Chapter Two

I pulled into the driveway and turned off the engine. It was a cute little house, quaint with a big white door. It looked like something a grandmother would live in, which was appropriate because Betty lived here, my niece’s grandmother. Or rather, she had lived here.

Sighing as I leaned back in the truck's seat, I still couldn't believe I was here, but family has to stick together. My sister, Grace, needed me. When she called to tell me Betty had died, I packed my truck the next day. Grace wouldn’t officially ask me to move in, but Grace was going to have a rough time without Betty’s help watching her daughter.

Five years old and one of the smartest little kids I had ever met, Avery was incredibly independent and a total handful. It wasn't that she misbehaved; but just like her dad, she was too smart for her own good and she had an impulsive spirit, just like her father. Often, she didn't think before she acted.

I wondered how well Grace was holding up. She was strong, but I was sure Betty's death was taking its toll on her. She had already lost so much; the death of one more person close to her seemed cruel. Our parents died when I was fifteen and Grace was nineteen. She had petitioned the courts and taken legal guardianship of me. It was just us; two teenage girls taking on the world. But, together, we survived.

The truck groaned slightly as it settled. I closed my eyes, thinking back on how things had been and how we got to this point.

Grace and her boyfriend, Evan, finished raising me after Mom and Dad died. I had been excited when Grace told Evan she was pregnant a year after the three of us had moved in together. I was sixteen at the time and thought having a baby around the house would be fun. Evan joined the Army so that he could support his growing family, and he married Grace in a simple ceremony in front of an Army chaplain before Avery was born. Money was tight, but we were happy. We were a family.

Evan worked so hard to keep Grace, Avery, and me comfortable. We were "his girls," and we traveled from base to base across the country wherever the Army sent him. Things were good, the future looked bright. Then I came home one day to find a man in uniform with a flag tucked under his arm and an apologetic look on his face. Evan's impulsive spirit had cost him dearly. The Army chaplain said he didn't even hesitate to run into the fire and had saved three lives because of it. Avery was only three.

After Evan died, his mother, Betty, asked Grace and Avery to come live with her. I had a sailing scholarship waiting for me in California, so I went off to school while Grace and Avery moved back to the East Coast. I visited as often as I could, but even with my sailing competitions occasionally sending me back East, I only saw them at Christmas and spring break. I missed them, but my sailing career was taking off. Well, I thought, it had been.

Without air conditioning, the truck’s cabin started to heat up. It was still early summer, but the late afternoon sun beat through the windshield. It felt almost good in a drowsy sort of way, but I knew before long it would become unbearable. I was rather excited, looking forward to a shower and a night in a real bed. Traveling cross-country in an old beat-up pickup with barely enough money to pay for gas, let alone a decent hotel, made for some uncomfortable nights stretched out across the passenger seat.

A little face framed with dark blonde hair appeared in the front window of the house, as I turned into the driveway and shut off the car. Blue eyes peered out at me and a huge grin spread across her face when I waved. My time in the driveway was over. Even from the car, I could hear her little voice shouting, "AUNT SAM'S HERE! MOM! AUNT SAM'S HERE!"

The old truck’s door gave a metallic sigh when I opened it, and I stretched as soon as I could stand. My butt was numb from sitting for so long. The slight breeze was cool after being in the car, and it felt amazing. Even though we were at least a mile inland, I could almost smell the ocean. One upside to moving here was a fantastic little marina just a mile away. Not that I had a boat or anyone to sail it with, but at least it was there.

The front door of the house made a thud against the wall after Avery threw it open and ran screaming joyfully into the driveway. Kneeling just in time to have her little arms slam around my neck, she giggled with delight as I squeezed her back. I held her at arm's length and looked her up and down.

"Hmm, maybe you know where I can find my niece,” I said with a fake frown. “She looks a lot like you, but she isn't nearly as tall. And my niece is definitely cleaner." Spaghetti sauce streaked Avery’s face, and I was fairly sure that was glitter glue in her hair. Her shirt, and now mine, was covered in flour. I could just bet that her mom was eager for the little monster to start school in a couple months.

"It's me, Aunt Sam! Mom and I made cookies!" Avery grinned proudly. "And I lost a tooth yesterday and the Tooth Fairy gave me a whole dollar! And Mom said that we can go to the store later and I can buy something, and..."

"Let your aunt breathe, Avery. You can tell her your life story once we get her inside," Grace said, interrupting the stream of bubbly words coming from the excited five year old. "I thought you weren't going to be here until tomorrow?"

I stood up and gave my sister a hug. Her blue eyes were tired with dark circles underneath, but she still grinned and firmly returned my hug. I wondered just how much sleep she had, or hadn’t, been getting.

"I got woken up at the rest stop by some guy's car alarm going off at two in the morning, so I just got on the road early,” I said. “Avery mentioned something about cookies?"

Grace’s laugh brightened her features.

Avery grabbed my hand. "We made chocolate chip, and sugar, and Mom let me decorate them, and..."

"And I'm guessing she let you eat a couple of them too," I butted in. Avery gave me a toothy grin as she pulled me into the door. The house was cool and comfortable. It was just the way I remembered it from my last visit.

I sat down at the worn, wooden kitchen table while Avery chattered on about how she had decorated this cookie and that cookie. Grace poured me a tall glass of lemonade that I slowly sipped. She frowned slightly at a knock on the door, but before she could move, Avery sprinted to answer it.

"Avery, remember to look out the window before..." Grace called out as the door pinged against the wall again. "Before you answer it." Grace sighed, I set down my drink, and together we followed the chatter to the front door.

A big man in a sheriff's uniform was in the doorway, already down on one knee and listening to Avery's barrage of words. He was at least twenty years older than Grace and me, but he had a kind face. Rising as soon as he saw us, he flashed Grace and me a big smile.

"So this is your Aunt Sam," he said in a deep voice as he extended a hand toward me. "It's nice to finally meet you. I can see the family resemblance."

"Really?" I asked, taking his hand. Most people were surprised Grace and I were sisters. We both had dark blonde hair, but where she was tall and petite, I was shorter and stockier. "Most people don't."

He laughed. "It's in the smile. You three all have the same smile."

"What can we do for you, Matt?" Grace asked, leaning against the wall. I could see his cruiser sitting in a driveway a couple of houses down the street.

"I was just pulling in and saw a truck full of boxes in your driveway. I know you said your sister was coming in today, and I wondered if I could help carry some stuff in." He gave a warm smile. I felt like I had walked into some 1950's sitcom where the sheriff really was everybody's friend. I wondered if all sheriffs in small towns were like this.

"Thanks, Matt, but I don't think Sam has that much,” Grace said. “She's only staying for a little while.”

"Erm, well, actually..." I blushed. Grace knew I was coming to visit, but she didn't think I would actually move in. She had mentioned it, but had never officially asked. The ache in her voice when she had called to ask me for 'just a couple days' had told me she needed more than that. "It would be great to have a little help."

Grace frowned and popped her head out the door to get a look at my very full truck.

"Yeah, there is more in there than I thought. We can at least wait until it's not quite so hot out, though. How about in an hour?" Grace asked with only a hint of embarrassment.

The sheriff nodded. "I'll go change out of my work clothes and see you girls in an hour." He flashed a smile and headed back down the driveway.

"Bye, Matt!" Avery called out as he walked away.

"Is that normal?" I asked, turning to Grace.

"What?" Grace looked at me, confused.

"The sheriff just ringing your bell and asking if you need stuff unpacked? Does he help you with your groceries too?" I gave her a pointed look.

Grace rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Oh, it's not like that. He helps everybody. He and Betty were neighbors forever, and he looked out for her. When we moved in, he started keeping tabs on us too. He's more like a big brother than anything."

Grace waved her hand to dismiss whatever ideas might be brewing in my head. "Besides, he's too old for me."

"He is kind of cute," I murmured, peeking out the window to watch him walk away. He moved confidently, but with a slight limp.

"Too old. And what is all your stuff doing in the driveway, Sam?" Grace glared at me. Avery went to the window and acted like she wasn't listening.

"I came to help you. You asked if I could," I replied nonchalantly.

Grace didn't buy it for a second. "I asked if you could come and help me out if you had time. You are supposed to be racing this summer -- you said it was supposed to be your best season yet!" Her voice’s pitch rose like our mom's used to when she was angry.

"I told you Cora got hurt. When the doctors told the sponsors she wasn't going to be racing this season, they backed out." I shrugged and walked to the kitchen, but Grace grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face her.

"So get a new sailing partner. You are good at sailing, Sam. I won't have you waste your season just because I need a babysitter." Her blue eyes searched mine.

"I can't,” I said. “The season was already in session when she got hurt, and it just isn't possible, okay? I don't want to talk about it. Just know that my racing season was already over when you called. At least here I can help you out." I shrugged like it was nothing, but it killed me inside. "Let me at least salvage something from this summer."

This was supposed to be my year. Cora and I had flown up the rankings last year, and the season had been ours for the taking. Then Cora went swimming with some friends, dove into shallow water, and injured her back. The doctors said she was lucky she was still able to breathe on her own and that she would walk again with some therapy. Her sailing days were over, and so was our partnership. I might have found someone else to sail with if the sponsors hadn’t backed out, but without them, I didn't have a boat. It was one of those horrible series of events that just spiraled out of my control.

Grace glared at me. I knew she was angry that I was there. I was supposed to be sailing and going to school, not coming home to help raise a child. I knew that Grace was strong and smart enough to do it on her own, but I didn't want her to put herself through that. She had started nursing school last year so she could give Avery a better life, and I knew that if she didn't have someone to help watch Avery while she was in class, then she would have to quit. My dreams were already on hold; I didn't see a reason to postpone hers too.

"I am not happy about this, Sam, but I'll take it." Grace's eyes fell to the floor for a moment before meeting mine again. "You can have Betty's room."

Grace relaxed when I wrapped my reassuring arms around her. She needed me. And in all honesty, I needed her and Avery. With my racing season and sailing future in shambles, I needed something to keep me going. Avery was the perfect reason.

"I seem to recall someone saying there were chocolate chip cookies,” I said to my older sister. “I haven't gotten one yet, and that sounds delicious."

I pretended not to notice she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.

"They should be finished cooling. Come on, you two, we should eat them while they're still warm." Grace squeezed my shoulder and let Avery run in front of us to the kitchen. I smiled. I could get used to calling this place home.