Page 42 of The Identicals
A hundred grand: Harper makes this sound like a king’s ransom. And maybe to her it is; she couldn’t be making more than twenty bucks an hour at her delivery job. But for Tabitha, a hundred grand won’t even scratch the surface. Once she pays Ramsay back the forty thousand she owes him, that leaves sixty, which will be eaten up by Ainsley’s first year of college. Selling it as a teardown is Harper’s preference because that’s the quick, easy way out.
“How much if we renovate?” Tabitha asks.
“Moot point,” Harper says. “We aren’t renovating.”
“Just tell me what she said, please.”
Harper sighs. “She said she would list it an one point one if it’s a quality job, but the place has to be gutted. And I’m sorry, but that isnothappening. I don’t have any savings. Billy has ninety grand in the bank but probably less than that because I still have to pay the golf club for the blasted reception. Polly said a renovation would cost a hundred and fifty. That means I would have to go to the bank for a loan or borrow money from Mommy, and I amnotdoing that—”
“Mother doesn’t have it,” Tabitha says. “Even if she did, she wouldn’t lend it to you for Billy’s house.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Harper says. “We’re selling it as a teardown, Pony.”
Tabitha lets use of the odious nickname slide because she’s busy doing the math. If they sink one fifty into Billy’s house and sell it for a million, they would both walk with more than three hundred grand.
Ainsley says, “Aunt Harper should stay here, and you should go to the Vineyard, Mom. Haven’t you always said it’s your dream to renovate a house?”
“Grammie’s house,” Tabitha says. She has long yearned to be given permission and an unlimited budget to redo Eleanor’s house on Pinckney Street—but needless to say, neither has been granted. “I said that about the house on Beacon Hill.”
“Do Gramps’s house instead,” Ainsley says. “You’d be good at it.”
Harper turns on Ainsley. “No. We aren’t renovating. Whose side are you on, anyway?”
Ainsley frowns. “I want you to stay,” she says.
Ainsley’s suggestion is completely outrageous, yet something about it appeals. If Tabitha can reach Flossie or get Eleanor to pay out for a private nurse, she would be free to work on Billy’s house, which is something she would profoundly enjoy. With Tabitha’s eye and a little elbow grease, they’ll make three times the money. How can Harper argue with that?
While Tabitha is handling the renovation, Harper can stay here and deal with the fallout of Ainsley’s behaviorandHarper can work at the boutique. The boutique is going to go belly-up at the end of the summer—Tabitha has done everything within her power to resuscitate it, but to no avail—so why not let Harper take the blame for its demise?
Is it too cruel to let Harper take over the sinking ship that is Tabitha’s life?
She remembers the sting of cold champagne in her face, then the slap.
The wildflowers. The Chicken Box. “With or Without You.”
Julian, dead.
“Once I get Mother settled…ifI get Mother settled, I’ll go over to the Vineyard and take a look,” Tabitha says. “I’ll handle the Realtor and the sale, and you can stay here with Ainsley. But there are conditions.”
“Such as?” Harper says.
“Your first responsibility is my daughter,” Tabitha says. “I’m going to call the school secretary in the morning and let them know that you’re in charge for the remainder of the school year. There are only a few days left, but if there are any issues, you’ll get the call.”
Harper nods.
“Will there be any issues?” Tabitha asks Ainsley.
Ainsley looks at her feet. “No.”
“Ainsley?”
“No,” Ainsley says.
Tabitha closes her eyes for an instant. She is so tired, soweary,that she could fall asleep standing up.You’re a piss-poor parent, Tabitha.She wonders if her real motivation in agreeing to this plan is just an unwillingness to deal with Ainsley’s bullshit.
Maybe, yes. And the feeling, apparently, is mutual. Ainsley’s eyes are shining with hope. She wants her aunt.
Be careful what you wish for,Tabitha thinks.
