8. Jess
Jess let Glory lead her around the house, the teen waxing poetic about every detail.
Somehow, through Glory’s eyes, the worn furnishings and lumpy walls took on the qualities of the setting of an old historic romance novel, and the sloped wooden floors became character-filled and ripe with potential.
Glory wasn’t wrong that the views from every window were incredible. The lush greenery, pale sand, and the blue of the ocean were like artwork. And of course the big wraparound porch was a showstopper. With a little work and a lot of paint it could be the envy of any home decor magazine.
Upstairs, there were five great big bedrooms in various states of disrepair. The woodwork was charming, and each room seemed to have a personality all its own. One even had a sleeping porch overlooking the ocean.
But the most amazing part was the first-floor addition.
Jess opened the door off the back hall and sighed with relief.
The addition had been a pleasant surprise when they’d come down here the first time. It was a massive suite that consisted of a huge bedroom, closet, and bathroom. It had a slightly vaulted, beamed ceiling. But the best part was the view. The back wall was all floor to ceiling glass. And because the addition was on the back of the house, that meant there was a breathtaking view of the ocean.
While the other spaces in the house were damp and smelly, the addition was a little dusty, but otherwise in perfect condition. She gazed at the waves lapping the shore outside the back window, the little sandpipers following them in and out to search for food, and for a moment, Jess felt at peace.
Her mom had always loved sandpipers.
“Why is this part better than the rest of the house?” Glory asked.
“I’ll bet the old addition was badly damaged in a hurricane and rebuilt,” Jess said thoughtfully. “The newer building style and materials may be why it’s handling the humidity better than the rest of the house. We can definitely move into this space while we work on everything else. It just needs a good cleaning.”
“We’re sharing a room?” Glory asked, wrinkling her nose.
“Just for now,” Jess said. “And if we manage to clean up one of the other rooms and find a clean mattress and bedding for you today, we won’t have to.”
“I’ll help clean,” Glory offered.
Jess was impressed. She had been planning on recruiting the teenager to help out a little anyway, but it was shocking to hear her volunteer, even if it was just to get her own room. Glory had never liked chores.
“That would be great, honey,” Jess told her. “We’ll get this place ship shape in no time.”
“How about the room upstairs with the sleeping porch?” Glory asked hopefully. “Can that one be mine?”
“Sure,” Jess told her with a smile. “That’s a really nice one. But our first job is to head back to town and buy cleaning supplies and food.”
“Okay,” Glory agreed.
They piled back into the car, and somehow in spite of the journey of the last three days, Jess felt energized.
The house might be a wreck, but it was her wreck. And Glory’s love for home improvement shows might just be its saving grace. They were going to bring it back from the brink somehow. Jess was sure of it.
Pulling into town, she spotted a nice-looking grocery store right across from the park. They found a parking spot easily and hopped out of the car.
“Oh wow, look,” Glory said. “An old-fashioned ice cream shop.”
Sure enough, there was a cute little glass-front shop with ice cream freezers and stools just like a fifties ice cream parlor.
“Want to go check it out and then meet me at the grocery store?” Jess offered, slipping Glory a few small bills. “Life is short. You’ve got to have ice cream for lunch once in a while.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Glory said with a big smile.
As her youngest walked to the ice cream shop with a spring in her step, Jess looked on with love, feeling like she often did with Glory, like a piece of her own heart was out there with her.
Once Glory had disappeared inside, Jess headed into the grocery store. The wooden painted sign said Beachfront Bounty and a chalkboard out front listed specials on fresh seafood with a note at the end.
Thank you for supporting your local grocer!
She grabbed a cart, feeling good about her shopping trip already, and headed for the last aisle.
The familiar refrains of Van Morrison were drifting down from the overhead speakers, and though the shop wasn’t crowded, the folks inside seemed laid-back. A man with a gray ponytail and a Grateful Dead tie-dyed t-shirt was helping an older lady in a pretty pink dress suit reach a few things from a high shelf. In another aisle, a kid with a push broom swept along to the beat.
Soon it would be tourist season and things might change, but for now it felt pretty much like old times.
She wasn’t really sure where to start, but they needed practically everything, so Jess figured she would check out the whole store.
Thankfully, coolers and ice were almost the first thing she found. She chose a reasonably priced, medium-sized cooler and threw in a couple of bags of ice. It would allow them to get through a day or so if she couldn’t get the fridge cleaned up, defrosted, and working well. And they could always use it for hanging out on the beach when the kitchen was up and running again.
In the produce section, she decided to go a little wild and grab all the fresh fruit and vegetables she wanted. She had missed having access to tropical fruit all year long. The supermarket she usually shopped at didn’t have produce like this at the best of times.
After finding bread, peanut butter and jelly, cereal and milk, and some basic baking items, she headed over to the aisle with the cleaning supplies, impulsively grabbing a bag of marshmallows off an aisle cap as she passed.
She let herself get overwhelmed for a moment as she stood in the cleaning aisle, realizing she could probably use just about every single item in it, but wanting to respect her budget.
“First things first,” she murmured to herself, grabbing some pine-scented liquid cleaner, bleach, and sponges.
By the time she had all she needed to get started, the cart was completely full. This trip was going to cost a fortune, but there were no two ways around it. They needed the food, and they desperately needed the cleaning supplies.
It will all come out in the wash when I sell the place, she reminded herself, immediately feeling better about everything in her cart.
She was headed toward check-out when she came around the end of an aisle and saw a familiar face. The world seemed to fade away and Jess’s heart thumped helplessly in her chest.
The woman in front of her was silver-haired and her tanned skin was lined with age, but Jess had pictured her former foster mom so many times over the years that she would have known her anywhere.
Other than being older, Mary McKinnon looked just like always, with her lovely posture, a moss-green cotton dress she had almost certainly sewn herself, and a necklace with a dangling stack of blue sea glass around her neck.
“Jess?” Mary murmured, her brown eyes locked on Jess’s. “Is that you?”
Jess nodded, drifting away from her cart without thinking about it and going straight to the woman who was already reaching her arms out for her.
“Oh, Jess,” Mary cried, as Jess wrapped her arms around her.
Mary was a little thinner now, but her arms were as strong as ever, and she still smelled like sea air and cinnamon, the most comforting scents in the world.
Jess closed her eyes, and for just a moment she was a frightened teenager again, forgetting all her worries as Mary McKinnon held her close to her bosom.
Then she felt Mary’s shoulders begin to shake and pulled back.
She was stunned to see that her foster mother was weeping.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Mary sobbed. “We talked about you every single day. But we didn’t want to disturb you in your new life.”
Tears slid down Jess’s cheeks without her even realizing that she had begun crying herself.
Around them, a small crowd was gathering.
“I missed you too,” Jess managed.
“What’s going on, Mom?” a woman asked worriedly, pushing her way through the other shoppers. “Jess?”
“Becca,” Jess realized, recognizing the other woman’s tall, athletic figure and blonde hair.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Becca said, wrapping one arm around her mother and one around Jess. “If you knew how often we talk about you… Are you here for a visit?”
“I’m here for the summer,” Jess said, wiping the tears from her cheek.
“Well, you’ve got to come by. Everyone will be so excited,” Becca said. “How about dinner tonight?”
“Tonight?” Jess echoed.
“Unless you’re busy?” Mary offered.
“No,” Jess said, her heart aching with happiness. “We’re not busy at all.”
“You’ll bring your family,” Becca said. “Of course.”
“It’s just my daughter and me,” Jess said automatically. “What can we bring?”
“Just yourselves,” Mary told her firmly, then took Jess’s hands in hers. “Oh, I can’t believe it, my sweet girl. I can’t believe you’re home.”
Home…
Jess smiled, basking in Mary’s gentle affection.
“We’d better head home and get to cooking and calling the others,” Becca said. “Right, Mom?”
“Oh sure,” Mary said without letting go of Jess. “Of course. We’ll see you around six, right? With your little girl?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Jess assured her.
“You still remember where we are?” Becca asked quietly.
“Of course,” Jess said.
She didn’t say that she had been there in her dreams many times over the years since the last time they’d seen each other.
“See you tonight, then,” Mary said, pulling her in for one more hug.
“I can’t wait,” Jess told her.
“What a marvelous world we live in,” Mary whispered to her, giving her an extra squeeze. “When the people we love come back to us.”
Jess watched the two of them disappear into the aisles for a moment before she remembered to grab her cart again and check out.
She knew me right away. She missed me…
Jess paid for her purchases in a haze and then headed outside. Glory was standing by the car, her peppermint ice cream cone dripping a little as she watched the people in the park.
Jess unlocked the car and Glory turned to her.
“Mom,” she said, sounding a little alarmed. “Are you okay?”
Jess remembered that her face was probably tear-streaked.
“Yes,” she said quickly. “Yes, yes, I ran into an old friend. Happy tears.”
“Everything makes you cry,” Glory sighed. But she was smiling.
She wasn’t wrong. Jess was guilty of tearing up over favorite poems and songs, and even over a TV commercial now and then.
“We’re going over there for dinner later,” Jess told her, hoping Glory wouldn’t complain about having to socialize with strange grown-ups.
“Well good,” Glory said. “Because I hate to say it, but our kitchen is gross.”
“Funny you should bring that up,” Jess teased. “We’re going to start the day by cleaning it.”
Glory rolled her eyes, but she didn’t complain. She was a good kid, and Jess couldn’t wait for her to meet the McKinnons.
“You sure you’re okay?” Glory asked quietly as they got in the car.
“Yes,” Jess told her. “I’m more than okay. I feel like… maybe everything that’s happening to us right now was meant to be.”
“Well, this ice cream cone was definitely meant to be,” Glory said. “It’s amazing. Want a little?”
“Sure,” Jess laughed, taking it carefully to avoid any stray drips.
The peppermint flavor melted on her tongue, sweet and light, the perfect counterpoint to the warmth of the morning.