Restoration [Shawn Mendes] AU

Chapter 16

Michelle helped Gran into the Jeep and walked around to the driver's side to get in as they were prepared to go home to Boston. As she looked in the rearview mirror while backing out of the driveway, her glance landed on Beau's carseat. A quick pang of sorrow hit her as she looked away. She couldn't focus on that right now.

As they left Chatham and drove through Harwich to get on US-6 heading west, she thought of Robert and Beau crabbing there earlier in the summer and another pang of sorrow hit her as she remembered them coming back with the big buckets of blue crabs and how happy Beau was that he had helped his dad catch dinner for the family that evening. Images of them kept flashing through her mind like snapshots in one of Gran's old photo albums. She shook her head  and focused on her driving. Soon she was thinking about all the things she was going to have to do over the next couple of weeks once she got home. None of them were exactly things she was looking forward to, but they were things that were necessary, like meeting with her attorney.

"Sweetheart you seem a million miles away. Are you ok to drive?" Gran questioned her with a look of concern on her face.

"Oh, sorry Gran. Yeah, sure I'm ok to drive, I was just thinking about all the things I have to take care of when I get home, that's all."

"Honey, you don't have to do it all in a week. Take things as they come, do what has to be done first, like taking care of all legal documents. The rest of it, you can do a little at a time. Don't get yourself stressed out." Gran reached over and patted Michelle's arm.

"You're right, I just have to stop getting ahead of myself. I have to meet with the attorney next Tuesday and we can get all the paperwork started with Robert's will and insurance. I also have to get copies of his death certificate to transfer our accounts into just my name at the bank, the utility companies...I should make a list to keep all this stuff straight so I can get it taken care of next week," Michelle said as she mentally made a note of all the things she was going to have to get started on once she got home.

"It will get finished all in good time. Just remember to take care of yourself when you get home. Can you promise me you'll get enough rest and eat properly. I will make dinner if you want to come eat with me everyday, otherwise I won't be there to make sure you do, like I did at the beach house."

"Gran I promise I will take care of myself. You don't have to make me dinner every day, I can fix my own dinner. I was even thinking about getting back into running, like I used to do. It's always been a way to clear my head and I just feel better when I take time to run. The weather doesn't even matter because I don't mind running in cold temperatures or the rain. So I may get back into doing that, just ease into it over the next week or two," Michelle informed her Gran so she'd stop fussing over her.

"Good! Exercise increases your heart rate and releases those endorphins to make you feel better. Running also gets you out of the house where you can be around nature and other people instead of isolating yourself."