Chapter 15 #2
“You’d make your grandma and grandpa sleep on the cold hard floor while you were cuddled up in a nice warm bed with Daddy and me?
” his mother teased lightheartedly, obviously trying to indicate how impractical Archie was being without hurting his feelings.
“I don’t think they’d be very comfortable. ”
“Then they can cuddle up in a nice warm bed with you and Daddy, and I’ll sleep on the cold hard floor,” he volunteered.
His mother used a firmer voice. “I’m afraid the answer is no. Please stop talking about it or you’ll make Auntie Caitlin feel bad that she can’t invite us to the cottage.”
Too late , I already feel terrible , she thought.
“I miss you all so much and I can’t wait to come back and visit you at your house for Christmas.
” She told her niece and nephews about Lydia’s special cookie cutter, and then she suggested, “When I get back to Santa Fe, maybe you can come to my apartment for a sleepover. It’s been renovated, too, and we can make windmill cookies. How does that sound?”
“Good,” they duly answered, although Caitlin knew her offer was a poor substitute for what they truly wanted to do.
And she couldn’t blame them; Caitlin felt like she’d rather spend the holidays on Dune Island than in Santa Fe, too.
Long after their phone call ended, she imagined how much the children would enjoy exploring the woods and running down the beach.
She could also picture herself reading to them in the loft and helping them make colorful drawings of the ocean view.
Maybe if the cottage doesn’t sell right away, we could all make a trip here during the children’s spring break from school , she daydreamed. I’m sure I could work remotely for a week…
Deep down, she knew it was unlikely that the cottage wouldn’t be snapped up as soon as she put it on the market. I suppose I could wait to list it… But Caitlin recognized that if the children came to Dune Island once, they’d love it so much they’d want to return every year.
Then I’d have to tell them no, and they’d be crushed , she thought. And this place already has more than enough heartache associated with it.
That night, the temperature dropped to 8 degrees Fahrenheit, but the wind chill factor made it feel as if it was ten below, according to the weather forecaster Caitlin heard on the news the following morning.
“Winds will pick up throughout the day, driving the temperatures down even further. The weather service has issued an extreme cold warning for the entire state, and residents are urged to stay indoors. Under these conditions, there is a high risk of frostbite or hypothermia, so if you must go out, dress in dry, warm inner layers, and wear a tightly-woven coat or jacket, as well as a hat, scarf, and?—”
Caitlin clicked off the TV. I guess that explains why I had to turn up the heat in the middle of the night , she thought.
Intended for summer use, the duvets in the cottage were made of lightweight material, and even though she’d used three of them on her bed, she’d woken up so cold she would’ve taken a bath just to get warm if she hadn’t been so tired.
Curling her fingers around her coffee mug, she hurried upstairs to the loft to sit in front of the fireplace.
I’m glad I’m in here and not out there , she thought as she watched large shards of white ice bumping against each other in the undulating waters.
Thanks to Shane’s expertise about thermal regulation, I think it’s warmer in the windmill than it is in the rest of the cottage.
Caitlin contemplated Marion’s tempting suggestion that she invite him to dinner. Making a special, homecooked meal seems like a pleasant, personal way to thank him for all the work he poured into the remodel.
Yet the next instant, she questioned whether prolonging her time with Shane would only remind her of how much she liked him—and how much she wished they could have a romantic relationship.
But that would mean telling him about what happened the summer Nicole drowned. And even though he himself had confided that he’d made a lot of stupid mistakes as a teenager, Caitlin was sure they weren’t as consequential as what she had done. No, she couldn’t risk opening up to him about that.
Still, just because our relationship can’t go any further than a flirtation, it doesn’t mean we can’t spend a fun evening together, does it?
Caitlin vacillated for over an hour about whether or not to extend a supper invitation to him, and when she still couldn’t make up her mind, she turned her attention to calling the estate attorney to tell him the remodel had been completed.
“I can text you photos if you need proof,” she offered.
“That won’t be necessary,” he said with a chuckle. “I believe you, and I’m sure your aunt trusted you to honor her request.”
“I’ll text a photo anyway,” Caitlin insisted, and sent it to him, proud to show off Shane’s handiwork. “I’m very pleased with the way it turned out. Shane—the carpenter—did a fantastic job.”
The attorney seemed impressed, too. “If I could afford it, I’d buy the cottage and windmill from you. Although, once my wife got there, she’d probably never want to come back home with me again,” he joked. Or maybe he was serious. “Are you sure you want to sell it?”
“Sometimes, I have my doubts,” she answered with a sigh. “But yes, I’m going to move forward with the sale.”
The attorney told her that his paralegal would send her e-copies and the original paperwork she’d need related to the deed of the cottage, as well as other legal documents and correspondence.
“After you review everything, if you have questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out.
I’ll be out of the country for the holidays, starting tomorrow through the New Year, but my paralegal will be covering for me. ”
I wonder if his paralegal would mind if I called just because I wanted to chat with someone , Caitlin thought drolly after thanking him and hanging up.
For someone who supposedly treasured solitude, she was bothered by how much quieter the cottage was now that Shane had finished the remodel.
If it weren’t for the wind howling outside, the silence in here would be deafening.
Since it was too cold to hike into town—it was even too cold to walk to the bus stop—she spent most of the day cleaning and packing, in preparation for her departure.
This makes me feel like I’ve come full circle , she thought, because even though so much had changed, she was fundamentally alone again, just like when she’d first arrived.
Caitlin woke in the middle of the night again. It wasn’t that she was too cold—she’d left the heat turned up when she went to bed, and she’d worn a sweater over her pajamas. It was that she heard a dull, rhythmic knocking coming from the back of the house.
Puzzled, she padded into the kitchen, flicked on the outdoor lights and peered through the window. No one was there, but the thumping noise persisted. She opened the door and was met by a blast of arctic air that took her breath away.
No wonder there are frostbite warnings on TV!
she thought, as she leaned halfway out the door and scanned the backyard and the windmill for the source of the noise.
Relieved that she didn’t see any damage, she looked the other way and immediately noticed that the gutter above the kitchen window had come loose at one end and was thumping against the cottage.
It’s too high for me to reach and even if I had a ladder, I wouldn’t know how to secure it in place again.
The banging noise kept her awake for hours, but she was too excited to sleep anyway, knowing that she’d have to ask Shane back one more time before she left Dune Island.