Chapter 26
26
Jewel
It felt almost miraculous. Over the next few days, Dad seemed to decide the new house belonged to him. With Mom and Cooper’s help, Jewel managed to move more furniture into the house, slowly sneaking in new pieces each day. But it looked homey enough that Dad enjoyed spending time in his new living room. They also took over kitchen things and some food, including Dad’s beloved honey, peanut butter, and milk. Eventually they moved in his recliner and TV, and the new house became his daily go-to right after breakfast.
Finally, with Dad’s “help” they moved the bed and bedroom furniture and even more household goods, and just like that, Jewel’s parents were ready to spend their first night in the new house.
“We’ll have a honeymoon,” Dad said as the four of them stood on the front deck to say good night. “Get it?” He laughed. “Me and honey ... our honeymoon .”
“Oh, CT.” Mom playfully swatted his arm. “You’re such a romantic.”
“That’s a great name,” Jewel said. “How about Honeymoon Cottage?”
“Yes,” he agreed. “Honey and cottage ... cheese. I’m hungry.”
Mom laughed. “You’re in luck. We have lots of food in our new kitchen.”
“I hope you both enjoy your first night here.” Jewel presented them with the bottle of champagne she’d gotten for the occasion. “I thought we should christen the house, but let’s not break this on its bow. You two can enjoy it later. With your cottage cheese and honey.” She winked.
“And this is for you too,” Cooper handed her grandfather a bouquet of lavender and daisies she’d arranged in a mason jar. “I picked these for your new house, Grandpa.”
“Uh-huh.” He nodded with appreciation. “Nice.”
Mom held the champagne bottle high. “I now christen this house Honeymoon Cottage.”
“God bless,” Jewel said.
After her parents went inside and Cooper dashed off, Jewel stepped back to admire Honeymoon Cottage. The covered front deck, recently painted with slip-proof deck paint, now looked inviting with its pair of matching Adirondack rockers and several overflowing flowerpots that Mom had planted and set into place. Mom had also filled the flower boxes with geraniums, alyssum, and ivy. It all looked so sweet and inviting that Jewel was pleased with the results.
Because she was familiar with Dad’s mood swings, she understood how quickly he could change his mind about something. But if he didn’t make this transition, she felt certain that she and Cooper could be quite comfortable there. With a whole lot less work than the big plans she had for transforming the farmhouse into a functioning B&B. Yet her mother was so thrilled about her new little house that Jewel hoped and prayed it would all work out. As she walked back to the farmhouse, she wondered what it would feel like to have the whole thing for just her and Cooper.
“Do you think Grandpa will make it there for a whole night?” Cooper asked as Jewel came up the porch steps. “What if he comes back here in the middle of the night? Where will he sleep?”
“Your grandma plans to give him one of his relax pills.”
Cooper laughed. “That sounds dumb. Why not just say Xanax?”
“I know. But that’s what your grandma calls them. For Grandpa’s sake.” Jewel remained on the front porch, leaning on the railing as she gazed out toward the new house and admired how charming it looked from here in the dusky light. Such a great transformation. “I sure hope he makes it through the night,” she said quietly.
“Well, Anna and I worked hard on their bedroom.” Cooper leaned against the railing too. “We took pictures of how everything was set up in their old bedroom. We tried to make their new bedroom look the same. Even the pictures on the wall. But I wonder if Grandpa will even notice.”
“Well, it can’t hurt. Thanks so much for your help.”
“It was kinda fun.”
Jewel gave Cooper a sideways hug. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Coop.” With her arm still around her daughter, they went into the house.
“Mom?” Cooper closed the front door. “I keep meaning to tell you something.”
“What’s that?” Jewel turned with concern. Was something wrong?
“It’s just that, well, I’m really glad we moved up here.”
“Oh, Coop.” Jewel hugged her. “I’m so glad to hear that.”
“It just feels right.”
She hugged her daughter more tightly. “It does to me too.”
“I mean, I know it’s not perfect and we’ll probably still get into some fights.” Cooper stepped back with a sheepish smile. “But mostly I think it’s a good thing.”
Jewel nodded. “Me too. Mostly.”
“I wish Grandpa would get well.”
Jewel felt close to tears now. “Yeah. Me too.”
“But even if he doesn’t ... I’m glad we’re here.”
Jewel nodded. She was blinking back grateful tears, and no more words were exchanged. A good thing since Jewel was pretty sure she’d fall completely apart. But they understood each other. She knew that.
To Jewel’s relief, her father didn’t come storming into the farmhouse in the middle of the night. That was something. And the next morning, after giving her parents plenty of time to get up, Jewel knocked cautiously on the front door. Her mother opened it with a big smile.
“Does this mean you’re doing okay?” Jewel asked quietly.
Mom pointed to where Dad was sitting in his recliner, eating a banana and watching True Grit . “So far, so good,” she whispered.
Jewel sighed. “And you both slept okay?”
“No problems.” Honey nodded toward her old house. “Maybe even better than over there.”
“Do you miss it, Mom?”
She glanced at her husband, then pursed her lips. “I suppose I miss it about as much as I miss everything else nowadays ... but I’ll get used to it.”
Jewel nodded somberly.
“So don’t worry. Your dad is happy, and that makes me happy. Thanks again for all you did to get us in here.”
“Of course. Also I had tentatively scheduled Aaron and his crew to start renovating the farmhouse next week. I guess I’ll give him the green light now.” Jewel glanced around the spacious living room where most of her parents’ furnishings were in place. It really did look good. Not too cluttered and busy. It would be an easy room to be comfortable in. “But if things change ... I can always pull the plug on the B&B.”
“That’s good to know, but I think we’ll be fine here. Your dad seemed genuinely pleased with everything this morning. I think he’s enchanted with Honeymoon Cottage.” She actually giggled. “He thinks we’re on vacation.” Jewel wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but Mom actually seemed to be blushing.
“Well, I hope you can pretend you’re on vacation, Mom.”
She nodded. “It does sort of feel like that. And there isn’t much to do as far as housework goes. Everything is so clean and new. And since you and Cooper seem to be managing everything else, well, I might just relax and hang with your dad today. Let him feel settled and at ease.”
“Good plan.” Jewel stepped back. “Coop and I can move in more of your things if you want. Just let us know.”
“I’m thinking I’d like to become a minimalist.” Mom smiled. “For a change.”
“Hey, why not? If it’s okay, I’ll just store your other stuff in the barn or the attic.”
“Makes no difference to me. I do believe less is more. Simple is better.” She suddenly hugged Jewel. “Thank you so much for pushing for this, sweetie. I’ll admit, I had my doubts, but it looks like you were right.”
Jewel gave her a thumbs-up, then stepped away. “Enjoy!”
As Jewel walked back to the farmhouse, she replayed her mother’s words. Once again, she felt taken aback by the unexpected praise. Values and expectations seemed to be changing ... for all of them. Jewel just hoped the new house would really make life simpler for her parents. Poor Mom already had more than enough to deal with. If the new house helped, even a little, it was well worth the effort. And being part of the solution felt rewarding. Hopefully it would remain a solution.
Jewel refilled her coffee mug, then looked around the kitchen. Despite outfitting the new house’s kitchen to her mother’s satisfaction, this one looked barely touched. And it wasn’t just from Mom’s collecting over the years. Jewel knew that her parents had inherited two previous generations of stuff when they took over the farm.
Cooper came into the kitchen, stretching her arms. “How are Grandma and Grandpa doing?”
“They seem fine.” Jewel watched her daughter open the fridge. Still in her oversized T-shirt and with bed head, she yawned as she removed the orange juice.
“You’re up early.”
“Yeah. Anna and I have a business meeting at her house this morning.”
“Business meeting?” Jewel’s brows shot up.
Cooper gave a half smile as she filled her glass. “It’s Anna’s idea that we should start a business. You know, to make money before school starts.”
Jewel sipped her coffee. “What kind of business?”
“Well, Anna has all sorts of ideas. I suggested doing something with the lavender. Grandma said that was okay with her.”
“That’s a nice idea.”
“Or maybe we could have a honey stand on the edge of town. And when it’s fall, we could do pumpkins there too.” She downed the last of her orange juice, then opened a yogurt container.
“Good ideas.” Jewel reached up to the top of the fridge to remove a porcelain rooster cookie jar, then she used a damp dishrag to wipe away what looked like several years’ worth of dust. At one time her mom had been into rooster decor in the kitchen. “Or you could manage a big yard sale right here on the farm. There’s loads of stuff we need to get rid of, and I’m sure Grandma would let you keep a fair-sized portion of the proceeds.”
Cooper tipped her head to one side. “That might be interesting.”
“You’ve seen the attic and closets and how much is packed into this place. Who knows, you might even find some treasures.”
“Even more interesting.” She dipped her spoon into the yogurt and stirred.
“Grandma thinks it’s okay to proceed with the renovations for the B&B, so I plan to start clearing things out ASAP. For the time being I’ll probably store it all in the barn, but if you’re not interested, I might see about hiring someone to clear it out for me.”
“Okay. I’ll definitely mention it to Anna at our meeting.” With a banana in one hand and her yogurt in the other, Cooper made her exit. Jewel smiled as her barefoot daughter with her lime-green-tipped hair pitter-pattered away. If anyone would have told her just a few months ago that this is where they would be now, she would not have believed it. And compared to her previous life, the gorgeous downtown gallery, her swanky condo, artistic friends ... some might say she was slumming now. And yet she was grateful and felt richer than ever.
She texted Aaron that she was ready to proceed with some remodeling projects, then she sat down to list her priorities, keeping her ever-shrinking budget in mind. Thanks to her experience renovating the gallery, she had some idea of what was involved and respected how construction costs always ran higher than initial estimates. So she was determined to keep things minimal and, hopefully, do some of the work herself.
Fortunately, the farmhouse had good bones, including hardwood floors, quality woodwork, and thanks to Mom, updated plumbing fixtures. What it really needed most was kitchen updates with industrial appliances, a good heat pump to provide adequate AC for the second floor, and a number of safety-related fixes. She also wanted to repaint both inside and out, get some new furnishings and, of course, finally add her artistic design flare in the finessing of the B&B. Hopefully, she could stretch her finances to cover it all, plus get a website built and her inn up and running by autumn. It was a lot, but she felt confident it was doable with hard work.
She’d just set her list aside when she heard Cooper screaming for help outside. Dropping her notepad, she raced for the back door, yelling for her daughter. Hearing her voice in the vicinity of the beehives, a cold fear washed over her as she raced to find Cooper, praying that she wasn’t being attacked. But when she found her, there were no bees in sight. Just Cooper standing there with teary eyes.
“What is it?” Jewel asked breathlessly.
“The bees!”
“What about the bees?”
“They’re gone.”
“Gone?” Jewel frowned, her heart rate returning to normal. “Oh, they’re probably just gathering pollen.”
“No. I looked through the lavender. Not a single bee in sight. And the hives are empty. All of them. The bees are gone, Mom.” Cooper pointed over her shoulder. “And Grandpa’s headed over here. He’ll freak.”
“What is it?” Dad asked them with a puzzled expression. “Yelling? Who’s yelling?” He narrowed his eyes at them, as if trying to place who they were or why they were here.
“It’s nothing,” Jewel answered. “Cooper just got excited.”
He frowned. “Cooper?”
Jewel pointed to her daughter. “Cooper. Same name as you, Dad.”
As if he knew, Dad went straight for the hives, bending down to listen. “No buzzing.”
“Grandpa,” Cooper said gently. “I think the bees might be gone.”
“Gone?” He stood up straight. “Not all gone?”
“I was putting out fresh water trays and the hives sounded so quiet, so I looked in the lavender,” she spoke quickly. “And even in the pumpkin patch. You know how they like the blossoms, but—”
“Blossoms?” He looked over his shoulder.
“But they weren’t there, Grandpa. I can’t find a single bee.”
“Bees? Gone?” He looked panic-stricken now. “Where?”
“I don’t know—” Cooper’s voice cracked with emotion. “Where could they be?”
“Bees? Bees?” he called out as if he could bid them to come. “Bees?”
“Mom?” Cooper looked at Jewel with tear-filled eyes. “What should I do?”
“I have no idea.” Jewel was worried. Dad would probably have a complete meltdown. “Maybe they’ll come back.”
Cooper got out her phone. “I’m going to google it. Maybe I can find answers.” She located a website and began to read aloud a list of strange reasons bees might abandon a hive. None of them sounded particularly promising.
“Maybe they just got bored and wanted a field trip,” Jewel suggested, hoping to lighten the mood. Not that it helped. Tears were streaming down Cooper’s cheeks, and her dad was clearly in a state. Mumbling to himself, he slowly circled the hives, waving his arms and pathetically calling the bees as if he was calling a wayward dog to come home.
“It’ll be okay, Dad. The bees will be fine.” Jewel put a comforting hand on his shoulder, following him as he circled, trying to calm him and hoping his wobbly steps weren’t about to make him topple over. At the same time she felt seriously irritated at the stupid bees. Why did they have to go off and leave like this? And why did anyone keep bees in the first place? She just didn’t get it. If the little buzzers never came back, she thought she’d probably be glad. Well, as long as Cooper and Dad got over it. At the moment, she wasn’t sure they could.