“It’s a great idea,” Avery said, using her school meeting voice. “Because none of us want to live here, right?”

“No,” Mary said. “I’m not antsy to move back into my childhood home.”

“David hates this house,” Avery said. “The last thing he wants to do is fuss with potentially faulty plumbing on a day-to-day basis. Old houses are charming and wonderful, but they can also be a pain in the butt. Hannah isn’t staying. Lark, I assume you’re going back to New Mexico.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Lark said, bypassing the question she’d been asked. She was happy to linger over their plans for a moment, which would give her more space to address her own next. “A vacation rental. The house is famous. I think people will really enjoy staying here.” She took a deep breath. “I want to stay here. In town. Permanently.”

Avery and Hannah looked shocked. Her mother’s expression was smooth, except one divot on the right side of her mouth, which suggested pleasure.

“Have you ever been to a Craft Café?”

That earned her a couple more blank stares.

“They’re these cafés where you can come in and work on crafts. I think that’s pretty self-explanatory.”

“Does anyone do that?” Avery asked.

“Yes. They’re getting more popular in places, and I think it could work here. We get all the tourism in the summer, and the kinds of people who move here are... Well, they have a lot of leisure time on their hands. They’re either retired, or they have family money of some kind.”

“What about your illustrations?”

Her heart squeezed uncomfortably. “I... I’m taking a break from it. But I have the money to put into the place. I don’t need to use Gram’s. But we all own The Miner’s House and I am proposing that I use it for business. So, I need all of you to be on board with it.”

“I don’t have plans for it but...”

“Do you have a business plan?”

Her mom and Hannah spoke at the same time.

“I do have a business plan,” Lark said.

And she was thankful for her friend Rusty who had told her in no uncertain terms that “starting a crowdfunding campaign is not a business plan.”

Then had helped her make an actual business plan.

“And I know it’s going to take some time and money to rehab the place, but, if we’re working on the house here, I can easily get the same crew to go down the street and do some work there too. Two houses, one stone. Or one phone call.”

She took a breath. “I sold everything. I mean, all my furniture. And my lease was up. I...I want a fresh start here.”

The deep irony of looking for a fresh start here. This place that had made her, then unmade her. Tearing out each and every stitch that had held her together so she’d been forced to go off in pieces and find a way to repair what was.