by Nancy Thayer
Still, a thread of worry wove through her thoughts. Felicity knew she had to keep her jealousy hidden.
By the time Noah came down, clean and relaxed, wearing only his boxer shorts, Felicity was smiling. Without speaking, they both headed to the den, the coolest room in the house.
“How were the kids today?” Noah asked.
“Insane,” Felicity told him. “Well, Alice was okay. She played house and dress-up. But poor Luke. He’s a ball of energy. It’s too hot for him to spend much time outside, although I did set up the sprinkler and the water play table in the backyard.”
“The forecast is for more of the same,” Noah said.
“I know,” Felicity said, moaning a little.
* * *
—
The next morning when her cell buzzed, Felicity was still in bed. Noah had gone to work and Felicity was letting the children watch cartoons on her computer.
“Hi, Filly,” Jane said. “Listen, are you going to the island this weekend?”
“I hadn’t planned on it.”
“The Nantucket weekend forecast calls for sunshine, high seventies. You should come. Bring Noah.”
“I don’t know if Noah can get away.”
“Tell him Scott’s coming. The guys get along fairly well, don’t you think?”
“I don’t know, to be honest. They’ve never spent much time together. But if Scott’s coming, then I think Noah will be more likely to come…let me talk to Noah tonight and get back to you.”
“Come anyway with the children,” Jane said. “Please?”
Felicity couldn’t help feeling a rush of pleasure that her sister wanted to see her children. “I will.”
Felicity threw back the covers and jumped out of bed. Suddenly the day seemed brighter. She was foolishly pleased that Jane wanted to see her and the children this weekend, and even more complimented that Jane thought Scott would like to see Noah. Scott and Noah were as alike as A and Z, Scott so stiff and judgmental, Noah so earthy-crunchy, but maybe the island could work some magic. Certainly Jane had been warmer to Felicity when they were on the island than she had been in a long time.
As Felicity showered, she decided she’d take the kids to the Children’s Museum today. It would be crowded, but the kids loved the exhibits and they could work off some of their energy.
She sang in the shower.
* * *
—
Noah didn’t like her to phone him at work, so she waited until he came home to talk to him about Nantucket. As usual, he didn’t get home until the children were in bed, but she had kept his dinner warm. She sat at the table with him, sipping a mug of green tea, when she brought up the idea.
“This weekend?” Noah said. “Sorry. Can’t.”
“Oh, sweetie, you work so hard. It would do you good to have a little fun in the sun.”
Noah took another bite of his macaroni and cheese with lobster—one of his favorite meals. He sipped some wine. “I thought I’d put it on the calendar. I guess I forgot. Ingrid’s birthday is Saturday, and we’re taking her out to dinner.”
Felicity bit her tongue. After a moment, she said, “Oh, well, then I should stay home, too. I’ll get a babysitter.”
“No need. Spouses aren’t invited.”
“Spouses aren’t invited,” Felicity echoed. “Why not?”
“Because you all would be miserable and bored while we make inside jokes and talk about work. You and the other wives shouldn’t come. You don’t get what we do. You don’t understand how important it is.”
“But I do—”
“And I’m aware that you don’t like Ingrid, so why would you even want to attend her birthday party?”
“I’ve never been unpleasant to Ingrid!”
“No, but it’s clear that you don’t like her.” Noah leaned forward. “Be honest. Do you like her?”
Felicity toyed with her mug. “All right, fine. I don’t. Because she’s a woman who gets to spend so much time with you. More time than I get most weeks.” She looked up at Noah. “I guess I’m jealous.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Felicity waited for her husband to elaborate, to tell her there was no kind of competition at all, but Noah simply finished his meal, tossed back the last drop of his wine, and set his napkin on the table.
“Noah, stop.” Felicity seldom spoke this way to her husband. “Don’t dismiss what I’m saying. I don’t mean I’m worried about you doing anything…romantic…with her. I mean that the children hardly ever get to spend time with you. I hardly get to spend time with you.”
“You shouldn’t be jealous, Filly,” Noah said, and his voice was softer. “Ingrid is a workhorse, and that’s all. She’s also a stockholder, so she has a lot to gain if we can get this off the ground and go public. The time I spend with her is all about work. You know, I’ve told you, these first few years will be crucial. Nothing less than saving the planet is at stake here.”
Felicity bit her lip so she wouldn’t smile. She loved Noah, she admired and adored him for his idealistic goals. At the same time, she found him slightly, maybe even embarrassingly, naïve. Noah took several science-oriented magazines, and from time to time Felicity read an article. She learned that he was not the only scientist working on “green food,” and certainly not the most highly esteemed. She learned that the problems facing the future needed more than green food for the planet to be saved.
But after all, what did she really know? Noah attended a great many scientific conferences. He had to be as aware of his competition as she was. She knew she should prop him up, not bother him with minor issues.
“You’re right, Noah. I do understand. But I wonder—couldn’t you come to the island some weekend? I’ve read that a vacation is helpful, even necessary. It allows the mind to rest and reboot. You haven’t had a vacation for months.”
Noah sighed. “Yes, I’ve read about that, too. You’re right. Look, I’ll try to clear off a weekend later this summer.”
“Oh, Noah, thank you!” Felicity moved around the table to embrace Noah.
“Look,” he said, pushing her away, “calm down. It’s not definite yet. And I need a shower and bed. I’m beat.”
“Of course,” she said. And she removed her arms from around his shoulders, and began to take his dishes to the sink.
fourteen
Saturday morning, as Alison boarded the ten-seater plane from Boston to Nantucket, she gave the other passengers a quick glance, wondering if she knew any of them. And wondering if any one of them flying to the daydream island was as cranky about it as she was.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like people; she did. She loved her daughters, in spite of their occasional tendency to squabble. She adored her grandchildren. She felt real affection for Ethan, who wasn’t coming this time, and she enjoyed Poppy’s husband, Patrick, who was coming. She was fond of Poppy’s two children, but she was nervous about any interaction with Poppy herself, because David hadn’t yet found the time to discuss his will with Poppy. Felicity’s husband wasn’t coming, and Alison knew Felicity was sad about that, especially because Jane’s husband was coming. But Alison was glad she’d have some time with Scott, who’d always seemed a bit aloof. Maybe she’d get to know him better this weekend.
Really, she was just a bit angry with David for making her face this weekend alone. He claimed the necessities of work, and when Alison had asked, reasonably and pleasantly, why Poppy wasn’t doing the work, David had simply replied, “Exactly.”
Alison felt like her life had become a chessboard with the pieces all tossed up into the air, landing in incomprehensible patterns.
Then she saw the island, an emerald jewel set in the sapphire sea. Each time she flew in, she was mesmerized by the sight of the shoals extending out from the island, and the three lighthouses, and the harbor where sailboats
clustered. A ferry was slowly pulling away from the island and into the deeper waters on its way to the mainland.
She was being foolish. Negative. It was a glorious summer day, she was engaged to a man she adored, and their families were becoming friends. Of course there would be a certain amount of discord—they were all human beings, after all. What Alison needed to do was to focus on being a good hostess. She’d already spoken with the housekeeper about fresh sheets on the beds and fresh towels in the bathrooms. Alani had also stocked the cupboards and refrigerator with the basic necessities. Later, Alison would go off to Sayle’s to see what fish was fresh and to buy fresh vegetables at Moors End. Once she was back on the island, she knew she’d feel more optimistic.
* * *
—
And with the children came the bliss. Alice, Luke, Daphne, and Hunter thundered into the house with whoops of joy at being back on the island. Felicity’s two threw themselves at Alison, hugging her so hard she almost fell over, while Daphne, child dictator, waited impatiently behind them, reminding them that they had to change into their swimming suits now.
“You can’t go to the water yet,” Poppy said. “I’m exhausted from the trip.”
“I’ll go down with them,” Felicity volunteered.
“And I’ll go,” Jane said.
“I’ll go, too,” Scott said. “Just let me change my clothes. Unless you need help with something, Alison.”
“No, I’m fine. Please, go, swim.”
“Thanks.” Jane kissed her mother. She was bubblier, brighter than usual, perhaps because Scott was with her.
“There are beach towels on the table on the deck,” Alison called. To Poppy, she said, “Now that you’re all here, I’m going off to buy fresh veggies. Is there anything you need?”
“Just a nap.”
“Yes, of course, Poppy. Have a nice long rest.”
* * *
—
Alison had spent some time researching recipes and planning to be ready to feed the family three times a day. She decided she’d cook what she enjoyed cooking and buy the rest. She couldn’t expect everyone to like the same things, so she made sure there was a variety. She bought fresh tuna to marinate in olive oil, ginger, and garlic for grilling, and crimson vine-ripened tomatoes, and Bartlett’s potato salad and macaroni salad, and newly picked carrots, which she’d cook with butter and a touch of brown sugar to tempt the children, and an enormous bag of peas in the pod. The children loved popping open the pods and eating the fresh sweet peas. A fruit torte from the Nantucket Bake Shop. She bought ice cream bars for the children, and she stopped at the liquor store to stock up for the adults. At the last moment, she tossed in several bags of chips.
When she returned to the house, she was surprised to see Scott waiting to help her unload.
“Oh, you don’t have to do this, Scott, I can manage,” she protested.
“I think I really have to do this,” Scott said with a twinkle in his eye. “You’ve bought so much food, and you’re so terribly old, I’d feel guilty if I allowed you to carry all these bags without my help.”
Alison cocked her head and studied her son-in-law. “You’re not a beach person,” she concluded.
Scott grinned. “I guess not. I did try. I watched the children so they wouldn’t drown. Everyone else is down there now, tossing the beach ball around. They’re like an amoeba, everyone in one big blob.”
Grinning, Alison nodded toward the hatch. “Those bags are the heaviest. Since I’m so terribly old, I’ll go on in and be ready to unpack.”
While Scott brought in the groceries, Alison went out on the deck to look down at the beach. Sure enough, everyone was engaged in some kind of spontaneous game that seemed like a combination of volleyball and football. She could hear the squeals and laughter, and she smiled, wanting to snap a memory of this, her family and David’s, playing on the beach. Maybe the weekend wouldn’t be so bad, after all.
* * *
—
Late in the afternoon, the “Beach People,” as Alison and Scott nicknamed the others, came trudging up to the house, sunburned and hungry and tired. They all took turns getting the sand off in the outdoor shower before running into the house for a proper wash and scrub, and soon the scent of strawberry-kiwi shampoo drifted through the house. Alison sent the children down to the lawn to shell and eat the peas, while the adults relaxed on the deck with cool drinks.
Scott offered to grill the tuna, Jane and Felicity took over preparing everything else, and finally all ten people were at the table, with Luke sitting on pillows, squeezed between Felicity and Alison.
“Too bad David and Ethan couldn’t come this time,” Felicity said.
“And too bad Noah couldn’t come,” Alison answered. “Someday we’ll get everyone here at the same time.”
Jane laughed. “I can’t even imagine how much fun that will be.”
Or not, Alison thought.
Patrick spoke up. “So, Scott, Poppy tells me you’re a lawyer.”
“That’s right,” Scott began. “I work for—”
“Eeeek!” Luke screamed, giggling, and slid sideways off the pile of pillows, landing on the floor.
The other children giggled like hyenas.
“We need books,” Alison said, and went off to gather a pile while Felicity removed the pillows and lifted her son onto the pile of books Alison had substituted.
Scott opened his mouth to speak again, but Felicity’s daughter, Alice, announced in her clear, high, confident voice, “I’m going to set up a website called Now, Please. It will be a list of things that need to be invented.”
“Really?” Jane asked. “For example?”
“Well, our teacher keeps telling us we need to save the world, and that even though we’re only in first grade, we should try to help. So far I have two ideas. The first is that we shouldn’t use plastic straws because we need to stop using so much plastic, but everyone uses plastic straws, so someone should invent a permanent accordion straw that we’d use over and over again. It could be made from something like aluminum. It would be our own personal straw. It could live folded small in a little aluminum egg that would fit in our pockets. At the end of the day, we’d stick it in the dishwasher and it would be good to go for the next day.”
“Alice,” Patrick said, “that’s a brilliant idea. You’ve given it a lot of thought, haven’t you?”
Daphne, miffed at the sight of her own father praising Alice, quickly spoke up. “We all had to think of inventions like that on Earth Day, back in the first grade.”
“What was your idea?” Jane inquired.
“I suggested we use leaves instead of toilet paper. That’s what people did for thousands of years. That would save our forests—”
“Wipe my bum with leaves?” Daphne’s brother, Hunter, shrieked.
“Bum!” Luke echoed. “Leaves!”
The two boys exploded with laughter, yelling, “Wipe my bum with seaweed!” and other hilarious variations, rocking and tilting in their chairs until, no surprise, Luke fell off the chair again. This time, he snatched the tablecloth in an attempt to keep from falling. He pulled his own plate and glass onto the floor before Alison, seated next to Luke, managed to secure the cloth.
Poppy and Felicity removed both boys from the dining room table and set them in the kitchen with paper plates of food.
“I’m standing right here while you two bad little children eat,” Poppy said. “Then you can play outside, but not before.”
Felicity started to speak, then took a deep breath. It was always awkward, watching another mother discipline her own child. It seemed presumptive now. A small voice in Felicity’s mind whined, But your daughter, Daphne, started it by talking about leaves and toilet paper! But she wanted her relationship with Poppy to be cordial, so she simply added, “Luke, you heard what Poppy said.”
“Bum leaf,” Luke whispered with a sly smile.
“That’s enough,” Felicity said sternly.
* * *
—
Later, Patrick and Scott watched the Red Sox in the den while Alison, Felicity, and Poppy put the children to bed. Jane stacked the dishwasher and wiped down the counters, taking her time. She hoped Scott was bonding with Poppy’s husband. Patrick seemed like a good guy, and Jane appreciated that Patrick had taken the initiative and asked Scott about his work. Maybe they’d talk in the den. Maybe Patrick would tell Scott that children weren’t always as frenzied as they’d been at the dining room table.
“Hey, sis.” Felicity entered the room, carrying glasses from other parts of the house. She put them in the dishwasher. “Want to take a walk on the beach?”
“Honestly, I was hoping to take a walk on the beach with Scott.”
“It looks like Scott is settled in for the night with the Red Sox and Patrick.”
“Yeah. That’s good, right? For the guys to get to know each other. Okay, yeah, let’s take a walk,” Jane agreed.
“Good. I have something I want to talk to you about.”
“Should we tell the others we’re going?”
“No. Let’s just slip out the door now.”
They padded, barefoot, down the steps from the deck and through the low shrubs to the expanse of beach. The sand was cool beneath their feet. For a while as they strolled in and out of the lazy waves, they chatted casually. They laughed about the boys and their silliness. They agreed that Alice’s idea about a permanent accordion straw was brilliant, except it wouldn’t really work. People, especially children, would lose their straws down the backs of chairs and between seats in cars.
