Chapter Twelve

Grace had barely shut the door on Blaise before Chloe blurted out, “I can’t stand living with them. Could you please talk to Dad?”

“Well, hello to you too.” Grace returned to the kitchen to freshen up her tea. The morning sun was streaming in through the back door. Finishing the tea out in the backyard might make this conversation more pleasant, but there wasn’t anywhere to sit. She’d have to navigate the cinder blocks posing as steps.

“Mom, this isn’t the time for jokes. You don’t know what it’s like here. Can you please talk to him?”

“Talk to him about what?” Grace pinched the bridge of her nose. She hated that every conversation with Chloe had the knots in her neck twisting and turning until they were so tight she thought her neck would snap right off. When were the teenage years going to end? She loved her daughter more than anything in the world. She would lay her life down for Chloe, but her daughter was exhausting. Being a parent was exhausting.

“He fusses all over her all the time. He won’t let her do anything, like she’s sick or something instead of…you know.”

“Yes, I know.” How could she forget?

“So she sits there on the couch with her feet up, directing him to unpack boxes and put things away, all the time calling him some gross pet name. And he loves it. He laughs every time she says it, like it’s the funniest thing in the world. And never mind me. I might as well be invisible for all the attention he pays me.”

There it was. The real problem. “Chloe, there isn’t anything I can say to your father about how he behaves with his new wife.” Boy, was that going to be one she’d have to get used to. “Just ignore them.”

“I can’t ignore them. They are always around.”

Grace plopped into the chair and pushed her tea away. “College is right around the corner. Does it really matter what they do? You’ll be gone soon.”

“I knew you wouldn’t understand. You decide to go start a new life and leave me behind, and Dad has his new life. What about me? Doesn’t anybody care about how I feel in all of this?”

“I didn’t leave you behind. You wouldn’t want to live here while the renovations are going on.” The idea of leaving behind the fighting and the battles with her teenager had offered up some peace, if she were going to be truthful. The Disaster House was going to give Grace some of the space she had craved for a long time. When was the last time she didn’t have to answer to anyone? Explain where she was going? She wanted to know what it was like to be on her own for once. “And you’re forgetting you’re leaving for college to start a new life there.”

“I’m supposed to go off to college. You’ve been telling me that since I was four. You weren’t supposed to relocate to the South, and dad wasn’t supposed to marry some woman half his age and have another baby.”

“Life has a way of messing up our plans.”

“Thanks a lot, Mom. I call you and tell you how I feel, and all you can do is sit there and crack jokes. My feelings don’t mean anything to you.”

“I wasn’t cracking jokes.” But she couldn’t help it. She laughed. The whole conversation was ridiculous, and she was being sucked in again. When was Chloe ever going to learn the whole world didn’t revolve around her, and what had Grace done wrong that made her daughter think it did? She took two deep breaths. “Chloe, I’ve got to run. The contractor is here, and he’s starting work today.” She had to change the subject but felt guilty about lying. “I’ll talk to you soon, and if you want to come stay with me, then you know my arrangement.”

“Yeah. Bye.”

She deposited the phone on the table and made another cup of tea. Maybe this one would release the weight on her shoulders. How could she turn Chloe away? Chloe was feeling the cold shoulder Larry so often offered. He wasn’t a soft place to land. Grace didn’t blame Chloe for feeling left out, neglected. Should she call her back and tell her to come and not worry about finding a job?

“No. If you want things to be different, you have to start acting differently, Grace Starr.” But it was so easy to slip into old habits. She looked around the kitchen. Wouldn’t it just be easier to leave all this behind and go home? She wasn’t even sure if she cared that much about Nancy Templeton and who gifted the house. She could find a place to rent back in Jersey for a while, and she and Chloe could live there. Chloe would be happy, and Grace wouldn’t have the stress of fixing up the Disaster House.

She yanked open the back door, needing to feel the air around her, and teased the cement block with her foot. It held enough. The yard was overgrown in most places, and the fence leaned like an old man. A hole in the fence gave her a clear shot into Blaise’s backyard.

He was growing a garden. Well, it looked like one anyway. Small plants shot up out of the ground, and green mesh surrounded his small squared area. Not much. She couldn’t picture him as a gardener.

He came outside but didn’t see her. He dragged the hose to his patch of growth and sprayed the water, wetting himself in the process. He let loose a string of curses, and Grace couldn’t help but laugh.

His breakfast offer had startled her. Why was he being so nice? Or was that invitation a rehearsed move he used to win over the ladies? That brother of his certainly had moves. Blaise was at least subtle about trying to pursue a woman. He didn’t parade around like a peacock in heat.

The sun warmed her skin. The birds sang their morning songs, and honeysuckle scented the air. She could stick it out in Heritage River a little longer. Once the renovations got underway, she’d feel better. She’d have a purpose, and that’s what she needed. She hadn’t had one in a long time.

In the meantime, she’d go into town and poke around. Stop at the library, get a library card. She was craving a new book to read. Maybe ask about Nancy Templeton, after all. Who knew what she’d discover.