Brambleberry House. RaeAnne Thayne

Maddie instantly protested, but Julia could clearly see she was drooping tonight, with her elbow propped on the table and her head resting on her fist.

      Even with her short nap, Maddie still looked tired. Julia sighed. Some days dragged harder than others on Maddie’s stamina. They had spent a busy day making all the arrangements to move into Brambleberry House. Maddie had helped carry some of her own things to her bedroom and had delighted in putting her toys and clothes away herself.

      With all the craziness of moving in, Julia hadn’t been as diligent as usual about making sure Maddie didn’t overextend herself and now it looked as if she had reached the limit of her endurance.

      “Time for bed, sweetie. Let’s get your meds.”

      “I’m not ready for bed,” she protested, sending a pleading look to Anna and Sage, as if they could offer a reprieve. “I want to stay up and help move in.”

      “I’m tuckered myself,” Julia said. “I’ll leave all the fun stuff for tomorrow when we’re all rested, okay?”

      Maddie sighed with a quiet resignation that never failed to break her heart. She caught herself giving in to the sorrow and quickly shunted it away. Her daughter was still here. She was a miracle and Julia could never allow herself to forget that.

      Before she brought in any other boxes, she had made sure to put Maddie’s pill regimen away in a cabinet by the kitchen sink. She poured a glass of water and handed them to her. With the ease of long, grim practice, Maddie downed the half-dozen pills in two swallows, then finished the water to flush down the pills.

      Because her daughter seemed particularly tired, Julia helped her into her pajamas then did a quick set of vitals. Everything was within normal ranges for Maddie so Julia pushed away her lingering worry.

      “Good night, sweetie,” she said after a quick story and kiss. “Your first sleep in the new house!”

      “I like this place,” Maddie said sleepily as Julia pulled the nightgown over her thin shoulders.

      “I like it, too. It feels like home, doesn’t it?”

      Maddie nodded. “And the lady is nice.”

      Julia smiled. “Which one? Sage or Anna? I think they’re both pretty nice.”

      Maddie shook her head but her eyes drooped closed before she could answer.

      Julia watched her sleep for a moment, marveling again at the lessons in courage and strength and grace her daughter had taught her these last few years.

      A miracle, she thought again. As she stood watching over her, she felt the oddest sensation, almost like featherlight fingers touching her cheek.

      Weird, she thought. Sage and Anna had warned her Brambleberry House was a typical drafty old house. She would have to do her best to seal up any cracks in Maddie’s room.

      When she returned to the other room, she found only Simon, curled up in the one corner of the couch not covered in boxes. He had a book in one hand and was petting Conan absently with the other.

      What a blessing her son loved to read. Books and his Game Boy had sustained him through many long, boring doctor appointments.

      “Did Sage and Anna go downstairs?” she asked.

      “I think they’re still in the kitchen,” Simon answered without looking up from his book.

      She heard low, musical laughter before she reached the kitchen. For a moment, she stood in the doorway watching them as they unloaded her grandmother’s china into the built-in cabinet.

      Here was another blessing. She was overflowing with them. She had come back to Cannon Beach with only a teaching position and her hope that everything would work out. Now she had this great apartment overlooking the sea and, more importantly, two unexpected new friends who were already becoming dear to her.

      She didn’t think she made a sound but Sage suddenly sensed her presence. She glanced toward her, her exotic tilted eyes lighting in welcome.

      “Our girl is all settled for the night?”

      Julia nodded. “It was a hectic day. She wore herself out.”

      “Is she all right?” Anna asked, her features tight with concern.

      “Yes. She’s fine. She just doesn’t have the stamina she used to have.” She paused, deciding it was time to reveal everything. “It’s one of the long-term side effects of her bone marrow transplant.”

      “Bone marrow transplant?” Anna exclaimed, her eyes wide with a shock mirrored on Sage’s features.

      Julia sighed. “Yes. And a round of radiation and two rounds of chemotherapy. I probably should have told you this earlier but Maddie is in remission from acute lymphocytic leukemia.”

       CHAPTER FIVE

      SAYING THE WORDS aloud always left her feeling vaguely queasy, as if she were the one who had endured months of painful treatments, shots, blood draws, the works.

      She found it quite a lowering realization that Maddie had faced her cancer ordeal with far more courage than Julia had been able to muster as her mother.

      “Oh, Julia.” Sage stepped forward and wrapped her into a spontaneous hug. “I’m so sorry you’ve all had to go through this.”

      “It’s been a pretty bumpy road,” she admitted. “But as I said, she’s in remission and she’s doing well. Much better since the bone marrow transplant. Simon was the donor. We were blessed that they were a perfect match.”

      “You’ve had to go through this all on your own?” Anna’s dark eyes looked huge and sad.

      She knew Anna was referring to Kevin’s death and the timing of it. She decided she wasn’t quite ready to delve into those explanations just yet so she chose to evade the question.

      “I had a strong support network in Boise,” she said instead. “Good friends, my brother and his wife, my co-workers at the elementary school there. They all think I’m crazy to move away.”

      “Why did you?” Anna asked.

      “We were all ready for a change. A new start. Three months ago, Maddie’s oncologist took a new job at the children’s hospital in Portland. Dr. Lee had been such a support and comfort to us and when she moved, it seemed like the perfect time for us to venture back out in the world.”

      She sometimes felt as if their lives had been on hold for three years. Between Maddie’s diagnosis, then Kevin’s death, she and her children had endured far too much.

      They needed laughter and joy and the peace she had always found by the ocean.

      She smiled at the two other women. “I have to tell you both, I was still wondering if I had made a terrible mistake leaving behind our friends and the safe cushion of support we had in Boise, until we saw the for-rent sign out front of Brambleberry House. It seemed like a miracle that we might have the chance to live in the very house I had always loved so much when I was a little girl, the house where I had always found peace. I took that sign as an omen that everything would be okay.”

      “We’re so glad you found us,” Anna said.

      “You belong here,” Sage added. She squeezed Julia’s fingers with one hand and reached for Anna’s hand with the other, linking them all together and Julia had to fight back tears, overwhelmed by their easy acceptance of her.

      She realized she felt happier standing in this warm kitchen with these women than she could remember being in a long, long time.

      “Thank you,” she said softly. “Thank you both.”

      “You smell that?” Sage demanded after a moment.

      Anna rolled her eyes. “Cut it out, Sage.”