Starting Over in Maple Bay by Brittney Joy
CHAPTER TWO
“What’d you say?” Hazel asked Frankie. Her fingers went slack, and she lost her grip on the gold sandal. It fell to the gravel and Hazel glanced around, waiting for someone to admit that this was all a bad joke. “Did you say you’re my sister?”
“Half-sister.” Frankie let her outstretched hand fall back to her side when Hazel didn’t grab it. “Mom said you didn’t know. I didn’t know, either. Not until Mom got sick. She told me I had a sister not long after her cancer diagnosis.”
Every sentence carried a piece of information Hazel wasn’t sure she could process. I have a sister? Rose died of cancer? She knew she was sick and still didn’t reach out to me?
“I . . .” Hazel started, not sure she had a response. Hazel knew today would be emotionally taxing, but she never imagined this scenario.
“Why don’t we sit on the porch and talk?” Daniel offered, trying to regroup the conversation. “I have some documents I need to go through with the both of you.”
A car door opened and closed. Hazel straightened, even before her daughter talked.
“Mom?” Hazel heard the worry in Grace’s question.
Swallowing, Hazel went into Mom-mode. “It’s okay, Grace. This won’t take long. I need to hear what Mr. Church has to say and then we’ll head back home. We’ll get dinner at the Pizza Parlor, okay?”
The Pizza Parlor was Grace’s favorite restaurant. Hazel took her there at least once a month, usually after cheer practice or to celebrate good grades. Sometimes just to brighten her day. Hazel hoped the meatball pizza would be enough to make Grace forget the fiasco Hazel was exposing her to today. “Can you read your book in the car for a little longer?”
Grace looked confused.
“Do you want to see my pony?” the littlest boy asked Grace with sudden enthusiasm. He seemed completely unaware of the heavy adult-talk going on around him.
“Noah,” Frankie started and ran her fingers through the boy’s blond hair, tousling it. “I’m not sure this is a good time for that.”
Noah’s excited face fell, and Jesse piped up. He’d been quiet as Frankie and Daniel had talked. “I’ll watch them,” Jesse offered. “Noah’s pony is just over there. You can watch your daughter from the porch.”
Behind Jesse, a potbellied white pony grazed in one of the paddocks. He was the smallest horse Hazel had ever seen. Grace’s eyes lit up. Maybe a tiny horse would be a better distraction than pizza.
“Okay, but please stay where I can see you. And watch your fingers and toes.” Horses bit and kicked, didn’t they? Even a tiny one had teeth and hooves. Although, at least Grace was more prepared than her mother. She was wearing black Converse tennis shoes.
Noah bounced like a spring and grabbed Grace’s hand. “Come on! Come meet Mister Pepper!”
Grace smiled shyly and went with the little boy. His brothers raced in front of them. Jesse gave a tip of his ballcap before exchanging a strange look with Frankie. Then he followed the kids.
One of the boys called back to Jesse. “Come on, Uncle Jesse!”
“I’m right behind you, Tommy,” Jesse replied.
Hazel’s heart lurched and the shock must’ve hit her face. Uncle Jesse?
“He’s not your brother, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Frankie offered quickly. “Jesse is a family friend. Known him since I was little. The boys call him Uncle Jesse because he might as well be family.”
Hazel’s chest gave a heave, glad her heart didn’t have to withstand one more jolt. Then she gathered her sandals and slid them back onto her feet. “If you don’t mind, can we get this conversation started? I’d like to be back on the road soon so I can avoid rush hour in Minneapolis.”
Once Hazel was sitting in a rocking chair on the porch, she tried not to stare at Frankie. It was nearly impossible. There was no doubt Frankie and Hazel were related. Frankie looked to be maybe thirty . . . a younger, more vibrant version of herself. The same person Hazel had been ten years ago, before life and a divorce beat her down.
“Here you go.” Frankie placed a mason jar filled with iced tea on the table next to Hazel. She handed another glass to Daniel who stood before them both, perched against the porch railing, a thick file in his hands.
“Thank you.” Hazel took a sip, wetting her stunned, dry mouth as Frankie took a seat in the rocking chair beside her. Frankie ran her fingers through her strawberry-blonde hair, pushing it from her face. Doing so better exposed her emerald green eyes and the spray of freckles over her nose and cheeks. Hazel shared the same features. Her hair was just a darker shade of red.
“Do you want to wait for Garrett?” Daniel asked Frankie. She shook her head.
“No, it’s fine. Garrett won’t be home until late. He’s working on a project over in Elm Grove.” Frankie took a drink of iced tea and caught Hazel’s stare, seeming to realize Hazel had no idea who Garrett was. She set the mason jar down on the table. “That’s my husband. Garrett. He works for his uncle’s excavating company. They’re clearing property for a developer over in Elm Grove and have been working until sunset every day. He won’t be home until nine or so. I’ll fill him in later tonight, when he gets home.”
Daniel pulled eyeglasses from the front pocket of his polo shirt and situated them on his nose. Then he cracked open the daunting file in his hands. “Rose asked me to read her will to you both, together.”
Frankie started rocking her chair, looking nervous. But why? Wouldn’t she know her mother’s final wishes? Daniel adjusted his glasses. “Rose Lovell left her property, homes, all structures and their contents to her two daughters, Francine Barnes and Hazel March.”
Daniel continued talking but his voice was muffled by Hazel’s shock. She shifted forward and nearly fell out of her rocking chair. “She left her home . . . this place . . . to us?” Hazel was pointing between Frankie, herself, the porch, and the house attached to it. Her finger moved in a jerky blur.
“She did,” Daniel replied, simply.
Frankie kept rocking.
“Why?” It was the only sensible word Hazel could utter. She had many other questions, but they all seemed to be rooted in one word . . . why?
Daniel looked stumped but proceeded. “You’re Rose’s only family. The two of you are her daughters. She left—”
“No,” Hazel interrupted, a dull fiery starting in her gut. “No, we are not her daughters. Frankie is Rose Lovell’s daughter. This is Frankie’s inheritance. I never even met Rose. Not once in my entire life. I have a mother and a father. Great ones, actually. Rose chose to give me up over thirty-seven years ago and I never even knew her last name. Not until a week ago when I received your letter.”
Frankie’s face was frozen.
Hazel got up from her chair, feeling unhinged and not wanting to take out a lifetime of resentment on a sister she met fifteen minutes ago. “I’m sorry. This isn’t your fault. I think I need to go.” She started walking across the porch, wanting to gather her thoughts and deal with this another day.
“Ms. March.” Daniel stood from his resting spot against the railing. “You really do need to hear the rest of Ms. Lovell’s will.”
In any other situation, magically inheriting a beautiful home and a sprawling property would be enough to make Hazel jump for joy and do cartwheels across the lawn. Especially since she was still recovering from how her ex-husband, Bill, had broken her financially. He’d racked up credit cards and taken a second mortgage on their house without her knowledge. In fact, in the past few years, Hazel had discovered a lot of things Bill had done without her knowledge.
But today, Hazel thought she was going to show up in Maple Bay, see the house her biological mother had lived in, and put some things to rest. Hazel wanted closure. Not a house. Walls, windows, and a roof certainly wouldn’t make up for being abandoned.
“I’ll have to politely disagree, Mr. Church. I don’t think I need to hear the rest of Ms. Lovell’s will.” Hazel looked at Frankie. “This is yours.” What kind of mother would deny her daughter—the one she raised—her inheritance?
Frankie opened her mouth but didn’t utter a response.
“I’m afraid you can’t do that,” Daniel said.
Hazel gave him the same look she gave Grace every time her daughter dunked French fries in her chocolate milkshake.
“There’s a clause,” Daniel added. Frankie had stopped rocking. “Ms. Lovell put a clause in her will. Her property is a total of twenty acres and a few years ago Rose had the property lines readjusted. The twenty acres were split into two ten-acre parcels. She left this parcel to Frankie,” Daniel waved a hand at the house, barn, and pastures. “She left the ten-acres with the carriage house to you.”
“On the condition that we both live on the property for the summer,” Frankie revealed, looking at Hazel like she was trying to read her mind. “That’s the clause.”
“She did what?” Hazel nearly shouted.
Daniel closed his file like Frankie had properly summed up the rest of the will. “The clause states that both of Ms. Lovell’s daughters must take up residence on the property from the day the will is read until the day after Labor Day. If either of you does not honor the clause, the entire property will go up for auction and the proceeds will be given to charity. Neither of you will get a red cent.”
Hazel couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She looked back and forth between Daniel and Frankie. “So, if I don’t uproot my entire life and move to Maple Bay for the rest of the summer, then this poor girl gets absolutely nothing?” Hazel meant to look at Frankie, but couldn’t bring herself to do so in that moment.
“Yes. Exactly that,” Daniel replied.
Hazel laughed. Not because it was funny. Because she felt trapped. She couldn’t believe someone who’d never been a part of her life now wanted full control of it. “That’s absurd.” She walked across the porch and down the stairs, needing to put some space between herself and the insanity of Rose’s will. “Grace? Honey? Let’s go.”
Grace was crouched next to the paddock fence, feeding the white pony handfuls of grass she’d ripped from the ground. Noah was helping her. The other two boys were chasing each other around a tree. Jesse was leaning against a fence post watching them.
Grace looked up, obviously disappointed by her mother’s request, but before Hazel could call her daughter’s name again, Frankie caught up to Hazel on the lawn.
Frankie grabbed her arm. “Please,” she said, and Hazel reluctantly stopped. Her stomach clenched at the plea in Frankie’s eyes. “I know I’m basically a stranger, but I need you to consider this.”
Hazel took a beat to calm down. “Look, I can’t just uproot my whole life. And Grace’s.” The latter was more important to her. Grace’s life had been uprooted and smacked around because her parents couldn’t make their marriage work. Hazel wasn’t about to throw another wrench in her daughter’s life when they were just getting settled. Even if “getting settled” meant they were living in Hazel’s parents’ basement.
“I get it,” Frankie said, and let go of Hazel’s arm. “But it’s just three months. You only need to live here for the summer, and then you’ll inherit the ten acres on the lake. The carriage house is beautiful. Needs some restoring, but I can help you. And come September, you’ll own the property and you can sell it. It’s a coveted piece of property. It’s on Maple Leaf Lake and right on the edge of town. After restoring the carriage house, it could be worth half a million dollars.”
Hazel blinked at Frankie, not sure how to continue explaining herself. Hazel also blinked at the possibility of making that much money in one summer. “I just . . .” she stammered.
“I don’t know what we’ll do if we lose this place.” Tears welled in Frankie’s eyes, and her obvious strife immediately pulled at Hazel’s heart strings.
“Oh, no. Don’t cry.” Hazel couldn’t handle crying. She was an empathizer. If Frankie started crying, Hazel was sure to follow. Then they’d really have a mess on their hands.
Frankie wiped at her eyes. “Mother to mother, I need you to think about this. I need this place for my family. For my boys. It’s only one summer.”
A lump formed in Hazel’s throat and she swallowed it, knowing Frankie had hit her in her Achille’s heel—children. Even though she didn’t know Frankie, she knew what was standing before her. Frankie was a mother pleading for her children, for her family, for her sanity. That she understood, probably a whole lot more than Frankie knew.
“Momma?” Grace asked, jogging toward Hazel. Her chestnut ponytail bounced behind her. “Can we stay just a little longer? Jesse said I can brush Mister Pepper. Noah went to get his brushes from the barn.”
Hazel saw the little boy running toward the barn like his feet were on fire. She pressed her lips together, thinking hard about her words before she let them out. “Five minutes, baby. You can brush Pepper for five minutes, and then we’ve got to get going.”
Grace immediately tried to negotiate a longer time allotment for brushing. “Just five minutes, Grace.” Hazel repeated, and Frankie’s face fell, like she’d been defeated. “After that, Frankie has a carriage house to show us.”
Grace looked unsure if she should be excited about a carriage house or not. “Okay,” she decided and jogged back toward the pony.
“I’ll take a look at it,” Hazel said to Frankie, not sure why she was postponing the inevitable, other than to appease a woman that seemed to be caught in the crossfire of her mother’s demands.
Frankie nodded and fought more tears. “Thank you.”