“It doesn’t look all dark like a fort anymore,” said Logan. “It’s kind of boring.”
“It isnot. It’s beautiful,” argued Maya. “Auntie Caitlin, aren’t you going to put a bed in the loft?”
“No, it’s supposed to be a sitting room, which isn’t for sleeping in. It’s for… well, for sitting and admiring the ocean view while someone reads or knits or listens to music.”
“When I come to visit, can we bring sleeping bags up there and have a slumber party?”
Her question caught Caitlin completely off guard, but the little girl’s mother answered, “Honey, you know Auntie Caitlin isn’t staying on Dune Island. She told you she was fixing up the cottage and windmill so someone else would want to buy it.”
“But won’t I get to visit it first?” Her niece looked at the camera, her eyes filling. “Please, Auntie Caitlin? Just once?”
“If she gets to go, I want to go, too,” whined Archie.
Apparently, Logan had a change of mind about the “boring” windmill and he chimed in, “Yeah, we’ve never been to Massachusetts. We could visit you when we have Christmas break from school.”
“No, we can’t,” Suzanne said. Referring to her parents, she reminded him, “Grandma Joan and Grandpa Barney would be heartbroken if they had to spend Christmas all alone here while we were in Hope Haven.”
“They could come, too,” suggested Archie.
“Auntie Caitlin doesn’t have enough beds for everybody in that little cottage,” Suzanne pointed out.
“That’s okay. I’ll sleep with you and Daddy and we can bring extra sleeping bags for Grandma and Grandpa.”
“You’d make your grandma and grandpa sleep on the cold hard floor while you were cuddled up in a nice warm bed with Daddy and me?” his mother teased lightheartedly, obviously trying to indicate how impractical Archie was being without hurting his feelings. “I don’t think they’d be very comfortable.”
“Thentheycan cuddle up in a nice warm bed with you and Daddy, andI’llsleep on the cold hard floor,” he volunteered.
His mother used a firmer voice. “I’m afraid the answer is no. Please stop talking about it or you’ll make Auntie Caitlin feel bad that she can’t invite us to the cottage.”
Too late,I already feel terrible, she thought. “I miss you all so much and I can’t wait to come back and visit you atyourhouse for Christmas.” She told her niece and nephews about Lydia’s special cookie cutter, and then she suggested, “When I get back to Santa Fe, maybe you can come to my apartment for a sleepover. It’s been renovated, too, and we can make windmill cookies. How does that sound?”
“Good,” they duly answered, although Caitlin knew her offer was a poor substitute for what they truly wanted to do.
And she couldn’t blame them; Caitlin felt like she’d rather spend the holidays on Dune Island than in Santa Fe, too. Long after their phone call ended, she imagined how much the children would enjoy exploring the woods and running down the beach. She could also picture herself reading to them in the loft and helping them make colorful drawings of the ocean view.
Maybe if the cottage doesn’t sell right away, we could all make a trip here during the children’s spring break from school, she daydreamed.I’m sure I could work remotely for a week…
Deep down, she knew it was unlikely that the cottage wouldn’t be snapped up as soon as she put it on the market.Isuppose I could wait to list it…But Caitlin recognized that if the children came to Dune Island once, they’d love it so much they’d want to return every year.
Then I’d have to tell them no, and they’d be crushed, she thought.And this place already has more than enough heartache associated with it.
That night, the temperature dropped to 8 degrees Fahrenheit, but the wind chill factor made it feel as if it was ten below, according to the weather forecaster Caitlin heard on the news the following morning.
“Winds will pick up throughout the day, driving the temperatures down even further. The weather service has issued an extreme cold warning for the entire state, and residents are urged to stay indoors. Under these conditions, there is a high risk of frostbite or hypothermia, so if you must go out, dress in dry, warm inner layers, and wear a tightly-woven coat or jacket, as well as a hat, scarf, and?—”
Caitlin clicked off the TV.I guess that explains why I had to turn up the heat in the middle of the night, she thought. Intended for summer use, the duvets in the cottage were made of lightweight material, and even though she’d used three of them on her bed, she’d woken up so cold she would’ve taken a bath just to get warm if she hadn’t been so tired.
Curling her fingers around her coffee mug, she hurried upstairs to the loft to sit in front of the fireplace.I’m glad I’m in here and not out there, she thought as she watched large shards of white ice bumping against each other in the undulating waters.Thanks to Shane’s expertise about thermal regulation, I think it’s warmer in the windmill than it is in the rest of the cottage.
Caitlin contemplated Marion’s tempting suggestion that she invite him to dinner.Making a special, homecooked meal seems like a pleasant, personal way to thank him for all the work he poured into the remodel.
Yet the next instant, she questionedwhether prolonging her time with Shane would only remind her of how much she liked him—and how much she wished theycouldhave a romantic relationship.
But that would mean telling him about what happened the summer Nicole drowned. And even though he himself had confided that he’d made a lot of stupid mistakes as a teenager, Caitlin was sure they weren’t as consequential as what she had done. No, she couldn’t risk opening up to him about that.
Still, just because our relationship can’t go any further than a flirtation, it doesn’t mean we can’t spend a fun evening together, does it?
Caitlin vacillated for over an hour about whether or not to extend a supper invitation to him, and when she still couldn’t make up her mind, she turned her attention to calling the estate attorney to tell him the remodel had been completed.
