Ellie’s deepest insecurities.
“I love this house,” Ellie said. “And I thought you both did too.”
Gemma looked down at her hands, quieted by that, and Ellie glanced at Hope, who was resting on a lounge chair, her legs propped up in front of her, a baby monitor on the end table next to her.
“We don’t need to decide anything right now,” Hope said mildly, looking as if she couldn’t care either way, and why should she? She had a rich husband. She lived a comfortable life. A big, beautiful home all of her own. Like Gemma, she hadn’t come back to the island for years. The money didn’t matter to her anymore than this house did. She’d never even brought the girls here, and they were already four! She always said it was too far to travel with twins. Gran had only met them once, at Christmas at their parents’ house a few years back.
Ellie’s jaw tightened at that memory. It was the last time they were all together, before the funeral, and it was just like old times, with their parents fussing over Hope and Evan and the girls and her father inquiring about Gemma’s then job at the advertising agency. By then, Ellie had been living with Gran for years, and she knew how her father felt about that.
She just didn’t realize until last summer that her father wasn’t the only one.
“I know that you think I’ve been staying here rent-free because I have no other alternatives,” she said to Gemma, tears burning her eyes.
“I never said that,” Gemma insisted, but Ellie shook her head.
“Last summer you made it very clear that Gran had been kind enough to take me in all those years.”
“And she was, Ellie,” Gemma said gently. “But I didn’t mean it the way you took it.”
“Like a charity case?” Ellie folded her arms across her chest. “You did. Partly. You didn’t see then that I have a home here. A life. It might not be perfect, and I may not be perfect, but I’m doing my best, for Gran, for this house. For me.”
“I’m thinking of you right now,” Gemma said. “This house is worth a lot of money. And this island is a small community for someone as young as you. I know Simon is back for the summer, but when he goes back, wouldn’t it be nice to have the option to go too?”
“Simon’s back?” Hope jumped in, smiling fondly. “Simon Webber? Oh, I’ll have to look for him.” She smiled suggestively at Ellie.
Ellie took a deep breath, trying to steady the emotions raging within her. “I’m not going to follow Simon back to Philadelphia,” she said firmly. Neither of her sisters looked completely convinced.
“You were so in love with him,” Gemma said, her eyes shining as if picturing a memory. “And now here he is, after all these years.”
“It’s not as magical as you make it seem, Gemma,” Ellie replied. “It’s not like some story out of one of your books. His parents have a house here. He was bound to come back eventually, just like the two of you.”
He hadn’t come back for her, she reminded himself. Not then. Not now.
“True,” Gemma said with a little shrug. “But this isn’t our parents’ house, Ellie. It’s ours. And we have to think about this. If we sold it and split it—”
“We don’t need to decide anything. You two don’t get a vote!” Ellie said, tossing back such a large slurp of wine that she had to smother a cough. The last thing she needed was one of her sisters jumping in to pound her back or play nursemaid. She didn’t need them now. She needed them back then, when she was fresh out of college, nervous about her options and worried that her father had been right, that she had set herself up for failure, while Gemma and Hope were already settled into their new, successful lives in Chicago. And she’d needed them when she was all alone here, caring for their grandmother. And now they thought they could waltz in and have a say in how she was caring for this house? Nope.
She set the wine glass down on the nearest end table, not caring that some of it spilled onto the whitewashed floorboards. Let one of her sisters wipe it up. After all, they were so keen to have a part in this house, maybe they could pitch in for a change.
“Where are you going?” Gemma called out.
“Out!” Ellie said,