Page 12 of The Birchwood House

Elaine shook her head emphatically. “Oh, there’s no reason for that. If you’re planning on staying in Coral Sands, please just stay here with me. It’s not an inconvenience in the slightest. I would love to have company in the house again—you have no idea how much.”

Audrey and Elaine shared eye contact and a warm smile. Perhaps, Elaine thought, her daughter did know what it was like to be alone in a big house. She’d spent plenty of time alone in hers while Clark was away at work. Audrey’s eyes seemed to be telling her that she understood Elaine’s desire to have conversation and laugher fill up her empty rooms again.

“Are you sure, Grandma?” Michelle asked. “I mean, I would absolutely love to live here. This place is a dream, but I wouldn’t want to impose.”

Elaine shook her head, waving away Michelle’s protests with a flutter of her hand. “Not an imposition at all. I wouldn’t dream of my family staying anywhere else. There are all kinds of unused bedrooms in this house, and there’s even a separate guest house in the backyard where the butler used to live in times past. I’ve got more space than I know what to do with, and I wouldn’t hear of my family staying somewhere else and paying good money for no reason.”

Michelle and Audrey exchanged a glance, both of them clearly delighted by the unexpected offer.

“Well, if you’re sure,” Audrey said with a laugh. “Sounds incredible. But I insist we do something to cover our room and board. We’re not going to just live here without giving you something.”

“Your company will be plenty of a gift to me,” Elaine said, meaning it sincerely, “but if you insist, I have been wanting some help cleaning out all those dusty old rooms upstairs. I’d be more than pleased to have your assistance with that task—it feels too overwhelming for me to relish the thought of starting it on my own.”

“Sure!” Michelle grinned before popping another bite of scone into her mouth. “I love cleaning.”

Elaine laughed. “Me too.”

For a few minutes, the three women sipped their tea and munched on the delicious scones in companionable silence. They all seemed to be lost in their own pleasant thoughts, and Elaine could feel that a sense of excitement had settled over the room. She knew that all three of them were feeling thrilled about the idea of Michelle and Audrey staying in the old house.

She glanced at her daughter and was surprised to see that Audrey’s eyes had filled with tears.

“Are you all right, sweetheart?”

Audrey nodded, blinking back her tears and smiling. “Yes. I’m just so happy to be back in Coral Sands, you have no idea. Things have been—well, it’s been rough.”

Elaine pressed her lips together sympathetically and placed a reassuring hand on her daughter’s arm. “Anytime you want to talk about it, you just let me know. I never need to know details if you don’t want to share them, but I’m always here for you if you do want to share.”

Audrey squeezed her mother’s hand back. “I’m okay for now, thanks. I’m trying my best not to think about what happened. I just want to move on, you know? And it’s not just me. Michelle had her own fair share of troubles too. It seemed that both our lives decided to implode at the same time.”

“I heard a little about that,” Elaine said, turning to Michelle sympathetically. “You lost your job?”

Michelle nodded and briefly outlined the way she’d been fired for speaking up about dishonest practices at the travel agency where she’d worked. “But I think it’s all for the best in the long run,” she said with a smile. “I did really love that job, but I know I can find something else to do that I love. None of my friends in the city really felt like real friends, and I want to be in a place that allows me to make genuine connections with people. I think Coral Sands might be it.”

“I know it is,” Elaine assured her. “Everyone here is genuine and caring. You should be able to make some great friends here.” Her heart went out to her daughter and granddaughter. Although she was heartbroken that they’d both been through so much in the past few days, she felt eager for them to experience the joy and the healing that she knew they would find in Coral Sands. “I think that you’re both going to feel much better soon. Being here in Coral Sands should be exactly the tonic you both need. The air here is fresh and good for the body, and the kindness of the people here in town is good for the soul. Ithink you’re going to discover that coming here is the perfect solution.”

Audrey wrapped her arms around her mother and gave her a big hug. “I knew it would be,” she said. “But coming back is even better than I anticipated. I’m ready to dive headfirst into being part of our town again.”

Michelle chuckled. “You’ve already made quite a big splash with your reentry to town, Mom. Literally a big splash.”

Audrey groaned and Michelle laughed even harder.

“What do you mean?” Elaine asked, curious. Did they mean that Audrey had fallen into the ocean or something? She appeared to be perfectly dry.

Michelle grinned impishly. “Mom splashed her cappuccino all over the mayor’s important documents—and all over the mayor too.”

Elaine’s eyes widened. “Oh my goodness!” She repressed a laugh but couldn’t hold back a smile. “So you’ve met Evan.”

“That’s his name?” Michelle looked interested. “Not a very grumpy-sounding name for such a grumpy guy.”

“Oh, he’s not all that grumpy, not really,” Elaine said. “Maybe a little more so now, but—he’s a good man.”

“I think there’s plenty of people in the world who would be grumpy after getting their dress shirt and their morning’s work ruined by an unexpected cappuccino explosion,” Audrey said, shaking her head. “He was a little grumpy, but he could have been worse.”

Michelle snorted. “He was so hoity-toity. ‘Important township documents,’” she said, imitating the crisp, precise way in which Evan spoke.

Elaine couldn’t hold back her laughter then. “You really splashed coffee all over the mayor? And some documents?”

Audrey nodded, chuckling. “Unfortunately, yes. He’d just gotten all the documents signed too, so I really made a lot of trouble for him.”