Where There's Hope_A Well Paired Novel

by Marianne Rice

  “Easy there, sunshine. We won’t be able to be too picky. Stage one is to find something to get us through the winter. Maybe by next summer we’ll be able to look for something more permanent.”

  “Why not look for permanent now?” Delaney unzipped her coat and opened the front door. Shy, she was not.

  “I’d rather look around for a while first.” She didn’t need to tell her daughter how tight finances were. Even living with her parents, Hope didn’t have a lot of extra cash to spare. She had a portion of her paycheck automatically deposited into a savings account for Delaney, and a good chunk of change went to dance and gymnastics.

  Delaney had worked her way up the competition ladder and now traveled throughout Maine, and sometimes New Hampshire and Massachusetts in dance competitions. Between competition costs, uniforms, and hotels, there wasn’t much leftover at the end of the month.

  Competition season lasted from January through May, which were Hope’s slower months at the restaurant. Which was good and bad. Good, she didn’t have to miss many performances. Bad, there was less money coming in.

  They stepped into a stunning foyer. The wide-planked floors were a deep red and the walls painted a rich emerald. The curved staircase lead to what appeared to be an open seating area.

  “Dang. This place is fancy.” Delaney swirled around, her eyes big and round, taking in the antiques.

  “Don’t touch anything,” Hope whispered. If she hadn’t known the Buttons, she wouldn’t have come out here. Just the office space alone was a clue she couldn’t afford the lifestyle.

  “Hope. Lovely to see you again.” Melissa rounded the corner, her hair done up in its usual poofy yet elegant up-do. “And you brought Delaney. I can’t tell you how excited I am to get you two into your own place.”

  Great. The whole town must think she’s a loser for mooching off her parents for so long.

  “I can’t wait to see what’s available.”

  “Come. Follow me.” Melissa led them down the hall to a posh office. It wasn’t like the townsfolk were making her lots of money. They were all middle-low class; it was the summer people, the tourists who rented a small three-room bungalow on the beach for $5,000 a week that lined the Buttons pockets. They were good people, never letting the size of their bank account—or house—interfere with their personalities.

  Delaney chose an uncomfortable looking antique chaise lounge to sit on, leaning back and resting her sneakers on the end.

  “Feet down,” Hope whispered to her.

  “Oh, that’s fine. It’s not an original Queen Anne. I found the chaise at a yard sale a few years back and had it reupholstered and stained to look like one. There’s cookies on the sideboard if you’d like one, dear.” Melissa pointed to another fancy looking piece of furniture behind them.

  Not needing another prodding, Delaney jumped up and took an enormous chocolate chip cookie. “These are huge, Mrs. Button. Thanks.”

  “Help yourself,” she said and turned to Hope. “Now, I’ve taken the liberty to scope out a handful of places I think would be wonderful for you and your daughter. We can go through the paperwork and pictures first to save you time, and then drive out to the ones you like best.”

  “Sure.” Part of Hope was excited, the other part nervous that the only housing in her budget would be near-condemned places. Not that she’d seen many around town.

  Delaney returned to her spot on the chaise while Hope settled into an elegant burgundy colored chair across from Melissa.

  “Be honest about your thoughts. You and Delaney are the ones who will be living here, not me. And an unhappy customer doesn’t bode well for my reputation.”

  Hope picked up the files and flipped through the pictures and descriptions of each rental. None had the price on them, and she was surprised at the variety. The closer to the beach, the smaller the home, and there were a few only a mile inland that would be perfect for them. But she hadn’t planned on renting an entire house.

  The adorable gambrel style home on Farmhouse Road had three bedrooms, one and a half baths, a decent sized kitchen and five acres. No way could she afford it. Hope lingered over the pictures an extra minute and then buried the folder under the stack Melissa had given her.

  She flipped through the smaller homes, the ones she’d have to be out of by mid-May to make room for summer people and handed Melissa her top three.

  “Really?” Melissa looked up at her over the rim of her glasses. “These aren’t the three I expected you to pick.”

  “Can I see?” Delaney asked.

  Melissa raised an eyebrow, and Hope nodded. She gave Delaney the folders and in much less time than it took Hope, she’d picked out her top three and handed them back.

  “Hmm,” Melissa muttered. “You don’t have the same taste.”

  “I picked the cooler places. What did you like, Mom?”

  Hope had a feeling Delaney would be drawn to the more expensive homes. Sure enough, she’d picked the gambrel, a one-bedroom with a loft on the lake, and a two-bedroom cottage within walking distance to the beach.

  “What’s your favorite, Delaney?”

  Hope cringed at Melissa’s question. She didn’t want Delaney to get her hopes up. Without seeing the cost of rent for each place, she couldn’t make a decision anyway.

  “I’d be happy in any of those.”

  “You realize it’s winter so living by the ocean isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, right? The winds can be wicked in the winter. You know that.” Hope brushed the cookie crumbs off Delaney’s jacket into her hand and held them in her palm.

  “True.”

  “And the one by the lake only has one bedroom. Your mother would have that while you’d be in the loft. Not a lot of privacy,” Melissa added.

  “True. So it looks like it’s the real looking house one.”

  The real looking house one was a dream. And would be a financial nightmare. Hope would need to work extra shifts, maybe lay off a few workers. It would be a struggle.

  “Delaney, why don’t you use the restroom to wash the cookie crumbs off your face and hands.” There weren’t any, but she needed to speak with Melissa alone.

  “’Kay.” Agreeable as always, thankfully, Delaney got up and Melissa pointed her in the right direction.

  When Delaney was gone, Hope scooted to the edge of her seat. “Melissa, I appreciate the time you’ve put into this, but I can’t afford half these places. I gave you my price cap and—”

  “And like I said, they’re all within the limits you set.”

  “I highly doubt that.”

  “You have my word.”

  “The gambrel?”

  “Forty dollars less a month than your range.”

  “Bullshit.”

  Melissa barked out a laugh. “It’s been sitting there empty for nearly two years. The Johnsons moved quite some time ago and haven’t been able to sell. They’ll take anything they can get. They don’t want the pipes to freeze, so having you live there in the winter is a blessing. Truly.”

  Hope’s eyes watered and her hands shook. “For real?”

  “Absolutely. Although, don’t get your hopes too high. It’s been vacant and needs some work. The structure is sound, but mice have had a field day. Some of the wiring may need to be replaced. It needs a thorough cleaning before you move in. If you still want it.”

  Cleaning and minor repairs she could handle. “Can we go see it?” Hope bit her lip in anticipation, her heart thundering rapidly as she thought about living on her own for the first time in her life. Nerves threaded through her body as she brought herself to stand, her legs wobbly and weak with excitement.

  “After you.” Melissa gestured toward the door with her hand as Delaney came around the corner. “Ready to go check out your new home?”

  “For real?” Delaney bounced on the balls of her feet and did a cute little dance.

  Melissa laughed. “You sound just like your mom.”

  They piled in Melissa’s fancy SUV and cross
ed the town over to Farmhouse Road. It was a quaint dead end dirt road not far from Alexis and Ben’s winery. There were only four homes on the road. The first house was small, and the field behind it huge. Someone was out on a tractor running over the dead cornstalks.

  The next house was a classic New England L-frame, with an attached breezeway leading to a barn. There was a long fence that corralled three horses. Delaney awed from the backseat.

  “Look, Mom. There’s a baby horse. Do you think the other two are its mom and dad?”

  “Possibly,” Hope replied. A family of three, so sweet and serene. Maybe someday...

  The road ended at what could be a cul-de-sac if there was more of a neighborhood. The home on the left appeared lived in with bright, full yellow mums decorating the front porch of the colonial style home. There didn’t appear to be any type of farm animals or crops behind the house, just rolling hills bordered by woods.

  To the right stood the clapboard brown gambrel she recognized from the photos.

  “The house kinda looks like a barn,” Delaney said as she stepped out of the SUV.

  “There isn’t a garage or a barn, which is what most homeowners are looking for. The house was built in the eighties and hasn’t been updated since.”

  Hope didn’t care. It had a roof. It had two bedrooms—three, actually—and was affordable. She got out of the vehicle and reached out for Delaney, taking her hand. “You ready, sunshine?”

  “Yeah. Let’s go.” Delaney ran ahead, pulling Hope behind her.

  Laughing, she jogged faster to keep up. Melissa let them in and Delaney let go of Hope’s hand, running through the house.

  “It kinda smells, but it’s cool. Look at this huge window!”

  Hope followed her daughter into the living room. It was a good size, running from the front of the house to the back. She didn’t have any furniture to fill it, and that would put a dent in her savings. Too bad yard sales were few and far between right now.

  At the backside of the living room, a large picture window looked out to the open field of the back yard. A lot of mowing, but she wouldn’t have to think about that until the spring.

  As if reading her mind, Melissa pointed to the back. “It’s not exactly grass, more of a field. The owners let the Hendersons at the end of the road come and hay it once a month in the spring and fall.”

  “Let them?”

  “It’s a win-win. The Hendersons make hay, however that works, with a tractor-type machine. I don’t know the technical terms. All I know is they take care of the lawn, but they wait until it grows to a certain length and then hay it. For the horses. The horses come over to graze as well. To, you know, fertilize the lawn and keep the grass short. They have a deal. It’s in the paperwork.”

  “Okay.” Taking care of the outside wasn’t something she wanted to think about right now anyway.

  “Mom, the kitchen is cool,” Delaney called from the other room. Hope hadn’t even realized she’d slipped away again.

  Hope walked past a small half-bath, which was across from a door that presumably led to a basement, and into the kitchen. The vinyl flooring was dated with its brown and oranges, as was the orange Formica countertop. The appliances seemed fairly new. White and not the yellow and green that were common in the eighties.

  “Like I said,” Melissa opened the oven door, “it needs some work, but the appliances are in good working order. They were all replaced five years ago. They’ll need to be cleaned, as will the cabinets, floors, etcetera.”

  “Can we see the bedrooms?” Delaney didn’t wait for a reply and jogged through the adjoining dining room and up the stairs.

  Melissa and Hope followed. At the top of the stairs was a full bathroom. Not too small, not too big. Perfect for their needs. To the right was the master bedroom. It was the biggest room she’d ever seen, running from the front to the back of the house, similar to the living room. There were two closet doors on the front end and had large windows at the other that looked over the backfield.

  “My twin bed and Wal-Mart dresser are going to look severely underdressed in this room.”

  “It’s a good size, isn’t it?” Melissa opened the walk-in closets, and Hope gasped.

  “I don’t have enough clothes to fill a quarter of this closet.” The second closet was just as big. His and hers. She’d use his as storage space. Or maybe put a desk in there and use it as an office. Although, there was plenty room in the bedroom for a desk, filing cabinet, and a complete bedroom set.

  “These closets are epic. Can I have this room?”

  If Delaney really wanted it, Hope wouldn’t mind. It was the perfect space for sleepovers.

  “There are two more bedrooms. You can choose which one you want.” Melissa led Delaney to the hall where there were two more rooms. The one on the right had a view of the back as well. Its walls were painted a bright cheery yellow and let in a lot of sunlight.

  “This is cool.” Delaney left to check out the other bedroom. The third room was larger, but only had one small window on the side of the house. There was more closet space and more floor space, but was darker. Granted, the blue walls didn’t do much to lighten it.

  “One of the downsides of a gambrel-style home is the front rooms don’t have much light unless you put a dormer in. In the master bedroom, you have the two closets up here.” Melissa ran her hand across the slanted wall. “And so many windows along the side and the back, so you don’t really notice the odd architecture. You don’t see many gambrels these days that don’t have front dormers. If you were to buy the home, I’d suggest the upgrade. This room would be much nicer. In the meantime, though...”

  “Meantime? I’m not planning on buying. I can’t afford that. I thought this was a rental?” Those butterflies fluttered around in her belly again, and her mouth turned dry. She needed water. Or wine. Living so close to Coastal Vines would have its perks.

  “Oh, it is. But the owners put in a rent-to-own clause, if you find yourself wanting to stay. The rent would go toward a down payment.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. One thing at a time.”

  “If I take this room, can we paint it teal and gray?”

  “I don’t think we can paint in here, honey.”

  “Actually...” Melissa took out a folder from her briefcase and flipped through the papers. “The renters are allowed to make renovations as long as they’re approved by the Johnsons. Get me your color samples, and I’ll send them your ideas.”

  “Cool. Can we go to Lowes today, Mom?”

  “Wait. I didn’t even say we’d take it. Don’t you want to look at the other rentals? The ones by the beach?”

  “No.” Delaney curled her nose. “Those places look like temporary homes. I think this place can be our forever home.”

  Hope clutched at her chest. She couldn’t love her daughter any more.

  CHAPTER THREE

  IT HAD BEEN THREE DAYS since his encounter with Hope and Ty, and no one had come to him yet with threats to leave town. Either they hadn’t mentioned Cameron’s shady past to anyone, or the town was working on their massive plan on how to run him out or lynch mob him at the fall festival.

  He was on a suicide mission, he knew. Nothing good could come of staying around town, not now that Hope had practically wished him dead, and Ty threatened to cut his balls off if he messed with Hope or Delaney.

  But Cameron couldn’t stay away. Not after what he’d learned. How hard life had been for Hope raising her daughter as a teenager, trying to make ends meet, still living with her parents. He was grateful she had parents who hadn’t disowned her and supported her, even after dropping out of college and not being able to support herself or her baby.

  Cameron shimmied on his back so he could get a better look at the engine. The 34 South Shore boat had a decent 225 John Deere in it, but the owner did a crap job caring for the fuel tank. He claimed he had it cleaned regularly, but the contaminants compacted into a solid bottom layer, which resulted in cloggin
g the filters.

  Many fishermen went for the cheaper route, adding additives to the fuel in an attempt to keep them clean, but the tanks needed manual cleaning. And that’s where he found himself on this gorgeous fall day.

  The temps climbed into the sixties, a far cry from the biting chill a few days ago.

  He adjusted his headlamp and slipped the cutters from his tool belt. He spent the next few hours cutting ports into each fuel tank then wailed on the insides with a stiff steel scraper. It would take a few days to get all the asphalt-looking contaminates. Not a fun job.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Her voice startled him, and he cracked his head on the steel drum.

  Cameron closed his eyes to fight off the impending ache to his skull and straightened before looking up. Standing on the dock, hands on her hips, her eyebrows pulled down and together, eyes glaring, Hope’s lips narrowed and grew thinner.

  “What. The hell. Is this?” She tossed an envelope at him, and it landed with a thud at his feet.

  He didn’t need to look inside it to know what she was so furious about. “I’m only trying to help.”

  “If I wanted your help I would have asked you for it.”

  “You would?” No, Hope seemed the type to pride herself on handling things herself.

  “You can’t buy your guilt away. Stay away from me. And especially from Delaney.”

  Cameron pulled a rag out of his back pocket and wiped his hands on it. He reached down and picked up the envelope, sliding it between his fingers. Hope backed away as he stood, and he slowly made his way across the boat. He heaved himself over the side and on to the dock.

  “Stay away from me.” She backed away another foot, holding her hand out in front of her to stop his approach.

  It saddened and angered him that she feared him. All Cameron wanted was to start over. To take care of his niece. To right his wrongs.

  “I’m sorry about Justin. That he didn’t get to meet his daughter. That he couldn’t help you, help raise Delaney.”

  “You’re the reason why he couldn’t do any of that.”

  Cameron wasn’t about to argue with her, even though she was wrong. Even if Justin hadn’t died in the accident, he wouldn’t have supported Hope and the baby. It wasn’t in his game plan. But telling Hope this wouldn’t earn him any points.