“C’mon, open up my present first.” Mike reached over to the pile and handed me a package. It was a red leather jewelry box wrapped in a large white bow. I pulled off the ribbon and unfastened the clasp, lifting the lid to reveal a glittering tiara. Nina grabbed it from my hand and sat it squarely on top of my head while Mike assured me that it was a fake and that he’d paid more for the box than for the rhinestones.
“Listen up, guys,” Mike said. “Joanie and I have arranged a gastronomic birthday tour of the Vineyard-my itinerary, her pocketbook. We start here, of course, at the Outermost Inn, where I recommend you begin the evening with the crab cakes followed by the lobster and then the homemade peppermint ice cream.
“Tomorrow is breakfast with Primo-coffee and bagels on the porch of the Chilmark Store. Good food, good gossip. Lunch, the amazing Flynn sisters and the world’s best chowder and clams at the Bite. Dinner with Tony and David at The Feast-don’t miss thepasta fra diavolo. ”
I kicked off my shoes and walked to the edge of the steps that led down to the wide, rolling lawn bordered by Vineyard Sound.
Mike was touting Sunday breakfast at the Inn, Primo’s pizza for lunch, and a farewell dinner at the Red Cat-the tenderloin with caramelized onion. He truly had explored all the best local options for food.
Hughie’s brother, James, was quietly singing about fire and rain in the background while Mike continued to entertain the troops. He was telling them that their weekend assignment was to look for the tallest staircase on the island if they really wanted to see me do my Tina Turner imitation.
I had come to the bottom of the gently sloping hillside where I stood with my feet in the icy water looking off at the not-too-distant spot where it flowed out to meet the Atlantic. I smelled the salt spray of the ocean as I looked over at the flashing signal of the great lighthouse-warning ships away from the rocks of Devil’s Bridge as it had for two hundred years. The sound of the waves lapping against the shore soothed me almost as much as the laughter of the people I loved coming from behind me. I could blow out the candles on my cake at the end of the festivities later tonight and everyone would be urging me to tell them what I yearned for. But as I stood here alone and stared up at the millions of stars that showed themselves from high overhead to the farthest point on the horizon that I could see, I privately made all my wishes for the year ahead.
***
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Likely To Die Page 35
