Done Deal

It is all arranged. The Crofts will take the house starting early October. I can’t believe how quickly it all fell into place. It’s good, it’s just… sudden! Dad and Beth will leave soon to find a place to rent in Bath* while I pack up the house.

As for me…. In October I will go to stay with my sister Mary for two months and then I will head to Bath where I will join Dad and Beth.

Needless to say, all this means that the fall party Elizabeth had started to plan has been canceled. What a relief that is.

I would like to ensure Dad rents a suitably modest place in Bath, but I know my efforts to convince him to do so will be wasted. Lacy agreed I should save myself the headache and hope Beth and Dad show some restraint. With this arrangement I get to stay in the general area longer, which makes me happy. At this time of year Mary will be living in a cottage near a big lodge that her in-laws use in winter - up near the ski resort. I think it will be a lovely way to spend two months; frankly anything to put off going to Bath is welcome.

I must admit a small weirdness on my part about renting our home to the Crofts. I didn’t really explain my discomfort over the Wentworth name in my previous post. Mrs. Croft has two brothers. I only knew the brother who lived here slightly - but there is another brother who visited for a summer that I knew better. Dated him, actually, if we’re being honest.

It rekindles a bit of pain to think that perhaps he will visit her here and walk in these halls. How strange life is, that these old connections we thought were done forever can bubble up again in such unexpected ways. After yesterday’s meeting, where Dad's lawyer innocently brought it up and caused me to say his surname out loud for the first time in a long time - well, it stirred up emotions I thought I had gotten over.

Fortunately for me, no one else seems to remember the connection, or they affect such perfect indifference that I am awed. Only Dad and Beth and Lacy know of my involvement with this guy, and on his side, I doubt Mrs. Croft ever heard. So there should be no cause for embarrassment or awkwardness. And yet, I find myself thinking about it a lot.

I was out in the back yard, sitting in Mom's garden and I noticed the lavender plants had put out more flowers, which I harvested to dry. Reminders of a summer long ago when I found sprigs of lavender left in my books and in my car.

I'm not normally this nostalgic, really.

* Not actually Bath - that's a place-name pseudonym.