Page 83 of Sunsets at the Beach House

Her mom nodded. “Great idea. I’ll talk to him. I’m happy to give them all some money for helping. We can figure that out later.”

“I have fifty dollars to throw in.”

Her mom smiled. “You really have changed, you know that?” She gave Kat’s arm a quick squeeze. “Very proud of you.”

“Thanks. I’m proud of both of us. Just call me when you’re ready for me to help. I’ll be working in my room until then.”

“Sounds good. Once I get done in here, I’m going to do a quick sweep of the living room, then I’ll call you down to show you what’s what. After that, I’ll be working in the master bedroom so I can get my own things packed up.”

“Okay.” Kat gathered some more boxes and took them upstairs. Her first task was clearing out her desk. That only took about half a box, but her books, even though she sorted through them and was able to put some in the donate pile, took the rest of her boxes.

She stood back, hands on her hips, and surveyed what was left to be done. Despite having plenty of help downstairs, there was still a tremendous amount of work.

She grabbed a box of books, which was heavier than it looked, and carried it downstairs to be taped and marked as books.

Cash helped her bring more boxes up and then took her desk downstairs, promising to come back for the chair and whatever other boxes she’d filled.

She was two hours in and pretty much done when her mom finally called for her. She had one final look around, then picked up the last box of books and carried it with her.

There was the faintest bit of sadness in her at leaving this house, but more than anything, Kat was happy. Happy to be moving on, happy to be in a better place, and happy to be starting over in such a wonderful new way.

This, she thought, was how she always wanted to feel. Excited for the future. And at peace with keeping the past where it belonged: firmly behind her.

Claire showed Kat what she’d marked for keeping, what she’d marked to donate, and what Paul had asked for so far. She’d put pieces of masking tape on all of the big stuff, then written either a K, D, or P on it. “If there’s something marked for donation or for Paul that you wanted for yourself, just change the tape.”

“It all looks fine so far,” Kat said.

“Pastor Freeman is going to take the bench that’s in the foyer to use in the choir room.”

Kat nodded. “What about the art and anything on the walls? Did you mark all of that, too?”

“Yes. I tried to put the tape on the edges of the frames so it wouldn’t do any damage. See?” Claire pointed out an oil painting of an old ship, something Bryan had picked out years ago. It had never been to her taste.

“Okay, good. What about your baking stuff?”

Claire smiled. “That was the first thing I did. Danny’s boxing it all up and packing it in his car.”

Kat grinned. “That was really nice of him to come. And really nice of Pastor Freeman and the other men. We actually might be able to do this in a day. Which is what I’m counting on.”

“Me, too. When is the truck from the veterans charity coming?”

Kat looked at her watch. “They told me at four. I know it’s going to be tight, but I’m hoping we can make it. I do not want to use up one of my weekends coming back here.”

“I can always do it. I’m sure Danny would come with me again.” Claire shook her head. “You’re doing a great job but I don’t see how we can avoid another trip back here at some point. I’ll have to meet with the realtor.”

“I do have that guy Nick Walker coming by today, too. To give us an appraisal. But I’m sure we’ll need the carpets cleaned and maybe a fresh coat of paint.”

“And a good cleaning.” Claire dragged her finger across the top of the coffee table. There was definitely dust on things.

“You realize none of this furniture will be here when people come to look at the house.”

“True,” Claire said. “But the house should still be cleaned. The bathrooms especially. You don’t want to show people a house that looks too lived in.”

“Good point.” Kat rubbed her hands together. “All right, back to work. I’m going to let Paul and Cash use the truck to take whatever he wants back to his house. Then we can load it with everything going to the beach house.”

“Perfect.” Claire went off to the kitchen to see how Danny was doing, but he wasn’t in there.

He turned up a few moments later. “Looking for me?”

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