Page 1 of Waves of Time

ChapterOne

It was the first week of August, the end of what had been a tumultuous summer of heartache, accidents, and secrets. Hilary, who was forty-three and the youngest of the Coleman siblings, was ready for things to calm down. There she sat, propped up against the fluffy pillows of the bed she’d never shared with any man, flipping through an interior design magazine as summer light spilled through the curtains around her windows— dreaming of new designs, wallpapers, and interior design clients.

It was then that the text came through.

SAMANTHA: Hey, Hill! What are you up to this afternoon? Do you want to swing by The Jessabelle House?

Hilary stared at her phone, perplexed, then darkened it, got out of bed, and retreated downstairs for coffee. On the surface, receiving a text message from her older and only sister shouldn’t have been strange. But Sam and Hilary had never been close, and one-on-one time between them was infrequent. Hilary was suspicious.What was Sam up to?

“Aunt Sam has been different lately,” Aria, Hilary’s twenty-one-year-old daughter, said, her elbows on the counter as she watched the coffee drip into the pot. “You said so yourself.”

Hilary grimaced and flipped through the stack of mail on the counter, her head spinning. “I just can’t imagine what we’ll say to each other. It’s been a long time since it was just the two of us in the same room.”

“You’re so good at talking!” Aria reminded her. “Just tell her about— I don’t know, your crazy clients, your shopping spree last weekend, or your conspiracy theory that Prince Harry will take back the throne.”

“You’re funny.” Hilary rolled her eyes but couldn’t suppress a smile. Her daughter’s wittiness never ceased to please her. It reminded her of Aria’s father. “I’m pulling for Prince Harry. Any sane person would.”

Aria and Hilary took their coffee out on the back porch of the house they’d lived in together since Hilary’s interior design career had taken off and gotten them out of that crummy house near the woods. Their current home was a gorgeous lilac Victorian with three bedrooms— one for Hilary, one for Aria, and one for Hilary’s office. As far as Hilary was concerned, their home was paradise. It had been a necessary retreat during the chaos of the past few months. Hilary’s niece, Marcy, had been involved in a terrible car accident and had only just left the hospital. Prior to that, they’d learned Grandpa Chuck had a second family on Martha’s Vineyard, the island one over from Nantucket— and further, that Hilary’s father, Roland, had covered up the entire story to protect the integrity and purity of the Coleman name.It had been a lot to take in.

After coffee and a bowl of yogurt and berries, Hilary texted Sam she would come out to The Jessabelle House, thinking,why not, and then set to work on emails and other mundane tasks until after lunch. Before she left, Hilary donned a light pink dress that buttoned up the front and billowed around her knees. Her long brunette locks played in contrast to Samantha’s blond, which had resulted in them being able to more-or-less pretend they hardly knew each other back in high school. They certainly hadn’t looked like sisters.

“Good luck!” Aria called from the back porch, waving through the glass door. “Remember, she’s your sister, and she loves you.”

“Love is a complicated thing,” Hilary shot back with a smile.

“Not when it comes to family,” Aria returned.

Hilary cocked her eyebrow. “Oh, honey. Families are the most complicated of all.”

Even as she said it, Hilary knew that she spoke of the Coleman family, not her immediate two-person family with Aria. They were different. They’d always been different.

Hilary drove her red Audi convertible out to The Jessabelle House, adoring the August wind through her hair and the pop music on the radio. At a stoplight, a man with salt and pepper hair checked her out from the corner, and she dropped her gaze, uninterested, and pressed her foot to the gas. It had been a very long time since she’d allowed herself to waste time with men. From experience, she knew they took your emotional energy, pieces of your heart, and your focus and gave very little back in return.

Besides, as one of Sotheby’s most sought-after interior designers, Hilary hardly had time to devote to a silly dinner date, a movie, or a walk along the boardwalk. She was invited all over the continent to help with people’s designs— which was not only time-costly but incredibly exhilarating. She couldn’t imagine any date with a man rivaling that life. On top of it all, ever since Aria had left university, Hilary had taken her on as a sort of “apprentice,” showing her the ropes of the business. This meant that she was always some place beautiful, some place different, with her best girl at her side.

Hilary drove the long, thin driveway toward The Jessabelle House with her heart in her throat. As kids and then teenagers, Great Aunt Jessabelle had adored Samantha and had therefore left The Jessabelle House to her in her will. Go figure. Jessabelle had never cared much for Hilary, and Hilary had never fully understood why. Samantha had constantly fought with everyone. She’d stood up to their father, which had resulted in screaming matches that had echoed through the Coleman House. All Hilary had done was sit in her room, draw pictures, and dream of being an artist one day.

Perhaps Jessabelle had appreciated Samantha’s stubbornness to blaze her own path instead of listening to her parents, as Jessabelle had been a lonely woman who’d never been able to have children. Perhaps she’d seen something of herself in Samantha. It was hard to say.

As Hilary approached, Samantha was out on the veranda of The Jessabelle House in a sundress and a pair of sunglasses.

“Hi!” Sam called as she jumped up to hug Hilary, bringing with her a wave of jasmine perfume. “I’m so glad you could make it.”

Hilary brushed her hands against her thighs, trying to read Samantha’s face for clues about why she’d asked her over. As she stared at her, a strange white light appeared in the top-right of her vision, and she flinched and dropped her gaze.

“Are you okay?” Samantha frowned.

Hilary raised her eyes again, noting that the white light was gone. It had probably been a trick of the sun. “I’m fine.”

An awkward silence stretched between them. “Do you want a glass of lemonade?”

“That sounds great,” Hilary said, following Samantha deeper onto the veranda and sitting in the chair next to her. “How are things going?”

Samantha poured the lemonade and passed it over with a smile. “Things are great. Derek is just about the sweetest guy I’ve ever dated. We went to Rachelle’s restaurant last night for a divine meal.”

“Aria and I have been talking about checking it out,” Hilary said.

“Well, you’ve been so busy,” Sam reminded her. “Every time I check, I feel like you’re some place else. Maine or Chicago or Mexico City.”

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