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The holidays were magical, though it felt odd to have a Christmas tree in the house when I still broke a sweat if I stayed outside in the sunshine too long. I asked Dec if we could forgo gifts and instead host a party on January first. Not New Year’s Eve like most of the revelers in town. I wanted a party on the first of the year to celebrate new beginnings. To mark the past from the future. To start anew with a clean slate.
We woke up early, spending the morning cleaning the place and fixing last-minute items that had been overlooked for larger renovation projects over the summer.
“Babe?” I hollered from the bedroom. Dec’s answering voice was somewhere on the second level. His head popped into our bedroom a few moments later. I held up Maeve’s mermaid urn. “Let’s put her in her place of honor.”
Dec’s expression when we spoke of my aunt lately was no longer weighed down by a heavy sorrow. Joy from having known her was beating back the grief of losing her. Renovations were complete on the house, meaning that it was safe again to put the urn on the mantel as Aunt Maeve had requested in her will. Seeing that lusty wink every day would be a perfect reminder to live life to the fullest, a message Aunt Maeve would have imparted had she still been alive. Even in death, her reminder would ring clear.
Dec put his hand on my back as we went downstairs, a comfort and support. When we reached the fireplace, I stopped, holding the urn out in front of me. We both stared at the bawdy mermaid, not able to help smiling at the ridiculous final resting place Maeve had chosen.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get to know you before you were gone, but thank you for bringing me here, Aunt Maeve. Thank you for saving me from a life that was never mine. I’ll proudly keep you on my mantel and live my life with the same zest you had, albeit with fewer plants.”
Dec softly snorted next to me. I lifted the urn higher and placed it on the mantel, careful to position the mermaid just right. I wanted to see her wink every time I came down the stairs and crossed the living room. I stepped back and Dec wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close and kissing the top of my head.
“Maeve is most certainly smiling down on you, sunshine.”
Tears gathered in my eyes, but they didn’t fall. Maeve wouldn’t want tears. She’d want exactly what we were doing today. Celebrating life.
We got back to cleaning, each of us lost in our memories of Aunt Maeve. It was just past lunchtime when my stomach let out an unholy gurgle of emptiness. I opened my mouth to ask Dec if he wanted to take a break and eat, but the doorbell chime peeled, interrupting me.
I walked over, pretty sure I hadn’t ordered anything for the house recently. The door swung open without a squeak thanks to Dec greasing the hinges yesterday in preparation for the party. A private courier stood there with a brown box and a tablet for me to sign.
“Kenna Cugly?”
My lip snarled at the use of my married name, but the kid wasn’t to blame for my poor choices. I signed his digital tablet and he handed me the package. He was already backing out of the driveway before I got the door locked again.
“What is it?” Dec asked.
I looked up, a myriad of emotions flooding through me. The package was from Justin. “I’m not sure, but I’ve been waiting for the final divorce decree any day now.”
We both moved into the kitchen, where I grabbed a knife and tore through the packaging. A stack of papers greeted me. I pulled them out and flipped through the pages until I got to the page with the judge’s signature. It was official. I was no longer married to Justin. I was a free woman.
I shot Dec a grin as relief pushed away the other emotions. “Guess who’s officially a single lady?”
Dec whooped so loudly I almost covered my ears. Then he picked me up and spun me around. Laughing, I pushed him away and laid the papers down on the counter. My gaze snagged on the open box. There was something else in there. I pulled out a smaller box within and opened the folded piece of paper taped to it.
Kenna, I should have only seen the diamond that was you. Wear it, sell it, or melt it down. I’m sorry. J
I gasped, flipping open the lid of the box to see a familiar diamond bracelet on a bed of velvet, winking in the bright kitchen lights. Dec leaned over my shoulder and whistled.
“That’s definitely nicer than a Kindle,” he muttered.
The sight of that hideous bracelet, that I’d last seen on Ashley’s bony wrist the day my world fell apart, should have sent me into a spiral of righteous anger, but oddly, I felt none of that. I snapped the lid closed again and tossed it into the larger box. Instead, I laughed, relieved that Justin no longer had a hold on me. That his mistreatment of our marriage hadn’t left a permanent scar. That I’d finally seen my worth long before he did. The apology was nice, but I’d already forgiven myself for my poor choices, which mattered far more.
“Come on, salty. We have a party to get ready for and I need a shower first. Then you can feed me.” I grabbed Dec’s hand and pulled him out of the kitchen with a suggestive wag of my eyebrows. He whooped again and picked me up, tossing me over his shoulder and racing for the stairs. “Stop! You’ll hurt yourself!”
He smacked my backside, making me howl. “You calling me old, woman?”
Giggling and trying to keep the blood from rushing to my head, I forgot all about ex-husbands and bracelets and terrible bosses. “Well, you are forty…”
Dec let out a growl that sent my blood heating. “I’ll show you old…”
And he did. Repeatedly. In this house, old meant experienced and I was the happy recipient.
Sadly, we showed up late to our own party.
Everyone was here: Mom, Daniel, Harley, Char, Laurie, and even Liz, who’d flown in the day before with two large suitcases. She was staying at Dec’s house next door until she could figure out housing now that she sold her condo in San Francisco and gave her two weeks’ notice to Morgan & Dudly.
Dec was a fabulous host, working around the room to make sure everyone had a full glass of champagne before I stepped up onto the fireplace hearth like we’d planned. Everyone’s head swiveled in my direction and the conversation died down. Daniel had his arm around Mom. My true friends, a blend of San Francisco and Sunshine Key, were here supporting me.
