Summer by the Tides by Denise Hunter

Author:Denise Hunter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2019-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Present day

Maddy dipped her brush into the aqua-colored paint and slathered it on the Adirondack chair. The old paint had eroded to an ash gray, and the chair was in sore need of a fresh coat. The evening sun was low in the sky, though the temperature was still well into the eighties.

Emma worked beside her on another chair, a little sloppy with her strokes, in Maddy’s opinion.

“Where’s Nora?” Emma asked. “I thought she was going to finish the kitchen tonight.”

“She went to the grocery.” Apparently Nora hadn’t yet solved the credit card situation, as she’d borrowed forty dollars from Maddy. Was something more going on with Nora’s finances? Part of her wanted to ask. Another part wanted to let it go.

“I talked to Gram earlier when you were at the hardware store,” Maddy said.

“How’s she doing?”

“Having a fantastic time with her friends from the sound of it.”

“That’s good. When’s she coming home?”

“She’s very noncommittal, but I got the idea it would be at least another week or two.”

“Did she press you about Nora and me?”

Maddy slanted a look at Emma. “Of course. I told her the truce was holding up, but she’s not satisfied with that, as you well know.”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell her. I guess this is as good as it’s ever going to get.”

Maddy prayed she was wrong. “I updated her on our progress with the house. I think she’s going to put it on the market as soon as she gets back.”

Emma sighed. “That’s kind of sad. There are so many memories here.”

“Not all of them good, though,” Maddy reminded her.

Her eyes drifted past the chair and toward the dunes where she’d spied Nora and Jonathan making out on the beach so many years ago. Maddy and Emma were currently sitting on the very deck where their family had splintered apart.

“Believe me, I know,” Emma said.

“But you’re right. Once upon a time we were happy here, and the three of us were close. I miss that, Emma.”

“Were we close?” Emma asked. “Sometimes I think things weren’t as wonderful as we imagined. They certainly weren’t between Mama and Daddy. I mean, we knew they argued sometimes, but I didn’t think much of it. Maybe there was always stuff going on down deep, and that last summer just exposed it all.”

The thought bothered Maddy, made her skin feel too tight. “What do you mean?”

“Well, Nora for instance. You know she was always Daddy’s girl.”

They rarely talked about their dad. There was still so much hurt there.

“Gram favored her too,” Emma continued. “That became very obvious that last summer.”

“She was the first grandchild—that’s not uncommon. But you were always Mama’s favorite.”

Emma dipped her brush in the paint. “I don’t know about that.”

“Oh, come on,” Maddy said, not unkindly. “You favor her the most. She always took your side and went easiest on you.”

Emma seemed to consider that. “Maybe back then it was true. She was definitely there for me after Nora betrayed me. It seemed like she really understood what I was going through.

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