Page 16 of Taking a Chance on Charlevoix
“Yes, it is.” Izzy was holding firm about the tree. “It's not Epiphany yet.” She was tempted to add “and you're not the boss of me.” How many times had she thrown that at her older sisters while she was growing up? But the time for that kind of competition was over.
“And no fire?” Marlowe sounded surprised.
“You’re not here to build and tend it,” Izzy reminded her.
“Heck with the fire. I'm insanely jealous.” Sam’s crestfallen look told them she meant that. Too late, Izzy rememberedthat her older sister had mentioned not having any Christmas decorations up. She’d escaped from her home outside of Chicago to come to Sunnycrest. Their Aunt Cate had done some conniving to get them together.
Aunt Cate drew closer to the small screen. “Samantha, you're looking kind of bummed out, sweetheart. And you've only been home for a short time. What's going on?”
Why hadn't Izzy picked up on that? “Yeah, bring us up to speed.” No way did she ever want to become a stranger to her sisters or aunt again. If they were hurting, she wanted to know why.
Sam was sitting on a large gray floor pillow in front of her fancy stone fireplace. Izzy had seen that fireplace before on her sister's Christmas cards. Usually Sam and Kurt would be on one side of the fireplace with a gorgeous Christmas tree on the other. They had been the picture of a perfect couple. Although she knew it was wrong, Izzy had been so jealous every time she got a Christmas card from them. And now Sam’s perfect marriage was over.
“Some surprises waited for me at the house.” Picking up her phone, Sam turned it and slowly scanned the empty room.
Izzy gasped. “What the heck happened? Were you burglarized?” All her sister’s expensive-looking leather furniture was gone. Electric cords straggled across the carpet, going nowhere.
“Kurt decided that he wanted some things from the house.”
“Some things?” Aunt Cate fell back into the sofa cushions. “Wow, I’d say he robbed the joint.”
“Did you guys talk about this?” Izzy searched her memory. She thought Sam had mentioned that Kurt didn’t want anything from their house.
After they moved into the spacious home in Oak Brook, just west of Chicago, Sam had used a designer. The house and all thedecorations were stylish, the kind you saw in magazines. Izzy glanced around. The Sunnycrest furniture had been here forever and was worn and torn, as Marlowe would say. But every piece held a precious memory of their parents.
“I guess Kurt changed his mind.” Her poor sister gave them a sad smile. “When I asked him months ago, he didn't want anything from the house, including me. Took some clothes and that was about it.”
“Time and divorce can change all that.” Aunt Cate shook her head with a soft frown. “As I recall, your pieces were beautiful. The rustic touch was perfect.”
“Yes, it was.” Sam seemed to be turning that over in her mind. That sad expression did it for Izzy. No way would she ever get married again. Look at what could happen. Her sister was a mess. Izzy could tell her big sister had been crying. Thank goodness Izzy had taken the scary step to adopt as a single mom, with Aunt Cate’s help.
“I don't really know what I'm going to do about it,” Sam said in a tiny sad voice that was so unlike her.
“Sue him!” Izzy’s anger boiled over. That darn Kurt. How could he do this? After twenty-three years of marriage, he’d taken up with a woman who worked for one of their clients. “Take the creep to court.”
Startled, Holly began to cry. Drawing the baby into her arms, Izzy pushed herself up and paced in the living room. “So sorry, baby girl,” she murmured against Holly’s soft forehead. “But no woman should let a man take advantage of her. You remember that when you get older.”
That would be the day when she would let someone come in and help himself to all the furniture after the divorce was final. During both of Izzy’s divorces, neither Skipper nor Chuck had wanted anything from Sunnycrest. Of course all the furniture belonged to the house and had been there since hergrandparents’ time. Aunt Cate liked to call it the vintage look, but the stuff was just old. Grabbing a fuzzy dragon from the floor, Izzy got Holly's attention. After setting her baby up with her toy, Izzy joined her aunt on the sofa and went back to the call.
Her head in one hand, Sam looked exhausted.
Aunt Cate leaned forward. “Taking someone to court in a case like this would be time consuming and probably costly, Samantha. Don’t worry about that now.” Izzy could see that her aunt was choosing her words carefully.
“I agree.” Marlowe chimed in. “Although I don't know the legalities of it, not the way Aunt Cate does, your time is worth something. We’re moving forward, not worrying about the past, right?”
Izzy was glad Marlowe had jumped in. How silly of her. Izzy’s anger cooled. Her sister was a tiger and she had a point. They were all moving on.
After smoothing back her shoulder length hair, Sam nodded. “You’re both right and thanks for reminding me. I have to think about the time involved. And really, I don't need the furniture. The living room is fully furnished and he didn't touch much of those pieces. If I move...”
“If…” Marlowe's head jerked on the screen, and Aunt Cate gave Izzy a worried look. Hadn't they all agreed?
“When,” Sam said quickly and Izzy felt so relieved. Aunt Cate gave her a silent thumbs up.
“The living room furniture is older and it's a bit more formal,” Sam said. “But to be truthful, I don't think I'm going to need it.”
“Sometimes new furniture is called for. New life, new furniture.” Aunt Cate sat back on the sofa, pulling one of the afghans over her. Frost lined the windows above the bookcases,and the cold darkness outside made Izzy shiver. But back to business.
“After all, you're going to be living here,” Izzy said.
