Elias narrows his eyes at me, lips in a tight, straight line. His mother sidesteps him and then gushes over how cute the place is. She must be insane because it’s a mess. A literalhotmess.
“I was just telling your friend here,” Rudy says to his son.
“She’s not my friend,” Elias blurts out at the same time I mutter, “We’re not friends.”
Maggie chuckles as if this is the funniest thing she’s heard all day. “Oh, don’t be silly.”
Before either one of us can argue, Rudy continues on. “The place needs to be gone through and cleaned up which coincidentally will line up with a pocket of free time for me to do some work. Between the two of us, Son, we can get it knocked out in a couple of weeks or so.”
“By end of summer we can put a sign in the yard?” Maggie asks, excitement threaded in her words.
“It’ll be sold by September,” Rudy says, equally thrilled.
My stomach ties itself into a huge knot. The plan was to come back, deal with Grandma’s things, and sell the house. But now that I’m here and discussing all the plans, it feels all too real. I have the sudden urge to kick everyone out and live out the rest of my days in this hot, hoarder house.
Because Grandma would love that.
I suck in the stifling, dusty heat into my lungs, and then practically sprint out of the cottage and onto the porch. Her swing sits untouched for who knows how long. With a heavysigh, I fall onto the ancient thing and pray the chains hold my weight.
Breathe.
Everything is going to be okay.
I just miss her so much. I wish she were here to tell me what to do. Grandma was a take-charge kind of woman. She never sat around idly. If something needed to be fixed, she was first in line to do it. A dragonfly buzzes past me, does acrobats around the wooden columns of the porch, and then lands on my bare knee. The sunlight catches its iridescent wings, and it sparkles.
How long has it been since I stayed still long enough to admire a dragonfly?
Heavy footsteps thud onto the wood porch, and it frightens the insect away. I watch it zoom off the porch and dive-bomb a hydrangea bush.
“Do you know someone I could hire to help me clean this place out?” I ask Elias, not meeting his gaze. “It’s a lot of work.”
Elias leans his butt against the outer wood railing of the porch, and it groans in protest. Awfully brave to do on this rickety old house. He scratches at his beard and then lets loose a long, labored sigh. “I can do it.”
“Won’t you be helping your dad with the repairs? And what about your job?”
He runs a large, calloused thumb along the edge of the wood and bits of paint fleck off. “I’m not working at the moment. Bereavement leave.”
His words are another sucker punch to the chest. It’s a reminder that no matter how much he dislikes me, he loved my grandma. My throat thickens with emotion, and I blink back the tears.
“Then this won’t be easy for you,” I say, voice wobbly. “I can find someone else.”
He huffs. “It won’t be any easier for you. Besides, Goldie would tan my hide if she were to find out I let some stranger poke around through her things. She’d want it this way. Trust me.”
It hurts that he knows my family more than I do. The guilt swells up inside me, threatening to swallow me whole. No matter what I do, I won’t be able to escape that I wasn’t there for her in the end.
“You don’t even like me.” I pick at the frayed ends of my shorts before shooting Elias a pitiful look. “We’re not friends, remember?”
He’s quiet for so long, I want to crawl out of my skin. Everything about this man is in slow motion. Like a sloth. I feel like a nervous hare ready to bolt at any second. Right as I’m about to spring to my feet and do just that to avoid the awkward silence, Elias chooses to speak again.
“We’re not,” he agrees, shaking his head. “Doesn’t mean it won’t happen one day, though. I barely know you, Nora. Goldie spoke highly of you, but I haven’t had time to form opinions for myself.”
That’s a lie.
He’s already formed the opinion that I’m a monster.
But rather than give him fodder for a fight, I nod.
“I’m going to go check on Clo,” I say as I rise to my feet. “Tell your dad we’re good to go and I’ll text your mom about any listing information.”
