Chapter 32
Thirty-Two
Faye
Faye’s arms were open for Ali this time as opposed to the other way around.
“I’m such a fool. I missed it. All these years, I missed it.”
Faye had opened her cottage door to an Ali in pieces. Faye had never seen Ali break down. She’d been so stoic, from the death of their father to the discovery of Ted and his grad assistant, and even when her kids went to college.
But now, she was in pieces.
Ali cried. Faye listened, and she got to comfort her big sister. Faye and Blair had relied on Ali as a stand-in for their mother. It was easy to forget that Ali was less than two years older than Faye. Blair, the baby, was so much younger. Their baby doll. But Ali was a baby, too, when all that happened.
“We all missed it. He was good at pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes. I mean, if Dad had suspected, he’d have punched his lights out.”
Ali sniffled and pressed a tissue to her nose. Faye gave her space. Faye wanted Ali to feel safe, she wanted her to know she was allowed to cry, allowed to feel what she felt. Blair knew her sister had bottled so much, for so long.
Ali sat on the little rattan lounge in the vintage cottage. There were obvious things to fix around her update, but there was also something so calming. The minute you walked from the parking lot to the property of the Sea Turtle Resort, you felt differently about the life you left.
Was that magic? Or was it the sea air?
“I need to stay here. Or at least, stay away. I don’t want to see Ted. I don’t want to step into that house. I just don’t. Is this selfish of me?”
“You don’t have to. But what do you want to do next? Just chill? Because that’s allowed, too. You don’t always have to have a plan or a goal. And no, you’re the least selfish person I know.”
“It’s just that I feel better with a plan and a goal. I just need a different one than what I’d been working toward all these years.”
“You want to make a go of this place, don’t you? I see it in you. Feel it. Saw it with the way those families hugged your neck when they left. You’re made to be here, or it was made for you.”
Ali nodded. She was pulling herself back together. Faye watched Ali think, calm her breathing, and focus.
This was her big sister. The one who had it under control. Control was returning after her dam had burst.
“It’s the least practical thing I could do— we could do—to hang on to this place and not cash in.”
“Here’s something I’ve been learning; you need to learn it too. It’s not the money. It’s the purpose. We all need a purpose, something that makes us want to get out of bed in the morning. You know? When our kids are little, it’s easy. You’re doing it for them. Sometimes, it’s the job you love and the people you work with. But sometimes, it all seems to vanish. The reason I got out of bed and headed to the plant was to, you know, show Dad, show everyone how tough I was. That isn’t the same anymore. I was trying to prove something to everyone. But what for?”
“Yeah, I get it, but several million bucks at the flick of a pen would give you time to buy a new purpose.”
Faye laughed. That was true. “But why search when you have a purpose right here?”
“I can’t take this away from you or Blair.”
“You have given us way more than we could ever repay. And I expect you to make this work. We’ll have a nice source of income. And a gorgeous place on the water to visit. I don’t see a problem. Oh, and we’ll drive Ted absolutely bat crap crazy. See? That’s a win-win!”
Ali laughed. Good: laughter through tears was a great emotion, to paraphrase Dolly Parton in Steel Magnolias .
“You know, we can always change our minds.”
“Right, give it a go for what, a season or two? If it isn’t what you want, we bail. But before that, you need to settle.”
“Settle?”
“Settle with Ted, give him the house.”
That idea put a little bit of panic in Ali’s eyes.
“I know. I know. You made that house. But look, here’s how you shut him up. He gets the house. You get your little inheritance from Dad to live on, and we bet on our future with this place.”
Ali nodded in agreement. She stood up and started to walk back and forth in the little cottage. Faye could see the wheels turning in her sister’s brain.
“Right, okay, yes, I need to talk to my lawyer, Ted needs to sign off. And he needs to know I’m not kidding around.”
“Ted’s hooks have to be out of this place, so you don’t have him influencing you or profiting from you. However it shakes out.”
Ali stopped and looked at Faye. “What about Blair? She needs to be okay with this.”
Faye stood up and put her hands on Ali’s shoulders.
“Leave Blair to me. I’ll get her to sign off. We all three own the place, but you’re the boss. She knows that. And she owes you the life she had, just like I do. I can’t imagine a better mom than you. And neither can Blair.”
Ali sucked in a ragged breath at those words.
“I could never be Mom,” she whispered.
“You never needed to be; you were better. I know,” Faye said.
The two sisters hugged it out. Faye didn’t remember much, but she did remember a mother who had “headaches” and forgot things and a big sister who never did. Not once.
Faye would make a phone call in the morning to get Blair on board. She wasn’t sure how hard that would be. But it didn’t matter. The two little sisters were doing this for their big sister.
Period.
And they were doing this to Ted. Which was equally as motivating.
Once Ali had made up her mind to stay, it was hard not to love watching her plan.
“We need the pool fixed first, and then, what about mid-century modern for the Inn, like lean into it? We could create such a lovely experience here that won’t break the bank. I just really love the idea of keeping part of the beach, this place, for people like us who aren’t billionaires. You know?”
Ali was on fire, and Faye found joy in helping to make that happen.
Now, to handle Blair, and her life back in Toledo.
Her time in Sea Turtle was amazing, but her life wasn’t on Haven Beach. It was back up north.