Chapter 6
JILLIAN
Jillian drove slowly up Fox Hollow Road, taking in the dreamy view of houses with snow-frosted roofs, and trying not to think about Tripp Lawrence.
Back in school, she was always such a nerd, while Tripp was the star of the hockey team. All the girls in school were obsessed with him. Even her grandfather talked about him constantly because of his contributions to the team.
Jillian was only human, so she’d had a tiny crush on him, like all the other girls did.
But there wasn’t much reason for Jillian and Tripp to ever interact. Their social circles couldn’t have been more different.
The only thing they had in common was working on the crew for the school play. It turned out they both loved the magic of creating a world for the play to happen in. And even there, Jillian was on props and Tripp was on the lighting crew.
But then Jillian was promoted to stage manager her sophomore year. When dress rehearsals began, she was suddenly on the headset all night, giving cues to the sound, lighting, and scene change bosses, which included Tripp.
For the most part, she was orchestrating a hurricane of cues, her heart in her mouth that some tiny thing might go wrong and create a domino effect leading to an onstage disaster.
But there were moments, generally in the second and third acts, when the cues spread out, and the headsets went quiet.
Those were the times when Tripp used to chat with her or gently tease her, peppering her with silly knock-knock jokes or asking her what her plans were for the summer.
He even started arriving early for set-up. They would talk in person while Jillian carefully went over her pre-show checklist.
She wasn’t sure exactly when it happened, but one day she suddenly realized that Tripp Lawrence was actually her friend.
But he wasn’t really, she reminded herself as she pulled up at the covered bridge.
The blast of frigid air when she rolled down her window brought her right back to the present.
She tapped her horn and then headed through the dark, thundering cave and back out to the road on the other side.
Pulling into the driveway, she felt grateful all over again that her grandparents were helping with the girls after school. It felt good to be able to repay them with some work on the house.
Though how she was going to broach the subject, she had no idea.
Saying a silent prayer for inspiration, she hopped out of her car, grabbed her bag from the back, and headed inside.
She climbed the back steps, which really were in great shape, and she wondered if maybe Tripp had helped Gram and Grampy with them. Something about the way he’d said maybe Grampy would finally let him get into some real work made it sound like he had been wanting to help for a while.
He seems like such a big-hearted person, she thought to herself.
But she had thought that before, when he volunteered on the play with what little free time he had between hockey and helping with the family farm. And she remembered all too well how that had ended.
“Mama,” Posey yelled happily, bringing Jillian back to the present as she came in the back door.
“Hi, sweetheart,” Jillian said, catching her daughter as she blasted across the room. “How was your day?”
“Great,” Posey said. “We’re making macaroni and cheese without a box.”
Jillian laughed, even though she felt a little embarrassed.
Back in the city, she hadn’t had time for many nice dinners after Alan left. Mari probably remembered how much pride her mother used to take in preparing a healthy, home-cooked meal. But poor Posey apparently thought that macaroni and cheese could only come from a box.
I’ve always done my level best, she tried to comfort herself.
“How was your day?” Gram asked from the table.
“Cup of tea?” Grampy offered. He was already heading for the kettle like he knew her answer.
“Oh, I’d love one,” she told him. “Thank you so much. I could really get used to all this.”
Mari looked up from her work sprinkling grated cheese on top of the noodles in the casserole dish and smiled.
“You will get used to it,” Grampy said. “This is how things are going to be. And your grandmother and I couldn’t be happier.”
“That looks perfect, Marigold,” Gram said to Mari. “I’m going to put it in the oven. Do you girls want to get started on your homework?”
“Okay,” Mari said happily. “Dining room table?”
“Yes,” Jillian told her. “You two can get started, and I’ll be right out to help you. I just want to chat with Gram and Grampy for a minute first.”
Posey skipped out to the dining room happily enough, but Mari was frowning suspiciously as she grabbed her bag and followed.
She’s my daughter through and through, Jillian thought to herself.
Jillian had always been a bit of a worrywart, thinking two steps ahead about everything that could go wrong.
It was a trait that paid off in certain situations.
But the rest of the time, she’d had to learn to try and let go of her apprehension and just let the wonderful, terrible chaos of life unfold, especially since having kids.
It was a skill she was still struggling with.
Mari will get there, she told herself. We both will.
“One cup of chamomile,” Grampy said, placing it on the table in front of her as he sat down across the table beside Gram. “What’s up?”
“Thank you so much,” Jillian said, inhaling the fragrant steam and toying with the string of the teabag. “It’s about my contractor and the addition.”
“He’s welcome anytime,” Gram said firmly.
“And you just do what you think is best,” Grampy added. “You know this house will belong to you and Amberlee one day.”
If that wasn’t an invitation to bring up a renovation, then she was never going to get one.
“Are you sure about that?” she asked him.
“Very sure,” he told her. “We want you to be happy here.”
“Well, I’ve been thinking more about it,” Jillian said carefully. “And I bumped into Tripp Lawrence at the school today, and we got to talking.”
“Isn’t that nice?” Gram said with an approving smile.
“He was telling me how big your attic is,” Jillian said. “And what great shape it’s in, especially now that you’ve put on that brand-new roof.”
“Tripp said that?” Gram asked, looking pleased.
“Oh yes,” Jillian said, nodding. “He said it would be much easier and less expensive to just finish the attic into a space for the girls and me. Though it might feel less private for you two.”
“We don’t give a hoot about privacy,” Grampy said right away. “We love having you three here with us. Finish the attic and save the rest of your money for the girls.”
“I had another idea,” Jillian said carefully. “I was hoping we could take the savings and use it to just catch up on some of those little things you had to put off with the cost of the new roof.”
“No, no,” Grampy said right away. “We’ll get to all that in time. Save your money.”
“I’d really like to do it, Grampy,” Jillian said. “We’re so happy to be here, and it will feel more like home if you let me pitch in. Tripp said he’d barter with me and do most of the work himself. So, we wouldn’t even need to have a general contractor in and out of here.”
“He wants to barter with you?” Gram asked, frowning.
“I’ll be helping paint the barn over at Lawrence Farm,” Jillian said. “And whatever else I can.”
That made both her grandparents smile so hard, she was half-convinced they were laughing at her.
“If it’s what you really want,” Grampy said, shaking his head. “I guess it’s all right with me. Maude?”
“Oh, yes.” Gram smiled and nodded. “That’s just fine.”
“There you go,” he said.
“Thank you, Grampy,” Jillian said, hopping up and going around the table to give him a hug.
“I can’t wait to see that barn,” he murmured with a smile in his voice as she squeezed him tight.
Jillian laughed and then headed into the dining room to help the girls, her heart feeling a whole lot lighter than when she’d walked in the front door.
The girls were bent over Posey’s worksheet. The afternoon sunlight through the window cast a glossy glow on their dark hair. The scene was so cozy that it made Jillian feel a little sentimental.
“Hey,” Mari said, looking up.
“Hi,” Jillian said. “How are you two doing?”
“Great,” Posey said. “Mari showed me what to do.”
“Thank you, Mari,” Jillian said. “Shall we take a look at your homework?”
“Okay,” Mari said, scampering over and digging through her bag. “And guess what?”
“What’s that?” Jillian asked.
“I forgot to tell you,” Mari said. “I have a best friend.”
“Already?” Jillian asked.
“I think so,” Mari said. “I was on the playground and there was a girl all by herself on a bench, so I asked her to play.”
“That’s great, Petal,” Jillian said, trying to play it cool, in spite of the pride blossoming in her chest.
“Her name is Kayley,” Mari said. “She’s shy.”
“Oh,” Jillian said, not pointing out that Mari was also shy with new people.
“But she liked playing with me,” Mari said. “And we’re going to play again tomorrow.”
“That’s great,” Jillian said. “What did you play?”
“Horses,” Mari said, shrugging as she dug through her bag. “We were a herd.”
A herd of two. The idea made her smile.
For all her worry, Jillian was starting to think that things were going to be just fine after all.