Homespun 3

With his wealthy aunt’s estate finally settled, eighteen-year old Fitz Ridgely moves into the immense manor house, on a cliff high, high above the city his great-grandfather founded. The money and property feel like a weight around his neck, tying him down here, maybe forever. Was it time to make this old mansion into a permanent home for him and his siblings?  He knew he, his little brother, and the twins had been a burden on the Lancasters ever since their parents died.  The four Ridgelys could finally reunite under one roof and never have to be apart again.  But Fitz doubts he has what it takes to raise his brothers and sister himself and knows the Lancasters are more equipped for the task.  What would his parents have wanted?

Andy Lancaster still sits on her front porch swing where she and Fitz used to sing to the twins to put them down for naps, only now she sits alone.  Looking across the valley, up to the faraway cliff, she wonders if Fitz is happy there, all alone.  And while her freshman year at the community college is off to a smooth enough start, her old friends are all away at schools in other states.  Of all the things she expected to feel this year, who knew loneliness would be at the top of the list?