Marie rose to her feet and narrowed her eyes at him. “Fine, we’re done here. I’m sure the picture you took is enough, sweetheart.”
Jules’s smile dimmed as her grandparents stalked off to opposite sides of the house and slammed their doors shut. Herlower lip trembled as Emma helped her put away the camera, and the two of them sat down on the couch while a movie played in the background. In spite of several attempts to get her to talk, Jules remained tight-lipped and kept staring at the TV, as if it held all of the answers in the world. When Jules fell asleep with her head in Emma’s lap, she ran her fingers through her daughter’s hair and wondered what to do.
She wished she knew how to make everything with her parents better, how to reach across the void and make them see her, the real her—for both their sakes.
Chapter Eight
“So, they haven’t really spoken since then, huh?” Marley paused with the cup halfway to her lips, her brows furrowed. “I wouldn’t worry too much. They’ve gotten through worse.”
“Yeah, but at what point does it become too much?”
In silence, the two sat on the bench overlooking the park, where a group of kids were running around throwing snowballs at each other and shrieking. In the distance, carolers were singing, and a few street vendors were scattered throughout the main square, selling everything from homemade snow globes to apple cider to spiced figgy pudding.
It felt like Emma had stepped back in time, but not even the familiar surroundings could dislodge the heavy feeling in her stomach.
She’d spent the past few days trying to shake off the dread.
Being at home around her sullen parents wasn’t helping.
Poor Jules couldn’t stop blaming herself for trying to force them to bond as a family.
Emma didn’t have the heart to tell her daughter what it was like growing up with them, how she never knew which version of them she was going to get on any given day.
Her parents knew how to put up a good front, but she hoped for the side of them she’d seen in the months before her departure to college.
When it felt like they’d finally made a breakthrough.
Marley took a long sip of her hot chocolate, a puff of air forming in front of her. “I’m sure they’re going to get over it. With all this Christmas cheer, how can they not?”
“I can’t believe how similar everything looks,” Emma murmured, mostly to herself. “I feel like a teenager again.”
Any moment now, Jack would walk up to them in his dark jeans, hat pulled low over his head, wearing his signature half-smirk. Emma kept glancing around as if she expected him to materialize out of the fog, sweep her into his arms, and kiss her.
What was it about Rockport that was bringing up all these memories for her?
Why was she nostalgic for a past that she had willingly left behind?
Because you didn’t appreciate it then as much as you do now.
Being away had given her some much-needed perspective, but it was also forcing her to examine some things about herself.
Like how she’d let too much time and space get in between her and her parents.
How was she supposed to fix things when they were still keeping her at arm’s length?
She’d spent the past ten days doing anything and everything possible to get them to open up to her, to confide in her, but she was met with stony silences and clipped, evasive responses.
“I know you have this big, juicy life in the city, but it is good to have you back.” Marley bumped her shoulder against Emma’s and gave her a bright smile. “I missed this.”
“Me too. I’m sorry about how things went down between us.”
Emma’s words were long overdue, but she needed to find a way to fill the deep ache Marley’s absence had left, and she knew it had to start somewhere.
She could only pray it wasn’t too late.
Marley waved her comment away and took another sip. “It’s in the past now.”
“I think you’ve done well for yourself,” Emma added hastily. “You seem to be dealing with people a lot better now.”
