Page 24 of Sweet Love at Bayside
“I’m sorry, Vi. I thought I could try to do this without a schedule, but I can’t evenbeginwithout some sort of plan. It won’t work for me. I’m just not wired that way. I like knowing where I have to be and when I have to be there so I can plan my week.”
“Plan your week? No wonder you’re so uptight. And just call it what it is. Aschedule.”
Desiree fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Look. I’m not asking for much. Just give me an inch and at least consider it? If you don’t like what I’ve laid out, we can change it. It was just a starting point.”
Violet sighed. “I’ll look it over, but I’m telling you, schedules are not my thing. It’s not like I don’t want to stick to them. I’m just not good at it.”
“I appreciate you trying,” Desiree said, hoping for the best. “At some point we need to go through Lizza’s things and figure out how much the mortgage is. I was so shocked at her leaving, I forgot to ask.”
Violet reached on top of the refrigerator and tossed an envelope onto the table. “I found this in the den.”
Desiree took the envelope. “I looked around the whole house and I can’t find any renovations except in her studio. And that’s a mess. The walls and ceiling have been ripped out, but it looks like she was using it that way. I can’t figure out where she’s spent enough for a mortgage of any substance. It makes me wonder if there’s any debt to be paid. It would be just like her to lie about that, too.”
Violet pointed to the envelope.
Desiree withdrew and quickly scanned the contents from the envelope. “Is this some kind of joke? How could she get a fifteen-year mortgage forthree hundred thousanddollars? She doesn’t have a pot to pee in. When she said there was a mortgage for renovations, I was thinking, fifty, maybe sixty thousand.”
Violet waved her hand around the room. “The house is worth millions. Bay-front property on Cape Cod. Think about it.”
“Butwhywould the bank give it to her? She doesn’t even have a real job.” She set Cosmos on the floor and paced the kitchen.
“She probably sold them on the idea of reopening the inn, and everything on the Cape is hugely expensive. Renovations that cost fifty thousand in Virginia are probably twice that here. The question is, where’s the money? She said she’s been renovating, but obviously that’s about as true as the reasons she brought us here.”
“The next mortgage payment is due inthreeweeks. Why would she do this? Before Grandma’s funeral, I hadn’t seen her for years.Years, Vi.” She paced. “Wasn’t it enough that she ruined my childhood? Does she really need to mess up the rest of my life, too?”
“Careful, Des. You’re going to pop a vein or something.” Violet pushed herself up and sat on the counter, her bare feet dangling, like it was just another summer’s day.
“How can you be so infuriatingly calm?” She was too angry to even begin to figure out how they’d come up with the money for the next mortgage payment. She had savings, but that was her hard-earned money to be used in case of emergencies. She didn’t earn much, and it had taken her a long time to save it up.
“Because while you’re whining about how she ruined your childhood and you’re not used to her antics,thisis what I grew up with. This is normal for me.” Violet pushed from the counter.
“What does that mean?” She glared at her sister. “And I’m not whining. I’m just pointing out a fact.”
“Trust me, you were a lot better off in Virginia with your father than traveling the world with her. You have no idea what it was like moving every six months, never having friends long enough to build relationships. Never knowing what country I’d be in next.” She shoved her feet into a pair of black leather boots by the kitchen door, grabbed her keys from the counter, and stormed outside.
“Wait!” Desiree chased after her and grabbed her arm.
Violet spun around, her eyes throwing daggers. “It’s not your problem.”
“Itismy problem. I never thought about what you were going through. I thought you loved living with her, that you were just like her. Free-spirited and perfectly happy traveling around the world.”
Violet turned away, jaw clenched tight.
“Please don’t drive off. You’re my sister, and we’re in this together. We may not know each other very well yet, but we’ve got all summer.” The tension around Violet’s mouth eased. Not a lot, and if she weren’t looking for it, she might have missed it. But it was enough to make her want to try harder.
“I’ll take away the schedule,” Desiree offered, hoping it would help.
Violet smiled, and an incredulous laugh fell from her lips. “You didn’t even want to stay for the summer in the first place.”
“I know, but maybe this is our chance to finally become the sisters we were never able to be when we were growing up.”
“We’re so different.” Violet looked over Desiree’s yellow tank dress and strappy sandals.
“But we came out of the same womb,” Desiree gently reminded her, making them both smile. “You rushed up here when you thought I was in trouble. Thathasto mean something.”
“Yeah, that I didn’t want to lose the only person I have in the entire world besidesher. I always thought that one day we’d, I don’t know, be able to hang out together. Find a way not to fight when we saw each other. And then I thought you weredyingand we’d never have the chance. And if she’s the only person I have in this entire world, then I’m truly fu…screwed.”
“I’ve wanted that, too,” Desiree admitted.
