Chapter 30
Julie had opened her laptop on the kitchen table at ten past six, and then moved it twice. The overhead lights were turning the screen into a mirror, so she shifted it to the left. Then she noticed the stack of mail she hadn’t dealt with and moved that off the table.
Just when she thought she was ready, she remembered to grab a glass of water. She put that beside her and emptied the dishwasher, glancing at the clock on the wall every few minutes to make sure she didn’t miss this call with her children.
At six twenty-five, she sat down and opened the Zoom link.
The call connected at six-thirty exactly.
Her son appeared first, already in the frame, his dark hair a little too long the way it always was.
Daniel was thirty-two and lived in Boston, and he had her eyes and his father’s particular quality of stillness.
Behind him she could see his kitchen and his wife doing something behind the counter.
“Mom.” He smiled. “You look good.”
“So do you. Hi, Maddie,” she said to Daniel’s wife.
Maddie waved. “Hi, Julie. I keep telling Dan he needs a haircut, but he’s going for the urban Neanderthal look.”
Daniel laughed, and a second Zoom window opened beside his.
Meg blinked into the camera from Portland, still in her work clothes, her jacket thrown over the back of her chair.
She was twenty-eight and had never once in her life been on time for anything.
The fact that she was here, on the dot, meant she’d been looking forward to it.
“Both of you at once,” Julie said. “I should tell you I’ve got important things to talk to you about more often.”
“You should call more often,” Meg said. “Full stop.”
Julie knew she should, but she felt incredibly guilty for not being the mother her children deserved. So, instead of talking to them more often, she’d kept them at arm’s length, worried they’d reject any relationship with her.
For a while they just talked. Daniel had a new project at work that involved working with a team of regional planning experts. He explained it with the careful precision he always did.
Meg had finally found an apartment with a second bedroom, which meant Julie could now visit without sleeping on the sofa.
Julie told them about the cooking class and the fundraiser bake sale, and about Maria’s husband finally finding work. She told them about the lake in the mornings and the way the cold had settled in for good.
Daniel asked about the town, and she told him about the old-fashioned stores that lined Main Street, the craft fairs and exhibitions that brought people to Sapphire Bay from around Montana, and the candy store that her children had to see.
But Julie’s biggest surprise was that she knew most of the people she passed on the street.
“That’s not like you, Mom. You usually take ages to get to know people,” Daniel said, not unkindly.
“Or ever,” Meg said with a sigh.
That hit closer to home for Julie. “You’re both right. Sapphire Bay has been good for me. Even though I’ve found it hard not working, I’ve met some lovely people. They’re kind and generous, and treat me like family. I’ve never been anywhere like this.”
Meg had been watching her with the quiet attention she had always had, even as a child. She had a journalist’s instinct for when someone was circling something. Julie had often wondered where she had gotten it from.
“You said you had news,” Meg said.
Julie wrapped both hands around her glass of water.
“Griffin Rowe called me. He’s the editor at the Flathead Beacon, the regional paper based in Kalispell.
” She paused. Julie had been thinking about how to say this all day, and now that she was talking to her children, the words felt smaller than they should.
“He offered me a position. I’ll be a senior investigative reporter. ”
Daniel and Meg didn’t say anything. Then Meg put both hands over her mouth.
“Mom.” Daniel leaned forward. “That’s wonderful. When did you find out?”
“Yesterday. I pulled over to take the call and sat in my truck for ten minutes afterward.”
“Senior investigative reporter,” Meg said, dropping her hands. Her eyes were bright. “After everything. After all those rejection emails you didn’t think I knew about.”
“I knew you knew,” Julie said.
Meg searched Julie’s face. “I wish you’d said something. I didn’t want to make you feel worse by bringing it up.”
“I thought I had to deal with everyone’s rejection on my own,” Julie said carefully. “I lost my confidence. To be honest, I never thought I’d get another job.”
Daniel’s mouth dropped open. “How can you say that, Mom? You’ve got more experience than most people have on their little finger. The kids I went to school with got sick of me bragging about my cool mom who was working on the other side of the country, writing about the bad guys.”
It was Julie’s turn to be surprised. “I thought you didn’t like me being away from home.”
Daniel shrugged. “I didn’t, and I wouldn’t do that to Maddie. But I was really proud of you.”
While Julie was still processing what he’d said, Daniel asked when she was starting, what types of stories she’d be covering, and whether the paper had the resources to support serious investigations.
Julie answered each question carefully, and as she did, the shape of her job became clearer. It wasn’t just a job. It was the right job. The one that made the most of who she was.
When she finished talking, Meg and Daniel were both quiet.
“Even though we don’t tell you this often, Mom, we think you’re amazing,” Daniel said.
Julie looked into her children’s faces. They were so like her in looks and personality, that it broke her heart to realize she’d spent most of her life away from them.
“There’s something else I want to say,” she said. “While I have you both together.”
She hadn’t planned any of her apology. She had turned it over the way she turned over difficult paragraphs, put it down, and come back to it. But there was no way to write her words as a first draft. She just had to say it.
“Being here has made me think about the years I wasn’t there for you,” Julie told them.
“For either of you. When you were growing up.” She tried to keep her voice steady.
“I was always chasing a story. There was always somewhere I needed to be, something I needed to find out. I told myself I was doing it for us. That you understood.” She paused.
“I don’t know if you understood. I know I missed things I can’t get back. And I am sorry for that.”
The silence that followed wasn’t empty. It was the kind that was full of something being considered.
Daniel spoke first. “We always knew you loved us.”
“I know that now,” Julie said. “I just didn’t want to wait any longer to apologize to you and Meg.”
Meg looked silently into the camera. When she spoke, Julie knew it was from her heart.
“I used to wish you were at more things,” she said.
“But I also saw how hard you worked, and I read your articles when I was old enough to understand them. You were good at it, Mom. The kind of good that matters. I don’t think you should have given that up just to be at more school plays.
Dad was always there, so that made a difference. ”
Julie blinked. She hadn’t expected her children to forgive her so easily.
“What I would like,” Daniel said, “is more news about what’s happening in your life now. Texts and emails aren’t the same. We should do this more often.”
“We should come and see you,” Meg said. “I want to see Sapphire Bay, and I want to see the lake.”
“Why don’t you come for Christmas?” Julie suggested. “It isn’t that far away. We could celebrate my new job properly. I’ve got a guest room and a foldout sofa.”
Daniel leaned forward. “We’ll make it work.”
Meg was already glancing at something off-screen. “I can do December 22 to January 3. Is that okay with everyone else?”
Julie nodded. “That sounds perfect to me. What about you, Daniel?”
“We were planning a quiet Christmas at home, so Maddie, Joshua, and I will be there,” he said.
Julie made a note on the pad beside her laptop. She underlined it twice. “I’ll remind you both until you’re sick of me saying anything.”
Meg looked back at the camera. “That’s fine by me. Now tell us about the new man in your life.”
Julie looked up.
“Don’t fudge the truth,” Meg said. “You mentioned meeting someone in your last email and then said nothing else about him. We’ve been very patient.”
Daniel folded his arms. “Extremely patient.”
Julie sighed. “His name is Cole Morrison. He’s wanting to build a resort at an area twenty minutes out of town called Finley Point. He’s sixty-four.” She watched their faces. “He grew up moving constantly, never staying in one place for long. This time, he’s going to stay in Sapphire Bay.”
“And?” Meg asked.
“And he’s one of the most straightforward people I’ve ever met. He says what he means and has a heart of gold.” Julie frowned. “He had a health scare recently. He’s all right, but it mattered to me. More than I was expecting.”
Neither of her children filled the pause that followed.
“He sounds like someone worth knowing,” Daniel said at last.
“He is,” Julie said. “You’ll like him.”
Meg smiled. “I’m already looking forward to meeting him.”
They kept talking for another half hour, about nothing and everything.
Meg told them more about her new apartment, the restaurant she’d gone to with Daniel for his birthday, and a film they’d both seen and disagreed about.
Daniel talked about his daughter. Nellie was the apple of his eyes and looked like a miniature Maddie.
They were ordinary things. The kind that fills the space between the important issues and the things that make life complete.
When the call ended, the screen went dark, and the cottage was quiet.
Julie sat at the kitchen table, thinking about what Meg and Daniel had said. She hadn’t expected their forgiveness or their understanding, but it was there all the same.
She picked up her phone, then put it back on the table.
Normally, she would have called Cole. She would have told him about talking to Meg and Daniel, and the Christmas visit she was already looking forward to. But Cole needed to rest. A phone call at this time of the night was the last thing he needed.
She’d see him tomorrow, tell him about today, then look for her Christmas decorations.