Page 81 of The Summer Swap

She was seeing a new side of him. Todd the craftsman.

“It’s looking great. It transforms the room. Bookshelves were a good idea.” She sipped her coffee. “Do you think this will work? Do you think she will still want to sell the cottage when we’ve finished?”

“I don’t know. I hope not. I’m not sure she knows what she has here.”

“She knows. But you and I see a gorgeous beach house with unbeatable views and masses of charm. She sees memories. And not good ones.”

“Yes. Damn.” He nursed his coffee mug. “I can’t believe my grandfather had an affair. Not sure how much I want to think about that. I just saw them as my grandparents. I thought of them in the context of my life. As family, not as people with their own problems, needs and emotions. I never really thought about what was happening in their lives. Is that selfish?”

“No. I think it’s natural. Also, parents and grandparents don’t usually share intimate pieces of their lives with their kids and grandkids, so it isn’t always that easy to put it all together. Were you close to him?”

“Not particularly. I was always much closer to my grandmother. When we were young, Hannah was usually the focus of attention. She was smart and funny and loud and dominated every room she entered.”

The description so perfectly encapsulated her friend that Lily smiled. “Sounds like Hannah.”

“Yes. And I was fine with it.” He finished his coffee. “She’s my little sister and I love her, obviously. We’ve always been close—until recently—but she always brought the drama. And she was so competitive. If it looked as if I was going to win something, she’d storm off. Sometimes I let her win because it led to a quieter life. I think my grandmother knew that and always insisted that she and I spend time together, without Hannah. I have special memories of those occasions.”

“What did you do?”

“Different things. Sometimes she’d take me on a trip, and sometimes we’d paint or do something creative. I remember I made her a birdhouse once. It was my first piece of carpentry. But mostly we’d just sit and talk. She was a great listener, and she always encouraged me to be me. She was interested in me. And I suppose that was good for my confidence. She taught me that it was okay to be nothing like my sister.”

It hadn’t occurred to her that Todd might ever have felt insecure, or unsure about himself.

Thinking of her own conversations with Cecilia, Lily felt a pressure in her throat. “She’s wonderful.”

“Yes. When my parents and I didn’t see eye to eye on my future plans, she was the one I talked to.” He put down his empty mug. “She was the main reason I didn’t do what you did and take the wrong path. She gave me the courage to do what I knew was right for me.”

She thought she knew him well, but every day she was discovering something new. She felt as if she was accessing a secret part of him.

“But your parents are proud of you.”

“Now, I think they are. At the time they thought I was throwing away my life, although they didn’t say as much. Those were turbulent times.”

Her parents had actually said as much. She badly wanted to be in the place Todd was in now and skip the turbulence.

“So how did you win their support? What did you do to persuade them this was right?”

“I didn’t do anything to persuade them. I lived the life I wanted to live, and eventually they came round to it. It took a while and was probably helped by the fact that I was earning a living, and happy doing it.” He looked at her. “In the end, there was no decision to make. I knew I would rather live this life without their approval, than the life they wanted for me with their approval. I left it to them to figure out how to handle that. The problem was theirs.”

The problem was theirs.

Lily stared at the walls she’d painted the day before. She’d spent hours and hours figuring out how to make things better, how to fix this problem, but Todd was right. It wasn’t her problem. It was her parents’ problem. They were the ones who needed to make the adjustment.

“You were lucky to have your grandmother in your corner.” Lily thought about how kind Cecilia had been to her. “She never passes judgment.”

“She’s the best. But now I feel guilty because I never really thought about her relationship with my grandfather, or the details of their life together. And she never said anything. Never mentioned it. I don’t like to think of her suffering, with no one to talk to.”

“Even if you’d asked, she wouldn’t have talked to you. She would have protected you. She even kept it from your mother.”

Todd nodded. “And I won’t say anything. I hate to think of her alone, that’s all. I’d like to think she has someone to talk to.”

Lily thought about the flowers. “I think she probably does.”

“Seth? I hope so,” he said. “Did she take a bag when she left yesterday?”

“Wine and chocolates. That’s all she took. If you’re asking me if she packed for an overnight stay, then my answer would be no.”

He grinned. “So she’ll be doing the walk of shame later today.”

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