Virginia McCullough - Love, Unexpected

Staring at the boat, Andi had a feeling the yacht was a lot like her old house. For sure, the fixer-upper boat’s to-do list would be as long as the dock itself. What a huge undertaking. Then why was her heart beating a little faster? She immediately dismissed her own surprising reaction. Did she really want to clutch a scraper in her hand and get to work? As a matter of fact, yes, it was an appealing idea. She didn’t know a lot about large motor yachts, but something in her longed to brighten up this floating mass of wood.

Andi started when her phone vibrated in her pocket, but she guessed it would be Brooke and hurried to answer.

“Hi, Mom.”

Better than cheery, Brooke sounded excited.

“Well, hello. Are you enjoying yourself in the big city?” Her mood lifted at the sound of her daughter’s voice.

“We’re at Navy Pier eating fudge ice cream,” Brooke said. “We rode the Ferris wheel, and it was great. And we went to the aquarium today. You should see the sharks—and the dolphins.”

“Sounds like fun.” She walked away from the dock, but before she got too far, she pivoted and took another look at the boat. Nothing in the marina was as isolated as that lone yacht.

“Wait, Mom. Dad wants to talk to you a minute.”

“Okay, put him on,” Andi said, taking a few more steps away from the boat.

“Hey, Andi,” Miles said, “any news?”

“About a roof over my head, you mean? And Brooke’s.” Andi winced at the sarcastic tone coming out of her mouth. Where had it come from? Frustration? Misplaced resentment? Miles didn’t mean anything negative by the question.

“Oops, sorry, Miles,” she said quickly. “Don’t mind me. I’m mad at myself. Somehow, this move didn’t go at all the way I planned it.”

“It will work out. And like I told you, you can stay in the cottage another week or so, and then move back in when our guests leave.”

Andi knew exactly what was coming next. If she still hadn’t found a place to live, she and Brooke were welcome to stay with Miles and Lark. They had plenty of space, and Brooke had her own room fixed up exactly as she wanted it. She spent almost half her time in Miles’s house, anyway. Andi would be welcome to the guest room. It was a generous offer. Andi knew that. Just like she knew she couldn’t bring herself to stay there.

“We talked about that, and you know how I feel, Miles. It would be too odd for Brooke. She’s used to going between my house and your house. It’s been her life since she was a toddler. She adjusted well to being with you and Lark and Evan. But stay in your house? I don’t think so.”

“You wouldn’t be here for long. Only until things settle in for you in Two Moon Bay, Andi. It would only be for a week or two.”

“Look, I’ll get vacation rentals a week or two at a time, or we’ll stay in one of the residential hotels,” she said, annoyed by the turn of the conversation. “It’s not the best solution, but it’s better than being with Brooke in the same house with you and Lark and her son.” Such a nightmarish solution. Andi would do almost anything to avoid it.

“You make it sound like a punishment for something,” Miles said, uncharacteristic resentment seeping into his voice. “You’re telling me you’d rather be alone with Brooke in a hotel than with her in my house.”

“Yes, Miles, that’s precisely what I’m saying.” She paused. “Give me a minute to spell this out for you.” It was hard to gather her thoughts with the background noise coming from Miles’s phone. Between a loud blues band, a mix of voices and the wind producing a static sound, it was nearly impossible to hear him. She kicked her voice up a notch. “I’m on my way back to the cottage now. Can we talk later? I’d like you to understand.”

“Okay, I’ll call you in an hour or so.”

With the call ended, Andi retraced her steps back across the grass and through the marina and down a few blocks of the waterfront street. She was soon unlocking the front door to Lark’s cottage on Night Beach Road. She fixed herself a plate of cheese and crackers and made short work of what she decided was dinner. Then she poured herself a glass of merlot and sat in the window seat to wait for Miles’s call.

Andi barely knew Lark, but it was easy to picture Brooke’s stepmom raising Evan in this cottage, working at her desk in front of this large picture window with its view of the lake. It was still Lark’s office, except when she and Miles had company staying here, like now. Then she worked in her office in their new house just down the street.

Andi thought about all the reasons she believed moving to Two Moon Bay was good for Brooke. But the logical, sound reasons for making such a major change only explained about 90 percent of her rationale. Andi hadn’t confided to anyone about the other reasons that pushed her toward her decision. It was hunger, she thought. She was hungry for something different in her life. After years of successfully managing a large medical practice, she’d been a casualty of a merger with a larger medical group. Luckily, she was a saver so she wasn’t living hand-to-mouth. She’d also accepted a few temp assignments over the last eighteen months and that helped cover her expenses. She had the luxury of holding out for a good professional opportunity.

When she’d first started her job search, a couple of medical practices had come looking for her, even coaxing her to agree to interviews, but they made such lowball offers she’d turned them down flat. She was determined to think bigger, not smaller. Or, what was stopping her from changing fields altogether, maybe taking off in a new direction?

Deciding to move to Two Moon Bay had been bound up in that exciting notion of a fresh start. All that work to renovate her house increased its value and the profit from its sale bought her more time to figure out what she wanted. The sale happened much faster than she or the Realtor had anticipated. The offer was well above the asking price, but in order to take advantage of it, she’d agreed to a closing date that allowed her almost no time to find a permanent rental.

Andi sipped her wine and stared at the narrow reflection of the new moon breaking through the haze over the lake. Where had her logical mind gone? None of these short-term problems would matter if she was judging her situation rationally. These were setbacks, minor at that, but they brought back long buried memories of other times she’d just as soon forget.

Like the air, the lake was still tonight. That sad old boat she’d seen was probably barely moving at the dock.

Odd that she would think of that boat. But there was something about it. But what?

Miles’s call broke into her thoughts.

“So?” he asked.

“So,” she said back, “here it is. You know I agreed to get out of the house in Green Bay without enough time to organize the move or find a rental, let alone buy a new place. I feel bad about that. Here I am, with my reputation as a hotshot manager, but I mis managed this entire situation.”

“But I keep trying to tell you it’s okay,” he said with an impatient sigh. “We all know it’s temporary. We have room for you. This is about you, Andi, not me...or anyone else.”

Lark. He means it’s not about her. But Andi knew that. Using her thumb and index finger, she rubbed her forehead as if that action could produce the words that would help him understand. “I know this sounds overblown, but it feels chaotic, Miles,” she finally said. “On some level, not having a job or a house reminds me of the days after our divorce when I made so many mistakes.”

She was talking in code, as if not spelling it out would soften the blow. Who was she kidding? The blow was landing on her, not Miles. “I married Roger so fast, and it was such a disaster. The next year was a mess. You were the one who kept life stable for Brooke.”