Chapter Twenty-Seven #2
Kit couldn’t remember her sister ever having dug her heels in for anything.
She’d let her husband leave her without a fight.
She’d battled cancer without questioning her doctors or their choice of treatment for her.
But seeing her now, her eyes alive with resolve, her face set with purpose, Kit fell silent.
“Mom, even if you just came and stayed with us through the busy season, just for the summer, it would be the best time ever.” Abby grabbed her mother’s hands.
“What other season is there?” Kit asked.
“Oh, I have plans for the winter. We’re going to ice fish and cross-country ski, and snowboard and ice-skate and snowshoe hike—all the good fun winter sports.”
Kit knew when she was in a corner. “All right! I’ll give it consideration!”
When Abby and Beth each raised an eyebrow, Kit laughed. “Serious consideration.”
“Yay!” Abby picked up Benny and threw an arm around her mother and spun her around, then Kit opened her arms to bring Beth into the circle.
“Serious consideration is not a yes,” Kit reminded them, laughing in spite of herself.
“Close enough. Mom, we’re going to have so much fun!”
“Famous last words,” Kit murmured.
The walk to the cabins had been a respite from the other issues that weighed on Kit’s mind, but once back at the house, nothing had changed except Abby’s level of excitement.
“When did you have time to think up all these plans?” Kit asked as she made lunch for the four of them: PB and J for Benny, grilled cheese for the rest.
“At night, while waiting for Benny to fall asleep. And before I fell asleep. I can see it all so clearly, Mom. I can see the cabins and I can see the campers in them. I see people on the lake fishing and swimming off the dock in summer. All those people who left messages on Maxine’s voicemail, I see them happy to be back here again.
I see skaters on the frozen lake. I can see the trees turning colors.
” Abby sounded so earnest, Kit had to sit at the table and listen.
“It’s all too real to me, and I can’t not be here.
I don’t know why, but I feel like this is where I’m meant to be. ”
Kit knew that feeling, that feeling of needing to be here, of belonging here, and wondered if she would be as brave as her daughter and give up her life in Pennsylvania to stay and build a new life here.
Would that mean giving up her marriage as well?
Was she ready to make that stand? Once Russ got this trip of a lifetime out of his system, would he be willing to live here, even part of the year if not all?
She suspected Abby was correct in that he would not want to leave Bryn Mawr.
He was too proud of the life he’d made there.
It was hard to imagine him leaving it behind and coming here to work, which he would surely have to do.
Thinking about Russ reminded her that he still hadn’t returned her last call. She checked her phone to see if she’d missed him, but the only missed call was from Banks. She hit the return call icon and waited for someone to pick up.
“Banks, Anderson, and Banks. How may I help you?” The voice on the other end of the call was clearly too young and chipper to be Elsie.
“Caroline?” Kit guessed.
“Yes?”
“Sorry. It’s Kit Porterfield.”
“Hey, Kit. How’s it going up there in the wild? I hear you’ve had some crazy goings-on.”
“I guess everyone in town knows.” Kit dreaded her next visit to Ruthie’s.
“Probably,” Caroline replied cheerfully. “I heard about it from my ex.”
“What all did he tell you?” Kit wondered if the need for the DNA testing had leaked out.
“Just that it was complicated. Hal never was big on sharing details of other people’s business.”
Kit exhaled. “Complicated sums it up quite nicely.” She paused. “Has your dad said anything about it?”
“Dad’s so tight-lipped about anything involving his clients. Not that he doesn’t trust me—I mean, I am a partner in this firm—but he’s very protective of his old-time clients. He doesn’t share them with anyone. Not even me.”
Thank God for that. Kit had no idea where her particular situation was going to lead.
“I guess you want to talk to Dad? He’s out right now. He’s at the retirement home celebrating his cousin Ernie’s ninety-fifth birthday, but he should be back in a while. Can I have him call you?”
“Of course. Thanks, Caroline.”
“Sure thing.”
Kit slipped her phone back into her pocket and stared out the window.
Banks’s cousin was ninety-five? She could only hope that her attorney shared his longevity.
He seemed to be the repository of all things Meadows, and she still had a lot to learn.
She was hoping to be able to shake more information out of him.
“Mom, come look,” Abby called from the dining room. “Aunt Beth found some fabulous pictures from—oh, long ago. Campers! The clothes are epic! Women actually hiked in long skirts. We need to enlarge them and hang them in the front hall. Oh, and in the cabins, too! Come see!”
“In a minute.” Kit was grateful for the joy she heard in her daughter’s voice, and wished she could share in it without the undercurrent of something about to go wrong. Whether it would come from Russ or from the news surrounding the child’s remains, she wasn’t sure.
Probably both.
Another sleepless night, another morning come too soon, but at least this morning Kit felt as if she’d made some serious decisions, the first of which was to stop waiting for Russ to call her back.
She’d go back home and discuss their situation like adults, face-to-face, before he left for Europe.
Even he didn’t know how long he’d be gone, and she couldn’t make any clear decisions about her own future without having a frank discussion with him.
While the prospect filled her with a dull sort of dread, it was something that had to be done.
She announced her decision at breakfast.
“Mom, you’re leaving?” Abby sounded nearly panicked. “Now? For good?”
“No, no. Not for good. But there are some things I need to tend to back home, and now is as good a time as any. I need some warm-weather clothes. It’s definitely spring and I only have winter things.
Besides, I need to talk to your father.” She poured herself a cup of coffee, then went to the refrigerator for the half-and-half.
Abby looked as if she wanted to say something, which she apparently decided to keep to herself. She stayed silent.
“I think that’s a great idea.” Beth looked up from her bowl of cereal.
“I need some lighter clothing, and I have to keep reminding myself that I do have a business to run. God bless Ned for not complaining. He’s only called at night to let me know what was going on and how much we took in.
He said Andrea, one of the new girls, is doing a great job and the customers absolutely love her.
Here, he sent me her picture.” Beth picked up her phone, scrolled a bit, then held up the screen to Kit and Abby.
“Oh, she has so many tattoos,” Kit exclaimed, then hastened to add, “but no judgment. They look very tasteful.”
Abby laughed. “Nice save, Mom.”
“I agree with you, Kit. I think she is kinda cute, the nose piercing aside, but hey, no judgment here, either. As long as she works well and Ned’s happy with her and the customers are happy with her, I too shall love her.
I am determined not to judge the younger generation by the standards set by my own.
” Beth closed the screen and put the phone back on the table. “I’ll go back with you, Kitty.”
“Abby?” Kit looked across the room at her daughter, who was sitting on the floor and drawing big circles on white paper for Benny to color.
“What, do I want to go back with you?” She sighed heavily.
“Yes, I need to tie off a few loose ends and pack up all our clothes, since the house is going to be sold, most likely while I am up here. We need our short-sleeve shirts and our shorts and our lightweight jackets, right, bud?” Benny was inspecting a purple crayon and nodded absently.
“But I am coming back, Mom. I will get the financing to buy the camp somehow—”
“Abby, I already told you, I’ve got you covered. I’m in,” Beth said adamantly.
“Thanks, Aunt Beth, but if you want to change your mind, you should have that option.”
“I’m not changing my mind. I have a business I can’t run anymore.
Oh, I know I said I’m doing fine, and in many ways I am.
But it’s taken days away from it to realize what a burden it is on me, even with Ned’s wonderful assistance.
Up at dawn every day, run to the shop. Start the coffee.
Pray the baker delivers what I ordered when I need it for.
Make sure the stations are all covered. Make nice with people all day, every day.
Do you know how exhausting it is to keep a smile on your face from seven in the morning until eight at night?
And let’s not even talk about the toll rushing to the hospital for treatments every day for weeks took on me.
I realize that’s behind me now—at least, as long as these new meds keep doing their job, but it wore me down, and I’m only just now recovering from it.
” Beth’s eyes filled with tears that did not fall.
“If I were younger, and had the stamina it takes to run a fast-moving business like that, I wouldn’t consider giving it up.
I wouldn’t have even taken the time off to come here.
” She paused, pondered for a moment. “Well, yes, I would have, but only because the opportunity might not have come again to see this place. Being here has opened my eyes to several things. One, I am not thirty anymore. I’m closing in on fifty. ”
“Beth, you’re forty-eight,” Kit reminded her.
“Close enough. Two, I need to give myself time for my body and my spirit to recover from the illness I’ve been fighting for the past two years.
That’s a long time. I tried really hard to continue life as I knew it before my diagnosis, but it’s time to admit that I am not Superwoman.
And you know what? I’m okay with that. It’s time I gave myself some grace and made a life that suits where I am now.
And where I am needs some peace. I need to feed my inner Bethany.
I feel her here, and that’s telling me that this is where I’m meant to be at this stage of my life.
I don’t want to live the rest of my life anywhere else.
” She turned to Abby. “So I’m doing this more for myself than I am for you, but I love you and I’m here for you if you’re certain you want to do this. ”
“Absolutely, positively certain,” Abby assured her. “One thousand percent.”
“You know that running a camp like this is going to be a full-time job. At least, during the months the camp is open, you’re going to be very busy.” Kit turned to Beth. “At times, it will be more physically strenuous than the shop. Are you sure it won’t be too much for you?”
“It won’t be anywhere near as crazy as owning a coffee shop in a college town, sis, and I’m not getting chemo. The treatments wore me down, but I’m not dealing with that right now. And hopefully”—she crossed her fingers—“I won’t have to. But if I do, I’ll deal with it. I’ll manage somehow.”
“Aunt Beth, you know anytime you need a break, or you think it’s too much for you, I’m here for whatever you need.”
“I appreciate that, Abby. But the big thing for me right now is that I want to do this, more than anything. I haven’t wanted anything this much for a long time. This is my choice, Kit. I’m all in.”
Abby and Beth both turned to Kit.
“Mom?” Abby’s gaze was intense.
“Your move, sissy,” Beth said.
“I need to talk to Russ before he leaves and before I make any final decision. That’s the main reason why I’m going back now.” But if Abby can be here for Beth, how can I not do as much for her after all she’s been through?
Abby opened her phone and typed for a moment. “There’s a flight tomorrow afternoon from Augusta to Philly. Want me to book us?”
“Yes,” Kit told her. “Tickets for four. Benny should have his own seat.”
She finished her coffee and left the room to call Russ to tell him she was coming home. When he didn’t pick up, she skipped the voicemail since he wasn’t returning her calls anyway. He’d see her when she got there.