Page 54 of Against the Current

Jackie popped out of her car and hollered over the driveway, “Mr. and Mrs. Raimond?”

Sadie laughed and waved. “We just wanted to take another look!”

Jackie’s smile melted. Suddenly, she took Willa’s hand in hers and marched around the nose of her car so that she stood just a few feet from Sadie and Ryan. She looked unsteady on her feet. “I’m sorry to say this. But we have a family emergency.” Jackie looked defeated. “The Sutton Estate is no longer for sale.”

“Goodness gracious,” Mr. Raimond said from in the car. “Sadie, get inside.”

Sadie stuttered. “I don’t understand.”

“Is everything all right?” Ryan asked, backing up.

“We need time,” Jackie called to Sadie. “Please understand.”

Sadie looked suddenly sinister, as though she didn’t want to believe what she’d been told. Her husband turned the key in the ignition and called out, “Sadie! Not one of your harebrained schemes again.”

“We’ll be in contact if the house goes back on sale,” Jackie affirmed with a sturdy wave.

Her eyes seemed to beg Sadie to please go.

Ryan, Jackie, and the children watched on as Sadie pulled herself back into the car and buckled her seat belt. Annoyance echoed off her face. When her husband backed out of the driveway, the rear end of his car took out the mailbox (just as Jackie had done back in February), and Willa, Gavin, and Rudy burst into laughter, pointing. The husband was unwilling to stop and drove on, leaving the mailbox looking like a chewed-up dog toy. Willa, Rudy, and Gavin went to check it out, leaving Ryan to holler, “Not too close to the road, you three!”

Finally, Ryan turned to find his mother pale and trembling. She clasped her hands.

“I think I know why Trisha was on Martha’s Vineyard the other day,” she muttered.

Ryan’s heart seized.

“Is she home?” Jackie asked.

Ryan shook his head. “I don’t want to believe it.”

Jackie touched his arm gently. “She’s related to Sarah Strong, Ryan. She’s a Reed.”

Ryan’s eyes filled with tears. Immediately, he remembered his grandfather’s Cadillac parked in front of the real estate office.Immediately, he cursed his decision never to tell the Suttons about the stolen car. Had he turned his back on them?

But for whatever reason—maybe because of all they’d been through, maybe because of his vows—Ryan decided not to tell his mother about the list. Not yet.

Instead, he put his hands on his hips and fought tears.

He said, “Why didn’t we ever think to turn this place into a bed-and-breakfast?”

Jackie grinned. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”

Ryan blinked and blinked and tried to match his mother’s smile. “Let’s talk about it tomorrow at the office.”

Jackie hopped up and down. “I’m going to take the ad for the house down immediately. I can’t stand it. We can’t give this place away, Ryan! Not for all the money in the world.”

Ryan knew exactly what she meant.

“But what about your retirement?” Ryan asked her.

Jackie rolled her eyes. “Imagine me with nothing to do. I’d get so bored, Ryan. I need to see people. I need to tend to my family’s property. I need to let my roots grow deeper.”

Ryan nodded, turning to watch as Gavin carried the busted mailbox back to the house. Gavin looked older and responsible, eager to clean up the property and make it whole again.

“I’m going to get a hammer and nails, Dad!” he called.

“What an incredible son he is,” Jackie said, shaking her head.

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