Chapters (47)
- Title Page
- Copyright Notice
- Dedication
- Epigraphs
- Prologue
- Part One
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- Part Two
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Newsletter Sign-up
“I don’t even know what she thinks. We haven’t talked much yet. She’s been avoiding me.”
Michael was grateful for the wind; perhaps Poppy thought his eyes were just watering. “How did we end up like this?”
“I wish we could do everything over again,” she said. He’d thought the same thing a thousand times.
Poppy stepped closer to Michael and leaned lightly against him. “At least I found you. I’ve missed you, Michael. I’ve missed you so much.” She was crying, too. “Don’t you know I’ve looked for you everywhere I’ve ever been?”
THIRTY-THREE
Ann
Ann and Noah argued the whole ride down to the Cape. He assailed her with a litany of reasons not to sell. “We’ve gone over this again and again,” she said. “Old houses are a lot of work.”
“I’m the one who does the work. I got the whole place running when Poppy arrived. I can do it. I’ll open the house. I’ll close the house. I’ll fix the house. Dude taught me everything.”
“Is that really how you want to spend your time? What about when you get an internship? What if you want to be like Poppy and travel? You don’t want to be tied to a house. Houses tie you down.”
“Like kids? Kids tie you down. You knew that. You didn’t get rid of me.”
Ann smiled. “Maybe it’s not too late.”
Noah banged the car dash with his cast—he’d broken his arm at the skate park, and his friend painted the YouTube star Miranda Sings on it, with her pouty red lips and center part, and the words Hi Guys! It’s me. Miranda. “I’m serious! I like being tied down to that house. It’s ours, Mom.”
“Have you seen the tax bill? Hurricane insurance isn’t cheap, either. And it needs a roof. Carol calls it ‘deferred maintenance.’”
“Poppy and I have thought of a million ways to make it work out.”
Ann laughed. “The two great business minds in our family.”
“You gotta fight for what you love! Stop the car.”
“No. Please would you stop being dramatic.”
Noah twisted around and reached for the emergency brake with his good hand. “I said stop the car. I’ll walk the rest of the way there.”
Ann kept driving; she knew Noah was bluffing, or at least she thought she knew until she began to feel the pinch of brakes against her wheels. She swatted at his hand, alarmed, remembering how her own parents had died. “Noah Gordon! That’s dangerous.”
Noah was crying. His tears moved her deeply, but she couldn’t let him see that. “Please, Mom. Don’t sell. Keep the house for me even if you don’t want it.”
“I wish it were that easy.”