Page 21 of Second Chance in Charlevoix (Charlevoix Dreams #3)

Isabel

M oving day dawned sunny, with the fresh breath of spring in the air. After a great deal of thought, Izzy had decided to join her sisters and aunt in their move to the lake. Helping them was her excuse, but she really wanted to see Seth’s place for herself.

Although Skipper and his mother had both insisted that they could watch Holly, Izzy wasn’t convinced.

Mrs. Malone would be feeding Holly those cookies filled with sugar, or so she told herself.

Anyway, Aunt Cate had told her that Seth had picked up an extra Pack and Play for his house.

“That man thinks of everything,” Aunt Cate had gushed.

That revelation made Izzy feel a little better about her siblings’ move.

Maybe they’d be able to visit her family while they were in Horton Bay after all .

When she arrived at Sunnycrest with the baby, three pickups were lined up in front of the house.

The black one belonged to Seth but she wasn’t sure about the other two.

Unsnapping the pumpkin seat, she hauled it up the steep stairs, all the while talking baby nonsense to her little girl.

Once inside the house, the mystery was solved.

Josh and Brad Howington stood in the hallway, surrounded by boxes.

“Wow.” Izzy looked around. “I had no idea you were moving this much stuff.” Marlowe came from the living room, looking preoccupied with some books in her hand.

She immediately began talking baby talk with her niece.

Holly was delighted as they burbled nonsense together.

Izzy’s sister should be a mother. She was a natural with this baby stuff and Holly adored her Aunt Marlowe.

Sam appeared, holding another large cardboard box with “Kitchen” scrawled across it. Josh hurried toward her. “You’re going to ruin your back,” Josh said, taking the box from Sam. She smiled up at him as if he’d just hung the moon.

“Let me handle the boxes.” Dressed in a plaid shirt and jeans, Josh looked perfectly capable and Sam didn’t argue.

“What is all this?” She shifted Holly to her other arm and Marlowe went back to packing up some books.

Aunt Cate must have overheard her because she bustled out of the kitchen, a clutch of cooking implements in hand.

“We have to cook at Seth’s place and he hasn’t moved his kitchen in yet.

Said that he didn’t have that much anyway.

I’ll need all of these.” She smoothed her hair and ended up with a pasta fork tangled in her shiny bob. “You know me.”

“Yes, I do know you.” Izzy helped untangle Aunt Cate’s hair.

Izzy did know her aunt. She’d had her assistant in New York send her boxes from her Tribeca apartment, which had recently been sold.

Some were still stacked in the garage at Sunnycrest and Aunt Cate admitted that she had no idea what was in them.

They were probably headed to a storage shed.

“Better look around,” Sam said, setting down another box. “Seth said they’re taking out the kitchen wall tomorrow.’

“So soon?” How could that be? Feeling gutted, Izzy looked around for someone to hold Holly.

Brad was closest and he held out his arms as if he did this every day. “Hello, princess.” He smiled down at the baby. When she burbled something sweet and wet, he took out a hankie and wiped her face.

Meanwhile, Izzy wanted to look around. She had to say goodbye to the Sunnycrest she’d always known.

Her heart pumping wildly, she dashed up the stairs.

This house held memories of so many wonderful summers.

Going to her bedroom, she stood in the doorway.

The shelves were bare. She’d boxed up everything earlier and it was tucked away in Skipper’s garage.

Her cozy bedroom had been stripped. Without the rosebud comforter and the matching ruffled bed skirt, the bed was just a piece of wood.

The window curtains were gone, tucked in another box.

Had she marked them clearly? The morning sun didn’t cast an inviting glow through her sheers anymore.

No, now it was a harsh intrusion. The oriental rugs had been rolled up and stored away.

Direct sunlight fell onto the hardwood floors that Seth and his crew were going to refinish.

Wandering to the window seat, Izzy collapsed.

Without that matching rosebud cushion, the window seat where she’d read and dreamed didn’t welcome her.

In fact it felt hard and uncomfortable. This house was where they’d lived with their parents.

Their lives had been so organized then. During those years, the Quinns had been like every other family with a mom and a dad.

This room was where her parents had kissed her goodnight.

Where Dad had read the Dr. Seuss books to her.

How many times had she insisted that he read Green Eggs and Ham.

“Just one more time, Daddy. Pretty please?” Her father never seemed to mind.

Pulling herself to her feet, Izzy walked quietly to the door and turned.

“Good-bye, sweet bedroom.” She might be an adult now, but she was struggling to keep it together.

would expect her to act like one. If her sisters and Aunt Cate were up here, they would tell her that this was a transition, an exciting time for everyone.

But right now, she wasn’t buying it. Saying good-bye was never easy.

Going from room to room, she continued her farewells.

Piper followed behind her, giving a dismissive sniff to each room.

Of course Marlowe’s bedroom was all torn up, since the guys were working there.

The bathroom looked great. Izzy loved the fixtures.

And the new closet space? Izzy could see herself organizing her clothes in the cubicles and racks Marlowe had chosen for all of them.

Hope bloomed in her heart. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

The only room she didn’t enter was her parents’ bedroom, where Aunt Cate was staying now.

No, that would be a different type of good-bye.

Even though many years had passed, she couldn’t handle it. The floorboards squeaked behind her.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Sam squeezed Izzy’s shoulders.

Wiping a tear away, Izzy leaned back and whispered, “It’ll never be the same, Sam. Sunnycrest will never be the same.”

“It’ll be better,” her sister said, but even she didn’t sound convinced.

“Does the kitchen wall come down tomorrow?” Izzy asked .

“That’s what they’re saying.” How could Sam have that cheery note in her voice?

As they took the back stairs together, they could hear Aunt Cate out front, giving orders in that sweet but firm way she had. She knew how to charm the guys as they packed up their pickup trucks.

“We talked about this,” Sam said gently, leading Izzy into the kitchen. “Without the wall, the living room will open into the new kitchen that will have a large island with stools. Won’t that be great? We’ll have more room.”

Trepidation choked Izzy. Was she hyperventilating? The round oak table, chipped and scarred, was going to Goodwill. Stools had been ordered. They’d been told they would need a table with the new configuration but hadn’t picked one out yet.

“Good-bye, old cupboards.” Sam put one hand on the chipped cupboard doors, now missing several knobs.

Izzy followed her sister’s lead. These cupboards were trashed, but she ran the flat of her hand over one.

They’d all been so happy when Seth had told them that the cupboards would go to Habitat for Humanity.

“Goodbye, cupboards. Have a nice new life.”

“Good-bye, pantry.” Sam led her to the small room where some of the shelves were still crammed with boxes and cans long past their due date. After checking the time stamps, Aunt Cate had told them that many of the cans would go into the dumpster Seth had coming the following day.

“Bye, pantry.” Izzy used to take her personal calls hidden in the pantry.

She’d sneak in and close the door behind her.

Sam had kept the landline for emergencies, but Izzy always loved the privacy of the pantry with its smell of spices and sugar.

Those calls could go on forever until her sisters complained that they needed the peanut butter or some cookies.

“Goodbye, linoleum floor.” The black and white pattern was so dated and cracked in several places. They’d picked out a new pattern recently from samples Seth had brought.

Eventually the two wound up in the dining room.

Lizzy swept the room with a glance. Of course the heavy brocade drapes that her mother had sewn herself were going to Goodwill.

Would anyone use them? Izzy buried her face in the folds and then coughed.

Decades of dust rested in the fabric. “Maybe we can make Halloween costumes from these.” Izzy pulled one drape out and measured it with her eyes.

Sam did the same. “Good idea. You mean like Carol Burnett in that old clip where she comes out with a curtain rod across her shoulders? The Scarlett O’Hara spoof?”

“Yes. And I’m glad I don’t know how to sew. That would be too much work.” Izzy giggled and the two of them ended up laughing together .

How was Brad doing with Holly? Izzy hadn’t heard any crying in the front of the house.

Checking the hallway, she watched Brad walking up and down the hall with the baby in his arms. He murmured in her ear and Holly looked fascinated.

Skipper might be a little jealous if he saw this. Good thing he wasn’t here.

“We haven’t visited the screen porch yet,” Sam said, coming up behind her.

“Of course.” Cutting back through the kitchen, they ended up on the screen porch that had a great view of the woods. The rattan furniture and the old double hammock greeted them, well-used and familiar.

“We’ll probably want to have Gabby order some new cushions,” her sister said.

“I suppose so.” Izzy heard the resignation in her voice. Marlowe was now working with Gabby Driscoll on the decor. The long-time realtor was now more interested in home decorating and Marlowe had assured them that Gabby had great taste. From the sketches she’d seen, Izzy agreed.

“Enough,” Sam said. “We better see what’s going on inside.”

Taking one last breath of fresh air, Izzy wandered back into the kitchen. They found Aunt Cate standing in the center of the room. She looked as if she was having her own nostalgic moment. “It’s funny how small a room can look once the furniture is gone,” she murmured.

“You’re a stinker,” Sam told her. Strange comment but Izzy figured she knew what that was all about.

Raising her brows, Aunt Cate gave them both one of her innocent looks. Her cherry red lips parted, as if she were surprised. “What do you mean?”

Coming closer, Sam said in a low voice. “Why did Josh and Brad show up today?” Their aunt could not stop matchmaking.

Fluttering her fingers in the air, Aunt Cate showed no remorse. “There were so many boxes. You don’t want to throw your backs out, do you? I’m just looking out for you.”

“I don’t have any back problems,” Izzy piped up.

But their aunt was not backing down. “I thought you had probably forgotten to ask the boys for some of their time. They were eager to help.”

“Boys?” Sam hissed but Izzy could tell she wasn’t angry at all. “Josh is in his forties and Brad isn’t too far behind.”

“Boys, men. They like to help us.”

“I think Marlowe might want a few words with you,” Sam muttered.

Aunt Cate’s shoulders lifted. At that moment she looked like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Izzy could not look at her sister or they might burst out laughing.

“We’ll have plenty of time to chat when we’re settled in at the lake.

We should get into the trucks. Now, let’s see.

Who should travel with whom.” And she rattled off names.

Time to chat at the lake . Izzy’s foul mood returned.

Her sisters would probably be going for moonlit swims while she was stuck in rural Michigan with the Malones.

A familiar cry went up in the front of the house.

Holly. Her little girl needed her. Dashing into the hall, Izzy skidded to a stop. What she saw sure surprised her.