The morning sun wasn’t up yet, but after a night of tossing and turning, Julie couldn’t remain in bed any longer. She slipped out of bed, leaving Houdini to stretch himself awake, and then tip-toed downstairs and made some coffee, careful not to wake her daughter or Wind. Last night’s interrogation about what happened with Trevor and why things seemed tense when Wind and Dustin returned to the fire had been bad enough. She didn’t need a repeat before her caffeine fix. She was second-guessing her invitation to Wind to crash at her place last night before Wind headed to her sister’s.
The rich aroma of her special Jamaican Blue Mountain blend she had saved for the mornings she needed an extra pick-me-up filled the kitchen with the promise of a brighter day. The last gurgles announced the end of brewing, so she doctored it with only a splash of cream and headed to the back porch to enjoy some peace.
Seagulls sang and swooped around on the nearby shore, feasting. Julie took a sip and savored the rich, fresh-roasted taste and closed her eyes. Tranquility. That was Summer Island. The thought of tourists invading from all areas of the world, causing noise pollution and trash and graffiti, chipped away at her peace.
The glass sliding door behind her opened, so Julie braced for Wind to blow away her morning peace. “Is this section reserved for moping and complaining, or can anyone join?” Her daughter’s voice soothed her mood, but her words irked her.
“It’s a free porch. Anyone is welcome.”
“Even Wind?”
“There might be certain hours reserved for quiet time.” Julie sipped her coffee once more, savoring the calmness the warmth brought with each swallow. “But I’m not in a mood.”
“Really?” Bri paused. “Houdini, you stay inside.” The glass sliding door closed, and Bri sat by her side with her own mug in hand. “It’s Jamaican Blue Mountain. I know what that means.” She took a sip and then held the mug between her hands and looked out between the buildings toward the distorted beach view between the other homes and shops. “Don’t worry about it. If you didn’t like the guy, it’s no big deal. The point was to get you out of the house.”
“I don’t dislike Trevor. He’s nice enough.”
“Nice enough, huh?” Bri shifted to face Julie. “What happened last night? Did he make you feel uncomfortable?”
“No. He was a perfect gentleman.”
Bri relaxed back into her seat. “Is he obnoxious, rude, self-absorbed?”
“No.”
“Well, you can’t deny he’s handsome.”
She shrugged and hid her expression behind her mug. Her daughter would know with one glance that Julie couldn’t deny the man could stir up feelings she’d hoped were long dead inside. Especially for another man besides her husband.
“Then what is it? You feel like you’re cheating on Dad? ’Cause Mom, you shouldn’t feel that way. Dad wouldn’t want you to stay hidden in this place away from the world.”
“I’m not hiding. Why does everyone think I don’t want anything to change? It’s not that.” Her hackles rose, but she didn’t like getting short with her daughter, so she forced a calmness she didn’t feel about life.
“Ah, I see.” Bri sounded smug, all-knowing.
“See what?”
“Trevor is offering change. Change is something Julie Boone has never done well with in her life.”
“I don’t mind change.”
Bri pointed to the studio-turned-storage-unit. “That’s why you still have every tool, gadget, and memory shoved in there, unable to let it go?”
Julie didn’t like where the conversation was going. “What about you?”
Bri shifted like the chair was as uncomfortable as the question. “We’re talking about you right now.”
“Enough about me. I’ve lived my life. What about you? Did you quit your job and come home out of some misguided obligation that you need to take care of your mother in her dotage?” Julie spun around and withdrew from her daughter, far enough away so her aging eyes could focus on her. “I’m fine, so you can return to your life now.”
“I don’t want to.”
In that moment, Julie knew one thing. She needed to prove to her daughter that she was good and didn’t need her to stick around. The one change she wouldn’t tolerate in life was her daughter giving up her future to stay at home because she was worried about Julie. “You’re not staying here. I’ve moved on with my life, so should you.”
Bri let out a long sigh. “Don’t worry. I’m set financially. I just wanted a break. I’m considering my options and what I want to do next with my life.”
Julie thought about arguing that she needed to get back to work, but Bri was many things, and lazy wasn’t one of them. And as far as her finances? The girl had been managing her own since she scored her first babysitting job at thirteen. Responsibility was something she’d inherited from her father. “If you need a break, fine. But then you go return to your life after my birthday.”
“We’ll talk about that later. Nice changing the subject, though. Listen, I get why you had a bad evening and you hate the guy, but maybe you should give him a chance.”
“It wasn’t a bad evening, and I don’t hate the guy.” Julie lowered her cup to her lap. “He doesn’t want to change something. He wants to change everything. Did you know he plans on turning Summer Island into a cliché? A tourist trap where the charm of this town is replaced by billboards and chain stores?”
“He said that he wanted to put up a billboard? That’s against town ordnance.” Bri arched a brow, as if to challenge her mother on the facts.
“No. That’s just an example.”
“Okay, so what exactly does he want to do to the town that has you so upset?”
Julie eyed that darn storage unit and knew it had been long enough and she should empty it. She should let go of things that didn’t mean anything except to clutter up the studio she once dreamed of using. How could she, though? To clean it out
