Page 46 of Waves of Time
“None of that matters, now,” Sam murmured. “Our focus has to be getting you better. And then, you can go back to breaking all of my chandeliers if you want.”
Hilary burst into laughter. “I really think you have great taste, Sam. I do. What you’ve done with The Jessabelle House is astounding. I’m just jealous Aunt Jessabelle passed it on to you and only you.”
Sam sighed and nodded toward the lilac Victorian. “Your home is one of the most beautiful on the island. Walking through it is like going through the pages of one of those immaculate interior design magazines you always have. I brag about your work to as many people as I can.”
Hilary’s chin quivered, and Sam got the hint immediately.
“You will work again,” Sam assured her. “I have no doubt about that.”
Hilary wasn’t sure she believed in the power of “positive thinking,” at least not as much as Sam did. But as she and Sam walked back into her home and collapsed on the couch next to Aria, Hilary had a full heart that gave her optimism for the next step in her health journey. With her sister and her daughter by her side, she genuinely felt she could do anything.
The next step— telling her mother— would be a doozy. But Aria was right. Estelle Coleman deserved to know.
ChapterSeventeen
Aria, Sam, and Hilary fell asleep on the couch like three teenagers at a sleepover. When Aria awoke at eleven-thirty, she checked her phone to find several messages from Thaddeus.
THADDEUS: Spontaneous end-of-summer party tonight.
THADDEUS: You should come! My band is playing.
THADDEUS: I mean, I know things have been weird between us. Come only if you want to. No pressure.
Aria’s heart burst with fear. When she stood from the couch to grab a glass of water and pep herself up, Hilary and Sam opened their eyes and smiled at her groggily.
“You look wide awake,” Aunt Sam said, stretching her arms into the air.
Aria tugged at her hair, unsure if she wanted to tell them what she was up to. At twenty-one, she didn’t necessarily have to.
But then again, she wasn’t in the business of lying.
“There’s this guy,” she said simply.
Sam and Hilary exchanged glances.
“Is his name Thaddeus?” Sam asked mischievously.
Aria’s heart thudded even louder. “It is. How did you know?”
Aunt Sam chuckled and crossed her legs underneath her on the couch. “I know a few of his family members. They all tell me he’s a really great guy. The most reliable member of that family by a long shot.”
“He’s had a hard life,” Aria breathed. “But, well. I’ve never met anyone like him, you know?”
Aunt Sam and Hilary nodded knowingly. To Aria, they were both women who’d fallen in love and then fallen to pieces— women who understood what it meant to have all your plans go out the window. Aria prayed that if everything fell apart with Thaddeus, she would turn out to be as brave as they were.
“Go get him, honey,” Hilary said sleepily.
Aria hurried upstairs to change into a black dress, redo her makeup, and make her hair look as though she hadn’t spent five hours on a plane that afternoon. As she walked downstairs, Hilary and Sam were in the middle of another conversation about Hilary’s upcoming surgery and her fears. Aria guessed these conversations would continue until the surgery, at which time they just had to hope and pray that everything would turn out okay.
Aria kissed her mother on the cheek and hugged Aunt Sam goodbye, then hurried out to her Chevy and headed off for the house at the edge of the beach, where islanders celebrated the last whispers of summer. Just after she parked, a familiar figure jumped off the porch and waved, her hair wild.
“Violet!” Aria shut the engine off and leaped from her car to hug her friend, who’d had perhaps one too many beers but promised Aria she had a safe way home.
“Thaddeus keeps asking where you are,” Violet said, her smile secretive. “I swear, it’s a blessing that I never had a crush on that boy. He hardly ever looks at me without asking about you.”
Aria laughed. “Do you think he’s downstairs getting ready for the gig?”
Violet stretched her arms toward the starry sky. “Wherever he is, he’s waiting for you, honey.”