wasn’t God who had located the rehab facility, the nutritionists, the acupuncturist, or the yoga center, made appointments at each one and forced Chase to keep them.
That was all her.
So she would deal with Saint Peter when the time came for her reckoning. She had a few things to say to him anyway.
But right now, she was too busy caring for her family.
Across the lake, an egret unfurled his wings, rising from his place on a log and lifting himself into the sky, soundless but for a soft whooshing as he crossed the water. As the first rays of the morning sun ascended the horizon, the air warmed. Mosquitos would come soon. Another thing to add to her list—she’d call the bug man as soon as the office opened, to spray the yard before the kids arrived, making sure that whatever spray he used wouldn’t affect the fireflies. Stacy used to love the fireflies, used to run after them, convinced they were real fairies who had come to visit. Kaye wondered if Stacy would remember that, or if Stacy’s daughter Sophie would think the same thing. She hoped so.
Kaye drew the memories of the early days of the shore house close to her, wrapping them around her like a warm blanket. Before Chase’s father sold him the property, she and Chase had come to visit for the summer, first as newlyweds, then when the children were born—all of them bouncing around in that big house. Chase’s mother Amara had welcomed them every year with genuine warmth and hospitality that Kaye always tried to emulate, even decades later. Amara was unflappable and utterly welcoming. It hadn’t mattered to her if Stacy came down to the shore house with a classmate in tow, or if visiting slipped Brad’s mind entirely. When the kids were younger and went out to play, Kaye would worry where they were, until Amara reminded her that the entire town was just six blocks across, starting with the inlet bridge to the west and ending at the ocean to the east, and that it was very difficult to get lost. She often reminded Kaye that when Chase was a boy, he was gone all day. The only way she knew which house he was visiting was by the twisted pile of bicycles casually dropped in the front yard. After that, Kaye learned to keep her worries to herself. She preferred having her family close, even if Amara might think it was silly.
Kaye allowed herself a final sip of coffee before returning her attention to the present. Now, with the house ready and her things in place, the season could officially begin. It had become a tradition, over the years, for summer families to host an informal cookout within a few weeks of their arrival, to reconnect with friends and neighbors and settle into the routine of the summer. It was a lovely tradition and Kaye always looked forward to it. This year, she hoped their party would include everyone: Chase, Stacy and her family—Ryan, Connor, and Sophie—and Brad, Kaye’s son. It would be a sort of reset on their life, a new beginning. Kaye hoped it would serve as a reminder of what was important and what could fall away.
Tomorrow, Kaye would begin the chore of stocking the kitchen. There would be trips to the cheese shop for the brie Stacy liked—and sharp cheddar for Brad—maybe a few bags of Dutch pretzels for the pantry. It was still a bit too early to place an order with Mueller’s Bakery for Saturday, so she added that task to her growing list. Her grandchildren would love the crumb buns—everyone did. Chase and Stacy were partial to black and whites, Ryan to almond croissants, cupcakes for the kids; Kaye would buy all of it. She would need to go to the weekend farmers’ market for vegetables because those were the freshest. Kaye imagined walking hand in hand with her grandchildren to the farmers’ tents later that summer and filling a basket with anything they wanted. The corn would be ready in July, the first tomatoes at the end of June.
Kaye felt her mood lift as she planned. She’d almost accepted the notion that they might never return to the shore house, and yet here she was. If things went according to plan, the entire family would be together again, with Chase getting there first, sometime tomorrow afternoon. Though the trip was a bit more than an hour by car, Kaye didn’t