Page 94 of The Summer Swap

She delayed the moment. “I can’t wait to see upstairs.”

She followed Todd and Lily right up to the top of the cottage.

Lily opened the door. “Todd has worked magic with storage space in here.”

“Lily was the brains behind it,” Todd said. “I just did as I was told.”

The room butted into the eaves and Cecilia saw instantly that the room had been transformed.

Lily gestured to the window seat. “You can sit on it and read while looking at the view, it also doubles as a bedding storage area—” she lifted the lid, proudly displaying neatly folded spare bedding “—and it can be used as an extra bed if needed. Isn’t he clever?” She beamed at Todd and Cecilia reflected that while some couples found it impossible to work together, that was clearly not true of Lily and Todd.

Her fondness for her granddaughter’s friend was growing by the day.

“It’s perfect. Charming.”

The second bedroom was equally charming, with Lily’s newly restored bookshelf taking pride of place under the window.

“We’ve saved the best for last.” Lily looked visibly nervous as she stood in front of the closed door of the master bedroom. “Are you ready?”

She’d never be ready.

She’d been dreading this moment. Even though she’d forgotten many things over the decades, the image that had confronted her when she’d opened the door so many years ago had stayed with her.

But Lily was so hopeful and optimistic, and she’d tried so hard to make everything feel different for Cecilia that she pushed past her own reticence.

What did it matter? It was all so long ago. And she wasn’t doing this for herself, she was doing it for Lily and for Todd. There was no limit to what you could do when you loved someone.

She stepped into the room expecting ghosts and memories and for a moment felt disorientated because this wasn’t the room she remembered.

The colors and textures were inspired by the ocean and the natural world, but the design was fresh and contemporary. The pale blue paint scheme that she and Cameron had chosen had gone, and now the room had white shiplap walls, a seagrass rug and glass lamps that reflected the light.

“We tried hard to make it different—” Lily was watching her every reaction, her anxiety palpable “—we bought a new bed. And moved it.”

“I can see that.” Instead of being tucked under the window, the bed now faced the balcony. The old bed had a heavy oak frame and striped linens faded from too much washing.

The new bed had a simple white rattan headboard, and the bed itself had been dressed in fresh white linens and stacked with pillows in toning shades of washed green and blue. Draped across the bottom was a pale sea green throw, perfect for cooler evenings.

The doors to the balcony were open, flooding the room with sea air and light, and offering far-reaching views across the dunes and the ocean.

Cecilia felt an instant sense of calm, and also relief, as if she’d been set free.

There were no ghosts here. No bad memories. Nothing at all to remind her of the past. The room was so tranquil and welcoming she immediately wanted to move all her things from the second bedroom to this one.

“I can’t believe it.” She touched one of the walls, running her hand over the line of the wood. “You did this?”

“Just on the one wall,” Todd said. “We thought it added texture and a slightly ‘beachier’ feel.”

She never would have thought of doing that. She never would have thought that a room could be transformed the way they’d transformed this one.

There were bookshelves on either side of the bed, and they doubled as nightstands complete with reading lights.

Cecilia nodded her approval. “Clever idea.”

“We wanted to maximize use of space. The room isn’t that big. Everything has to work twice as hard.”

“You can enjoy the view while you’re lying in bed,” Lily said. “I never understood why the bed was facing the wall before.”

Because in the beginning, she and Cameron hadn’t cared which direction the bed was facing.

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