Chapter Five #2
Liz smiled at me, her expression markedly warmer. “The preparation has been extensive,” she said. “Even before Kathy brought in this awful planner.”
The front door creaked, opening. A beat later, Kasey came in, carrying a huge bouquet, pink and red blooms trailing.
She had on jeans, rolled up to her ankles—a pair of clippers was stuffed in one of the back pockets—and a faded white T-shirt that said Kale.
Her hair was twisted up into a messy bun, held in place with a pencil.
A few petals fluttered to the floor as she set the flowers down to get her own cup of coffee.
More fell as she came out and took a seat at the table as well, leaving a trail behind her.
Looking at them, I realized that despite their differences—my mom in her black, Liz a pop of color, Kasey’s easy beauty—it was obvious they were family. That way you just know, even from the outside.
“Do we have a plan for sorting through everything?” my mom was saying now.
“Well, I brought a bunch of stickers.” Liz reached into a bag at her feet, then held up a sheet of little circles: blue, green, yellow. “I was thinking—”
“Mom’s color code?” Kasey asked. “Seriously?”
I was confused. “There’s a code?”
“She was always sorting stuff into piles,” Liz explained to me. “Blue was keep; green, give; yellow, trash.”
“You couldn’t even leave a sweater out without it getting stickered. If not outright disposed of.” Kasey clipped some roses, setting the blooms aside. “Let’s be real, though. It’s not like Cat’s actually going to want any of this stuff.”
“She’ll want something,” Liz said.
I looked at my mom, who just took a sip of her coffee, saying nothing.
Kasey clipped another stalk. “Well, for what it’s worth, I can’t imagine I’ll take much. It’s not like my place over the Egg is that big.”
“There’s room for some things,” Liz said. “I mean, you’ll want Mom’s breakfront.”
“Why? I don’t even know what a breakfront is.” Kasey looked at me. “Do you?”
“A cabinet?” I offered.
“Basically,” my mom said, her voice flat. “Traditionally holds dishes.”
“I have dishes, though.” Clip.
“Not Mom’s dishes. They’re heirlooms.” Liz pulled out a folder. “I made a list of what I’d like. I know I can’t have it all. But I just wanted to put it out there.”
My mom took the sheet, scanning it. “You want that heavy oak furniture Dad moved here from his office after he retired? Why?”
“I just do,” Liz replied. Then she added, “The court was so much of who he was, you know?”
My mom pushed out her chair, picking up her mug and disappearing into the kitchen. Apparently, that was her reply, though to me the question had sounded rhetorical.
“Hello?” A voice came down the hallway, followed by a light knock. “Anyone home?”
“That’s Angela,” Liz said. As she left, heading to the door, Kasey put down the clippers, surveying the blooms—sunflower, red rose, some kind of puffy pink flower—before beginning to put them in small bundles.
“… you fitting us in,” Liz said, coming down the hallway. “I know it’s last minute.”
“Oh, stop,” said a woman in jeans, her hair in a neat bob, who was behind her. Her blue button-down had NORTH LAKE ESTATE SALES stitched on it. “You know how long I’ve been waiting to get in here and do this. Oh, hey, Cat!”
My mom nodded in response.
“So crazy to see you back here! It’s been a million years.” Angela put her hands on her hips. “So, kitchen appliances. You’re selling those?”
Clearly, she didn’t waste time. Liz seemed startled also as she said, “Well, I think yes. Unless…” She glanced at Kasey. “Yes.”
“Does that include what’s in the laundry room?”
“Um, sure. But the washer’s pretty ancient.” Liz got to her feet. “Let me show you.”
Kasey, now binding the bouquets with some wire she’d had in another pocket, raised her eyebrows. “Moving fast.”
“Better than slow.” My mom took a sip of her coffee. “So what’s the Tides planning to do with this place?”
“Raze it,” her sister told her. “The cabin, too.”
“Really?”
“They just want the land. Everything else is going.” Kasey picked up the clippers again. “You knew that, though. Right?”
“Of course,” my mom said. But the look on her face made me wonder.
Liz and Angela were headed to the second floor now, their voices bouncing up the stairs. In the kitchen, I saw green dots were now on the fridge and dishwasher, a blue on a glassware cabinet. Breakfront?
I heard the door again. A moment later, the cook from the Egg who’d been eyeing me earlier was cutting through the living room. He was still wearing an apron, although he’d freed himself from the part that circled the neck, letting it hang down over his waist. In his arms was a box of mason jars.
“Ben?” Kasey said as he came onto the porch. “What are you doing here?”
A clank as he put the jars down on the table. “It was slow for a minute,” he said. Now that he was close by, I picked up a slight smell of bacon, not entirely unpleasant. “And Cardoon came in asking about the flowers.”
“Crap.” Kasey flipped her wrist over, studying the large watch there. “Is it already ten?”
Ten? So weird I hadn’t heard anything from Colin. I wondered if I should be worried.
Looking at my phone, I figured out one problem: It was barely registering a signal. I got up and started walking around, looking for better reception. As I came into the kitchen, right in front of the sink, it inched up to half a bar.
“Can I slide in there?” Kasey asked. She had a pitcher of water in her hand. Though I only moved aside the tiniest bit, the signal dropped out again. I sighed.
“Everything okay?” my mom asked.
“Yeah,” I told her. “Just can’t connect for some reason.”
“The reception here is terrible,” Kasey said, cutting off the faucet and heading back to the table. “You should go to the dock.”
I turned, looking toward the lake. “It’s better down there?”
“Not that dock. The loading dock. At the Egg.” She was pouring water into the jars, Ben then adding a bouquet to each jar. “It’s the only place around with five bars. It’s where I talk to my lawyer.”
“Seems a long way to go,” my mom observed.
“I try not to do it that often.” Kasey began putting the jars back in the box, carefully. “She’ll be thrilled to hear about this, though. Almost as happy as you.”
She said this lightly, still busy with the bouquets. As if it was nothing. But it hit my mom, sharp and exact, who said, “I didn’t decide all alone to sell, Kasey.”
Kasey looked up. “Cat, you don’t care about this place like we do. That’s all I’m saying.”
I’d picked up on this from the jump. But weirdly, my mom looked hurt. “I was under the impression that everyone was in agreement. Isn’t that what all the calls and emails were about?”
“You mean the ones you ignored until yesterday?” Kasey replied, jamming some flowers into a jar. Ben looked up at her, raising his eyebrows.
“Are we really going to get into this now?” my mom asked.
“Would you prefer we wait until we’re selling everything?”
“Kasey, honestly.” My mom glanced the stairs, then lowered her voice. “I expected this from Liz. She’s always been sentimental. But you—”
“What?” Kasey asked. Clip. Clip. “What am I? More like you?”
“You’re not waxing on about the breakfront.”
Now Ben looked at me. Like we were both kids and our parents were sparring.
“True. But I have been here all these years.” Kasey did another jar. “Showing up out of nowhere and telling us what to do? That’s ballsy even for you, Cat.”
“You demanded I come and now you want me to butt out,” my mom countered. “Make up your mind.”
“You’re right, I guess it’s on us. We should have known you couldn’t be here and have any empathy for anyone but yourself.”
“I have empathy.” My mom’s tone was short, though, as if she was trying to prove otherwise. Maybe this was why she took a breath before adding, “I’m also realistic about this place and its history.”
“Realistic?” Kasey repeated. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
My mom sucked in a breath, about to reply. Then she looked at me, clearing her throat instead.
“Ben, why don’t you take Finley to the Egg,” Kasey said. To me she added, “I’m sure you can reach your boyfriend there.”
I nodded, grateful for an exit, even an awkward one. As I followed Ben and the bouquets through the kitchen, then down the hall, I kept waiting for them to start up arguing again. But it was quiet the whole way.