The Cottage on Nantucket

by Jessie Newton

  Tessa thought of the key on her ring, and she added another task to her to-do list for the day. She’d promised Janey she’d make her a copy of the key, and she needed to at least do that.

  “Great,” Tessa said. “Thanks, Marcus.” She hung up and looked out at her neighborhood. The sky shone with a brilliant blue. The grass on all the lawns up and down the street sparkled like emeralds. Flowerbeds bloomed in crimson, violet, and marigold. Tree branches and brilliant green leaves waved in the gentle breeze.

  Everything felt serene and calm. Unrest bubbled inside her, though, and Tessa turned away from the tranquil scene. When her mood didn’t match what she was looking at, she didn’t know how to make everything line up.

  She put a load of laundry in the washing machine and rinsed out her coffee cup before putting it in the dishwasher. She made the bed and opened her suitcase. She went through the clean items, refolding them methodically. When she did mundane tasks, she freed her mind to think about things that had eluded her previously.

  “Why did Janey go to the city?” she asked herself as she tucked all the clean socks she had into her suitcase. She turned to get her swimming suit, an item she’d forgotten last time. She didn’t have the gumption to play in the ocean the way she had when she was eight years old, but she did like to walk along the beach, and she could stand to get a little color in her skin.

  “How did Janey get the money out of an account that had my name on it?”

  Tessa picked up her all-black suit and the cover-up that went all the way to her ankles. She folded it nicely and put it in the suitcase, her eyebrows drawn down.

  “How did she know who to talk to at The Hotel Benjamin?”

  Janey knew so much, and Tessa sighed and put one hand on her hip. While she’d been buying new curtains for the cottage and putting off Bobbie Friedman, Janey had been doing who-knows-what in New York City.

  “When she was supposed to be in Jersey and then Dallas,” Tessa said. “Working.” She turned and sat down on the bed, pulling her phone from her pocket. She tapped to call Janey, and her sister’s phone went straight to voicemail.

  She was either on another call, her phone had died, or she had lightning-fast fingers with swiping away Tessa’s call. Tessa’s bet was on another call. Not only that, but Janey wouldn’t return her call, because she was so busy and she’d forget.

  Tessa tried not to be bitter. She hated that her feelings resurfaced so easily, as she and Janey had left Nantucket on good terms.

  “That was before you suspected she’d been lying to you.” She started tapping out a few texts to Janey, asking the same questions she’d been thinking aloud to herself.

  I told you I’d take care of it, Janey answered. It was all laid out in the blue binder.

  Tessa hadn’t read much more of the papers in the blue binder than the letter at the beginning. It had been too much for her to absorb, especially alone, and especially when she’d found it in the bottom of the desk drawer.

  Janey had kept the binder too, so Tessa couldn’t even take a closer look at it. Part of her wanted to let her sister handle everything in the will addendum. The other part really wanted to know how she’d managed to have conversations about property that wasn’t hers in any legal way.

  Oh, and Rachel couldn’t come, Janey texted. Her boss talked to her about being an assistant manager, and she decided she couldn’t take a week off.

  Bummer, Tessa said, because she did love her niece, and Rachel was a hard worker. Right now, she had bigger problems than her niece not being able to come help with the cottage.

  Tessa tapped to make another call, this one to Sean Masterson. His secretary answered, of course, and Tessa said, “It’s Janey Forsythe,” she said, making her voice slightly lower. “Is Mister Masterson available?”

  “Let me transfer you.”

  A moment later, Sean said, “Janey, I thought your ferry was coming in at twelve-fifteen.”

  Tessa blinked, pure shock flowing through her.

  “Janey?”

  She quickly pulled the phone from her ear and hung up. Calls got disconnected all the time, and all she could do was hope Sean didn’t try to call Janey back. “Even if he does, so what?”

  Tessa couldn’t sit still, and she got up and started pacing in the bedroom. Janey was returning to Nantucket a day early. Sean knew it and was probably going to pick her up. Maybe they’d go to lunch.

  “She’ll probably stay with him tonight.” For some reason, that really bothered Tessa. Sean Masterson was supposed to stay neutral. He was supposed to advise her and Janey on all things legal, not start a secret relationship with a woman who already had two boyfriends.

  Tessa had half a mind to get a ticket on the next plane leaving Pennsylvania and show up on Nantucket tonight too.

  If Janey was arriving on Nantucket aboard the twelve-fifteen ferry, she was already on her way to Hyannis. The ferry took an hour to cross the bay, and Janey’s flight took that long too. With transferring, she was probably at the airport now, or taking off.

  Tessa wasn’t sure why she felt so betrayed. Janey was a grown adult, and she could do whatever she wanted. She didn’t have to call Tessa to get permission to travel or go on a date with a lawyer.

  It was just that they’d agreed to meet back at the cottage on Tuesday. Tessa hadn’t even thought to return early. What was the point of that? So she could do more work by herself?

  Of course, if she had a new love interest, she wouldn’t be working on the yard or roof of the cottage. She’d be sipping Mai Tais and watching the sunset. Eating lobster and salt and vinegar potato chips and hoping to catch sight of a whale.

  Tessa suddenly didn’t want to return to Nantucket at all. Maybe then Janey would get a taste of her own medicine.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Tessa didn’t have to answer to anyone on Tuesday morning. She made coffee and puttered around the house, putting away a few things that had gathered on the desk. She mowed the lawn before the day got too hot, and she showered, scrubbed the bathroom, and double-checked to make sure she’d rescheduled all of her tickets appropriately.

  She had not told Janey any details of her travel plans, so her sister shouldn’t be expecting her at any given time. Tessa watched the clock as the day wore on, wondering when Janey would realize Tessa wasn’t there yet.

  This game made her angry, especially once the time ticked to four p.m. She reasoned that wasn’t too early for a casual glass of wine, and she poured an aged red into a glass, made a batch of caramel popcorn, and put another movie on.

  She’d already taken more vacation at the library. The yard work was finished. Tessa’s laundry was washed, dried, and folded. Her bags packed. She literally had nothing to do, but she set her determination, ate the sugary treat, drank her wine, and refused to change the movie even though she didn’t particularly like it.

  Tessa felt like her entire life could be represented in that moment. Everything always so buttoned up and done right. After she took care of literally everything, she needed sweets and alcohol to make it through an evening. Coupled with her sheer determination, Tessa lived like that day after day.

  Where was her joy? What reasons did she have to laugh? How many years had she wasted in this state of sheer will to stay caged in this life?

  Tears gathered behind her eyes, but she refused to let them out. She pressed her eyes closed, the hot water there burning. She would not let it escape. She had a good life, with plenty to be grateful for.

  Her phone rang, and her eyes flew open. Janey’s name sat on the screen, and a rush of vindication flowed through Tessa. She didn’t answer, because she could just as easily send a text in a few minutes, which would indicate how terribly busy she was. No time for a call, just like Janey had done yesterday.

  She finished her wine and set the glass on the end table beside the couch. Only then did she pick up her phone and tap out a text to Janey. So sorry. I’m not going to make it to the cottage for a couple more days. Somethi
ng came up.

  Reasonably vague, which was exactly what Janey would’ve done. Tessa couldn’t count how many times Janey had used the words, Oh, it’s just work, or I have so much going on right now over the years.

  Well, Tessa did too. For example, right now, she needed another glass of wine and a better movie. As she walked into the kitchen, a series of texts came in, making her heartbeat thump in a strange way.

  She deliberately took a few minutes to poke through the fridge, hoping to find something already made and ready for her to eat. Of course she didn’t, but it ate up a few minutes, so by the time she returned to her phone, she might actually appear busy.

  Janey had simply said, I hope everything is okay. Let me know what I can do to help.

  Tessa’s guilt caught in her stomach like a fish hook. Someone on the other end of the line yanked, and she felt like she might throw up.

  She wasn’t sure why she’d gone down the passive-aggressive road, only that sometimes her sister drove her in that direction.

  Ron had texted several times, triggering the multiple notifications, and Tessa tapped over to those texts. Her breath caught in her throat at the pictures he’d sent. He and Ryan were together in the city, sharing dinner it looked like. Her son wore a smile that felt real and bright, and Tessa reached out to tap on the picture.

  It filled the whole screen, and she couldn’t look away from it. Another wave of emotion hit her, and Tessa did let a single tear splash her cheek before wiping them away. She drew a deep breath and went back to the text string.

  Ron said, Having dinner with Ryan. He’s doing great, Tess. He says not to worry about him.

  “That’s great and all,” she said. “But why doesn’t he come visit? Why do we never go to see him?”

  She looked up at the closing credits scrolling up on the television. She thought of The Hotel Benjamin, as well as the house on Long Island. Janey claimed she hadn’t gone to the house and knew nothing about it, but Tessa wasn’t sure that was entirely true. The assets had been left to her. Perhaps her son should use them.

  “Maybe I should transfer them to him right away,” she mused. Would that further protect them from Dennis’s children?

  She quickly tapped out a reply to Ron. That’s great! You guys are so cute. What’s he doing these days?

  He’s so swamped with the internship with Hyclone, Ron said. Works fifteen or sixteen hours a day. But he said he’s met someone.

  Tessa’s heart warmed and she devoured Ron’s next message as it came in. I’m trying to get more details now. I’ll call you later.

  Okay, she said, and Tessa leaned into the couch and kept her phone close so she wouldn’t miss any updates about her son.

  Two nights later, Tessa finally stepped off the ferry and onto the island of Nantucket. Hours of daylight remained, though she’d taken an afternoon flight and bought dinner from the concessions stand on the ferry.

  She hadn’t told Janey when she’d arrive, though she easily could have. Janey would’ve driven over in the ancient car Mom kept in the garage at the cottage, and perhaps they could’ve gotten dinner together downtown before going back out to the Point.

  Tessa stepped out of the flow of people and took a deep breath of the briny air. It was hot and humid this evening, and she caught a hint of something fishy. Didn’t matter. She did love being on the island of Nantucket, and the sound of water meeting the shore soothed her soul.

  So much about this island ironed things flat for her, and she seriously considered moving here permanently. Ron could fly directly from the small airport here to New York; it couldn’t be more than an hour flight. If that.

  Tessa also knew a ferry went between Nantucket and New York City, because she’d considered taking it to return this time. It took six hours, and that would put her on the island closer to ten p.m.

  In the end, she hadn’t wanted to ride a boat for six hours, and she’d flown to Hyannis as she usually did. The flights directly to Nantucket cost twice as much, especially in the summer as tourists flooded the island.

  She looked out over the bay, the brightly colored sails on the boats making her smile. Mom had loved to sail, and she’d used some of Daddy’s life insurance money to buy a boat with a bright yellow sail.

  She’d taken a couple of classes to learn to work with the wind, and Tessa relived the breeze in her face as she held a baby Ryan to her chest during a weekend trip she’d taken to Nantucket just to sail with her mother.

  A sigh passed through her, and she whispered, “I miss you, Mom,” just as her phone chimed.

  Her ride had arrived, and Tessa pulled herself out of the past and stepped over to the curb. It was time to face Janey—face the future.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “I just can’t believe you did this,” Tessa said, still scanning the living room and kitchen she’d walked into.

  “Well, something needed to get started, and you weren’t here.” Janey stood in the kitchen, several paces away, one hand on her hip. She wore jeans—something Tessa rarely saw on her sister’s body—and a tank top that covered the barrel they’d been blessed with.

  “You could’ve called.” Tessa noted the curtains she’d put up remained, but that was about it.

  “The furniture was old and disgusting,” Janey said. “The floors too. All of the appliances were probably leaking antifreeze or something.”

  “We haven’t even talked about what we wanted to spend here.” And Tessa couldn’t believe Janey wanted to spend anything to renovate the cottage. Heck, a week ago, she hadn’t even wanted to keep it. Tessa had called Ron to discuss buying her out of it completely.

  She’d erased so much of their mother already, and Tessa’s heart pinched at the same time her frustration expanded. “Mom loved that orange settee.”

  “I didn’t get rid of it,” Janey said. “It’s simply upstairs in the attic.”

  Relief hit Tessa, and she brought her eyes back to her sister. Her blue-black hair had been clawed back into a ponytail, but plenty of sections had come loose. She still looked amazing, as always, and Tessa wondered how she did that.

  Maybe the huge hoops in her ears, or the half-dozen bangles on her wrist. No matter what, she could make dusty hands and dirty jeans look like a million bucks.

  Tessa felt thrashed from a flight and a ferry ride, and she bent to pick up her suitcase. She’d dropped it just inside the door when she’d frozen at the sight of bare plywood on the floor. No furniture to speak of, not even the dining table and chairs.

  No appliances in the kitchen, and the gaping holes where the stove, fridge, and microwave should be glared darkly at Tessa as she moved further into the cottage. “How much is all of this going to cost?”

  “I got a great deal on the appliances,” she said. “Sean manages a couple of rentals here on the island, and the owners are remodeling. They’re barely used and made within the last five years. They’ll be here tomorrow.” She seemed pleased with herself, and she hadn’t hidden the fact that she’d been communicating with Sean.

  “Sean, huh?” Tessa asked, plenty of questions within that single one.

  “Yes,” Janey said, lifting her chin and the pitch of her voice slightly. “I’ve been in touch with him. He also hooked me up with Benavidez, who’s redoing the floors. He had a surplus of this amazing bamboo flooring he’s giving us for half-price.”

  Spending money was Janey’s superpower, though she did seem to find good deals from time to time. Perhaps this was one of those times.

  As the shock continued to wear off, Tessa said, “I wish you’d have told me. I didn’t eat much on the way here, assuming you’d have something here. Coffee, at least.”

  “I do have coffee here,” she said, and Tessa hated all the singular talk, as if the food and drinks that were here belonged only to her.

  Tessa put her bag down at the mouth of the hallway again, her pulse crashing against her ribs when she noticed the rotary phone had been removed from the wall. “What did you do wit
h the phone?” she demanded. “I wanted that.”

  “Relax,” Janey said, and that only made Tessa want to fly across the kitchen and grab her by the straps on that tank top. “It’s in your bedroom.” She turned her back on Tessa and started making coffee. “I’ve got crackers here too. A bottle of wine, though I’m not trusting you with that again.” She threw a small smile over her shoulder, but Tessa didn’t take it or return it.

  Exhaustion pulled through her as Janey continued to outline that she had bread and butter, a toaster, and a couple of other items that didn’t need to be refrigerated or cooked.

  “We eat out anyway,” she said. “The floors will be done in a week, and then Sean will come load the appliances.”

  A week. Tessa reached up and ran her hand through her hair, feeling it stick up in some places and gain too much electricity in others. She felt exactly like that inside, and she continued to look around.

  “We should talk about what else we’re going to do,” she said.

  “This is all I want to do,” Janey said, finally turning back to face her. “The bedrooms are secondary, in my opinion. But having a nice main area to live, visit, socialize. That’s what’s important.”

  “The yard and garage will need a lot of work,” Tessa said. “The roof might need to be replaced.”

  Janey’s jaw tightened, but she nodded. “I waited to start going through those things so we could do it together.”

  Tessa bit back the words, I bet you did.

  She’d taken on the fun projects—the ones she deemed necessary. The items that “in her opinion,” needed to be done.

  But the hard work? Pulling old boxes, tools, and toys out of the garage? Mowing an overgrown yard? Oh, Janey had left that so Tessa could help her decide what to do.

  More like so Tessa could do it all herself.

  She tamed her bitterness, because she didn’t want to fight with her sister. She regretted trying to show her what it felt like to have someone not show up when they said they would. She should’ve just returned to the island on Tuesday as planned.