Louise Kendall stood waiting on the lawn in front of the Georgian colonial as the car carrying Eliza, Janie and Katharine Blake pulled into the driveway.
“I’m in love already!” Eliza whispered to her mother-in-law, inhaling as she viewed for the first time the house she was already certain she would buy. The gracious brick home sat well back from the street on carefully manicured grounds that Eliza estimated must be at least three acres. “Look, it has a slate roof!”
“Don’t act excited in front of Louise,” Katharine warned. “You shouldn’t seem too anxious.”
Eliza leaned over and pecked her mother-in-law’s cheek. “Yes, KayKay,” she said good-naturedly. “I won’t give myself away.”
But Janie was not good at keeping secrets. She bounded from the car, dragging her precious stuffed monkey, Zippy, by the arm, and ran straight across the lawn for Louise. “My mommy loves the house,” she announced proudly.
Eliza and Katharine followed behind, the younger woman laughing. “So much for playing it cool,” Eliza shrugged. “Okay, Louise, you’ve got me hooked. Give us the tour.”
In the fading light, they walked slowly around the exterior of the house, Janie running ahead and calling back what they were about to see next.
“Mommy!” she shrieked. “It has a swimming pool!”
“Great,” Katharine groaned sarcastically. “Now you’ll have to worry about that, too.”
Eliza chose not to respond, knowing that Janie’s grandmother was at a point now where she was apprehensive about any possible thing that could pose a threat to her grandchild.
“It also has a hot tub,” Louise pointed out, ignoring the negative comment. “And, as you can see, a cabana.”
She opened the unlocked door and they walked through the small building. A full kitchen outfitted with a large refrigerator, double sink, oven and dishwasher was the main room. Off it was a perfectly tiled bathroom with an oversized shower stall. Beyond that was a utility room with a washer and dryer.
“Think of the great parties you can have out here,” Louise enthused.
Eliza was just thinking of quietly sitting on a lounge chair watching Janie swim, or soaking in the hot tub after a long day at work, as her daughter scooted out the cabana door.
“Mommy, KayKay, come see!”
They followed the direction of the child’s voice in time to see Janie climbing up the wooden slat steps nailed to a giant elm. “There’s a tree house!” she called with wonder.
“Be careful, honey. You don’t know if those steps are safe.” Katharine hurried toward the old tree.
In that instant Eliza knew for certain that she was doing the right thing. She didn’t want Janie growing up timid and afraid. She wanted her to be confident and strong. Though she wanted to shield Janie from anything that would wound her, Eliza knew that her daughter would have to take chances in life, be hurt and then learn to recover. Janie’s was a strong and beautiful spirit and, painful though it might be, she would have to take life’s knocks in order to learn how to survive in the world as it was and grow to her full potential. Katharine and Paul were wonderful, loving grandparents, but their overprotectiveness, while understandable, would not be good for Janie in the long run. Eliza and Janie had to get their own rhythm going again, as a family, small though their family was. And maybe, if things continued as well as they had been going, Mack would join their family, too.
Eliza thought about Mack as she watched her daughter smiling triumphantly from the tree-house platform. Mack McBride, a keenly intelligent, no-nonsense news correspondent, was gentle and loving with Janie, and with her. Their relationship was relatively new, but the emotional bond had grown quickly in the turmoil of the last few months. Mack had been a rock of stability and it felt right to have him beside her after all the years she had been alone. Eliza marveled at the notion that she was being given another chance to love.