A Vineyard Vow

by Katie Winters

  Suddenly, out of nowhere, as Susan continued to go through the motions of conversation, Claire burst into tears.

  Susan straightened up, totally shocked. Had she said something without focusing on it? Had she insulted Claire, or misheard something she’d said, or...

  Susan splayed her hand across Claire’s shoulder and furrowed her brow. “Claire, what’s wrong? Did I say something? I am so sorry if I—”

  But Claire just shook her head and scrunched her forehead. “No, no. Of course, you didn’t do anything, Susan. No.” She turned back toward the corner and grabbed several tissues. Hurriedly, she dotted her cheeks and her eyes as Susan continued to stare on, helpless.

  She was reminded of months before, when her sisters had looked on, helpless, and she’d toiled in sickness from chemotherapy. How strange it was to be in pain while others looked on. She wouldn’t have wished it on anyone.

  “Claire, come on,” Susan murmured, as Claire tried to brighten her face. She glanced back toward Gail and Abby, who now gathered up their things in backpacks and flipped their braids.

  “We’re going to head home, Mom!” Abby called. Her voice seemed strained, as though she planned to pretend she didn’t know her mother had been crying.

  “We’ll see you at dinner?” Gail chimed in.

  “That’s right, babies,” Claire said, just before a whimper slid out from her throat. “Walk home safe.”

  The moment the door clipped shut behind the twins, Susan returned her eyes to Claire’s and gave her a look reminiscent of her long-ago “mothering” era, when she’d needed to get information out of Jake, or else.

  “Come on, Claire. What’s going on?”

  Claire dropped back on the counter behind her and allowed her legs to hang. “Susan, I really don’t know what to do.”

  Was Russell cheating on her? Was she sick? Had one of the twins done something wrong?

  “We do our best to put a sunny exterior over everything,” Claire continued. “I mean, especially since my siblings are going through so much right now, too. Kelli and her divorce. Andy and his re-kindling to the island after being at war, for goodness sake. But gosh, this. It really has Russell, and I stumped.”

  Susan spoke in a voice soft, almost hesitant. “You can tell me. Whatever it is, we can work it out together. Big or small.”

  Claire nodded. After a final gasp, she started, “You know that Russell is head of the Chamber of Commerce here in Oak Bluffs.”

  “Yes. Of course.”

  “Well, he loves his job. He takes it incredibly seriously. He pays attention to all complaints, makes sure to go out of his way for all islanders, no matter what. But recently, I guess, some of the books have been crooked.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning that there’s a lot of funds missing. And I mean, a lot. And Russell is normally in charge of all of that. He’s been accused of stealing, Susan.”

  Claire burrowed her face in her hands and let out a long gasp. Susan’s heart felt like it was being squeezed. She was reminded of last summer when all signs had pointed toward Scott stealing hefty funds from many vendors across the island.

  Now that she knew this version of Scott so much better, she knew, in every cell of her body, that he was incapable of anything like that. At the time, however, there had been a strange twinkling panic — was it really possible that she’d misread his character so much?

  “Russell is not a thief,” Claire blared with finality. “He puts his life down for this island and for his family. We live a beautiful, modest life. We don’t want for anything, but we’re not greedy. One of my girlfriends suggested that maybe he stole it and put it away in some account — that he has a girl on the side. But honestly, there have been no signs, Susan. He is home on-time every night. He has a few guy friends, but they just drink beer and eat snacks and watch ball games, you know? Nothing sinister. I just get the sense that somebody somewhere has set him up.”

  Susan felt it: that strange itch in the back of her brain.

  It was the same instincts she’d felt during her many, many years as a lawyer.

  “Claire. When did all this start?”

  Claire shrugged. “I guess the first accusations were made after Thanksgiving. But by then, Dad was in the hospital, and Andy was coming back, and there was so much on my plate here at the flower shop. I couldn’t focus on it. Now, they’re doing a thorough investigation, and I just — well. As you can see, I’ve kind of lost it.” She gave a dry laugh, even as tears streamed down her face.

  “Do you have representation for Russell?” Susan asked. It was a different voice, her lawyer one. She hadn’t heard it from her lips in a year, maybe more.

  Claire arched her brow. “I don’t think that’s necessary, do you? Like I said, we have nothing to hide.”

  Susan shook her head. “Unfortunately, these things don’t work like that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I just mean that if you don’t know your way around the system, you can get yourself into a mess. It’s important you have a lawyer.”

  Claire’s eyes shimmered. “I don’t understand. He didn’t do this. I put us on a serious budget last year, just so we could account for Christmas presents for the girls...”

  Susan was careful not to say she believed in Russell’s innocence. Claire was her cousin; Russell had married in. He seemed like a good guy, a very good father, a big laugher, and a great provider. But she’d long since given up on trusting men. They really did get “side accounts” for “side flings.” They really did sell their mortgages to assist their side families. They really did have affairs.

  She’d seen it all.

  “Let me represent him,” Susan looked at her cousin. “I will help you get out of this, Claire. But you have to trust me.”

  Claire nodded, her eyes glassy and tentative. “I’ll talk to Russell about it. But thank you, Susan. Seriously.”

  “Don’t mention it,” Susan said, rubbing Claire’s shoulder to try to set her at ease.

  As Susan gathered her purse and prepared to leave, Claire added, “You know, all these months you’ve been back, I’ve seen you as, you know, my beautiful older cousin, Susan. I’ve seen you as this wonderful mother and kind girlfriend to Scott and also as a remarkable innkeeper at the Sunrise Cove. But gosh. You had a whole other career, didn’t you? As a criminal lawyer. I can just imagine you in action, Susan. I’m sure you were a firecracker.”

  Susan laughed as she lifted her hand toward the door handle. She gave Claire a look of honest delight. “I gave so much of my life to that career. I never meant to turn my back on it.”

  And maybe, just maybe, it had found a way to return.

  Chapter Nine

  Amanda blinked into grey light. Her brain remained tucked deep in a dream, even as every muscle in her body leaped up. Her phone blared brightly, an alarm she’d set the evening before in preparation.

  Because, oh, yes. Today was her wedding day.

  She lay stretched back with her head nestled in the cloud-like pillow. She felt strangely heavy, as though her limbs had no memory of movement. Out in the kitchen at the Sheridan house, she heard someone tap a spoon against a coffee cup, stirring together milk and sugar. After another moment, she heard the voice of her Aunt Lola, speaking brightly.

  “I hear the bride’s alarm in there!”

  “She’s probably already awake and going over the seating chart,” Audrey returned. “She’s our Type A beauty.”

  Aunt Lola chuckled lightly. But all this talk made Amanda turn off her alarm and wrap herself deeper in bed. All her life, she’d imagined herself on the morning of her wedding day: bright-eyed and alert and ready to charge into the rest of her life.

  She hadn’t imagined it like this. She had never felt so tired.

  It had been a chaotic month. When she’d returned from Martha’s Vineyard after the New Year’s party, she’d felt heavy with fears and anxieties surrounding the wedding and her future with Chris. To her deli
ght, Chris had greeted her warmly with a home-cooked meal, had rejoiced over the news of her stellar first-semester grades, and had chattered to her excitedly about his promotion, the new clients he’d taken on, and the various members of his family who were going out of their way to attend the wedding (some even from California).

  Suddenly, Amanda had felt her two-person team to be back on track.

  Again, Amanda’s phone blared. She turned to catch it and blink at the screen. Her father was calling.

  Her voice was groggy. “Hey, Dad.”

  “Hey, bun,” Richard replied. “This is going to sound nuts, but I’m actually out front of your mother’s old place.”

  Amanda shot up from the pillow and straightened her spine. “Oh my gosh. Really?”

  Her father chuckled. He didn’t sound unkind. “That’s right. I had the address in one of your mother’s old address books, and I—well. I wanted to come see where your mother grew up, as crazy as that sounds.”

  “I don’t think that sounds crazy,” Amanda said softly. “You’ve known her more than half your life.”

  When her father didn’t say anything in response, Amanda quickly said, “Mom’s not here, though. She stayed over at Scott’s last night since we have a pretty stuffed house.”

  “Oh. Right.” Her father cleared his throat. “Well, lucky for me, I really didn’t want to see your mother this morning. I wondered if you wanted to go for a walk with me. The snow is so beautiful, and I read about this area out in Chilmark...”

  Amanda bundled up in sweatpants, thick boots, a sweater, another sweater, a winter coat, a scarf, and a hat. She shot out into the kitchen area to find Aunt Lola, Aunt Christine, Audrey, and both of her bridesmaids, Piper and Brittany, seated around the table drinking coffee and eating flaky, gooey croissants.

  “There she is!” Aunt Lola beamed. “The most beautiful bride!”

  Amanda blushed. For the first time in her life, she had no idea what to say.

  “Would you like some coffee?” Aunt Christine asked. “Croissants? Donuts? Anything at all, it’s all for you.”

  “Where are you off to, anyway?” Audrey asked conspiratorially, her eyebrow arched.

  Amanda turned her eyes toward the front door. Why did she want to avoid this cozy time of friendship and family and baked goods, hours before her wedding? Why did she want to be in the chill and cold, the wild cliffs of Chilmark, with the man who’d left her mother behind?

  She couldn’t answer these questions.

  “I just have to run out for a bit,” Amanda said. “My dad’s here and he’s um. Yeah.” She bit down on her lower lip as she looked at them.

  Aunt Lola and Aunt Christine exchanged glances. Silence fell over the table. Amanda side-stepped toward the door and gave a big wave. “I’ll be back soon, though. Save me a croissant. I’ll need it.”

  Before anyone could answer, she whipped outside. She could feel their curiosity and their annoyance all at once. After all, in their eyes, Richard Harris was cruel, the enemy, the kind of guy to avoid on such a beautiful day.

  Inside her father’s car, which he’d brought over on the ferry, Amanda flung her arms around him and exhaled slowly. There was safety in that hug; there was the memory of long-ago bike accidents and ballerina recitals and Christmas Eves. She’d been so little; he’d been her stronghold— her rock.

  “There she is,” her father said as the hug broke. “My little girl, all grown up and ready for her wedding.”

  They drove in silence, all the way to the Aquinnah Cliffs Overlook. When Richard parked the car, he stretched his hands over the wheel and said, “I can’t believe your mother kept this place from me all these years. It’s really something special, isn’t it?”

  Amanda nodded. “Chris thinks I come over here too often.”

  Her father snorted. “It sounds to me like you’ve just juggled a whole lot of chaos, between your mother’s cancer and law school. If anything, he should be impressed with you.”

  For a moment, Amanda thought she might burst into tears. She inhaled slowly and peered out across the cliffs, at the violent and dark waters just beyond.

  “I know I am,” her father said then.

  There wasn’t anything to say after that. They stepped out of the car and latched the doors behind them. Slowly, they stepped through the razor-sharp wind and sidled toward the edge of the cliffs.

  “Jake’s family is impressive, huh?” her father said as they stared across the water. He shoved his hands deep in his coat pockets. “I saw them at the inn this morning. Those twins, they’re a handful.”

  “That’s putting it lightly, pops,” Amanda said, trying to tease him.

  But his eyes shifted uncomfortably at that. After a pause, he said, “I can’t believe I’m about to be a dad all over again. To tell you the truth, it freaks me out. It freaks me out so much that I don’t know how to talk about it with anyone. It’s all Penelope brings up. She’s got a lot of morning sickness — more than your mother ever did and she seems to be in a lot of pain. I don’t know how to give her support. Especially since ...”

  He trailed off for a moment. Amanda was oddly grateful to swirl in someone else’s problems, for once. It was good not to feel alone in the wayward trials of life.

  “I just. I don’t know how to say this, Amanda, but I really am sorry for everything. Everything I did. Your mother was nothing but good to me, and I stepped outside of that. I guess you could call me a lot of things. A jerk. An idiot. Just another typical guy. I don’t know. I don’t think I reckoned with the idea that Penelope might have wanted a family out of it. That she saw me as more than just an escape. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about all of this, it’s that there are no real escapes in this life. You have to live with your decisions. And what your decisions have made up for your life.”

  Amanda’s heart dropped like a stone. Slowly, she linked her arm through her father’s. “You were a great dad before. You’ll be a really great one this time around. I know that.”

  Richard laughed softly. “It means a lot to hear you say that, bun. Because right now, I feel like I can hardly put one foot in front of the other.”

  “I hope you can later. You know— when you’re walking me down the aisle.”

  “You mean if I let you walk down that aisle. My girl, all grown up, getting married and in law school. Amanda, I couldn’t be more proud of you if I tried. When friends of mine ask me about you, they are amazed when I tell them what you’ve been up to.”

  Amanda felt the immense pressure of his words, as though a rock had just pummeled from outer space and wedged her against the earth. Still, she formed a smile and thanked him.

  “How did the rehearsal dinner go last night? I’m sorry we couldn’t make it in time,” Richard said as they stepped along the edge of the earth and eased toward the frigid beach just beyond.

  “It went well! The dinner was impeccable, as usual. Zach always blows it out of the water. And everyone seemed to have a good time,” Amanda said.

  Even still, the memory of last night filtered through the cracks in her psyche; throughout much of dinner, Chris hadn’t so much as looked at her. His skin had been oddly green. When she’d tried to make eye contact with him, he’d turned his head around to one of his groomsmen, Frank. He’d asked him a question about a basketball game. Amanda had felt like an alien, even at her own rehearsal dinner.

  Just wedding jitters. That’s all. Everyone got them.

  Just before they got into the car, Amanda grabbed her dad’s arm and stopped him. When his eyes found hers, she said, “I don’t want you to feel regret.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “About the divorce,” Amanda explained. “I know it happened for a reason. It all did. We wouldn’t be right here on these beautiful cliffs if it weren’t for the split-up. Of course, it was painful. I cried for weeks. So did Jake. But we all found our ways through it. We all had a destiny out of it. And yours is, well. It’s this baby. It’s Penelope. It’s a gift.
”

  Her father nodded somberly. “I know you’re right, bun. Thank you.”

  Chapter Ten

  “I really shouldn’t...” Susan’s voice was soft, playful, as it circled the dark air. “Really, I have to—”

  Oh, but Scott’s kisses. They were addictive. She sighed into them and shifted her body against his large, muscular one. What was it she had to get to? Was it gym class? A physics exam? Did she have to go pick up Lola somewhere or help her mother at the Sunrise Cove? What year was it again? Was she a teenager, or—

  “Just a little bit longer, baby.”

  Why did she feel this pressing weight? What was it she had to do? Susan broke the kiss again and opened her eyes to peer up at the dark outline of the man of her dreams.

  But no. There was something —

  Oh. Right. She was forty-four years old. This was the afternoon of her daughter’s wedding. And she and Scott? They’d latched themselves in the closet at the incredible coastline estate... to make out like teenagers.

  Idiots.

  Susan erupted with laughter as she pressed open the closet door and drew them back into the foyer of the glorious sight of her daughter’s wedding. She’d already donned her mother-of-the-bride dress, an emerald green floor-length thing that Scott had called “irresistible” about four seconds before he’d snuck her into the closet. Just as they clattered into the foyer, none other than Christine appeared, in a beautiful, shimmery blue dress. Immediately, she crossed her arms over her chest, arched her brow, and said, “Any reason you two were hiding away in there?”

  Scott stumbled next to Susan. Together, the two of them held the silence for a long time, exchanged glances, and then fumbled into various excuses while grinning ear to ear like two high school kids that had just been caught making out behind the bleachers.

  “We were looking for some decorations for the dining hall,” Scott explained, trying to hold a straight face.

  “And I really, I um, I lost my scarf,” Susan affirmed.