Before she could expound on her thought, Mary cut her off. “How do you know? You’re free and single, and you don’t have a child.”
The audacity. “No, I don’t have a child! I have thirty freaking children! I’d like to see you handle those numbers.”
Mary’s mouth snapped shut.
“As I’m not married, I can’t speak from experience. But I can speak from observation, and from what I’ve seen there isn’t a whole lot of effort being expended on either side here. Charles may tune you out, but when was the last time you said something worth listening to? Talked to him without complaining or said ‘thank you’ for anything? If you feel neglected then maybe you should take a closer look at why that is. You could join your family on the beach once in a while instead of sleeping all day. Your boys miss you, Mary. They adore you. And I think underneath it all, so does Charles. You just have to help him remember.”
Mary had gone deathly white, dropping to sit on the edge of her bed.
Hanna softened her tone, sitting down beside her. “I know you’re afraid, Mare. You were daddy’s little girl, and even though you think that’s a good thing, he sort of handicapped you. But you’re not that little girl anymore. You’re a wife and a mother, and it’s time for you to act like it.”
Very slowly, Mary’s head swiveled toward Hanna. She wasn’t sure what to expect—ranting and raving or more blubbering excuses. Instead, Mary’s eyes filled with tears. “It’s just so hard!” she gasped, and then her head fell onto Hanna’s shoulder as she cried. It wasn’t the dramatic sobbing Mary usually resorted to, but a soundless mourning that Hanna could feel in the shaking of Mary’s shoulders.
Hanna sat with her for what felt like eternity. While Mary came to terms with reality, Hanna had been thinking of a possible solution—or at least something that would give Charles and Mary a leg up.
“How long has it been since you and Charles got away, just the two of you?”
“The day we went downtown for breakfast, I guess.”
“No, I mean really away. Like overnight.”
“I don’t remember.”
That was good enough for Hanna. “Why don’t you guys take off for the weekend? Leave the boys with me.”
A long stretch of silence passed during which Mary seemed to be mulling it over. “I guess between you and Ella, the two of you could handle it.”
Hanna wouldn’t be holding her breath on that one. Ella wasn’t exactly Nanny McPhee. “We’ll manage.” Rising, Hanna looked down at her sister. “Do you want me to send Charles up?”
Mary wiped her palms on her robe. “What if he says no? Maybe you should mention it to him first.”
“He won’t say no, Mary. Just let him know that you want to spend time with him. Trust me.”
Finally, Mary nodded. “Okay.”
Hanna gave her sister a parting squeeze, then went back downstairs.
“How did it go?” Charles asked as she came into the room. He was flipping between two baseball games on television.
“Why don’t you see for yourself?” Hanna answered. She had done her go-between duty for the day.
“I think I’ll give her some space,” Charles answered without looking up.
Hanna narrowed her eyes. Then she strode to over to her brother-in-law, confiscated the remote, and turned off the TV. Standing before him with her arms folded, she said, “Seriously, Charles?”
He froze, not sure how to react to assertive-Hanna.
“You know I don’t like to interfere in your relationship, but Mary is only half the problem. It takes two people to make a marriage work, and it takes two to make it fail. I told Mary that I would watch the boys so you guys can spend some time together. Now, be a man and go talk to your wife.”
It took Charles a good thirty seconds to recover from Hanna’s scolding, after which he hurried from the room to follow her advice.
“Your turn, Derick,” CJ said, and Hanna looked over.
Derick’s eyes weren’t on CJ, or on the checker board, planning his next move. They were taking in Hanna with intense pride, his lips curving up at the corners.
☼
Not long after the Musgroves made their getaway, Ella returned. On hearing that Charles and Mary were leaving the kids with Hanna for the weekend, she suddenly remembered an invitation to visit one of the local islands with Callie’s family. It couldn’t have worked out more perfectly if Hanna planned it herself.
“So, boys,” Derick asked, once it was only the four of them, “what should we do now that your parents are gone?”
“Jump on the bed!”
“Caw-toons!”
“Stay up all night!”
“Ice-ceam!”
“Build a fort!”
“Pay da Wii!”
Derick laughed, apparently thrilled at his skill inciting the masses. “How about we order pizza and build the fort while we’re waiting? Then we can watch a movie and have some ice cream after.”
Walter positively screeched with delight, and CJ started bouncing on the couch. Had she not been a respectable adult of twenty-eight, Hanna likely would have done the same.
Derick swiped CJ out of the air before he could inflict any permanent damage on the furniture, or himself, then announced that he and CJ would take care of the pizza if the other two picked out a movie. The sofa and kitchen chairs were arranged to make the frame for the fort, then draped with sheets and blankets.
Hanna wrangled the boys upstairs for a bath while they waited on dinner. She was on a high from having had a positive effect on her sister’s marriage. And, Charles and Mary’s absence—plus Ella’s—equaled euphoria. Hopefully they would make good use of the time, and be able to connect on some level. It was doubtful that they would come back acting like honeymooners, but any progress at all would be an improvement.
Half an hour later, when Hanna came downstairs with two squeaky-clean kids, Derick was dishing up pizza for the boys and arranging baby carrots for each plate. The sight was beyond adorable.
Walter’s movie pick was 101 Dalmatians, which CJ wasn’t thrilled with, but since Derick had let him place the pizza order, CJ let it go.
After polishing off two pizzas, the four scrunched together in the “fort” with a tub of Red Vines licorice. The adults were propped against the front of the couch, and the boys were sandwiched between them. Being in this situation with Derick was strangely nerve-wracking for Hanna. It almost felt like a date—even if they were chaperoned by a six- and two-year-old. The very thought gave her anticipatory tingles.
Derick was on the right, Hanna on the left, and a good amount of space between them. But that space crackled with an elusive something Hanna couldn’t place—something that teemed in the air surrounding them. Did he feel it too?
Hanna scuffed her palms against her jeans, then folded them in her lap. She wished that she had something to do with her hands, just to use up that extra bit of nervous energy. Then she remembered her sketchbook. It took her a moment to recall its whereabouts, and then she asked CJ to run upstairs and grab it. Not wanting to miss one second of the movie he’d vetoed, CJ zipped up the stairs and returned in record time. Hanna pulled her pencil from the notebook’s spiral binding and Derick leaned over to watch. His shoulder pressed up against hers with the action, causing her pulse to skip around—but Hanna did her best to disregard it and began drawing the boys.
They were lying on their stomachs with their chins propped on their hands and their feet in the air. To an outsider, it might have been coincidental that the boys had the same exact posture, but it was no mystery to Hanna. Walter glanced at his brother every few minutes and mimicked whatever he did, right down to scratching his nose or coughing.
Around the time the puppies onscreen were rolling in soot to hide their spots, Hanna finished the sketch and held it up for inspection.
“Can I see it?” Derick murmured, and she handed it over. He stared at the sketch for a few minutes, but didn’t say anything. His silence scorched H
anna’s curiosity as he flipped through the other drawings in the book, giving his full attention to each of them in turn. He lingered over the one she’d done of the Lymelight—that day she’d looked up and found him watching her. Hanna’s memory of the mortification she felt on that occasion was still fresh, but with Derick next to her now, that other moment felt like something from another lifetime.
When he came upon the drawing she’d done of Eli, Hanna tensed, but Derick just flipped to the next page, and the next. Ocean waves, kites in the air, the pier, the harbor, then the hei matau. His mouth turned up at the corners, leaving Hanna in no doubt of his favorite. With a small sigh he closed the book and handed it over. “You are incredibly talented, Banana.”
The boys looked back when Derick spoke, and Walter relocated to his aunt’s lap, clasping his little sausage arms around her neck.
“I think someone’s tired,” Derick observed.
Combing her fingers through Walter’s fine hair, Hanna pulled the scent of baby shampoo in through her nose. Was there a better smell than that of a clean baby? If so, she had yet to find it. She stroked Walter’s hair, and eventually his eyes began to droop. After pressing a soft kiss to his forehead, she looked up to find Derick’s eyes fastened on her.
He was giving her a look she couldn’t read, his eyes swirling with some indefinable emotion.
“What?” she asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
“Nothing,” he answered, then paused as if he were trying to word something. “It’s just . . . that looks really good on you.”
“What looks good on me?” He couldn’t be talking about her clothes—she had on a plain blue T-shirt and jeans.
“A baby.”
Hanna’s heart stuttered at the words, and she hid her smile by burying her nose in Walter’s hair.
THIRTY-ONE
WHERE the WILD THINGS ARE
“Ah! She was a dear old Asp to me . . .”
—Captain Wentworth, Persuasion
The following morning Derick was just finishing a run when he saw Hanna and the boys on the beach. He dove into the surf to wash off the sweat, then collapsed on the sand next to Hanna. She mumbled a brief greeting, then shifted her attention back to her nephews. Curious. Derick noticed that she averted her eyes whenever he didn’t wear a shirt. Did it make her uncomfortable? If so, was it a good uncomfortable or a bad uncomfortable? Determining to make her reactions his future study, he focused on the kids. CJ hunted shells along the wet sand while Walter entertained himself with a bucket and shovel.
“Looks like you made it through the night,” he said. “I half-expected you to be tied up somewhere this morning.” He winked, pleased when she responded with her trademark blush.
“We survived,” she said, looking away. “One day down, two more to go.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Derick said, clasping his hands over his knees. “There’s this place, only a few hours’ sail from here—Block Island—that I’ve been wanting to check out. I think the minions would like it.”
“Like a day thing?”
“No, we’d have to stay a couple nights to make it worth the trip.”
Hanna’s eyes flicked up to CJ before settling back on Derick. “That’s kind of gutsy. I’m not sure that taking the kids out of their environment and stranding ourselves on an island with them is a good idea.”
“Good point. We need reinforcements. I’m sure Adam and Sophie would come along if I asked.”
“What about Benny?”
“I could invite him as well.”
“And you have sleeping accommodations on the Laconia for seven people?” Hanna grinned.
Derick laughed. His boat was by no means a floating hotel. “We would have to rent something bigger, but it wouldn’t be a problem.”
Biting her lip, Hanna said, “Sounds expensive.”
“Again, not a problem. I’ll get all the food, and you won’t have to worry about a thing.” He didn’t want her to say no on account of money. “So, what do you think?” Suddenly he felt like a kid, offering a fistful of dandelions to his kindergarten crush.
After an agonizing pause, Hanna said, “Okay.”
Restraining himself from punching the air in victory took an enormous amount of self-control. “Cool.”
Hanna looked away, but he could tell she was smiling.
“I’ll go see about a rental, then. How long will it take you to get packed?”
“Maybe a couple hours.”
Derick did a mental calculation. That would put them on the water around noon, which would get them to Block Island around dinnertime. Of course, this whole plan hinged on whether Sophie would be up for it, but as the scheme included Hanna, it shouldn’t be a problem. Adam, being the good, housebroken husband that he was, didn’t get a vote since Sophie always had the final say on everything.
“Text me when you’re ready to go, and I’ll send Sophie over to help you with your bags.”
“‘Kay,” she agreed, and Derick turned in the direction of the marina. He wanted to take off like a speedboat, but he kept a measured pace until he was out of sight.
☼
The boys watched a movie while Hanna put together an overnight bag for each of them, then packed her own things. But her mind was far from the task at hand. It was on Derick, the way he’d seemed on the edge of flying to pieces when she’d finally agreed to the outing. She smiled again as the image came back to her, absently dressing in a pair of denim capris and a wide-neck sweater. Straying from her reliable regime of skirts and maxi dresses was out of her comfort zone, but she didn’t know how windy it might be today, and didn’t want to risk it. The breeze up the skirt thing only worked if you were Marilyn Monroe.
A cursory glance at the clock told her it was eleven thirty, and Hanna decided that feeding the boys before leaving would probably give the adults the best chance for “smooth sailing.” With any luck, Walter would fall asleep on the boat and nap most of the way.
As the boys devoured their PBJs, Goldfish crackers, string cheese, and juice boxes, Hanna texted Derick to let him know they were almost ready. Several minutes later, Sophie showed up to help get the boys and their stuff down to the dock.
“I take it Derick got a boat without any trouble?”
Sophie nodded, holding her arms out for Walter, who waddled over. “He and Adam are getting it rigged as we speak.”
“What about Benny?”
“He signed up for a fishing charter that leaves in the morning.”
Hanna felt a twist of disappointment that was promptly blotted out by a flurry of anticipation. It would have been nice to have Benny to talk to, but at the same time his absence would free her up for the person she really wanted to spend time with.
It was almost five hours before the group reached New Harbor, nestled in the cove of the Great Salt Pond on the upper west side of Block Island. After securing the mooring line of the Asp to the dock, Derick and Adam collapsed and folded the sails. When all the lines were coiled and hung up in their respective places, Derick toweled off his face and neck before turning to the others.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m famished. What do you say we go grab something to eat?”
“I’m starving,” Adam agreed, and that settled it.
Hanna pulled out some cash and asked Derick if he would just pick up something for her and the boys—taking her restless nephews to any kind of a restaurant sounded like torture to her. Derick agreed but refused the cash, and Hanna turned CJ and Walter loose in the water. She was finished with swimming long before the boys were, so she pulled out her sketchbook and began a rough draft of the boat Derick had rented for the weekend.
It was much bigger than the Laconia. There were four separate cabins for sleeping and two bathrooms that reminded Hanna of the ones on airplanes. In the center of the cabins was a kitchenette. There was plenty of deck space up top, and the name, Asp, was spelled out in an elegant swipe of royal blue on the hull.
; A short time later, Derick and the Crofts returned with sub sandwiches from the deli inside the marina store, and they all ate together on the beach. By the time it started to get dark, the boys were exhausted. Being in the sun all day had made them both cranky, and Walter had only catnapped in Hanna’s arms on the trip out.
Despite their protestations, Hanna wrangled them into one of the cabins to sleep for the night. CJ flat-out refused to close his eyes until Derick agreed to read to him. Hanna offered to stay, but Derick assured her he could handle one bedtime story, so she left him to it.
☼
“Okay, little man,” Derick said with a sigh, “what am I reading?”
Each of the boys had a book, and both wanted theirs read first. Derick started with Walter’s pick—Little Mouse, Bittle Mouse—then took the book CJ thrust under his nose.
“Where the Wild Things Are,” he read out. “How appropriate.”
Derick got only a couple of pages in when CJ cut him off. “You’re reading it wrong. You have to do it like Banana.”
Derick wanted to bop CJ on the head with the book. Instead, he settled for mussing his hair. “Why don’t you read it to me, then.”
CJ took the book out of Derick’s hands and read. He really was a smart kid. He only misread a couple of the trickier words, like rumpus and gnash. When he’d finished, he closed the book and looked up at Derick with a tiny wrinkle between his eyebrows.
“Are you in love with Banana?”
Derick’s heart stopped, his fingers going numb with adrenaline. “Why would you think that?”
“‘Cause you’re always at our house, and you’re always looking at her.”
What an observant little devil. “I’m always at your house because you and your brother are such a handful,” he said, tweaking CJ’s nose and hoping it would be explanation enough.
CJ eyed him skeptically for a moment, then shrugged. “I guess Aunt Hanna is pretty,” he allowed, scooting down into his blankets. “Except, her face is always red when you’re around.”
Persuaded Page 17
