Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
ISABEL
I zzy was sitting on the sofa, giggling as she nudged the popcorn bowl out of Holly’s reach. In the past couple of days, her one-year-old daughter had learned to stand up. And my oh my, that little girl was so excited. Tiny hands gripping the coffee table, she edged toward the bowl, looking as if she might fall any minute. Izzy and Aunt Cate had enjoyed popcorn for dinner. They were both still stuffed after all the holiday food, so Aunt Cate had suggested popcorn.
“Really? Popcorn for dinner?” Izzy couldn’t believe her ears.
“I do it all the time in New York. After all, corn is a vegetable.” Her aunt never failed to surprise her. They were in the kitchen at the time. Her dog Piper was playing with Holly on the floor. Aunt Cate had whisked their air popper from the cupboard, and of course another knob fell off. Izzy couldn’t wait to have this kitchen redone.
“I never thought of popcorn that way. Is butter a vegetable too?” Izzy had said. They’d laughed together.
What an easy meal to prepare. They’d eaten in front of the fireplace, although they hadn’t bothered to light a fire. That was work and Izzy was too tired after a busy day at Coffee and Cupcakes. Sadly, neither one of them had bothered with a fire since Marlowe and Sam had left for home.
“Holly, stop! You stinker.” She whisked the bowl from Holly’s hands and put it at the end of the table. When her baby looked ready to cry, Izzy handed her a new teething ring. That might work for a while. She couldn’t blame her baby girl for wanting the popcorn but Izzy was afraid Holly might choke. Her teeth were just starting to come in.
Aunt Cate snapped on the news. “Do you think we’ll have more snow?”
“Maybe. I’m still looking for a snowplow service. Skipper offered to find someone.”
Remote in hand, her aunt glanced over. “He’s a big help to you, isn’t he?”
“Yes, he is.” She didn’t like to talk about her ex-husband. Izzy knew that her family had questions about her bringing Skipper on board at her bake shop. Their early marriage right out of high school had been a big mistake and had ended in divorce. Skipper had taken off for Europe and eventually came back as a pastry chef. Desperate, she’d hired him for Coffee and Cupcakes. Izzy worked hard to keep their relationship on a professional basis. She wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice.
They settled back to watch the news. Izzy had worked all day at her shop. Aunt Cate had been out for the day, and she looked as tired as Izzy felt. What was going on with her? She’d become very mysterious and seemed to be “running errands” an awful lot. And yet she never brought home any packages.
That day Aunt Cate had stopped at Izzy's coffee shop for lunch. Coffee and Cupcakes not only served pastries but also a delightful quiche as well as some basic chicken salads. Even though the shop was busy, Izzy managed to snack throughout the day. Now they were waiting for the Facetime call with Marlowe and Sam.
But she had to keep her eye on her little one while they sat there. With a look of wide-eyed determination, Holly dropped the teething ring and took another shaky step toward the bowl. Drooling, she gripped the table with both hands.
“Will you just look at that little girl?” Aunt Cate said, her eyes glowing with love. “I hope she approaches everything in life with that same purpose.”
“Well, she is my daughter, isn’t she?”
Aunt Cate didn’t say anything. Izzy appreciated Aunt Cate’s tact. She didn’t mention that Holly was adopted. Or that Izzy had basically made a mess of her life up to this point.
What a joy it was to have her aunt here with her at Sunnycrest. The large house had felt so empty after Sam and Marlowe left to go home. When their wise aunt offered to stay while they worked on the renovation plans, Izzy had been so relieved. She already had so much on her plate with the shop and Holly.
Her aunt was strategically located on the sofa with Izzy so she could see the tree and the fireplace at the same time. When the weather report ended, they turned off the news and stared at the tree. Although the holidays were past, Izzy was in no hurry to take the tree down. Her eyes swerved back to her little girl. Holly was now within reach of the popcorn.
“If she spills the bowl, we’ll have a big mess.” Jumping up, Aunt Cate swept the popcorn from the coffee table and placed the bowl on one of the shelving units framing the fireplace. Holly's little face scrunched up and she began to wail. The fun was gone. Izzy’s phone rang as she scooped a cookie monster toy from the floor. Two seconds later, Holly had it in her hands and was content again.
“This must be Marlowe.” Using one of the handy plastic phone stands, Izzy propped the phone up so that they could both see it. A couple taps on the phone and her sisters appeared on the screen.
The baby’s lips formed an amazed oval. “Ma-ma!” she screeched when she saw Sam smiling at her. Cookie monster was discarded and Holly reached for the phone.
Not again. Although Aunt Cate gave a startled chuckle, Izzy didn't think this was funny at all. During their holiday visit, Izzy had the hardest time getting the baby to call her Mama. After her Aunt Sam arrived for her Christmas visit, the baby attached that name to Sam more than Izzy.
“Hi, Holly.” Laughing, Sam blew a kiss to her niece.
“Ma-ma.” Squishing an open palm to her lips, Holly attempted to throw a messy kiss back to the screen.
It was stupid to feel hurt. Izzy told herself that again and again. She should be thrilled that her two sisters had come to visit for Christmas and had immediately fallen in love with her adopted daughter. Sweeping Holly into her arms, she kissed her warm, soft neck, which always brought giggles.
“Are you guys in the living room?” Marlowe asked.
“You bet.” Jumping up, Aunt Cate grabbed the phone and flipped it around in her hand so that Marlowe and Sam could see the room.
“Your tree is still up!” Sam sounded surprised and sad at the same time.
“Yes, it is.” Izzy was holding firm about the tree. “It's not Epiphany yet.” She was tempted to add “and you're not the boss of me.” How many times had she thrown that at her older sisters while she was growing up? But the time for that kind of competition was over.
“And no fire?” Marlowe sounded surprised.
“You’re not here to build and tend it,” Izzy reminded her.
“Heck with the fire. I'm insanely jealous.” Sam’s crestfallen look told them she meant that. Too late, Izzy remembered that her older sister had mentioned not having any Christmas decorations up. She’d escaped from her home outside of Chicago to come to Sunnycrest. Their Aunt Cate had done some conniving to get them together.
Aunt Cate drew closer to the small screen. “Samantha, you're looking kind of bummed out, sweetheart. And you've only been home for a short time. What's going on?”
Why hadn't Izzy picked up on that? “Yeah, bring us up to speed.” No way did she ever want to become a stranger to her sisters or aunt again. If they were hurting, she wanted to know why.
Sam was sitting on a large gray floor pillow in front of her fancy stone fireplace. Izzy had seen that fireplace before on her sister's Christmas cards. Usually Sam and Kurt would be on one side of the fireplace with a gorgeous Christmas tree on the other. They had been the picture of a perfect couple. Although she knew it was wrong, Izzy had been so jealous every time she got a Christmas card from them. And now Sam’s perfect marriage was over.
“Some surprises waited for me at the house.” Picking up her phone, Sam turned it and slowly scanned the empty room.
Izzy gasped. “What the heck happened? Were you burglarized?” All her sister’s expensive-looking leather furniture was gone. Electric cords straggled across the carpet, going nowhere.
“Kurt decided that he wanted some things from the house.”
“Some things?” Aunt Cate fell back into the sofa cushions. “Wow, I’d say he robbed the joint.”
“Did you guys talk about this?” Izzy searched her memory. She thought Sam had mentioned that Kurt didn’t want anything from their house.
After they moved into the spacious home in Oak Brook, just west of Chicago, Sam had used a designer. The house and all the decorations were stylish, the kind you saw in magazines. Izzy glanced around. The Sunnycrest furniture had been here forever and was worn and torn, as Marlowe would say. But every piece held a precious memory of their parents.
“I guess Kurt changed his mind.” Her poor sister gave them a sad smile. “When I asked him months ago, he didn't want anything from the house, including me. Took some clothes and that was about it.”
“Time and divorce can change all that.” Aunt Cate shook her head with a soft frown. “As I recall, your pieces were beautiful. The rustic touch was perfect.”
“Yes, it was.” Sam seemed to be turning that over in her mind. That sad expression did it for Izzy. No way would she ever get married again. Look at what could happen. Her sister was a mess. Izzy could tell her big sister had been crying. Thank goodness Izzy had taken the scary step to adopt as a single mom, with Aunt Cate’s help.
“I don't really know what I'm going to do about it,” Sam said in a tiny sad voice that was so unlike her.
“Sue him!” Izzy’s anger boiled over. That darn Kurt. How could he do this? After twenty-three years of marriage, he’d taken up with a woman who worked for one of their clients. “Take the creep to court.”
Startled, Holly began to cry. Drawing the baby into her arms, Izzy pushed herself up and paced in the living room. “So sorry, baby girl,” she murmured against Holly’s soft forehead. “But no woman should let a man take advantage of her. You remember that when you get older.”
That would be the day when she would let someone come in and help himself to all the furniture after the divorce was final. During both of Izzy’s divorces, neither Skipper nor Chuck had wanted anything from Sunnycrest. Of course all the furniture belonged to the house and had been there since her grandparents’ time. Aunt Cate liked to call it the vintage look, but the stuff was just old. Grabbing a fuzzy dragon from the floor, Izzy got Holly's attention. After setting her baby up with her toy, Izzy joined her aunt on the sofa and went back to the call.
Her head in one hand, Sam looked exhausted.
Aunt Cate leaned forward. “Taking someone to court in a case like this would be time consuming and probably costly, Samantha. Don’t worry about that now.” Izzy could see that her aunt was choosing her words carefully.
“I agree.” Marlowe chimed in. “Although I don't know the legalities of it, not the way Aunt Cate does, your time is worth something. We’re moving forward, not worrying about the past, right?”
Izzy was glad Marlowe had jumped in. How silly of her. Izzy’s anger cooled. Her sister was a tiger and she had a point. They were all moving on.
After smoothing back her shoulder length hair, Sam nodded. “You’re both right and thanks for reminding me. I have to think about the time involved. And really, I don't need the furniture. The living room is fully furnished and he didn't touch much of those pieces. If I move...”
“If…” Marlowe's head jerked on the screen, and Aunt Cate gave Izzy a worried look. Hadn't they all agreed?
“When,” Sam said quickly and Izzy felt so relieved. Aunt Cate gave her a silent thumbs up.
“The living room furniture is older and it's a bit more formal,” Sam said. “But to be truthful, I don't think I'm going to need it.”
“Sometimes new furniture is called for. New life, new furniture.” Aunt Cate sat back on the sofa, pulling one of the afghans over her. Frost lined the windows above the bookcases, and the cold darkness outside made Izzy shiver. But back to business.
“After all, you're going to be living here,” Izzy said.
“For a while, anyway.” Sam nodded.
“And we have stuff here, right?”
“Hold on. This furniture is older than I am.” Aunt Cate cast a look around the living room. “We all need to decide, but this might be time to pitch a lot of this.”
“Good point.” But Izzy wondered where Sam was thinking of living. Josh McCall had re-entered Sam’s life. Was he figuring in all this? Izzy hated to ask.
“Are you thinking that the furniture has memories?” Aunt Cate turned toward her.
Izzy shook her head. “Sure, but I think it's served its purpose.”
“We should all give that some thought,” Marlowe said slowly. “We're talking about renovating. Updating. In my mind that means a new look. Are we all on the same page with that idea?”
Aunt Cate and Izzy nodded. “I think with time I’ll know what will come with me to Charlevoix,” Sam said. “What about you, Marlowe? After you got home to Naples, did you have any second thoughts?”
“Oh my word, my return turned into a freak show.” As Marlowe brought them up to speed, horror sent a chill down Izzy’s back.
“Wow,” Izzy said. “And you’d been mentoring this Jenna woman? Is that what life is like in the big city?” She had no clue since she'd lived in Charlevoix since high school.
Marlowe gave a dry chuckle. “I wouldn't say that Naples is a big city.”
“Chicago is,” Sam said with disgust. “And I could see that type of cut-throat behavior happening here. I'm so sorry, Marlowe. You were excited about that listing and had done a lot of work on it, right?”
“All water under the bridge. Let's move on.” Marlowe was sitting at her desk and she sat back in her chair, looking in control, as usual.
Izzy had always admired Marlowe for her can-do attitude. When it came to projects, Sam was a planner who made sure all the bases were covered before taking action. Marlowe was the one who jumped in with both feet and just kept going. If she met an obstacle, she dealt with it and moved on. There was nothing that her big sister couldn't do. When they were growing up, Izzy had adored both of them. And now there was a good chance that her daughter would soon have them as role models. Pretty darn exciting.
“Izzy,” Marlowe said and Izzy snapped her attention back to the conversation. “The woman I met on the plane sent me the names of two architects. How should we work this?”
The news made Izzy’s tummy flutter. She glanced over at Aunt Cate. Coffee and Cupcakes was so busy. Even though she had Holly in daycare now, she was feeling a little overwhelmed. Patricia, who had helped during the holidays, had gone back to school, so it was only Debbie and Izzy handling the bakery and café business. Well, along with Skipper, who often came out front when the baking was finished.
Thank goodness Aunt Cate spoke up. “That's terrific, Marlowe. I wonder if you could call them and explain the project. If you get a good feeling, set up an appointment at the house. One of us will be here to show them around so they have a good idea of what the project involves. I'll check our calendar and then send you some open times. How does that sound?”
“Sounds great. I'll get right on it,” Marlowe said.
Izzy exhaled and her stomach settled. Having her sisters and aunt tackle this project with her was the only way it would get done. No way could she handle renovating Sunnycrest alone.
“Thanks for taking care of this, Marlowe and Aunt Cate,” Sam said. “Let me know if you need more help in any way.”
Their aunt chuckled. “Samantha, it sounds as if you have your hands full right now in Chicago. Let us know how things go with Kurt and the house.”
Listening to her older sisters divvy up responsibilities, Izzy was surprised when she began to feel left out. Should she have stepped forward with more confidence? But wasn't that why Aunt Cate was staying here at Sunnycrest with her? Someday she wanted to be like Marlowe or Sam. She wanted to be the starter. The instigator. When she was growing up, she quickly realized that the older people made the decisions. But sometimes she was very sensitive about being the “baby of the family.” And yes, sometimes they still called her that.
Izzy, you can't have your cake and eat it too. “I can probably be here for that consultation.” There. That sounded more adult. Aunt Cate threw her a smile.
“That will be great, Izzy,” Sam said. “You're one of the linchpins in this whole operation and don't forget it. But I think we should be sensitive about everybody’s commitments. We all have a lot of balls in the air. Transferring from our current living and work situations to Charlevoix won't be easy. No one in the group can just drop what they're doing to make this project work.”
“But we can move the project along.” Marlowe muttered. “I have to make this change or I'll lose my mind.”
Poor Marlowe. Izzy wasn’t used to seeing her competent sister looking so stressed out. But they hadn’t been with each other that often in the years past.
“That's right. The people at my New York office are handling our law practice now that I'm up here.” Aunt Cate gave a playful twitch of her shoulders. “And they're doing amazingly well without me.”
Izzy could attest to that. A couple of times in the morning she'd overheard her aunt on speakerphone, going through different court cases with her staff. They all sounded very competent and probably had been trained by Aunt Cate.
Maybe her aunt would be able to live here with her for a while. She hadn’t talked about getting her own place. That would make Izzy so happy. And her sisters? They both had big changes coming their way. Sometimes it brought tears to her eyes. Weren’t they brave to make this huge shift in their lives for her? Izzy didn’t know if she could ever be that strong.
“We’re moving ahead, “Sam said as the call ended. Aunt Cate and Izzy gave each other a high-five. And of course Holly held up one little hand to be included.