An Invincible Summer (Wyndham Beach) by Mariah Stewart (e novels to read .TXT) 📕

you can buy the house you grew up in? And you never said a word about this until today, and then you tell us you’re moving eight hours away?” Grace’s ire was beginning to show.

“Why would you do this without telling us, Mom?”

“Because I don’t need your consent, nor do I need your approval.” Maggie realized how harsh her words must have sounded. Both girls had sat back as if slapped. “But I do need your understanding. Your father is gone. My best friends are hours away. I need them. I need to go home.”

“Don’t you need us?” Natalie asked.

“Of course I do, sweetie.” Maggie covered Natalie’s hand with one of her own. “But you have your own life. A job you love. One of these days, you’re going to meet someone, and your life will be taking off in another direction. Both of you will.” She tried to force a smile. “And I’ll be left in the dust.”

“What about me?” Grace was on the verge of tears. “I had a home I used to love. A job I used to love. A husband I used to love.”

“Gracie, I know you’re sort of adrift right now. Actually, I thought I’d ask you to come with me and help me get the house straightened out. The seller painted everything white—stark raving white—which means I’ll need to do over every room. I could use your decorating skills.”

“Did you do this to give me busy work?”

“No, Grace. I did it because I haven’t thought about anything else in weeks. When I went home in September for my reunion, I really did feel like I’d come home. That feeling was intensified when I went back in January.” Maggie looked from one daughter to the other. “Please understand, this is what I need to do. Please respect that and wish me well. And know that the door is always open. You can spend your summers there. We can celebrate all our holidays together just as we always have.” She turned to Grace. “This is the perfect time and place for you to make a new start. If you want, you can take the Massachusetts bar and practice law there if that appeals to you. Or you can stay here and practice. Or do something else entirely, leave the law behind. Your life is your own now, Gracie. You can choose what comes next. I’m asking that you extend the same courtesy to me. Recognize that my life is mine again. Let me choose what’s next for me.”

“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