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“Enough,” Kent said in a tone that left no room for arguing. “This is hard enough on your mother.”
“Then why are you selling?” Brynn whispered.
“Because it’s time.”
“Nana and Grandpa ran the lodge until they were in their eighties,” Nolan pointed out.
“Because your dad and I did the heavy lifting. And I don’t want to look back and realize all I did was work.”
“But—” they all said in unison until Peggy put out her hand.
“You’re not going to change our minds. I want to retire on the beach, travel the world, see other places. End of story.”
Jax was as stunned as his other three siblings. It may have been his adopted home, but it was the only home he had growing up. And he hated the thought of losing it.
Chapter Three
Take Life by the Balls
Keep moving forward.
Milly had dragged every box out of her sister’s room and now the family room looked like a moving truck exploded, yet she hadn’t opened a single box. The hospital bed and medical equipment had been dispensed of days after Zoe had passed, so all that was left was Zoe’s personal effects.
The hard stuff.
The stuff that held memories and longing.
Milly sat there eyeing the boxes when her best friends, Gemma and Kat, walked in, their arms full of boxes.
“I think that’s the last of it,” Gemma Ward said.
Gemma was an award-winning mural artist. She was also one of Milly’s ride or dies. The two had met one summer when they were eight and Milly’s parents bought the weekend home next door to the Ward’s; the connection was instant. But it wasn’t until Milly’s sister was diagnosed with cancer that Milly and Gemma went from besties to sisters, supporting each other through the trials and heartache that came with losing a loved one. Milly had lost Zoe and Gemma had lost her baby, then her husband. The grief was still raw for the both of them.
“No, there’s still a few boxes in the garage that need to be gone through,” Kat said.
Kat Rhodes was the local cyber expert and ball-buster, not to mention the third musketeer in their posse. Originally Zoe’s best friend, she and Milly alternated taking care of her sister in the last few months of her life. Dressed in a vintage Metallica tee, camo pants, and black Doc Martens, she looked like she was the guitarist in a rock band.
While Milly and Gemma spent their time playing fairies and making snow animals growing up, Kat and Zoe were out climbing rocks and causing trouble. But when the sun set and sleepovers were to be had, the four would pile under a blanket fort and tell ghost stories.
“I already went through the ones in the garage,” Milly said. “I had to make some progress, or my parents threatened to stage a surprise visit.”
“Would that be so bad?” Gemma asked compassionately.
It would be a disaster. The last thing Milly wanted was for her parents to be reminded that their daughter was gone. They’d had a hard enough time accepting just how quickly Zoe had passed, Milly didn’t want to add to their pain. Plus, after her dad’s heart attack last week, Milly was even more concerned about adding additional stress to her parents’ lives. The doctors said it was mild, but a heart attack all the same. Her mom blamed it on his diet and high blood pressure, but Milly knew better. It had been the grief that took her dad under.
So she wanted her parents right where they were, healing at home recharging and reclaiming their lives. Milly knew how soul-deep exhausting being a caretaker could be and the sacrifices it took. It cost her a relationship she’d thought would go the distance and a promotion at work. It had also cost her a chunk of her heart.
Not that she regretted even a moment of her time with Zoe. She’d treasure each and every one of them. Sleeping in the same bed as if they were kids again, marathoning all fifteen seasons of Supernatural—twice—and hiding in bushes waiting for the exact moment a bald eagle soared overhead so Zoe could snap the picture.
Zoe had moved into the cabin after getting her degree in photography and deciding to focus on photographing nature. Milly wondered how her sister had accumulated so much stuff when she was supposed to have been outdoors taking pictures all the time.
Some of her sister’s best photography came from their time together. As were some of Milly’s best memories. But she’d been cleaning out the last of her things from her New York apartment when Zoe passed. The rapid decline happened overnight and Milly didn’t get home in time, leaving her parents to carry the massive load alone.
“They’re really worried about me, I think,” Milly continued. “I couldn’t stand the looks on their faces, so I blurted out that I was seeing someone. My mom looked so happy.”
“You did go on that one date with what’s his face,” Gemma added.
“Right, and I just didn’t correct my mom when she assumed ‘seeing someone’ was more than that one date. I should probably be insulted that they think a man will magically fix my problems, but I know they just want me to be happy.” Milly looked around at all the boxes. “Mom and Dad did some of the heavy lifting when Zoe was alive, the least I can do is the heavy lifting now.”
