Amber laughed. “I wouldn’t exactly call it a silver lining, Dad. I mean, you and Mom are divorced. You have a girlfriend.”
“Look, I realize it’s a very difficult transition. Change always is hard. But it’s not like it’s a rare thing, people growing apart, getting divorced, starting new lives. I think once we get used to the new normal, things will fall into place. I mean, your uncle Ben and aunt Judy are managing their new family dynamic very well, don’t you think?” he asked, speaking of his brother and sister-in-law.
“They’ve been divorced for ten years, Scott. And it was by mutual choice,” Justine said. “It’s not up to the girls to create a new normal. All they have to do is create their own lives, which right now is school and friends.”
“Okay, I get that. I do. So, the question is, can you adjust and be happy if we don’t hang on to that house in San Jose? Because it’s sitting almost vacant. How much time do you girls actually spend there?”
“If they need to be in San Jose for a school event or project, I go and stay with them,” Justine said.
“Okay, then let me ask you—now that you work here, are you about ready to think about putting the house on the market?”
She was, but not for the reasons he voiced. She found that more and more she resented the place. It was like living in the scene of the crime. Everything in that house, that lovely house, was carefully chosen for their family to enjoy. She’d lived in that house for a dozen years. She had loved it. But after everything that had happened, she was not in love with it anymore.
“I’ll go with what the girls are comfortable with,” Justine said. “If they need to have that house available to make them feel more secure, I side with them.”
“Girls? What do you say? The market is really good right now,” Scott said.
“It’s a couple of months until Christmas,” Justine said. “Spring is the ideal time to sell if that’s what we want to do.”
“Usually, but real estate is doing great right now. And,” he added, looking around, “you might like some of your furniture in this place. This stuff is pretty old and beat up.”
“Don’t you want some of the furniture?” she asked.
“I figured we’d split it up somehow, maybe sell some stuff...”
“Oh, that’s going to be a giant pain...”
“It makes a lot more sense than having a house full of stuff we don’t use just sitting there. Well? Girls?”
“I’m going to stay wherever Mom stays. I have friends in San Jose if I need to overnight for some reason,” Olivia said.
“Me, too,” Amber said. “I’m graduating in June anyway. I have a lot of friends, some I could stay with the whole school week if I wanted to.”
“I can’t believe my little girl is graduating,” Scott said.
Olivia rolled her eyes.
Justine knew they would probably get more money for the house if they waited until spring to sell it, but if it meant one less connection to Scott it couldn’t happen too soon. “Fine, right, let’s sell the house. Let’s go through and divide the property, but let’s leave it in the house. It’ll sell much better furnished. And I have to talk to Addie about this, as well.”
“Perfect,” he said. Then he stood. “Thanks, Justine. Thanks, girls.”
“Dad, you shouldn’t put your money into that kayak shack. It’s losing money,” Olivia said.
“How do you know that?” he asked, a bit of anger in his tone.
“Everyone in Half Moon Bay knows it,” she said, shrugging. “Your girlfriend is like the third or fourth owner, and no one has made money there.”
“Which is exactly why I’m needed. Believe me, I’m up to the challenge.”
Chapter Thirteen
Scott had planned very carefully. He knew the exact ways to make the kayak shack into a thriving business. He and Cat had actually discussed it for years. It wasn’t long after she bought the place a