And yet, it hurt so much.
The goal was to keep moving. To fix this house to feel better. I’d call some of the other people on my waitlist who had submitted interest forms and go from there. Eventually, fixing other things would lift this weight off my chest. It had to.
This would linger for a while. It always did, but I’d stay away until it was a dull ache. Until people forgot me, just like they always did. And when I was a warm memory, just a woman whohad come through and done a nice thing, then I’d try to visit Mollie and no one else.
I was better from a distance.
Pushing all thoughts of Strawberry Springs out of my mind, I knocked on the faded red door. It would look great with a new paint job.
It swung open and a woman with shoulder-length brown hair was on the other side. She was followed closely by a taller man with lighter brown hair.
Andfuck.Glasses.
Why did it have to be glasses?
“Hi,” I said, holding out my hand to each of them. “I’m Wren.”
“You’re right on time!” the woman said. “I’m Violet, and this is Charlie. Thank you so much for seeing us.”
“I know you’re busy,” Charlie added.
“I like being busy,” I replied, even though the words tasted sour in my mouth. I’d also liked the peace I’d found with ...No.I wasn’t going there.
“Come on in,” Charlie said. “We’ll show you around.”
The house looked just as it did in the photos, with metal cabinets and wood tones everywhere. When I’d seen it, I wanted to brighten it up. Most of it could be updated, but I’d keep the small things in place. Like the trim, the original floors, the color scheme.
But this felt like ahome.
Usually, I’d jump out the gate. I’d tell them what I saw their space looking like, how I could preserve history, but make it modern.
This time? I had nothing.
“This is a beautiful space,” I started. “Tell me again, what all are you wanting? It’s okay if it changed in the last few months.”
Charlie and Violet looked at each other. They must have had a lot of talks about this in between then and now.
“We’re still thinking about having kids,” Charlie said. “And I want this to be more ... modern. Kid friendly. It has old wiring, and a lot of sharp edges. I mean, the stairs alone are a tripping hazard.”
“No offense, but I’ve been trying to convince him to tell you we didn’t need much of anything,” Violet added. “This is his family’s house, so it means a lot to him, but he insists we need to upgrade things. But he says he’s fine with a complete renovation and you keeping the small bits of charm that you usually do.”
Charlie looked over the space as he crossed his arms. He trailed over every detail. He must have looked at it a million times. Violet watched every moment as if sheknewhe wasn’t ready for all of this.
I could relate to that feeling.
“My best friend is having a baby too,” I said. “Another family home. Passed down for generations.”
“Did she upgrade it to make it safer?” Charlie asked.
“Not a thing. In fact, she told me not to.”
Charlie’s eyebrows raised. “But with a kid, it has to be ... something. I wouldn’t be a good dad if I didn’t consider it.”
“He has daddy issues from abandonment. We both do, actually.”
I blinked. For the first time, I felt a smile trying to creep onto my face. She reminded me of Mollie.
Then the crushing guilt came back. Was she trying to call me too?