Page 7

Julia

Julia placed her suitcase on the floor in the bedroom next to the Shaker-style dresser her grandfather had crafted from the same wood he had used to build the house.

She plopped down onto the four-poster bed, nestling into the feel of the soft, aged quilt made by her beloved aunt Lorraine.

Everywhere she looked, memories of love and family surrounded her, stretching back to her earliest days.

The ceiling’s exposed beams made Julia feel like she’d stepped back in time to The Waltons or Little House on the Prairie (aka the saddest show on television).

Even the beautiful stained-glass lamps were from another era, and the colorful folk art Julia had collected from local artists added to the room’s charm.

What Julia loved most, however, was the porthole window cut into the wall over the bed.

As a little girl, she’d relished coming into what was then her parents’ bedroom.

To see the lake through the round window, Julia needed to stand on her tiptoes.

Looking out at the water, she’d imagine herself in a ship, traveling across a vast ocean to a distant land inhabited by pirates, fairies, and princes.

When she peeked out the porthole now, she still had a view of the water—but also of David’s jarringly modern house.

“ You can see the lake through my windows, ” she said, mocking him.

Julia fully intended to turn her indignation into a passive-aggressive assault once their annual Scrabble night commenced. She’d do all she could to make each word a rebuke of David’s thoughtlessness.

Aghast. Dismayed. Sickened. Perturbed (that would score big). Betrayed.

There. That summed it up.

David might not get the message, but Julia would take pride in her clever revenge.

While they were outside, she’d asked David what on earth had prompted him to build a house more than twice the size of his previous home. His answer, no surprise, proved unsatisfactory, not to mention mildly manipulative.

“You know my father, Mr. Fix-it. He always wanted to add an addition and have lots of grandchildren to fill the space. Now his dream is a reality. How beautiful is that? He may not be here to enjoy it, but I know he’d be impressed with what I made for Brody and Becca.”

There was so much to unpack in that little soliloquy that Julia had been rendered speechless.

She was supposed to sacrifice their view so that a dead guy could be impressed?

Oh, give me a break. But of course, it did pull at her heartstrings because she knew how much the loss of his father had affected David.

And true to form, he had flipped the narrative around to make himself look like a hero.

“And just think what a nice modern house will do for your home’s value.”

Julia could hardly stifle a laugh. But he was trying—she gave him credit for that. She always felt conflicted when it came to David. He had his grand ego, but she also knew his softer side. David had his kids later in life than Erika and Julia, so he had been like an uncle to Taylor and Lucas.

It was David who bought Lucas his first guitar and set him up with lessons.

And when Taylor got a concussion playing field hockey, David called in a favor from a top neurologist, who agreed to take the case on short notice.

He never failed to recognize the kids’ birthdays, sometimes with extravagant gifts, but what mattered most was that he treated them like family.

And while you might not always like your family, more often than not, you love them.

Sigh . At least she was here, in her happy place, and all she could do was wait until Erika arrived. Then she’d have someone to commiserate with, as Christian was too busy fawning over David’s newfound wealth to be supportive in that arena.

Julia climbed from the bed, shaking off her annoyance. There was nothing to be done about it now, other than to stop obsessing. Good luck with that.

In the hallway, she paused to listen. All was quiet, unsettlingly so.

In times past, Julia would have heard Taylor’s fast-moving feet racing up and down the stairs, or drawers slamming as she rummaged for her bathing suit.

Julia and Christian had planned on having two children, but almost ended up divorced over his drinking.

Even when Christian got sober, the marriage remained strained.

It had never felt like the right time to bring another child into the picture.

While she didn’t regret the choice exactly, had she understood how quickly time passed, how fast small would grow up to be tall, she might have overlooked some of their marital fissures to have more days with tiny feet and little hands.

Christian appeared at the bottom of the stairs on Julia’s way down. She recognized the excited look in his eyes. It usually spelled trouble.

“Honey, check this out,” he said, thrusting a pamphlet into her hands before she reached the final step. “I found this in our mailbox. It’s from a company called EcoCitizen. They’re offering a burial service where you convert your ashes into a tree through a biodegradable urn.”

Julia gave the pamphlet a cursory once-over, squinting as she puzzled it out. “Wait, is this something you actually want to do ?”

Christian nodded vigorously. His eyes went big. “Yeah, I want to do it,” he said emphatically. “A surplus of coffins can’t be healthy for the environment. It might even be a good business for us to start.”

Great, another venture to go down the drain. Julia groaned. “So, what you’re telling me is that I have to worry about watering you and keeping you alive even after you’re dead?”

Christian returned an uncertain nod.

“That’s gonna be a hard pass for me,” she said.

Before he could protest, Julia heard the sound of car tires approaching. She and Christian exchanged a knowing glance. It might be David who’d soon be turned into a tree . She led Christian outside through the front door.

Erika and Rick Sullivan emerged from a gleaming silver Audi.

They’d arrived from Greenwich, Connecticut, where Erika’s thriving legal practice was based and Rick worked nearby as a hunting and fishing guide.

Considering them as a pair, Julia couldn’t help but think of that Donny and Marie song about her being a little bit country and him a little bit rock and roll.

Only it was Erika who sparkled with city vibes.

Her pale skin reflected the light on account of the copious amounts of sunscreen she’d applied.

Opposites may attract, but they don’t always mix (hello, oil and water).

While they had an enduring marriage, Rick and Erika doled out compliments to each other with the stinginess of misers.

If you asked Erika, she’d say her husband didn’t really have a job, but rather a modestly paying hunting hobby, and he was too hard on Lucas for trying to do the same with his music.

Rick’s biggest gripe about Erika was that she didn’t have an off switch when it came to work. He wasn’t wrong.

No surprise, Erika was on her phone. She and her job were a toxic couple: a relationship built on arguing, combined with an unwillingness to leave. She held a finger up to Julia— done in a second —like she was initiating a countdown to vacation.

She got out of the car, Rick trailing behind her.

He was the handsome, outdoorsy, blue-collar type with strong arms and an equally strong jawline.

Here was a man who could get a honey-do list done, and done well.

But he was still a local yokel who’d grown up on the lake, honing his skills as a fisherman and hunter.

Also, he loved guns. He loved buying them.

He loved shooting them for fun, which never made sense to Julia—not that hunting did, either.

Who would shoot a defenseless little deer and call it a sport?

Erika’s husband, that’s who. A few years back, he’d killed a buck and brought the frozen meat to their annual vacation, where he roasted venison that everyone felt obliged to sample.

It tasted like everything the poor creature ate—mainly leaves, acorns, and grass.

Julia preferred having less of a connection to the food she consumed, a stance she understood was full of contradictions.

Rick arrived ready to relax, dressed in ripped jeans and a boxy gray T-shirt.

The physique he had honed working outdoors had turned doughy from his softer lifestyle, thanks primarily to Erika’s high salary and his evident love of beer.

Middle age gets us all. But he was a loyal, committed family man, which made him more attractive.

His tan baseball hat partially covered a receding hairline, which he compensated for with a beard that had become like a tangle of weeds, partly obscuring his best attribute: his charming smile.

In contrast, Erika showed up dressed for a fancy brunch.

She wore the cutest navy chambray shirtdress, which deepened the color of her luscious red hair.

She opted for comfortable slide-on sandals adorned with gold studs that matched her hoop earrings.

Her Hollywood-style sunglasses concealed her green eyes, providing an air of mystery.

When Rick and Erika first had a fling at the lake as teens, nobody expected it to last the summer, let alone nearly twenty-five years of marriage.

In contrast, Julia and Christian appeared to be a perfect match.

They had met in college, both studying some form of business.

Julia yearned to get into nonprofit work—she wanted to make a difference in the world.

Christian’s focus was finance, but ultimately he found work in sales using his natural enthusiasm and likability.