Page 8 of Meet Me on Lilac Lane

“If there were any way I could help you, I would.” The blue of his eyes deepened.

“I appreciate all you’ve done around here since Troy died.” She gestured toward the house. Cody had come almost every week, sometimes more, to do things around the house. “But even you aren’t a miracle worker. I’ll figure something out for work. I have to.”

“I believe in you.” Cody’s gaze drifted to the darkening sky. The rays of the setting sun purpling the heavy clouds on the horizon. “I’d better get home before that rain hits. Unless you’d like me to stay, wait out the storm?”

Have another adult around to help ride out the storm? Tempting. But she couldn’t rely on him forever, despite his words. “Nah. I’m good. See you later, Cody. I’d better get back inside. Make sure my kids aren’t killing each other.”

Cody gave her a long look. Then he shrugged and smiled. “Okay. See you. Text me if you need anything.”

An hour later, after mac and cheese and bath time, her thoughts kept skittering back to the problem of how to pay her mortgage.

“One more story, Mommy,” Finn’s pleading voice broke through. The three of them sat in the kids’ bedroom off the kitchen. Now that Maggie had graduated from the crib, both Finn and Maggie had a twin bed pushed to opposite walls in the small room, Finn’s bed covered with a space themed quilt and Maggie’s with a unicorn one. Mia could sit on the floor between them and put one hand on each child. She found herself in that position more and more these days.

On the wall, a clock with a sun for its face ticked past a few seconds. The house creaked and settled. The familiar nighttime noises sank deep into Mia’s heart. How could she take her kids from this place?

She sat on the floor, blue shag rug underneath her, a pile of books on her lap. “Another story? We’ve already gone through six tonight.”

Maggie clambered off her bed and crawled into Mia’s lap, pushing the books to the floor. Her little body warm against Mia’s chest and smelling of baby shampoo. “One mo-ah, peas.”

And who could argue with that? “Just one more, and then it’s definitely bedtime.” And time for her to check the job listings board on the Jonathon Island community website. Again.

Maggie picked a book from the bookshelf nested between the beds, and soon they were lost in the antics of an alligator who goes to school.

Many kisses and giggles later, the kids were tucked into bed. Mia fixed herself a cup of tea before heading to her own bedroom, set it down on a bedside table, and plopped down on top of the covers of her four-poster bed.

Mia’s bedroom rested at the back of the house, just beyond the shared bathroom, close enough to hear if either of the kids cried out in the night, but far enough she didn’t have to be totally silent when they were sleeping. Troy had talked about making the small dormer attic rooms upstairs into a master suite when the kids were old enough to stay on the ground floor on their own. Another project he would never be able to complete.

Shaking off the thought, she propped a pillow behind her back and picked up her notebook from where she’d left it the night before. “Job Ideas” was scrawled across the top. The rest of the page was blank. She doodled a line of roses along the bottom.

Picking up the laptop her parents had given her when she graduated from high school, she navigated to the Jonathon Island website. Plans for the renovations of the Grand Sullivan Hotel scrolled past. Her cousin, Dani, along with Liam Stone, was working on a remodel and rebuild of the once beautiful structure. The building had partially burned down ten years ago or so, leaving few housing options for tourists and seasonal staff. When the hotel reopened, so would Jonathon Island. Or so everyone hoped.

Too bad it might be too late to matter for her.

She clicked the “Jobs” tab. Waited as the laptop whirred and stalled as it loaded the page. A message bearing the words “Opportunities Await on Jonathon Island” popped up on the screen. But, below that, no opportunities awaited. The job listings remained as blank as the day before, and the day before that.

Maybe it was time to face facts. She only had two options. Move in with her parents, or move off island.

Despite her parents’ offers, she just couldn’t burden them with so much. Not with Dad still recovering from his last near-heart attack. He was failing all his attempts at retirement. Her mother thought he was barely trying.

No. Her eyes burned as she entered Port Joseph into the search bar. Outside, the wind kicked up, rattling the windows. Sounded like the weatherman was right. Springtime in Michigan went hand in hand with stormy weather.

The job offer from her friend in Traverse City was unthinkable.It would be fun to have you around,her friend had written.We could go out together. Maybe meet some guys…Yeah, maybe other people her age were out having fun, but she had responsibilities. Like keeping her kids near their family. Troy’s mom, Constance, still lived on the island, just a few doors away, actually. Recently Constance had taken over the care of her mother, who had fallen and broken a hip. No, Traverse City wasn’t an option, but Port Joseph was closer. A lot closer. Plus, Evie lived there. At least her kids would have their cousins nearby.

A knit blanket lay at the foot of her bed. She pulled it up and over her as the Port Joseph Chamber of Commerce website blinked to life on her computer.

A banging sound started outside, followed by theshhh-ingnoise unique to sleet falling in waves against the siding of the house. Her gut churned with the noise, unable to escape the memories of another night.

Another storm.

“Mommy?” Finn’s voice came warbling from the doorway to his bedroom. “Mommy, I need you.”

She untangled herself from the blanket and raced to him, thoughts of the storm hovering at the edges of her mind. She’d gotten within two steps of Finn when he opened his mouth and threw up directly in her path. She skidded to a halt before she stepped in the muck. Leaning over the mess, she picked up Finn.

“It’s okay, honey. I’ve got you.” She took him into the bathroom and set him on the toilet seat, lid down. “Does your tummy feel yucky?” She felt his forehead. No fever.

Finn nodded.

“If you need to do it again, just lean into the garbage can.” The toilet would be better, but she didn’t want to leave him sitting on the cold tiles. She opened the cabinet under the sink. Empty. “I’ll go grab a washcloth.” She dashed to the alcove where they had managed to fit a stackable washer and dryer and then rummaged through the dryer, praying she’d remembered to put the load of towels in to dry that morning as she had planned. Triumphant, she pulled out a dry washcloth then grabbed a few clean towels too. Might come in handy.

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