Free A Summer Remade by Nicole Deese

out.”
    Maybe because I want to keep you out. “I keep pretty busy.” I shove my hands into the pockets of my linen shorts.
    I don’t miss the arch of Drew’s eyebrow as I speak, or the way he leans casually against the hood of his car and watches this exchange like he’s viewing the latest reality TV show.
    “Well, I have several very interested clients. Is tomorrow morning a good time for a showing?”
    Did she just hit me? I swear I felt one of my ribs snap. Maybe two. I shake my head, but the words won’t fall out of my mouth.
    Drew steps in, wraps an arm around my shoulder, and then leans forward to shake Dotty’s hand. “I’m Drew Culver, Joslyn’s neighbor. What time were you thinking, ma’am?”
    “Nice to meet you. I’m thinking ten would be good.” She turns her heavily made-up eyes on me again. “Your mother gave me permission to put a lock box on the door, as well, since she’s been having some trouble reaching you.”
    I look past her and see an ugly grey box on the cabin’s front door.
    “You…you have a key?” I manage to croak out.
    “Yes, your mother sent me one after we signed the listing agreement. This time of year is our busiest.”
    “Wait,” I say, her statement jolting me back to life. “I don’t want random people walking through my front door. What if I’m in the shower or…or sleeping in?” There’s a shake to my voice I hope Dotty can’t hear.
    “I understand your concern. If you give me your phone number, I can text you when a buyer requests a showing time.”
    I rattle off my number, and Dotty saves it in her phone. I feel sick.
    “It was nice meeting you both. See you in the morning.”
    She walks away, and I punch Drew in the ribs. Might as well show him how I feel rather than try and explain it.
    Marching up to the front porch steps, I open the door with my key, and before it can slam shut, Drew catches it.
    He barges in. “You really thought you could stop a sale?”
    “Go away.” My steps are angry as I make my way down the hall toward the back bedroom.
    “You realize how that sounds, right?”
    I whirl around. “Crazy? Is that what you want me to say? That I’m crazy? That I’m pathetically hopeless because I’m losing everything all at once?”
    “Everything?” Drew stops walking, his question an invitation, not an interrogation.
    I tick the list off my fingers one by one. “My parents, my family, my childhood, my past…. this home !”
    Drew studies me. “That’s a lot.”
    I know he’s trying to trick me into being calm, into being rational, into not being a slave to my feelings. But I’ve tried his way. And it doesn’t work.
    The narrow hallway closes in on me slowly. “Yes.”
    I expect him to say something more. Add some guru words of wisdom. But Drew doesn’t say anything. He just stands there, waiting for me to continue.
    I rest my hand over my heart. “I’ve tried…I’ve tried to kill it, to numb it, to ignore it. But it won’t stop.” My voice breaks on the word. “This pain…it never stops.”
    I push past him into the living room, half expecting him to stay put, half expecting him to walk out the front door and not come back. Instead, he sits on the sofa and crosses his ankle over his knee.
    I swipe at a rogue tear with the back of my hand. “That…” I point to the hand-carved chest in the corner of the room, “is filled with family pictures. Dad brought them here so mom could scrapbook the last time we were on the island together as a family. But she never got around to it. So there it sits. A chest full of memories. Dead memories. Just like their dead marriage. Just like my dead childhood.”
    Then, my adrenaline is gone. A whooshing sound leaves my chest, and I slump against the nearest overstuffed chair and bury my head in my hands.
    “Memories don’t die, Joss.”
    I sniffle.
    “You get to keep those pictures and all your memories. I know what this cabin means to you, but…” Drew’s words trail down a