Page 45 of The Cottage on Blueberry Bay

He looked at his phone, and his heart sank. “She wants a real estate agent to come by, and her sister sounds like she’s”—he used air quotes—“‘an expert’ to appraise all of Jacob’s art.”

Ginny put her hands on her hips. “Well, then it’s time to do it my way.”

Quinn dropped his head. “That’s not going to work.”

“What’s not going to work?” Ginny said, not expecting his answer. “Showing her everything we have to offer is exactly what needs to be done in order to make her understand she’s a part of this place just as much as you and me.”

He looked back at the house. The shingled cape symbolized everything about Jacob—old, weathered, beaten by the sea, abundant beauty everywhere, and completely alone.

“You know I’m right,” Ginny said.

Quinn groaned. “Kyle has football practice this afternoon. But don’t go and bother her and her sister.”

She puffed smoke at him.

“I’m serious, Mom.” He groaned again. That’s like telling his mother to stop working the land. Look how good that had turned out.

He had no control. Wasn’t that what the family therapist had said after Lisa had died? Control was just an illusion. He had no control over anything. Not his feelings or his son’s. Not his wife’s accident or her injuries. Not over her wish not to be resuscitated or to donate her organs. His need for control had been his ultimate downfall.

He’d spent years revisiting what he could have done. He could have been like most normal couples and not have had a living will, but instead he’d hemmed and hawed over every detail. He could’ve left work early and gone to Kyle’s game with them, but instead he’d stayed late doing crisis control for his clients. He could have driven them all home, but instead she’d driven home alone. He could have done so many things to change the course of the events, but in the end, he’d had no control over any of it.

He turned when he heard the slam of a car door in the driveway. He watched as Meredith’s sister closed the car door. Then the two sisters put sunglasses on and walked down the dirt path toward Jacob’s barn and the Queen Bees.

He watched as they got out and walked through the blueberry fields, Meredith didn’t look back at the view behind her, which made his anxiety grow. If one of the most beautiful places on earth wasn’t enough to make her hesitate to sell, he was convinced no one would change her mind.

And he had no control over what Jacob’s daughter would do. The best thing to do would be to let it go.

CHAPTER18

If Meredith hadn’t felt completely defeated by life at that moment, she would have never let Remy take control of the situation. But there she was, letting Remy take charge.

“Let’s introduce ourselves before going to the barn,” Remy suggested as they walked outside. She walked to her black luxury car and took out a pair of Chanel sunglasses, instantly looking like Audrey Hepburn. She walked a bit ahead of Meredith, following the dirt and gravel road. “Did you know E. B. White wroteCharlotte’s Webaround here on the coast of Maine?”

Meredith hadn’t known, but she also didn’t know what that had to do with what they were about to discover.

Were there more portraits of her mother? More paintings of Jacob’s madness? She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out.

At the end of the road, she noticed a gray shingled barn as the backdrop to the fields. If she weren’t so stuck in her misery, she may have been as mesmerized by the scenery as Remy, who gasped at the sight, but Meredith couldn’t take it in. She felt outside herself, like walking through the motions but not being in her body.

“Oh, Mer, it’s beautiful!” Remy went on and on.

This strange new world felt so very foreign that Meredith didn’t even feel present next to her sister.

Remy began waving at the women. The one named Ginny, who stood in a beekeeper outfit, puffing smoke out of a tin can, stopped what she was doing when she saw Remy waving and put the can down. Meredith could see her say something to the other beekeepers, then she walked down through the bushes to meet them on the path.

“Good morning,” Ginny said, removing her veil.

“Good morning,” Meredith said back.

“I wanted to thank you again for letting us continue caring for Jacob’s property,” Ginny said, just before Meredith could say anything to the contrary.

Maybe Remy was right. What harm were they causing by taking care of some blueberry fields?

“Hi, I’m Remy.” Remy held out her hand to Ginny. “I’m Meredith’s sister.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Ginny said. “Heard a lot about you.”

“Really?” Meredith said.

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