Page 100 of The Summer We Mended
Lily nodded.“Done.”
Jess blinked again.“Just like that?”
“I know your work.And I believe in this.You’d be helping me build something that matters.This is what David would’ve wanted, too.He was always telling me I should call you for input on how to grow on social media.”
Jess looked like she might cry.She didn’t.
Instead, she exhaled, steadying herself, and nodded.“Okay.Deal.”
The three women stood there for a moment in the middle of the warm kitchen, surrounded by the scent of fresh tomatoes and the sound of kids laughing in the yard.For Lily, something had shifted.She felt it in her bones, the subtle click of the next chapter falling into place.
She looked at Jess, who was now sitting a little taller, a little brighter.She looked at Anna, steady as always, their shared grief never far but softened by days like this.And she looked out the window, to the twins tumbling through sunshine.Maybe this was what healing looked like.Not a return to what once was, but a choice, every day, to build something new while also honoring her late husband.She couldn’t help but think that it would become something beautiful soon.
ChapterThirty-Nine
Anna
It was Monday evening, and the kitchen smelled like rosemary and lemon, the roast chicken in the oven sending waves of comfort through the house.Anna wiped her hands on a dish towel and peeked at the twins through the pass-through window.They were at the table, coloring placemats Lily had made with markers and crayons splayed everywhere like confetti.Cody’s voice echoed from the hallway, low and steady, and then a giggle from one of the twins broke out.
Anna smiled.Cody was good with them, better than she’d expected, really.It still surprised her how easily he’d fallen into this life, like he’d never left the island at all.He was a former Marine, resembled their Uncle Henry in mannerisms and stoicism, but looked as though he could be their father’s twin.Cody had spent a long time swallowing and hiding emotions because of his service, and she had assumed that’s why he ended things with Nessa.
They’d been together for five years, but Cody suddenly ended things just months after their father had died.People deal with grief in a multitude of different ways, and it didn’t shock anyone that Cody might start pushing people away to deal with it.Their mother had done the same thing.
Because of his military service, Cody wasn’t able to be around the twins a lot over the last nine years, but judging from how the kids adored him, that didn’t matter.Cody was a natural with his niece and nephew, and they loved him.
Cody stepped into the kitchen with a bouquet of daisies in one hand and a half-eaten cookie in the other.
Lily entered behind him, smiling with her eyes as she took in the chaos of the kitchen and the coloring station.She dropped a kiss on Cody’s cheek before heading over to the twins.
“Hey,” he said, offering the flowers to Lily.“Stole these from the neighbor’s yard.”
Anna arched a brow.“You mean Mrs.Ellery’s garden?She’ll haunt you if she isn’t already.”
Cody chuckled and shrugged.“Worth it.I couldn’t come empty-handed.”
“I’ll put them in some water,” Anna said as she took them, tucking the towel over her shoulder.
“Thanks.They’re perfect.”Lily smiled.“I told the twins they could each have one cookie before dinner if they finished their drawings.Cody helped enforce the deal.”
“I’m a man of my word,” Cody replied, tossing the rest of his cookie in his mouth.
Anna leaned against the counter, watching the three of them, Lily brushing hair back from Nora’s eyes, Cody pretending to examine Blaze’s art like he was a museum curator.It was noisy and messy and beautiful.For a moment, it almost felt like things were okay.
But it was just a moment.
Even now, as laughter echoed off the walls and warmth curled in her chest, that cold knot of fear remained buried somewhere beneath her ribs.
Where are you, Luke?
She hadn’t heard anything since the last official update from the military, even though she called daily.He was considered missing in action.That phrase haunted her.It was too vague, too empty.Her mind filled in the blanks with every worst-case scenario imaginable.
And still… she felt him.She couldn’t explain it, not even to Lily.But shefelthim.Somewhere, somehow, he was still alive.She was holding on to that.
Dinner was loud and imperfect, the way the best family meals always were.Blaze dropped a fork and made a production of getting a new one, Nora sang part of a song Cody had taught her, and Lily told a story about a parent who wanted to pay her for her kid’s pottery classes in homemade candles, which she accepted.Cody added sarcastic commentary where appropriate, and Anna just tried to soak it all in.
Somewhere between second helpings and dessert, Anna’s phone buzzed.She checked it out of habit, still nothing from the military, nothing from any unknown number that might be someone calling with news about Luke.
Just a text from Jess, a photo of her in front of a computer, surrounded by notebooks and what looked like a Pinterest board for coastal aesthetic branding.
