Page 166 of Summer After Summer

“We do. But that’s what it is.”

“Not for Fred, I don’t think.”

My heart started to trill. Would I never not respond to the idea that Fred might want me?

“Why do you say that?”

“The way he looked at you. And talked about you.”

“That’s all in the past.”

“You say so.”

A lumped formed in my throat, and I coughed it away. “Speaking of Fred … shouldn’t we get back to this?”

Lucy rubbed her eyes. “He never would tell me why he wanted this house so badly.”

“That makes two of us.” I held up a chipped coffee cup. “Worth logging? Yes or no?”

She laughed and we spent the next hour finishing the job.

Now, everything in the house has a bar code on it. If it all sells for the prices listed, there will be a tidy sum for the charity.

I look around my bedroom, that feeling of something undone niggling at me again. I’m all packed up, everything personal but the things I need for the night in my car. In the morning, all I’ll need to do is clean out one drawer and the vanity where I’ve shoved my phone and makeup bag. Nothing’s out of place.

I’m the one who doesn’t belong here anymore.

I go downstairs, where Sophie and Charlotte are waiting. We’ve somehow all managed to dress in black, like we’re attending a funeral for the house.

And maybe we are.

William’s gone off to the club for the day, and Aunt Tracy is in the kitchen, hiding, though she says she’s baking cookies to encourage people to buy more.

There’s a line of people forming outside the front door on the gravel. One of Lucy’s assistants opens the door and starts to hand out programs. We stand there at the bottom of the stairs, watching them file in. Neighbors, old friends, strangers. It feels like the whole town is here.

“The house smells amazing, anyway,” Sophie says twisting her hands nervously. “I think I gained three pounds just walking in here.”

“Oh stop, you look great.”

“You do too, Olivia.” She hugs me and steps back. “Honestly, when you got here in June you looked like you hadn’t seen sunlight in a couple of years.”

“I was just tired.”

“Well, this place agrees with you.”

Tears spring to my eyes. “It does. Why did it take me a lifetime to realize that?”

“Everywhere you run, there you are.”

“Yes.” I hug her. “Everything okay with you and Colin?”

“Fred gave him a job.”

“He did?”

“Fred is everywhere, it seems,” Charlotte says, and though the tone is biting, she’s smiling. “Even at the auction.”

“He’s here?”

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