A Vineyard Rebirth

by Katie Winters

  “Scott loves you to bits. If you wanted to live in the woods without a kitchen altogether, he’d go for it,” Kelli said. She then paused before adding, “You got so lucky, Susan. After your divorce, you and Scott found one another again. I thought Mike was my forever. And now, I don’t know what to do except get over the trauma he caused me. All that pain. What was it for?”

  “I don’t think it’s up to us to understand why people hurt us the way they do,” Susan breathed. “I just think we do have a responsibility to uphold our feelings and our emotions and try to heal the best we can. When Richard and I split up, I told myself, take it one day at a time. And that one day at a time approach has got me to where I am today. Perhaps that’s stupid to say. But it’s the truth.”

  “CAN YOU STILL MEET me at Mom and Dad’s?” This was Kelli’s little sister, Claire, who had just called her when she returned to her vehicle after signing all the documentation.

  Kelli ran a hand through her long hair. Oak Bluffs traffic was vibrant. Tourists seemed overly willing to walk out in front of cars and end it all in search of the best ice cream cone or top-rated seafood dinner. Kelli knew better than to mock the tourists continually; after all, they were Martha’s Vineyard’s bread and butter and had been since after the whaling boom. All islanders knew that.

  “I don’t know, Claire. I’m so zonked. Mike called me four times today to go over the paperwork before he officially signed. The first call came around five-thirty in the morning.”

  “He’ll never change, will he? Well, at least you’re rid of him now for good.”

  “Hopefully. I can’t help but freak out that I’ll find him back at the house, waiting for me like Michael from the Halloween movies.”

  Claire’s laughter was like music. Kelli’s heart lightened just the slightest bit. Finally, she found an opening in traffic and eased her vehicle from the side of the road. Her home beckoned— but still, Claire rode her hard to stop by her parents’.

  “It’ll take like four seconds,” Claire insisted. “I just want your advice about this floral arrangement for a wedding this weekend. You have a really artistic eye, Kell.” Claire owned her own successful flower shop in Oak Bluffs. Normally, she didn’t ask for assistance. Still, Kelli was too exhausted to overthink her request.

  “Said no one ever,” she replied instead.

  “Kelli! I swear. If you stop by, I’ll never ask you for anything else. Ever.”

  Kelli was a sucker for her younger siblings and always had been. Charlotte, Claire, and Andrew— especially Andrew, were her world. Steven, her older brother, had always been able to take care of himself. Kelli was endlessly grateful, even now, that Andy had returned to the Vineyard the previous Christmas. He had stayed away far too long. With each passing decade, Kelli had felt the very fabric of her family disintegrate. With him back now, they could stitch themselves back together again— better and stronger than ever before.

  At a red light, Kelli texted her daughter, Lexi, about her whereabouts.

  KELLI: Have to run to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Claire needs some help. Maybe we could order pizza tonight? If you don’t have plans. XOXO.

  Normally, Lexi texted back in three seconds flat. She was eighteen and glued to her phone. But as Kelli pressed lightly on the gas and drove the few more miles toward the house where she had grown up, no messages came through. Lexi knew what kind of day this had been for her; she knew the harrowing feeling in Kelli’s stomach. At least, she’d thought she had translated this to her daughter. Lexi herself had tried and failed to get her mother to eat dinner the previous few nights. The anxiety had been overwhelming, almost destructive.

  Claire was waiting for her on the front porch of her parents’ house. She wore a bright smile and lifted an enormous bouquet into the air as Kelli stepped through the lush grass to greet her. Kelli tried a smile but struggled to lift it.

  “There she is. My beautiful big sis.”

  It was a humid day, and the drive from the law office had been sticky and warm. Moisture billowed up on Kelli’s forehead and beneath her arms.

  “I don’t feel particularly beautiful,” Kelli offered with a laugh. “Is this the bouquet you wanted me to check out?”

  Claire wagged her eyebrows playfully. She placed the bouquet to the side, removed a little packet of tissues, and began to dot one across Kelli’s forehead. Kelli bucked back and cried, “What are you doing?”

  “Just hold still for a second. And maybe... hmm...” Claire leafed into her purse and drew out a tube of lipstick.

  “What’s gotten into you?” Kelli demanded. She suddenly felt like her teenage self, annoyed with her younger sister’s antics.

  “Just put this on. Trust me.”

  Kelli rolled her eyes. “I don’t care what I look like in front of Mom and Dad anymore.”

  Claire pressed the tube of lipstick against Kelli’s chest and locked eyes with her. “Just trust me on this one, okay?”

  An idea shivered in the back of Kelli’s mind. She glanced toward the front door, then at the flowers. The driveway was empty, save for Claire’s and her parents’ vehicles. Still, that didn’t mean others hadn’t parked elsewhere.

  “You didn’t,” Kelli breathed.

  Claire furrowed her brow. Kelli heaved a sigh, gripped the lipstick, and tapped it delicately across her lower and upper lips, then rubbed them together.

  “You know I hate surprises,” Kelli whispered.

  “Nobody hates surprises,” Claire insisted, flashing her sister the biggest smile.

  “I do.”

  When Kelli pressed open the front door, everyone she had ever loved leaped up from behind the couch, the hall closet, and the back kitchen. Her father and mother, her sister, Charlotte, her brothers, Andrew and Steven, along with Steven’s wife and Andrew’s newer girlfriend, Beth. Beth’s little son, Will, who was on the spectrum, leaped up from behind the couch and flung glitter through the air. The Sheridan sisters were there, including Susan, who’d obviously raced from the law office to arrive before Kelli. All Montgomery and Sheridan family members were accounted for, in fact— and all of them hollered out at once.

  “CONGRATULATIONS, KELLI!”

  A banner echoed this sentiment overhead. It looked like maybe Will had painted the thing, as the words were slightly crooked. This made Kelli love it all the more.

  Christine Sheridan and her niece, Audrey, appeared from the kitchen next. Christine’s pregnant belly bulged beneath a beautiful cake, something she’d baked and decorated herself. Ornate flowers, thick frosting, along with the words—OUR FAVORITE REAL ESTATE WOMAN. Kelli laughed and swiped away a tear.

  “The business is all yours now,” her father beamed as he stepped forward and dotted a kiss on her cheek. “We couldn’t be more proud that you’ve taken over our baby for yourself. Your mother and I built that real estate company together over many decades of love and hard labor. It was our dream that one of our children would take the reins and make it their own.”

  “And now, that horrible man is gone,” her mother added brightly. “And the business is back to being only a labor of love.”

  Kelli beamed, even as she felt a stab of fear and regret. There had been eras of the previous ten years when she’d felt that she and Mike had operated as well or even better, in some respects, than her parents had. Mike had been aggressive in sales in ways she’d never been capable of, probably because he was a bully, through and through. Kelli worried she wouldn’t be able to sell as much as he had. She worried their revenue would falter.

  But those were worries she couldn’t verbalize now. Not at the party her family had thrown her in full support of her next era as a sole business owner. She shivered at the thought.

  Kelli felt like a ghost at her own funeral. It was a difficult thing to walk through the party guests, hugging her family members and her children. She could still feel the volatile words from Mike echoing through her ears. According to her therapist, the trauma she had gone through wouldn’t
just fall off of her. It was something she had to attack head-on. It was something she had to carry.

  “There she is— the guest of honor.” Andy took two strides closer and wrapped her in a bear hug, placing his chin gently on her shoulder.

  She shook the slightest bit, proof of her true feelings. Andy leaned back and furrowed his brow.

  “You’re not so thrilled with this surprise party, are you?”

  Kelli’s nostrils flared. “You see right through me, don’t you?”

  “It’s a bad habit. We’re linked.”

  “I guess.” Kelli swallowed hard and glanced out at the sea of people across the porch and yard, which led up to a sandy beach, a line across the Vineyard Sound. “I love all of these people with everything in my soul, but right now, I kind of want to curl up into a ball and hide.”

  Andrew laughed. “It’s difficult to hide from the Montgomery-Sheridan clan. They’re always looking for a reason to party, and they don’t like to let you wallow. I tried to wallow for the rest of my life and now look at me— back on the Vineyard for eight months now, with no sign of leaving. I hadn’t been to a party in years.”

  “And now, you’re cursed with regular family barbecues.”

  Andy chuckled. “I know it’s tough when you’re feeling low. If you want, I can make an excuse for you. Help you slip out the back.”

  Lexi appeared alongside Kelli and Andy with a mischievous grin. She held a plate of cake, a slice that seemed slathered with extra frosting. Kelli gripped the edge of Lexi’s fork and took a small bite from the edge as Lexi protested playfully.

  “Get your own piece!”

  Kelli’s heart brightened. “But yours looked so tasty!”

  Will scampered up then and tugged at Lexi’s arm. “Lexi, remember when you said you wanted to learn more about dinosaurs? I have some things you might be interested in.”

  Lexi’s eyes widened in surprise. “Right.” She nodded toward Andy and Kelli. “Seems like I have some studying to do.”

  Lexi and Will moved toward the edge of the porch, where Will had set up a number of his dinosaur toys. Kelli chuckled as Andy swept his fingers through his hair.

  “That kid is really something,” Kelli commented.

  “He’s a handful,” Andy added. “But the best kind.”

  “And Beth? How’s she been?”

  Beth was in conversation with Lola near the waterline. It was a rare thing as of late to see Beth at a family function, as her hours at the hospital had ramped up over the summer.

  Andy’s eyes glistened. “How do I say this? She changed my life. I’m not sure where I would be without her.”

  Kelli felt on the verge of tears but managed to hold them back. She was so happy for her brother. She wrapped a hand around Andy’s wrist and squeezed gently. “I hope you tell her that as much as you can.”

  “I do. She’s getting annoyed at it,” Andy said with a laugh. “But don’t worry. She knows how much I love her.”

  “Wow. Love.” Kelli felt punched in the stomach. Romantic love had long ago seemed like a thing other people were allowed, and not her. Especially as Mike’s love had turned increasingly cruel and sinister, she had told herself over and over again that Mike simply loved “differently.” He loved with aggression which, in her mind for a while, was more passionate, more charged.

  But it hadn’t been right. It had never been right.

  “Maybe I’ll grab my own slice of cake,” Kelli said.

  “I’ll come with you.”

  The brother-sister duo headed into the kitchen, where Steven and his eldest son, Jonathon, were in conversation with Amanda Harris, who discussed more details regarding Susan’s recent, very intense court case, which had involved a young woman from the island who’d been accused of murdering her boyfriend. The case had wrapped up in June and resulted in the girl’s innocence in the eyes of the court. It had been a blessing for the law office and proven Susan as one of the top attorneys on the east coast, even without her ex-husband. As Amanda discussed the case in more detail, she beamed with pride.

  “That’s the women in the Montgomery-Sheridan clan to a T,” Steven stated as he glanced toward Kelli and nodded firmly, proof that he included her in this, as well. “Between Kelli, Susan, Lola, Claire, Charlotte, and Christine— along with the next generation of women, like you, Amanda, I mean wow. The world doesn’t know quite what to make of any of you. You’re all a force to be reckoned with.”

  Kelli’s smile faltered. She splayed a slice of cake on her plate and felt suddenly doomed by the approaching weeks. How could she possibly keep up this real estate company on her own? Was she actually strong enough to see this through herself? She was, after all, a Montgomery woman. She felt the most unsure in her life, hollowed out and strange. She knew better than to think that this cake would fill her up. Yet even still, she took a small bite and it was so delicious. Soon afterward, she went to the front porch, which was empty of family members, and wept for all she had lost.

  Chapter Three

  She had to sell that old place. She had to. It had been her parents’ years-long terror, a property that seemed haunted or cursed, as countless potential buyers had come through the island and eventually backed out. The selling of the property would be an iconic one and a blessing for Kelli, considering it would be the biggest sale she would ever close. It would also prove to herself and to her entire family that she could handle the real estate company on her own.

  The days’ potential buyer was a man named Gregory Bellow. Like many of the previous potential buyers, he’d come in from New York City, and he reeked of money and a lack of understanding of the island and its many locals. Kelli tried her best to see beyond this. After all, he had enough money to take this property off her hands. What did she care what he did with the old place once it was his?

  “Wonderful to finally meet you in person, Mr. Bellow,” Kelli greeted with a genuine smile. She held out a hand and shook his as firmly as she could. In past years, she’d noted that potential clients had shaken Mike’s hand with a firmer grip, showing their respect for him and their lesser respect for her. It was a man’s world— and now, she had to play that role. Otherwise, her company could go under.

  “And you as well, Ms. Montgomery.” Mr. Bellow dropped her handshake and beamed. He looked to be in his sixties with wide-set grey eyes. His cologne was just a hint too powerful, and Kelli’s nostrils flared despite her best efforts to keep them in.

  “Shall we head over to the property?”

  “I would love it. I can’t wait to see it in person. The photos you sent activated my imagination, to say the least.”

  Kelli’s laughter sounded almost fake to her own ears. She waved goodbye to her secretary, a woman Mike had hired years before named Brittany. The secretary had witnessed a number of Mike’s insults and had sent Kelli a gift basket after she had finally left Mike. Mike hadn’t exactly been kind to Brittany over the years, either. Kelli was surprised that she had stuck around. Kelli walked toward the door, and caught Brittany’s eye again as she mouthed to Kelli, “Good luck.”

  “So this place was destroyed back in the fifties?” They were seated in her car as Kelli drove Mr. Bellow westward and south toward the Aquinnah Cliffs.

  “1943, actually.”

  He turned to her and said, “A hurricane, huh?”

  “Yes. It hasn’t happened often that a hurricane rips through the Vineyard, but when they come, they come without mercy,” she told him.

  “Quite romantic to think of this old place,” Mr. Bellow continued. “It was built in the early 1800s, correct?”

  “Yes. It’s broken my heart over the years to think of what the old place might look like had it not been destroyed.”

  Mr. Bellow was quiet until they reached the old cliffside resort. Out front, an ancient sign still remained, slightly crooked, looking like a relic from a previous era. It read: AQUINNAH CLIFFSIDE OVERLOOK HOTEL in an old-world font. As she often did when she approached the old prope
rty, Kelli held her breath for a long time. It seemed remarkable that the place had ever thrived with its glorious tourists and long stretches of bright, summertime activities. It seemed remarkable that it had ever been anything but a dilapidated haunted mansion.

  Kelli parked the car and stepped out, announcing their arrival. “This is it— the old hotel.”

  Mr. Bellow stood at the edge of the property and blinked up at the old historic building. “Wow. The hurricane took out more than you could really see in photographs,” he said with the slightest hint of disappointment.

  It might have been a little true that the photos Kelli had sent had been taken at particular, artful angles— ones that had eliminated much of the damage. She and Brittany had discussed this tactic at length, deciding that ultimately, once buyers arrived at the property, they would see what a remarkable place it truly was in person.

  As she and Mr. Bellow walked up toward the mansion, with its remarkable wrap-around porch, its entire leftward area that had fallen through to the base of the mansion below, she watched as Mr. Bellow’s face took on a similar stance as previous potential buyers. He was clearly disappointed and worse, and his expression stated she had wasted his time. Even as she explained that the area that had sunken in was where the old ballroom and restaurant had been, he looked on toward the cliffside doubtfully.

  “Would you like to walk to the edge? It’s really a beautiful view.”

  Mr. Bellow cleared his throat. “I’ve seen the ocean already, thank you, Ms. Montgomery.”

  Mike had wanted to tell potential buyers that it was possible to clear out the old mansion and start over with the property. Kelli couldn’t bring herself to say such a thing. She felt attached to the place, even in its ragged state. It was a portion of Martha’s Vineyard history. It seemed to scream with memories, waiting to be uncovered.