Page 4 of Through the Dark Night
In some ways, this had been harder than what she thought, and in some ways, she felt stronger just for what she’d been able to accomplish, coming to town, walking into Fran’s and chatting, and seeing that the town was just as welcoming as it always had been. And then, knowing there was someone else who shared her grief and sorrow and who had gotten through it, using that grief to do something to be a blessing to other people.
Maybe that was what Shannon was doing with the inn, using her grief and the heartache that she had endured to be a blessing to others. The thought made her smile.
Two
Had she lost her mind?
The possibility was very real, Shannon had to admit as she stood staring up at what used to be a building full of grandeur and prestige but now was just a crumbling old structure.
The porch dipped and swayed, the shutters hung crooked or were completely gone, and the spouting swayed in the wind, grating against the brick.
It looked like it needed a new roof and about one million other things that were all running around her head, adding up the dollar signs.
She’d bought the property sight unseen three weeks prior when her divorce settlement had finally hit her bank account. Their house was sold, all the possessions divided, and she had gotten her half.
It had been a bad day, because that really made it real.
It was final. She was divorced. The life she had built from the time she had gotten married was completely gone. Years and years of what she thought was going to be a lifetime love and a family that stood the test of time was no longer. It maybe wasn’t worse than the day of the tragedy, but it was close.
She’d been scrolling the internet, looking for properties because she needed somewhere to go.
Raspberry Ridge called her name, but the only place she saw for sale there was the old inn. She couldn’t click on it fast enough, and surprisingly, when she called the number for the realtor, she got a live person on the phone. At the time, she thought it was a gift from the Lord, but now… She didn’t really think something like this would come from God. Something that was so broken and old and run down that the best, most efficient solution was almost certainly to bulldoze it.
It was the way her life felt. The most effective solution to solve all of her problems would be to bulldoze everything. Was there anything in her life worth salvaging?
Of course, her children. She wouldn’t give them up for anything, but…they were on their own. They didn’t need her. And they didn’t necessarily want her.
She tried not to feel bad about that. After all, she’d wanted to raise them to be independent and self-supporting. She didn’t want them to be dependent on her, or the government, or anyone other than the Lord, in order for them to live their lives.
She’d probably been more successful than what she wanted to be, because they definitely were doing well, which made her happy, but they didn’t need her either. And that was a little bit hard. She wanted someone to need her.
Her husband didn’t, her kids didn’t, and…this old house… It was too much like her for her to be able to do anything with it.
She turned around, looking out at the gorgeous views of Lake Michigan. That was one of the best things about this place—the views. From every single window on the west side, a person could see the absolutely stunning majesty of the lake in the distance.
Whoever built the inn put it in a perfect spot.
She wrapped her arms around her waist and looked at the changing sky as the sun sank lower.
She’d been staring off into space for she didn’t know how long when the sound of a motor brought her attention back to the present.
It must be Dominic Miller, she thought to herself as a pickup pulled into the cracked and broken but previously paved lot and stopped beside her car.
The large truck had a ladder strapped to the top of it and the kind of bed in the back that contained a myriad of tools.
Dominic had told her that he used to only do landscaping construction, but he’d branched off into residential and commercial building construction in order to be able to stay closer to home since he and his wife had children.
She liked that. A family man. A man who put his wife and kids first. Who built his business around them, instead of raising his family around his business.
She turned and started walking toward the pickup. Dominic had gotten out, and they met about ten yards away from his truck.
She stuck her hand out. “I’m Shannon McKay. You must be Dominic.”
“I am. Dominic Miller. Here to take a look at the inn for you. And wow, do you have your work cut out for you.”
Her heart sank. She thought maybe he would say something encouraging like “this is going to be a gorgeous place once we’re done with it,” or “the bones here are amazing, and it won’t take too much to dust it up into something really nice.” Kind of along the lines of what the realtor had said as she spoke to her late at night. Although, the realtor hadn’t had to do too much selling. It was the only property available in Raspberry Ridge, and she was going to purchase it, no matter what.
“Yeah. The pictures certainly didn’t do the devastation justice,” she said, trying to induce some levity into her tone.
