1105 Yakima Street - Debbie Macomber [81]
So far, none of the places she and Will had checked out had any apartments available, but they’d put their name on a couple of waiting lists. Maybe, when something appropriate came up, Charlotte and Ben would be ready to consider it. Like it or not, eventually they’d have to leave this house. Probably before another year was up.
“I want to see my new kitchen,” Charlotte said, walking into the house and heading straight to the remodeled room. “Oh, my.” She brought her hands to her cheeks. “Everything is so…new.”
“We decided to replace the cupboards,” Olivia reminded her, coming to stand beside her mother.
“We did?” Charlotte looked to Ben for confirmation.
“We picked out the white oak together,” Ben said.
“Of course. I remember now.” Charlotte pulled open a couple of drawers, which then slowly glided shut. This was a new feature; unless the drawer was pulled out completely, it would automatically return to the closed position once it was released.
“Everything’s back exactly the way you left it,” Olivia reassured her. She’d taken great pains to make sure of that. She’d replaced the ruined pots and pans with new ones that were as similar as possible. Charlotte frowned as if she didn’t believe that. “Is everything all right, Mom?” Olivia asked.
“It just looks so different… .”
“There’s a new stove, too,” Will said, opening the oven door to display the large baking area.
Slowly, deliberately, Charlotte examined the knobs and studied the burners. “It looks complicated.”
“I’ll read over the instruction manual and we’ll learn about it together,” Ben said.
“That would help.” Every word and movement revealed her hesitation. “I’m afraid I’m so accustomed to my old stove and this one…well, it looks far too modern for me.”
“It’ll be fine,” Ben told her. He placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Is there anything else I should know about?” Charlotte asked Olivia.
“You have a new refrigerator,” Will said, and gestured proudly toward it.
“But why? The old one was working fine and it wasn’t damaged in the fire, was it?”
Will answered. “We figured you’d want a new one, since all the other appliances are new,” he said. “It’s an early Christmas gift. I thought you’d be pleased.”
“I am, I am,” Charlotte was quick to tell him. “I’m just used to seeing the old one here. What did you do with it?”
“It’s on the back porch, Mom,” Olivia said. “For extra things.” Seeing her mother’s puzzled expression, Olivia added, “Cold sodas and beer, stuff like that.”
“Oh.”
“We can take the new fridge back if you don’t like it,” Will offered.
“No, it was so thoughtful of you… . Of course we’ll keep your gift, Will. I wouldn’t dream of sending it back.”
“Is there anything else I can do for you, Mom?” Olivia asked. She and Jack would be meeting Grace and Cliff for dinner, but that wasn’t for hours yet.
“No, dear, everything is fine. It’s so good to be home again.” She rubbed her palms together as her eyes darted about the kitchen. Charlotte had visited the house frequently since the fire, but this was the first time she’d seen everything in place and complete. She walked over to the apple-shaped cookie jar and rested her hand on it. That, at least, was familiar. It’d been around for as long as Olivia could remember. Countless times through the years that jar had held her mother’s home-baked cookies. Luckily it had survived the fire.
On her way out, Olivia hugged her mother and Ben, and so did Will. Brother and sister left together.
As soon as the front door closed, Will asked, “So what do you think?”
They’d gone over their plan of action repeatedly. They’d let Ben and Charlotte move back into the house for a while and then bring up the idea of assisted living again. It seemed only fair, despite their fears, to give their mother and Ben an opportunity to adjust to their new surroundings, see