Second Chances in Lavender Bay (The Lavender Bay Chronicles #3)

23. Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

1942

D iana Quinn stood with her mother, Millie, at the end of the narrow gravel driveway of the small, modest home at 36 Peony Lane in the town of Lavender Bay. Born and bred in Pennsylvania, twenty-year-old Diana stared at their new house. Their first house. She squeezed her mother’s hand. “Can you believe it?”

Her mother had inherited it from an aunt she’d always kept in touch with. Diana’s father had died when she was six, and they’d been renting ever since. Until now.

It was a damp, gray March day, but neither one of them were bothered by the dismal weather.

“I can’t,” Millie Quinn said, beaming. “Our own home.” Her voice shook as she said it.

Despite the glee, there was no camouflaging the fact that the house needed work. The roofline above the porch sagged, and the paint peeled in various places. The color was something close to butterscotch, or it had been at one time. But to Diana and her mother, it didn’t matter. No more worrying about how they were going to make the rent payments or, worse, dealing with questionable landlords. Diana could scream at the top of her lungs inside this house if she wanted to. Not that she would.

Out front was a large sycamore tree, and at the side of the house was an oak with a wide trunk. Beyond the driveway, in the backyard, stood a weeping willow. Their one-story home was flanked on either side by two-story houses with wide porches that were in much better shape, making theirs look like a poor relation in comparison. But they didn’t care.

Millie’s cousin Herb had offered to drive them up to Lavender Bay in his pickup truck, which they packed with the few things they owned after selling most of their furniture and larger items. Herb owned a general hardware store back home and had to take a day off work for the three-hour drive from Pennsylvania. He was a man of few words. Diana had made a game of counting how many he spoke on the journey: twenty-two, to be exact.

“Ready?” “Need to stop for gas.” “Does anyone need to use the restroom?” “There’s the New York State line.” “Here we are.”

On arriving in Lavender Bay, Herb had carried their belongings into the house for them and dumped everything into the parlor. He then said goodbye, got back into his truck, and left immediately, refusing any offers of hospitality. There’d been no hugs or well wishes. Life got on with.

The inside of the house was in decent shape, needing only a good scrubbing and cleaning. It was apparent that Millie’s elderly aunt had been on the decline and the housecleaning had suffered because of it.

It didn’t matter. Millie and Diana were cheerful about it. The house was left as Aunt Lavinia had left it, furniture and all. There were even some old cleaning supplies in a back room. Both women left their belongings in the parlor, tied kerchiefs on their heads, and got down to the business of cleaning.

Being that the house was small, they were able to concentrate what was left of the first day on the kitchen and bathroom and one of the three bedrooms, so they could store their few boxes there. The following day, they tackled the remaining two bedrooms and the parlor.

As the sky darkened on that second day, Diana and her mother collapsed on the sofa, still wearing aprons over their dresses and scarves on their heads. Every muscle in Diana’s back and legs ached. But the house had been spruced up and cleaned, and it was beginning to feel like home.

“Won’t it be nice to take a hot bath?” her mother asked with a smile.

“No more worrying about someone else in the apartment block using up all the hot water. Or banging on the door, shouting that they need to use the toilet.” Diana wouldn’t miss that at all.

Her mother looked around with a smile. “I can’t believe my aunt left this to us.”

“To you ,” Diana corrected.

Her mother shook her head. “There’s only the two of us, Diana. Someday when I’m gone, this house will be yours.”

“Let’s hope that day is a long way off,” Diana said.