Emma Moves In

Chapter Five

It’s the day before school starts, and Emma is deciding what to wear. She starts brainstorming some ideas when she realizes a lot of her clothes are still in boxes. It’s hard living out of a suitcase—when will Seaview House be ready to move into?

Natalia and Zoe overhear Emma crinkling her paper. Natalia offers Emma to wear something from her chaotic closet. Natalia has nice clothes, but they feel like Natalia, not Emma.

Zoe says she has something. She opens her closet so Emma can see her color-coded closet. She pulls out a blue and white striped dress. Emma takes it gratefully.

Later that day, Mom and Aunt Alison bring the girls by for a tour to see the progress they’ve made. Emma is dismayed to see there’s no furniture, dirt is tracked all through the house, pipes are sticking out of walls, and the whole place is in disarray. It’ll be a while before Seaview House is ready for people to move into.

But they’ve redesigned Grandpa Stephenson’s old office to be a new bedroom for Grandma, complete with furniture. And while the second story is a lot like the main part of the first floor, the women have turned the attic into a small apartment for Emma’s family. There’s a private back staircase that leads to the attic, and there’s a small kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms. Emma’s bedroom has a large window overlooking the garden, and built-in bookshelves on one wall.

Natalia, Zoe, and Emma brainstorm ideas of how they can decorate the new room. Emma notices that Zoe and Natalia almost ignore each other throughout the conversation. Did they always fight and disagree this much?

They are interrupted by Emma’s mom, who has Dad on the phone. He explains that it’s taking them longer than they thought to find a new chef, and he won’t be able to move out next week. But he just knows Emma will have an amazing first day of school. Emma is disappointed, and she clings to the hope that her dad is right.