Page 53 of The Cottage on Blueberry Bay

“This place is a whole new burden I didn’t ask for,” Meredith said.

“Sell it to me.” Remy leaned back, crossing her arms against her chest. “I’ll buy it.”

“What?” Meredith couldn’t believe Remy would want it. “What are you going to do with this place? You already have a summer house on the Cape.”

Remy shrugged. “I need a fresh start.”

Meredith wished more than anything for her mother to be there. Jacqueline would know what to do. She’d figure everything out for both her girls. She always had.

If Meredith came home with a bad grade, Jacqueline would help her study. If Meredith bombed an audition, Jacqueline would sit next to her and listen to her play. If Meredith’s heart was broken, Jacqueline would be waiting in the wings ready to mend her back up again by showing her the beauty she already had inside her. Jacqueline always helped.

What would Jacqueline do now?

“Let’s start by cleaning this place,” Meredith said, squeezing Remy’s hand. “Jacob may have been an amazing artist, but he was not very clean or tidy.”

“What?” Remy asked, confused.

“If we’re going to figure things out here”—Meredith looked around the back porch—“we’ll want to at least sleep inside.” Meredith gave Remy a reassuring smile. “Let’s go to the market and get everything we need.”

CHAPTER21

Quinn called Megan when he got home. The local real estate agent would be the best person to sell Jacob’s property. She would do what was best for everyone.

“She wants to sell?” Megan sounded as surprised as everyone else. “Wow, Quinn. I’m sorry for you, but thanks for the referral.”

This would be big for Megan, whose primary business was managing the many rental beach cottages along the shore.

“I can’t believe the old place is going to be sold,” she said. “I hope I can find a family who wants to keep it as a farm.”

“Would you be able to give me a ballpark price for my parents’ place?” he asked.

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of selling, too?” Megan asked.

Quinn tapped his thumb against the kitchen counter as he looked out the window to the back yard.

“No, just curious, you know?” he said. But the truth was, he didn’t know what they should do. Should they stick around just for nostalgia’s sake? Or should he sell while he still had an unobstructed view of the Atlantic Ocean? Should he stay in Blueberry Bay and make pennies, or go back to the city where he could make a decent living and get paid with actual currency, not by bartering goods and trades?

But where would he go if he could?

And how could he leave Lisa? Or his dad. And Ginny was never going to leave, which meant Kyle would never leave.

He looked at Jacob’s cottage. He hadn’t seen Meredith or her sister leave since he’d left them that afternoon. He could feel the argument brewing between the sisters as they were going through the paintings. Quinn had thought Jacob had been a touchy subject with Meredith because she didn’t trust him, but after a day with the two women, it was clear Meredith had more than just trust issues.

Remy, however, didn’t seem to mind pushing the boundaries. She kept asking Ginny the questions while they went through the paintings. And, of course, Ginny loved to tell the stories to the women, which even got Meredith listening intently.

At first, Meredith had reminded Quinn of a porcelain doll—beautiful on the outside, yet empty and hollow on the inside.

How could she not be moved by a man who had struggled his whole life with being unable to be her father? The proof was painted all around her.

But then he’d seen her pick up one of the landscapes, one of his favorite vista views from Jacob’s back porch, and trace her fingertips against a tiny figure with pigtails running on the beach. And that was when he’d seen the change in her eyes. She wasn’t hollow and empty but filled with pain.

“I’ll give her your number right now,” he said when he saw the front door to Jacob’s cottage swing open and Meredith come outside.

“Let her know she can call day or night!” Megan said on the phone.

“I will, Megan. Thanks again,” he said as he hung up.

With a deep breath, he set his coffee down and headed out of the house, walking over to Jacob’s like he was walking the plank. This was it. The life he had known for fifty years was about to change.

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