Page 44 of The Cottage on Blueberry Bay

She rushed out of the room and headed toward the kitchen, not sure what she was doing, just getting away from them. She walked out the back door and onto the porch, the ocean air hitting her. She leaned against the railing and looked out, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

What was she doing here? She needed to go.

“Merry?” Remy asked.

“Enough with the nickname, Remy,” Meredith snapped at her. Would her sister ever start being helpful?

Remy stepped slowly onto the porch but went back to the wooden threshold. “I’m so sorry.”

“What for?” Meredith rolled her eyes at the litany of things her sister should be sorry for.

“You lost Jacob,” Remy said.

“He wasn’t my father. I didn’t even know him.” Meredith sighed. “Goodness, Remy. Leave it be.”

Remy didn’t move. “Do you wantmeto leave?”

Meredith hesitated for a split second, not sure what to say. “I don’t want you to insert yourself.”

“Wow, okay.” Remy crossed her arms. “So you just want to do whatever you want with our mother’s history without even thinking about my feelings?”

“Are you kidding me right now?” Meredith said. “Are you making this about you?”

Remy sighed as if Meredith was being the ridiculous one. “No, Meredith. I’m stating a fact. The fact is, Jacob lovedourmother. He painted her and sculpted her and kept her picture where he ate. This isn’t just about you, but all of us.Yourfamily.” She stepped up to Meredith. “Have you even told the kids?”

Meredith didn’t answer because she hadn’t. What was the point?

“All I want to do is help,” Remy said. “But if I’m in your way and inserting myself where I don’t belong, then I’ll leave.”

Like when she was a little girl not getting her way, Remy turned to leave in dramatic form, heading for the house.

“Stop, Remy. I don’t want you to go,” Meredith said. She looked back at the water. She knew Remy was right. Jacob was as much a part of Remy’s life as he was Meredith’s. “We should probably start cataloging his art and make sure anything to do with Mom stays with us.”

CHAPTER17

Quinn walked toward his mother as the Queen Bees did their work with the hives. All that time and effort they had put into getting the crop ready for Blueberry Bay’s annual festival, and they might not even make it that long. For years, the women of the Queen Bees Society had worked in Jacob’s crop, one of Maine’s most abundant blueberry crops, the most picturesque spots, and they were about to lose it all.

How long would they have until everything ended? How long would he be able to convince Meredith not to sell? How long did the town have to get their act together?

Why had Jacob not followed through on his end?

Because Jacob had never promised anything in writing. Rather, he’d assumed his daughter would do the right thing for the town.

From what he could tell, the discovery of Jacob’s fortune hadn’t changed her mind about him. And he certainly blamed Jacob for that. He just wished he could somehow show her why that piece of land was so important to Blueberry Bay.

Ginny held a tin smoker in her hands, puffing the smoke out at the hives as she checked on things.

He waved at her from afar, not willing to get too close to the bees, even though they may be less likely to sting. He didn’t want to take his chances.

She put the tin can down and started walking over to him.

“Good morning,” she said, looking at the time. “I see you got Meredith to stay.”

“Not exactly,” he said. “She’s not happy you’re all here. I thought we said you’d give her some space.”

“We can’t neglect the bees,” she said. “It’s been a week since we last checked on our girls.”

Quinn looked back at the house, waiting to hear a car pull out of the drive, but he got a text.

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