Meet Me at Midnight - Jessica Pennington Page 0,40
bigger, and newer. We pull up behind it, right next to a FOR SALE sign.
“Are we buying it?” I ask, before I can stop myself.
“We talked them into renting it while it’s on the market,” Dad says. “A Realtor may have to bring someone through once in a while.”
Mom cuts in. “But it’s a vacation home, and it’s been on the market for over a year, so chances are good we won’t be bothered too often.”
Dad nods. “Fingers crossed.”
“Cool.” I don’t know what else to say. I don’t plan on having a problem with any house they pick. It is, after all, my fault that we’re being kicked out of our house.
I follow Mom and Dad to the side of the house where a beautiful dark wood door leads into a little tiled entryway that dumps into a long room. To the right is the kitchen, and to the left is a round wooden table and white chairs. Behind it, a row of three windows looks out toward the lake.
The kitchen is twice the size of our old kitchen, with a little peninsula that juts out and three bright red metal stools. Beyond it is a large living room with skylights, and a three-season room to the left that leads out to a large two-tiered deck. Like Lake House A, this house is set on a hill, but we’re right on the edge of it, practically hanging over the water, set alongside a little jut of trees. To the left of the deck, a small beach area stretches out, and a dock cuts into the water.
On the opposite end of the house there is a master bedroom with bathroom on one side of the hallway, and a large bedroom on the other side. Beyond them are a laundry room and a large bathroom. At the end of the hallway are two more bedrooms. Everything in this house is in shades of white, blue, and gray, with pops of yellow here and there. Compared to the dark paneling and garage-sale furniture of Lake House A, it’s like looking into the sun, being surrounded by so many pale colors.
“This is ridiculous,” I say as I join my parents out on the deck. The sun is setting and the trees that stretch up across the hills on the opposite side of the lake look like they’re on fire. The house isn’t that fancy, but it’s a million times nicer than what I’m used to at the lake. There’s an attention to detail here that Nadine obviously never bothered with. This feels like a house someone might live in all year. It almost feels too nice for a vacation house. There’s something comfortable and low-stress about worn-in furniture and mismatched lamps. “We can afford this?”
I regret saying it. My parents don’t ever bring up money. I have no idea how much our usual cabin costs, but this one is at least twice as big and ten times as nice, so I can only assume.
“It would be a bit of an adjustment,” Mom says, leaning on the railing next to me, her eyes fixed on the lake. Her voice sounds cautious. Maybe this isn’t a done deal. Maybe I shouldn’t get my hopes up. I look out across the water, trying to make out where our old house would be on the horizon, but everything looks like a mass of green and blue from this distance.
Behind us a door slams, and I hear voices inside the house. I hear Sylvie first.
“Did they find a house, too?” I say in Mom’s direction, before they reach the deck and it becomes rude to ask.
“They did,” Mom says, her voice full of relief.
I smile, glad that Asher and I didn’t ruin everyone’s summer. Maybe this can all still be salvaged after all.
“Where?” I ask as Sylvie steps out onto the deck, followed by Greg and Asher.
Mom pushes her hair back from her face and looks to my dad, who takes a step toward my mom, like they need to be a united front. But a united front for what?
Asher pushes through the door from the three-season room and his lips are tipped up in the faintest hint of a smirk. He looks like he’s about to sneak off to find my purse and fill it with earthworms. But he stays right where he is, just outside of the door, and greets me with a tip of his head. “Hey, roomie.”