Page 94 of The Cottage on Blueberry Bay

She laughed, and an urge to hear it again came over him. He wanted to keep Meredith laughing.

“Can we take out the boat, Meredith?” Kyle asked, walking straight into the house without permission.

“Yeah,” she said, her grin widening at the sight of him. “That sounds wonderful.”

“Are you coming, too?” Kyle asked.

Quinn had thought Kyle had been excited about taking the boat out with him, but he could see he was also excited about taking Meredith out.

“Can I take a few minutes to get ready?” she asked Kyle.

“No problem,” he said.

He and Kyle walked together back to the truck and waited. When Meredith came out, she jumped in the passenger’s seat and leaned over to Kyle in the back.

“You going to be the captain today?” she asked.

And that was when he saw the relationship between Kyle and Meredith in a new way. She fit in that seat. He liked having her next to him, sharing this moment with her and Kyle. Their families may be neighbors, but their connection was clear, and he liked having her in his life.

And it was clear, so did Kyle.

CHAPTER32

Everything became clear for Meredith that day on the boat.

She almost felt silly to compare Ariel’s transformation inThe Little Mermaidto her own, but she suddenly felt a connection to her favorite children’s story. Ariel didn’t belong in her life under the sea, whereas Meredith no longer belonged in the world of motherhood and being a wife. She needed to fight her demons to be happy with who she was all along.

Just Meredith.

And becoming Meredith meant she needed to be happy by herself.

She sat on what Kyle called the starboard side and looked out at the views. Everyone talked about the beauty of the Atlantic water, the shores of granite cliffs, and the sugary-soft sand. As they drove the boat through Blueberry Bay, Kyle and Quinn pointed out the landmarks.

“That’s the Isabella Lighthouse,” Kyle said, pointing out the white-and-red lighthouse that sat alone on an island of pines and granite.

“Does anyone live there?” Remy asked.

Quinn shook his head. “It’s run on its own generator. No need for a lighthouse keeper nowadays.”

The view felt completely foreign to Meredith as they glided up the coast, looking from the water back at the little village and ocean shore. From the harbor, she couldn’t find the little cottage at first, but then she finally made it out.

“ Le gîteen bord de Mer.” A feeling of warmth filled her chest as they floated past the little gray clapboard cottage.

In that moment, everything changed. Everything.

And Meredith knew what she needed to do.

CHAPTER33

Quinn drove to work thinking about the few projects he had to do that day. He had to run to town hall, then drop off the bin full of food to the pantry at the local Congregational Church that had been collected at the last fundraiser, and after, he had to stop by the high school and give them Kyle’s physical form. If he worked for Bruce, he wouldn’t be able to go to most of Kyle’s games. He wouldn’t have time.

Then he remembered the Queen Bees meeting he had said he would attend later that night. What else was there to say?Jacob is dead. Talk to Meredith?

He arrived at the office, and it took Ginny less than a half hour to show up and start in on the argument from last night.

Kyle, like he suspected, had been thrilled to take out the boat. He had talked with Ginny about it all night at dinner.

Ginny had assumed that the news of the boat trip meant Quinn had changed his mind about Kyle fishing, though he had quickly reminded her that he still wanted Kyle to go to college. That hadn’t changed. And that had set Kyle off.

---