The Cottage at Firefly Lake

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The Cottage at Firefly Lake Page 27

by Jen Gilroy

“See you.” He waved at Auntie Charlotte before turning toward the boat.

  “See you,” she whispered. She touched a finger to her lips and walked backward to keep him in sight.

  “Naomi?”

  She swiveled at her mom’s voice, and tripped over a croquet wicket. Had Ty seen her stumble around like a little kid? No. He was already on the boat, slipping away from the dock.

  She jogged up the hill and stopped at the top to look at the lake one last time. Ty raised his hand and she waved back until the boat disappeared around the end of the point.

  “The car’s packed and we’re ready to leave.” Her mom didn’t sound mad and she had a smile Naomi hadn’t seen in years. A smile that made her look younger, less uptight, and, for a mom, more fun. “You okay, sweetie?” Her mom pulled her into a hug.

  “Not really.” She forced the words out.

  “Me neither.” Her mom held Naomi tighter.

  “We’ll be okay.” Auntie Charlotte appeared on her mom’s other side, holding Emma’s hand. “All of us.”

  “Me too?” Emma looked at Naomi with worried blue eyes. Her little sister had spent most of the night in Naomi’s bed. The two of them had held each other, comforted each other.

  “Absolutely you too,” Auntie Charlotte said. “You have your Barbie dolls?”

  Emma swung the bag.

  “From what I remember about Barbie, she was the ultimate okay girl. Look at all those careers she’s had.” Auntie Charlotte’s voice was loving. “Nothing ever stops her.”

  “I guess.” Emma’s voice wobbled.

  “Come on,” Naomi said. “We’ll make up the best adventure for Barbie she’s ever had.”

  “You’ll play with me all the way to Montreal?” Emma’s eyes got big. “And teach me how to play Crazy Eights and some other card games? I might be getting too old for Barbie.”

  “Sure, but you’re not too old for Barbie.” Although Emma had always been a pest and nothing like her idea of what a sister should be, maybe she’d been wrong. Maybe her little sister needed her. And maybe she needed Emma.

  “You better not compare me to Barbie,” her mom said to Auntie Charlotte.

  Auntie Charlotte leaned in and whispered something in her mom’s ear Naomi couldn’t hear. It must have been funny because her mom laughed and whispered back, elbowing Auntie Charlotte in the ribs like she was teasing.

  “You drive.” Her mom tossed the car keys to Auntie Charlotte and opened the passenger door. “Hop in the back, girls.”

  Naomi slid in beside Emma and buckled her into her booster seat. “Auntie Charlotte, on our way out of town could we…” She stopped. Auntie Charlotte still stood beside the car and stared at the lake and encircling green hills.

  “What did you say?” Auntie Charlotte turned and, before she fixed her face into a smile, Naomi saw something in her eyes she’d never noticed before. Sadness, and maybe even a glint of tears.

  “It’s not important.” Naomi arranged Emma’s dolls and the deck of cards on the seat between them.

  Auntie Charlotte started the car and turned up the volume on the radio. “You girls ready to hit the road?”

  Taylor Swift’s voice singing “Fifteen” filled the car.

  Naomi hugged Ty’s sweatshirt and turned to look through the rear window until the inn disappeared, then Firefly Lake, all like a mirage she’d imagined.

  Apart from Ty. She buried her face in his shirt, which smelled of lemon laundry detergent and him. Ty was real, and she’d had a real summer romance. Maybe she wasn’t ready for more right now, at least not with the stuff going on with her mom and dad. But this time next summer, she’d be sixteen and he’d be almost seventeen. Sixteen was a whole lot older than fifteen, and somehow she’d find a way to see him again.

  Her mom’s head was bent toward Auntie Charlotte, whispering again. Maybe by this time next summer she could make her mom understand about Ty too.

  As far back as Sean could remember, his mom’s late-summer barbecue hadn’t changed. The whole family took the Friday afternoon off work. His mom and sisters fixed salads and desserts in the kitchen while his nieces arranged chairs on the patio, giggling about whatever girls giggled about. Ty, Crystal, and his brothers-in-law played road hockey in the driveway. And each year, the kids got bigger and he got older.

  “Charlie and Mia still in Montreal?” Trevor flipped a burger on the grill. A black apron with DON’T MESS WITH THE CHEF in white letters covered his shorts and Carmichael’s polo shirt.

  “How would I know?” Sean popped the tab on a can of beer and looked out over his mom’s backyard. The corn grew high in her vegetable garden, and red and white hollyhocks bordered the path to the garage.

  “Mia and the girls are flying to Dallas from Burlington this afternoon.” Linnie set a stack of empty plates on the picnic table. “They left Charlie in Montreal. She flies out from there tonight.”

  “Did she call you?” Sean turned to his sister-in-law.

  “I called her this morning.” Linnie wore a blue sundress and a big smile. “I wanted her to be the first to know. Apart from Trevor.” Her smile broadened.

  “You’re not…?” It was none of his business if Linnie and Trevor were having another kid. He swallowed some beer, the taste sour in his mouth.

  “Of course I’m not pregnant.” Linnie’s grin was cheeky. “We already have four girls. There’s no way we’re trying for a boy.” She sent Trevor the kind of intimate look that made Sean feel both excluded and alone.

  “What I wanted to tell Charlie is I’ve got a new job. Meet the trainee resident assistant at the nursing home on Lake Road.” Her expression was a mixture of pride and unexpected shyness. “I’ve also registered for a licensed nursing assistant course.” She spun in a circle and her dress floated out around her. “Trevor and the girls are pitching in to give me time to study.”

  “That’s great.” Sean grabbed her for a hug.

  “Charlie encouraged me, and she helped me with the applications. I’d never have been able to do it without her. She’s really something.” Linnie stood on tiptoes to hug him back.

  Charlie was something all right. She’d made him laugh. She’d made him happier than he’d been in years, and she’d made him fall in love with her all over again. And then she’d run out and made him miss her all over again.

  “What are you going to do?” Trevor took a plate from Linnie and slid a cooked burger onto it.

  Linnie exchanged a look with her husband Sean couldn’t read. “You guys need more plates.” She patted Sean’s arm and disappeared into the house.

  “Do about what?” Sean pointed to the stack of empty plates. “What’s Linnie talking about? We don’t need more plates and—”

  “Not Linnie. I meant Charlie.”

  “I’m not doing anything about Charlie. Why should I? The two of us were never right for each other.” Sean had to put the past few weeks out of his mind and get on with his real life again.

  “Did Charlie tell you that?” Trevor dropped more meat on the grill with a sizzle.

  “No, but that’s all you told me after she left last time. Mom too, and Dad before he died.” Sean looked at his brother in astonishment.

  “That was back when you were still pissed off. Of course I’d take your side. As for Mom and Dad, think about it. Because of the loan, any talk of Charlie was bound to push their buttons. These past few weeks, when Charlie was around, you were happier. Had a real look of satisfaction about you too.” Trevor smirked.

  “She left again.” Sean picked up his beer. And he’d had an ache in his chest from the moment the workshop door had shut behind her.

  “You ever think she pushed you away because you were pushing her away?” Trevor’s blue gaze was steady. “You can be a pain in the ass sometimes.”

  “Like you aren’t.” Sean gritted his teeth.

  “Yeah, but I’ve got a beautiful wife and I’m getting laid regularly. I’m allowed.” Trevor gave a self-deprecating smile. “Whereas becau
se you fucked it up, all you’ve got is a big house and an empty bed.”

  And a life that no longer fit.

  “I never said I didn’t like Charlie.” Trevor continued to study Sean. “When she came back here, I didn’t want you hurt again. But from what I see, you’re hurt anyway. Maybe she is too, because both of you got in real deep, real fast. Or maybe you never let go in the first place.”

  “Charlie and I were going in different directions. I couldn’t leave here. I’d never have let Dad down, and he couldn’t manage the business without me. We’re still going in different directions.” Which was why he was here and she’d soon be on a plane to London.

  “Don’t tell me it was all about Dad. You get a rush from running Carmichael’s. You always have. But maybe you got so caught up in that rush, you let yourself down.” Trevor’s expression turned smug like he’d just found a cure for cancer and brokered world peace.

  Sean stared at his brother “I…you…” His muscles tightened. Then the truth hit him like a sucker punch. His twin had seen what he hadn’t.

  All around him, the people he loved were changing. Ty, Linnie, Crystal, and even Trevor. Meanwhile, he’d stayed stuck, trapped in his comfort zone and caught in a net of obligations, mostly of his own making.

  Charlie was right. It had all been on his terms. Sure he’d wanted Carmichael’s, but he hadn’t ever thought about another path. He’d let Charlie down even worse than he’d let down Ty because although he’d had a second chance with her, he’d blown that too.

  When he’d finally figured out what he wanted, what he needed more than anything, he’d still been blinded by what he thought was his duty, his responsibilities. He hadn’t considered what he might have to give up to get it. He hadn’t even been able to go away with Charlie when she’d asked.

  What have I done? His body shook, and there was a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. “I have to go.”

  Trevor pulled the apron off. “I’ll drive you.” He signaled to Crystal to take over at the grill.

  Halfway across the deck, Sean stopped. “Even if it means…?” He was done being stuck, done living his life for everybody else. Life was short, and whatever time he had, he’d be damned if he’d spend it watching life pass him by.

  “We can’t keep you here if you don’t want to stay.” Trevor grinned and held out a hand.

  Sean tossed his brother the keys to the MG. “I need to talk to Ty. He—”

  “Can stay with us for a while if he needs to. Shadow too. You’ve always looked out for everybody else. Isn’t it time you looked out for you?”

  Sean hit the backyard at a run and met Ty in the driveway.

  “Where’s the fire?” Ty tossed Sean a basketball. “Want to shoot some hoops?”

  “Ty, I…” Sean let the ball bounce. Hesitated to find the words to tell his son what he was thinking and feeling. Without sounding like a girl.

  Ty wrinkled his forehead like he used to when he was little and scared of the dark. “Mom’s okay?”

  “Your mom’s fine, but I need to go to Montreal. I could be gone a few days.” If he couldn’t catch Charlie before her flight left, he’d be on the next one after her.

  A slow smile spread across his face. “It’s Charlotte Gibbs, isn’t it? You’ve got it bad for her.”

  “I guess I do.” Which scared the hell out of him, especially when he thought about how Charlie was so much a part of him he ached for her to his bones, but he’d still let her walk out of his life.

  Sean raised his arm and dropped it. His boy was too big to want a hug from his dad. “I need to make sure you’re okay, we’re okay.”

  “Go for it, Dad.” Ty scooped up the basketball. “You’re okay with me going after what I want. I need to let you go after what you want.” His face went pink. “Besides, Charlotte Gibbs is pretty awesome.”

  “How did you get to be such a great kid?” Sean looped an arm around Ty’s shoulders.

  “You raised me, didn’t you?” Ty cracked a smile and then moved in and hugged Sean like he used to before he’d gotten too grown-up for hugs.

  From the end of the driveway, Trevor hit the horn on Sean’s MG, two shrill beeps.

  “You better get a move on,” Ty said.

  Sean swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. “I’m coming back. Even if I fix things with Charlie, until you’re through high school, I won’t—”

  “We’ll figure it out.” Ty pushed him toward the car. “Whatever happens, we’ll still be a family.”

  Sean slid into the passenger seat and found his sunglasses on the visor.

  “Ready to roll?” Trevor spoke above the roar of the engine.

  His mom came out the kitchen door with a tea towel tucked into the waistband of her slacks. “Boys?” Her mouth shaped the word, other words too, which he couldn’t make out.

  “I’ll talk to her.” Trevor put the car in gear and the MG shot out of the driveway. “Mom’s a stubborn woman, but even she can’t hold a grudge forever. Before the loan business, Mom liked Charlie fine. I bet she will again. The only person you need to think about is Charlie.”

  Like he could think of anyone else. But was Charlie thinking of him? Sean checked the clock on the dash for the third time in as many seconds. At least in a way that meant they could have a future together? Or would he be too late?

  Chapter Twenty

  Charlie rested her feet on her backpack. She was grounded. The one time she wanted to be anywhere else, she was still stuck in Montreal, still stuck in the airport. She folded the newspaper she hadn’t read and stared out the window of the boarding gate. The white bulk of the Airbus rose out of the darkness, and the runway lights gleamed yellow in the rain slapping against the tarmac.

  She’d said good-bye to Mia and the girls at the hotel early that morning and promised to visit at Thanksgiving. And she’d given her sister one last hug, her life intertwined with Mia’s in a way it hadn’t been since they were children.

  “You think we’ll be delayed much longer?” The voice that came from Charlie’s right belonged to a woman with short gray hair. Her hazel eyes were anxious behind a pair of gold-framed glasses.

  “I don’t know.” Charlie unfolded her newspaper again. Usually she liked talking to people, but not tonight. Not when all she could think about was the crater-sized hole in her heart. The betrayal stamped on Sean’s face when she walked away. And how she had to build a life again without him.

  “I’ve only flown once and never by myself.” The woman waved a pair of knitting needles at Charlie, and blue wool trailed across her lap. “You think they can fix whatever’s wrong?” Even though she didn’t look like Charlie’s mom, she was somebody’s mom. She had a mom look to her. Comfortable, cozy, and safe.

  “I’m sure everything will be fine. Those mechanics know what they’re doing.” Charlie tried to make her expression reassuring. “I fly all the time. It’s safer than driving in a car any day.”

  Dimples dented the woman’s apple cheeks. “I’m silly, aren’t I? This trip was supposed to be with my husband for our fiftieth wedding anniversary. Then Jean-Claude got sick. Before he passed, he said he wanted me to go anyway. ‘You do it, Joanie,’ he said. We never had the money to travel far, and he knew how I longed to see a real English castle.”

  “Fifty years is a long time.” Giving up on the newspaper, Charlie hugged her purse. Apart from Sean, she’d never dated anyone longer than a few months. “You must miss him.”

  “Every day.” She continued knitting. “He was the only one who called me Joanie. I miss that too.”

  “I’m sorry.” Charlie clasped her purse tighter.

  “Don’t be. Jean-Claude and I had a good life. Sure, I wanted more time, but I was still lucky to have him for fifty years.” Her voice was wistful.

  “Didn’t you ever, in all those years…?” Charlie paused. She’d never see Joanie again. She was in an airport surrounded by hundreds of people she’d never see again either, the din of hundreds of anonymous
conversations. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you make it work?”

  Joanie chuckled. “It wasn’t all sunshine and roses. We had our ups and downs, but we stuck it out.”

  “How?” All of a sudden, Charlie didn’t only want to know; she needed to know. Needed to know more than she’d ever needed to know anything before.

  “I was only nineteen when we got married, so I had to learn to compromise. Jean-Claude did too. The two of us learned to give and take, change together. He was French and Roman Catholic, and my family was English and Baptist. Mama Leblanc sure had plenty to say about her only son marrying a girl like me, but she came around. Even though Jean-Claude and I fought sometimes, there was plenty of loving.” She chuckled again, warm and intimate. “In bed at night, with Jean-Claude beside me, there wasn’t anywhere else I wanted to be.”

  Charlie stared at Joanie’s round face as the pieces of a puzzle fell into place. In bed next to Sean, there wasn’t anywhere else she wanted to be either. Changing together, compromising together. What had Sean said? It was all or nothing with them.

  She’d agreed with him. She’d left him again because she was too scared to listen to the truth of her heart and believe her life could be different. Too scared to trust him. And too scared to trust herself.

  “I….Thank you,” she stuttered.

  “You got man trouble?” Joanie bundled her knitting into a floral-patterned bag.

  “There’s a man, yes, but it’s more.”

  All her life she’d vowed not to be like her mom. Her mom had stayed with her dad, too scared to leave. But was she really any different? She’d always been too scared to stay. She’d convinced herself she didn’t belong anywhere except in her job, and so old choices and outgrown feelings still shaped her present and determined her future.

  Joanie pushed her glasses up her nose, and her sharp eyes assessed Charlie. “You look like a smart woman. You’ll figure things out.”

  Charlie’s breath hitched. “You think so?”

  “There’s a way around every problem if you look hard enough.” Joanie’s expression softened. “A problem shared is a problem halved. A good man has broad shoulders, and there’s no shame in leaning on those shoulders when you need to.”

 

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