Forever, With You

“Are you coming with me, Daddy?” she asked.

Emily noticed the look of relief on Daniel’s face.

“Of course” he said.

“Neither of us would miss this for the world,” Emily added.

Chantelle smiled coyly, looking proud and shy in equal parts.

They all left the house and got in Daniel’s pickup truck. As they drove through the tree-lined streets, Chantelle gazed out the window, looking tense and nervous. When they pulled up outside the cute red brick building that would be her new school, she became pale and withdrawn.

“You’re going to be okay,” Emily said, patting her hand. “I know it’s scary at first, but once you get in there and meet all the children and the teachers you’ll be fine.”

Chantelle looked at her with her big blue eyes, clearly overwhelmed.

Emily went around to the back door of the pickup truck and took Chantelle’s hand, squeezing it to reassure her, and helped her hop down onto the ground. There were other children and parents milling around. A group of kids were playing in a pile of fallen leaves, a pair of boys chased each other across the grass. Emily herself felt rather overwhelmed by the whole thing. She’d never spent much time around children, particularly not huge groups of them. The noise was unbelievable, worse even than when Gus and his party of rowdy seventy-year-olds had stayed at the inn.

Emily looked over at Daniel. He, too, seemed at a loss. She couldn’t help but laugh to herself at the sight of the three of them, all wide-eyed and bemused.

Just then a young woman with a welcoming smile walked toward them. She was wearing boot-cut beige pants with a lilac cardigan and flat-heeled shoes, an outfit that Emily thought revealed her to be a teacher immediately. She nudged Daniel and couldn’t help but giggle aloud at his daunted expression, which matched Chantelle’s so perfectly. Coming face to face with teachers was clearly a terrifying experience for Moreys, Emily thought.

“Hi, I’m Miss Glass,” the young woman said, extending her hand.

Emily took the lead and shook her hand. Miss Glass had incredibly soft hands and perfectly manicured nails.

“Is this Chantelle?” Miss Glass asked, turning her attention and super-sweet smile to the little girl.

Chantelle withdrew, clinging to Emily’s pant leg. Emily stroked her head to comfort her.

“You don’t need to be scared, honey,” Miss Glass said. “Everyone is so excited to meet you.” She looked at Emily and Daniel. “They’re really a super-sweet bunch.”

Emily smiled, feeling more comfortable about the idea of letting Chantelle out of her sight, about handing her into the care of someone else. But Daniel seemed to be struggling more with the thought of letting her go.

He crouched down beside Chantelle and took her shoulders in each of his hands. “Have an awesome day,” he said, and Emily heard a hitch of emotion in his voice. “I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. Emily noticed the way he pressed his lips together, holding back the tears that were trying to escape. Seeing him that way made her emotional as well, and it made her love him even more.

Daniel moved out of the embrace and now it was Emily’s turn to give words of encouragement to the child. She hugged her tightly.

“Be brave,” she said, “and show all the other kids what a kind, caring, generous soul you have.”

Chantelle nodded. She turned to face the school building and took a deep breath. Daniel reached out and grabbed Emily’s hand.

“She’s going to have a really fun day,” Miss Glass assured them as she scooped Chantelle’s semi-reluctant hand into hers. “I promise,” she added, swinging her arm.

Together, Emily and Daniel held their breath as they watched Chantelle walk along the path toward her new school. At the top step, they stopped, and Chantelle turned back. With Miss Glass’s encouragement, she waved goodbye, then disappeared inside.

“Our baby’s first day at school,” Emily whispered.

*

On the drive back to the B&B, Emily wondered what they would do with their day. Chantelle had been in their lives for less than a week and already she couldn’t remember what she’d done with herself before her.

“What shall we do today?” she asked Daniel.

“I think I should move in,” he replied, his gaze still fixed out the windshield.

Emily started. “Today?”

Daniel looked across at her and smirked. “It’s time for us to be a proper family,” he said.

Emily’s stomach somersaulted. Things with Daniel were suddenly moving very fast, and it shocked her just how much she wanted them to.

They reached the inn and Daniel parked outside his carriage house. As they went inside, Emily felt a strange pang of nostalgia. They’d hardly spent any time at Daniel’s but it still felt special to her, a place etched with memories. Already it felt less lived in, transformed by recent events. Daniel had taken a ton of his stuff to Tennessee when he’d left over the summer and hadn’t unpacked any of the boxes or suitcases, so there were already some bare shelves and stacked luggage in the corner.

They got to work right away, boxing up Daniel’s books and records, folding up his clothes and zipping them into suitcases. The kitchen took the longest to clear because Daniel was so fond of his culinary experiments and seemed to own a specific frying pan or pot for every eventuality. But overall, clearing the carriage house took very little time. Daniel had spent so many years living in such a small space, Emily wondered how he would adjust to the sprawling, endless mansion. Not to mention he had been alone for so long and would now have to co-habit not just with his partner and daughter but with a whole host of random guests, as well as the inn’s staff! Emily reminded herself that there would undoubtedly be some teething problems.

On their final trip down the driveway to the carriage house to pick up the last bits, Daniel and Emily stood on the small porch, looking in at the now empty space.

“It looks so strange,” Daniel said, a hint of melancholy in his tone.

Emily hoped he wasn’t regretting his decision.

Back up in the main house, Daniel got to work unpacking his items and finding places for them in the master bedroom. Emily herself became more preoccupied with Chantelle’s room. It wasn’t really suitable for a young girl. The place had been decorated with guests in mind and all the furniture was far too adult. Chantelle needed a kid’s bed rather than this huge king-size antique one. Her teddy bear tucked into the crisp white covers looked lonely and forlorn. She needed toys and a trunk to store them in and a shelf to display them on. And she could have a little desk under the window so she could look out over the backyard rather than the current window seat made of oak and strewn with silk crimson cushions. Then there was the large wardrobe taking up space across an entire wall. Even with all the clothes Emily had purchased for Chantelle it was too big.

Emily decided then to fix the room up for Chantelle. It could be a DIY project they undertook as a whole family. Chantelle could choose the colors she wanted, and they could go to the store and find matching pillows, blankets, curtains, and rugs. In the meantime, however, she wanted to do something to make the room nice for Chantelle right away, and she struck on the idea of getting some of her old toys out of the attic. She’d packed up all of her and Charlotte’s toys when she’d converted their old room into the first guest bedroom all those months ago.

Leaving Daniel absorbed in his own tasks, Emily went up into the attic and searched for the boxes of toys she’d carefully tidied away.

It made her feel quite emotional as she began looking through them all again. Even though she’d spent a lot of time carefully packing them away, something about the fact she was giving them a new lease on life by passing them on to Chantelle made her a little melancholy, as though she were letting go of Charlotte in a way. But it also felt so right that Chantelle would get Charlotte’s old toys since she did feel like her sister’s spirit was living on in Chantelle.

As Emily rummaged around selecting toys she thought would be appropriate for Chantelle, she became distracted by a box of photographs. She remembered them instantly as the ones that Daniel had rescued from the outbuilding during the storm, the ones he’d sacrificed his own photographs to save on her behalf. She’d never had a chance to look through them. She took the first box down off the shelf and settled herself on the floor.