bacon greasy so she hadn’t taken more than a single bite of each.

She was getting ready to work outside in her garden when Susannah and Chrissie tapped at her door. Not her garden, she reminded herself. She didn’t live in her home anymore. For a moment, she was overwhelmed by a sense of loss.

“Hi, Grandma.”

With the way her memory had been acting up lately, she felt obliged to ask, “Did I know you were coming?”

“No, Grandma, this is a surprise.”

Vivian hugged the girl and was astonished at how tall Chrissie had become since her last visit. When was that? Three or four years ago? “Such a beautiful young woman,” she murmured, pressing her hands against Chrissie’s cheeks, studying this girl she loved. But her granddaughter wasn’t a girl anymore, she was a woman. The realization stunned her. “You look wonderful.”