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“There’s something else I need you to promise me. I won’t give the house back unless you convince Georgia to go back to school. She needs an education. It’s important,” Caroline explained, though April didn’t think it was a good enough reason to stop her from looking for Georgia.
The wind whistled around her, threatening and harsh. “Fine,” she agreed. It wasn’t the plan. She never wanted to become like her mother, but what else could she do at that point? If there was no house in Sandcrest, there would be no bed and breakfast. Everything they’d worked for would be a waste.
Sure, Georgia would be disappointed. But maybe she would find a career she loved. April could stay in the house and work on it alone. Georgia could come down during the breaks. It was all lining up in her head.
Caroline looked her daughter up and down. “And you go back to New York and get that job of yours back.”
The piercing winds must have grown even more threatening because it felt like she was being choked. It was hard to breathe, hard to see anything through the frustrated tears stinging her cheeks. “Fine,” April replied.
April knew she couldn’t say no to her mother. In her heart, she hoped all she promised didn’t have to happen. But April also knew that Caroline never forgot promises. She would bother April until she got what she wanted. That’s just how it all worked.
“And now that you’re done getting what you want, which is the only reason you came down here in the first place. I’m going to go make sure that your grandchild is safe,” April said.
April twisted her arm out of her mother’s grasp. Caroline’s mouth was open wide, but April couldn’t tell if that was from the shock or the wind taking her breath away. Still, she was proud of herself for saying at least one thing that was brutally honest.
While her mother stood there hounding her about college, the young woman she wanted to become educated was stuck on the beach in the middle of the strongest storm she’d ever seen.
The water splashed her face with such intensity that it hurt as she walked down the steps. Her hood did little to shield her from its wrath.
Even as she finally was on the sand, able to search for Georgia, she was thinking about her mother. Regrets began to pile on. Why had she agreed to everything her mother asked? Why was it that she couldn’t get the courage to say no? It took a while, but she’d learned how to follow her own desires.
None of it mattered anymore now that she’d agreed to her mother’s wishes. She always had something to hold over April’s head to get what she wanted. And if she didn’t, then there was something she could make April feel guilty for. It was like she was riding down some fast rapids and her mom was controlling the current, tugging her life into a million different directions.
As her feet sunk into the sand, April realized that a lot of what she did rubbed off on Georgia. Sure, she wasn’t as demanding as her mother, but she’d asked a lot of Georgia as she was growing up.
There wasn’t enough time in her day to take care of everything at work and at home. She didn’t take time off to spend with her daughter. No matter how many times she thought she would make time for the family, she didn’t. Georgia was left to pick up the pieces on her own. Responsibility must have laid heavy on her shoulders, just like Caroline’s expectations laid heavy on April.
This whole thing was a disaster. With the winds rushing around her, rain sputtering into her face, she walked the beach. Despite her past, she was a good mother.
And she was going to find Georgia and bring her home.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
April wandered the empty beach alone. She thought her lowest point was when her husband asked for a divorce the second their daughter left for school. Now she realized that things were at their lowest now.
When she had Carl, she knew things weren’t perfect. Her job was horrible, she had no time for anything but work. Her relationship was fine, not great. They weren’t winning ‘best couple of the year,’ that was for sure. Georgia didn’t hate April, but didn’t spend any time with her either.
Everything that felt like it was taken away was something she should have left behind years ago.
Now, she had gotten everything she wanted. The house, renovations, time with her daughter, finding herself again. It was all within her grasp and it was taken away in just a day.
Her feet dragged in the sand as the wind pelted her face. The rain was coming and going, but mostly sprinkling, which she was thankful for, because it was washing away the few tears dripping down her cheeks.
With zero dollars left, she couldn’t finish fixing up the house. Her dreams were crushed. Georgia was angry with her even after all this time they were able to spend together. And her mother was worse than she was before, threatening to take away the property if she didn’t do exactly what she wanted.
If she followed through on those promises, she would end up the same way she was before. Lonely, busy, and this time, sitting in an office with an arrogant man who’d just hit on her. Things would be uncomfortable to say the least. April knew she would be miserable.
But she had to do it. This was a new low for her. She didn’t have any other options.
April tried not to get too close to the violent waves reaching shore. The wind was taking the water for a spin, throwing it at will to crash on the sand. She hoped Georgia stayed away from the shore, too. It was too dangerous to be out here.
A shadow began to trek across the beach, from the sand to a grassy patch just up a slight hill. She squinted to try and see it better, but it looked like blobs from far away. Something rolled across the sand towards April, the blob running to catch it.
That’s when she finally came into focus. It was Rose.
“Oh! Hi!” she yelled, standing over a lawn chair. “I’m trying to get all my stuff inside before it really picks up. I didn’t realize it was going to be this bad today!”
April shook her head. “No kidding! Do you want some help? You only have a few more chairs.”
