Page 112 of Here & Now

Twenty-five

Bree gazed at her family’s faces on the laptop screen, and tears sprang to her eyes.

“Honey, are you okay?” her mom, Paula, asked.

Bree nodded and blinked back her tears.

“The suspense is killing me. What did you want to tell us?” Ivy said.

Ivy was holding Sofie as she slept, and Bree’s brother-in-law, Jack, and dad, Sam, were in the background.

She’d recently arranged the Zoom call, and as she looked at her favorite faces, she wished she’d done it sooner.

“Back in my day, we got on the horn and talked. There was none of this fancy computer stuff,” her dad huffed.

They all laughed since he was the least tech-savvy of the bunch.

“Sorry, Dad, but I wanted to tell you all at once.”

“Then tell us!” Ivy demanded.

They were on the lanai, and Bree glanced off to the side where Zane was sitting patiently. He gave her an encouraging smile.

“I decided to keep the house,” she blurted out, “assuming that’s okay with all of you.”

Their faces went blank, and then her mom and sister started talking at once.

“That’s great, sis!”

“Ohmigod! Really?” Her mom didn’t sound quite as enthused as Ivy.

“Wait a minute. You’re moving to Sanibel permanently?” her dad said.

“I think it’s awesome,” Jack said.

“What made you decide this?” Paula said.

“Or whom?” Ivy teased.

Zane quietly chuckled, and Bree shot him a warning look. They’d planned this in advance. He was supposed to be there for moral support until the end of the conversation, when she’d introduce him to her family. Luckily, her family was too busy talking among themselves to notice she’d looked off camera.

“Whom? Do you have something else to tell us?” said her mom.

Bree ignored the question for now. “I know this might come as a shock, but I’ve given it a lot of thought. When it came down to it, I just couldn’t sell the house. It has too many wonderful memories, and I love it here.”

“Enough to move there?” Sam said, incredulous.

“What about hurricane season?” Paula said.

Bree sighed. “I’ll go inland if there’s a bad storm.”

“Not if, when!” said Sam.

“Grandma and Grandpa survived a few hurricanes,” Ivy reminded them.

Bree wished she could hug her sister; instead, she gave her a grateful smile.

“What about your job?” Paula asked, changing gears.