Captiva Ever After (Captiva Island Series #7)

Millie stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. She looked drawn and tired, the dark circles under her eyes made her look like she was in her late seventies instead of sixty. The few days at the shelter didn’t help. Grateful that she was safe through the storm, she was unhappy to share the bathroom, showers and food table with others.

Unable to recognize the person staring back at her, she thought back to the last five years when her life wasn’t her own. She’d cared for her sick mother and alcoholic husband around the clock. The years passed without her noticing the gray in her hair and the thirty extra pounds around her waist. Without health insurance, yearly physicals were a thing of the past, and she prayed often that her teeth wouldn’t give her any trouble.

After her mother died, she did everything she could to help her husband Russell stop drinking but without wanting to win over his addiction, she couldn’t do it alone. No matter how many times he promised to get help, he never followed through.

She remembered the time he dropped her off at the store and never returned to get her. As she walked home, she saw her car in front of the local bar and went inside to get the keys from Russell. He didn’t care who saw their exchange, and the verbal abuse and name calling angered her enough to leave him at the bar. She’d started to drive away, but as always she worried about Russell and how he’d get home so she turned the car around and convinced him to get inside.

Saving her husband from accidents or injury beyond what the drink was doing to him, Millie fell into the role of caretaker and sometimes enabler. There wasn’t much she could do except to attend Al Anon meetings and pray.

Eventually, she couldn’t handle the daily struggle and had to save herself. It would be the first step in a journey to create a new life. There was so much more she needed to do but she worried that she didn’t have the strength to fight anymore.

Taking one step at a time, she accepted that she’d have to figure it out as she went. Starting with her new job, she’d find a way to change her situation and hope that the details of her past would become clearer with each passing day.

“Not exactly the Ritz, is it?” Kira asked as she placed toothpaste on her toothbrush.

Millie didn’t answer. Saying very little and keeping to herself was her plan. The only new friends she wanted in her life were associated with the Key Lime Garden Inn and the island of Captiva.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve slept on that cot over the years. This is the first time I had to come here for a hurricane though.”

Millie waited patiently for Kira to start brushing her teeth. When she did, Millie smiled at her before leaving the ladies room. It was one thing to keep to herself and another thing entirely to appear rude.

When she got back to her bed, she opened her bag and looked at the picture of her mother that she had carefully placed between two towels. For years, her mother had been her best friend and the person she depended on to be in her corner no matter where Millie’s choices had landed her.

When her mother got sick, Mille assumed the illness would make their lives difficult for a spell, but that her mother would recover and they’d go back to the way things were before the illness. When that didn’t happen, Millie rolled up her sleeves and did whatever she needed to do to keep her mother alive.

Each day had been a challenge and the difficulty with balancing her home life and her mother’s doctor’s appointments was becoming overwhelming. On any given day she’d find herself putting her mother to bed only to go home and lift her husband into bed.

Russell was not a slight man so Millie’s upper body strength increased as she picked him up from “sleeping it off” on the living room floor to the nearby sofa. It became her daily workout. That strength would now come in handy on her new housekeeping job.

Anxious to return to her apartment and get to work at the Key Lime Garden Inn, Millie watched the news with intense focus, waiting for the reporter to announce that it was safe to return to Captiva Island.

“Looks like the bridge to Captiva is intact. It doesn’t look like you’ll have any trouble getting back on the island,” Kira said.

Millie nodded. “Looks that way.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s rent like where you live? Most people that live on the island are rich.”

Millie couldn’t believe the nerve of this stranger asking such a question. She was frustrated with having to have a conversation with Kira in the first place. Answering questions that felt like an invasion of her privacy bothered her.

“There are affordable places. If you’re thinking of moving there, I suggest you go through an agency. They can better help you with whatever your budget will allow.”

Millie gathered her items and filled her suitcase. She didn’t wait for Kira to ask the next question as she was already up and ready to move on.

“It was nice to meet you, Kira. Take care.”

Millie walked to the front of the room, filled a cup with hot coffee, and walked out of the Outreach Center and to the bus stop. Uprooted trees, and fallen palm tree branches were everywhere, but public transportation hadn’t stopped. Soon, she’d be back on Captiva Island and like every other obstacle thrown in her path, Hurricane Alan would be in her rearview mirror.

* * *

As promised, Maggie was a perfect guest for the remainder of her time at the Hutchins’ West Palm Beach home and even joined Eliza in shared moments with their grandchildren. Paolo spent time with Devon and Trevor and often noticed moments of tension between father and son.

Chelsea was in love with her kitten and Maggie was happy to see her friend adopt the cat. In Maggie’s opinion, her best friend needed someone to take care of and a little furball who not only worshiped Chelsea but didn’t talk back seemed the perfect addition to Chelsea’s home.

Clayton generally stayed away from most everyone and spent a lot of time on his cell phone, and Ciara spent her time worrying about the Powell men and spending time with Sarah talking about the Outreach Center’s shelter programs.

Sarah wanted to get back to work, but it seemed impossible considering she was now a mother to three children. Trevor’s job paid well enough for her to stay home, but it was knowing that she was doing something worthwhile by helping others that drove her to want to work outside her home.

“You have a nanny, Sarah. Perhaps you can work part-time just to stay involved with the Outreach Center,” Ciara said.