I Loved You First by Suzanne Enoch & Molly Harper & Karen Hawkins

Author:Suzanne Enoch & Molly Harper & Karen Hawkins
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781641971478

6

Ana had forgotten how good her neighbors on Espoir could be to each other.

Once word spread that yes, Ana Gustavsson was really back and living in Fishscale House, her doorbell started ringing.

Also, her doorbell desperately needed to be replaced, because it sounded like something out of The Addams Family.

John Mohlen had dropped three cords of firewood into the storage box on her porch, waving his Stormy Kromer at her when she called out her thanks. Fileted whitefish and apple bread showed up like clockwork every few days. Eddie Burgess and Art Giddner—a couple of “confirmed bachelors” who owned the hardware store together for the last forty years and probably the most functional couple on the island—showed up one afternoon to help Ned with the wiring. Bette Sanditon came by with some extra pots and pans and kitchen stuff. Nell and Smitty came to help with tearing out the cabinets and fixtures.

Combined with the specialists Ned recruited to replace the scale-shaped siding, and replace the staircase spindles, (not granite) countertops, and cabinets, the house was almost unrecognizable. A crew painted the siding a soft gray while the trim was painted a deeper slate color and then white to emphasize the different dimensions. The awful appliances were replaced with units that were not quite luxurious, but they were energy efficient and not harvest gold.

Slowly, day by day, the house became livable, particularly after Ned found a huge soaking tub on claw feet. It was a lot easier to see her herself living on the island permanently—without the usual debilitating despair—while up to her chin in warm, scented water.

And while the cynical part of her thought maybe the sudden outpouring of support had something to do with her taking over the historical society’s efforts, she also knew that people on Espoir helped each other not so they had leverage to hold over each other in a never-ending game of social chess. They helped each other because alone, no one survived on Espoir.

Speaking of which, Jackie had already contacted Bash’s lawyers and filed several motions in divorce court on Ana’s behalf. She seemed to know what she was doing, considering that Bash’s chief lawyer, John H. Houston, had called Ana to say that ‘surely, rushing a divorce process wasn’t what she wanted’ and telling her that it might be best just to wait awhile and let Bash’s lawyers ease the proceeding through court quietly. Houston promised he would represent her interests fairly. All she had to do was “stop complicating the situation.” Ana told Houston to direct all contact to her lawyer before hanging up on him.

She tried to help Ned with the house as much as possible, but eventually he realized that while the spirit was willing, the flesh was an enormous risk to herself and others while handling power tools. There was an incident with the nail gun and poor Smitty’s foot. She was sure it was the talk of Fitzroy’s for days.

Ana carried things and helped him set up or clean up.

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