As You Wish (The Summerhouse 3)

They all fell asleep, wrapped around each other, and only woke when a flashbulb went off. It was morning, her mother had arrived to help Livie dress for the wedding, and she’d taken a photo of them.

Olivia looked up at the big house and knew that that picture was in a pretty frame on a side table in the well-used living room. One thing she’d done in her time in the past was to see that lots of photos were taken. Her new father-in-law had sent her an excellent camera from Japan and she’d begun photographing everything. Camden Hall was full of albums and pictures in frames.

She didn’t go into the big house but kept walking toward the wall that separated River House. Three of the times she’d been here had turned into a naked escape over the big outer wall. First was with Kit, then Elise, then with Kit again.

I think I’ll keep my clothes on this time, she thought. When she reached the river that ran in front of the house, she stopped. It was extraordinarily beautiful! She and Kit had owned the place for years now and she was remembering all the work they’d put into it. When they were in another country and saw a garden they liked, they copied what they could at River House. Twice, Kit had torn everything out. Both times, he’d been having trouble with some diplomatic negotiations and the hard labor of gardening had helped him think.

For years, Kit and she and Tisha had lived in River House. Camden Hall had been empty most of the time, too big for the three of them, so they’d saved it for guests and parties. Every year Tisha had a party that included most of Summer Hill. Kit went all out, with animal rides, and friends of his flying in from whichever country Tisha wanted to show to the kids. One year they’d had a demonstration of yak milking.

For years after Tisha was born, there’d been no more children. Not for lack of trying on their part! They went to doctors but they could find nothing wrong with either of them.

“N’shalla,” Kit said. “It’s God’s Will.”

Every chance they got, they returned to Summer Hill, and they’d filled River House with treasures from around the world.

Then when Olivia was nearing forty years old, one day she couldn’t bear the sight or smell of lemons. She thought she was coming down with a cold, but her Egyptian housekeeper put her hand on Olivia’s flat stomach and laughed.

Declan was born seven months later, Rowan a year after that, then last was Tully.

During her pregnancy with Rowan, Olivia had been worried. She didn’t know why, but she kept thinking that something would be wrong. One night she’d cried and said, “He won’t be the same.”

Only now did she understand her concern. In her other life, Rowan had had a different mother. And the second time, he was different. He’d always looked like his father but this time he had some of Olivia’s blonde coloring. And her humor. Previously, he’d been a very serious young man. Taciturn. Almost cold. But then he’d been raised by warring parents.

The same but different, Olivia thought.

With the arrival of the boys, their lives went from quiet, orderly peacefulness, with Kit being the center of it, to... Olivia smiled. To complete and utter chaos. After the sweet calmness of Tisha, the boys were a shock. Noise, laughter, tumbling fights, accidents, broken everything. Rules were considered a challenge. They seemed to truly believe that whoever disobeyed the most won.

She and Kit left their fragile treasures in River House and moved into Camden Hall—and put bars on the upstairs windows. Kit lightened his workload but they still moved often—and Olivia and the children followed him everywhere. The boys adapted to new languages and grass huts and camel hair tents with extraordinary ease.

As for Tisha, when she turned eighteen, she opted to stay in the US and go to school. She said she’d had enough of roaming the world. But no one was surprised when she married a young man who wanted to go into diplomacy. Their daughter Lori inherited Olivia’s acting talent. Kit had always felt that he’d cheated Olivia out of a great career on Broadway, so he bought an old warehouse in Summer Hill. He made it into a theater and last summer he put on a play starring their beloved granddaughter. He even conned his famous actor cousin into playing the lead. It had been an extraordinary success, even changing the lives of several people.

For a moment, Olivia looked at the differences and the sameness of the two lives. Almost always, deaths had occurred at the same time in both lives. The same people had married and divorced. She’d been worried that changing one thing would destroy good things, but it hadn’t. There had been some bad happenings, like when Kit’s father went out sailing and never returned. Every death had nearly killed her, but when Olivia looked back, it had all been nearly the same.

Except for Alan, she thought, and again she felt that all-consuming smile flow through her. The great guilt she’d carried for most of her other life was finally gone.

She was especially proud to remember that she’d changed one life drastically. Just as she’d done the first time, Estelle had miscarried, but without a car wreck—and again, she was told that she could have no more children. At the time, Olivia was pregnant and living in Charlottesville with her parents and going to school. She didn’t understand it then, but when she was told of Estelle’s miscarriage, she became hysterical. She and Estelle had never been close, but Olivia knew she had to help. She called Dr. Everett and he gave her the number of the unwed mother’s home in Jacksonville. In the end, Estelle adopted a little girl and it was Olivia who urged her not to keep the adoption a secret. It took a while to get Estelle to go against the beliefs of the era, but she did. And that allowed her and Henry to end up adopting six more children.

“Hi.”

Olivia turned to see Kathy and Elise sitting on the terrace of River House. They were both smiling in a way that made her sure that they had achieved what they wanted to.

Elise ran her hand over her protruding stomach. “This is my second.”

“I have two children,” Kathy said. “And you’ll never guess who I married.”

“Calvin Nordhoff,” Olivia said.

“Spoilsport!” Kathy said.

“Is anybody hungry? I am!” Elise said. “Let’s go inside and I’ll make tacos and we can talk.” Her eyes sparkled. “My sister-in-law, Carmen, gave me her recipe.”

“Did she give you her brother too?” Olivia asked.

“In exchange for Kent. I got the better deal. Much better!”

Olivia and Kathy laughed, but then Olivia said, “Wait a minute. I thought you wanted to forget the past.”

“Changed my mind. If I forget, then I might slip back into trying to please people who don’t exactly have my interests in mind. Alejandro laughs when I mention things that never happened, but he doesn’t mind.”