Page 19 of A Chance Love

Georgia nodded along. “ And what about the smell?”

April hadn’t realized that she’d gotten so used to the strange smells in the house, she didn’t notice them anymore. She stopped herself from asking which one Georgia was referring to. “We’ll clean it up and find the problem. That’s like the least of my worries.”

“Mom, I’m going to be honest with you. It should be your first priority.” She pinched her nose shut as she walked through the entryway.

“We can get candles today while we’re out.”

April showed Georgia around the house, trying to skip the worst parts of it and focus on her new ideas. It was unfair that this was the only version of the house Georgia would remember. She didn’t see the true vision of it, the passion April had for each room.

“What do you think?” April asked with a smile when they returned to the living room.

Georgia looked around the house, searching for the right words. “Why did you bring me here?”

With a tilted head and furrowed brows, April replied, “What?”

“You said that I should come down and spend some time with you at the beach. But why did you really ask me to come here?”

Suddenly, April felt defensive. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “To spend some time with me at the beach. I wanted you to have a few days to relax here. Is that so wrong?”

April noticed that Georgia hadn’t touched her belongings once. She hadn’t even pulled her phone from her purse. It was as if she was waiting to unpack. “I don’t think that’s the real reason you asked me here.”

There was no way Georgia would know about the divorce, not yet. Her father hadn’t told her; Carl never liked to be the ‘bad guy.’ And April didn’t give her any ideas, did she? She rethought the conversation on the phone, examining every word she could remember. But nothing stood out. She didn’t know about the divorce, so what was she trying to get at?

“Please, enlighten me.”

Georgia sighed, as if her mother was forcing her into saying it. “You dragged me here to this dump of a house to try and get me to go back to school.”

April wondered if she’d always been that controlling of her daughter’s decisions. Sure, she wanted Georgia to stay in college and get a good job. But she would never force her to do something she didn’t want to do. April had vowed long ago to not end up like her own mother. Maybe she’d failed at that mission all along.

Now she didn’t know what to say to convince her daughter that she didn’t have any ulterior motives. “I didn’t ask you to come to try and change your mind. I asked you to come so that we could spend time together.”

Georgia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. You’ve barely told me anything about why you’re out here. It’s just a coincidence that the day I want to drop out of school you’re out here at the vacation house talking about your dreams? You want me to follow my dreams and go to college, but that isn’t my dream anymore. I don’t fit in. I hated it there.”

She couldn’t tell her daughter that she was going through the exact same thing. Her dreams felt so different that she’d almost left them last night before Georgia called. “I want you to do whatever you want to do,” April reiterated again.

Her daughter sized her up, tapping her foot as she contemplated. “I’m really dropping out. I mean that.”

“Okay.”

“Okay? You’re just okay with that?” Georgia was getting visibly upset. Her voice wavered slightly and she began to pace the room. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I’m honestly shocked that you’re playing it so well. What else can I say to get you to understand that I’m dropping out of college. You don’t have a say in that decision at all.”

April nodded her head. “Deal. And you don’t get to tell me not to fix up the house. That’s my dream.”

Georgia’s hand rose to her chin. “Fine. Now can you tell me why you’ve brought me here? I understand you want to fix the place up, but this house is not in shape for a beach weekend.”

April walked over to her sketches and looked at them once more. This new fantasy of hers was on full display, inspiration at every corner. A piece of her was written on these pages. “I think we both need some time to clear our heads. I’ll support whatever decision you make. You’re an adult. And we both need to re-evaluate our lives, our hopes, and dreams. This place is going to give us time to do that.”

“So, we’re here to spend time together and figure ourselves out? That’s it?”

She had to stop herself from chuckling. As if figuring themselves out would be easy. “Yes, that’s it. We stay here for a bit and not try to change each other’s minds. What do you say?”

April held out a hand. Reluctantly, Georgia shook it. “I don’t know who you are or what you did with my mother, but I’ll take a beach vacation without judgment any day.”

She knew she was about to show her daughter who she truly was. April was proud of this new side of herself. Georgia would do what she wanted to do and April would do the same. They both searched for freedom to follow their own dreams instead of looking to others. And April knew they would do just that.

This beach vacation was going to be fun, though April wasn’t so sure it would end up being a vacation. Not after all the plans she’d drawn up for the house. It was going to be something much bigger than that.

This trip was going to be life changing.

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