The Space in Between

Julia's Story

By: Madeleine Jaimes, Maddie James

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

How long will she stay in that space in between?

The day Julia Salinger admits to her girlfriends she has a drinking problem, she vows to do something about it. Spending time in a recovery center helps. So does attending AA meetings and therapy. But the thing that saves her, day after day, is fixing breakfast for strangers.

It’s routine. It gets her out of bed every morning.

While she and her husband, Mark, had dreams of operating their Old Louisville B&B together, her drinking put an end to that dream—and their marriage. And while Mark still shares in the business venture, the running of the inn is Julia’s responsibility.

And all goes well, until it doesn’t.

Despite therapy, Julia still wrestles with the cause of her drinking—her difficulty coping with the loss of their stillborn child, months of bourbon binges covering up her grief. But now that she’s sober, grief surfaces in other ways.

Her father pressures her to return to the family law firm. A friend from AA dies of an overdose. She hears a baby crying in the attic and is certain her Victorian era home is haunted. She craves the sweet oaky taste of bourbon and caves to a night of binge drinking. She doesn’t get up to fix breakfast the next morning.

Mark gives her an ultimatum—get her act together or he’s taking over the B&B.

Julia decides her best therapy is the beach and heads to Tuckaway Bay for solace, healing, and her girlfriends. A secluded cottage at the end of the Sea Glass Inn Resort becomes her sanctuary, where she lets very few people into her life for weeks—except for the older man who fishes in front of her cottage every day.