How to Keep a Secret

“No, but thank you.” She loved the fact he was so protective. For a short time they’d lost that closeness and now it was back. Love could be intense and passionate, but it could also be warming and comforting, like curling up in front of a log fire with a mug of hot chocolate.

She glanced at her sister. “So when do you move in to the Sail Loft?”

“Next week. We need time for the smell of paint to fade.”

“I can’t believe it’s the middle of May already.” It felt strange to think of them living there. “Will you be okay, Mom?”

“Yes. I have my final book group at The Captain’s House the night before we move out. After that, someone else will have to host it if the group is to continue.” Nancy stood up and walked to the window. “I’ve been in charge of canapés and conversation for far too long.” She gazed down into Jenna’s garden.

“You’re going to miss having Alice for a neighbor. She’s been such a great friend to you. Still, it’s not as if you’re leaving the island,” Jenna said. “It’s going to be a big change for you, Mom.”

Was this change going to be too much? Impossibly hard?

Nancy turned. “Sometimes change can be good. Out with the old and in with the new—that’s what I say.”

Jenna gaped at her. “You don’t say that at all! You always say, ‘Let’s store it for now. You never know when you might need it.’”

“I never liked throwing anything away, but it turns out I have a skill for it. I can be ruthless when I need to be.”

Jenna exchanged looks with Lauren. “I think I might have banged my head harder than I first thought. I could have sworn I heard Mom say she likes throwing things away.”

Lauren stretched her legs out and lay back next to Jenna. “I suspect she might have banged her head and none of us noticed. I don’t want to panic you, but she also took the entire contents of Dad’s hobby room to the Goodwill store.”

Jenna wanted to cheer.

Instead she glanced at Greg. “Honey, could you please explain to us less qualified mortals what is happening to my mother?”

“No idea. I’ve given up presenting myself an expert on emotions. And if you’re going to be planning spa days, I’m going to need more coffee.” He kissed Jenna and walked to the kitchen.

Jenna watched him go. Then she caught her mother’s eye. She thought about that conversation in the hospital, and how her mother had listened. “Before you say anything, I know I’m lucky to have him.”

“I was going to say that he’s lucky to have you,” Nancy said. “Now, about this spa day. What exactly do they do during a facial? It isn’t Botox, is it? I don’t think I’d like Botox. I want my face to move.”

31

Nancy

Confide: to disclose secret or personal matters

in confidence

The night before she moved out of The Captain’s House, Nancy held her last meeting of the book group.

Whether or not it continued would be up to other people, she thought, as she set up in the garden room. She always loved the garden in May, and this room offered the best view.

From next week the house would be the summer retreat for the Brown family who lived in Manhattan on the Upper East Side. They’d taken it for the whole summer, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, at a cost

that had made Nancy gasp aloud. She never would have believed it had the money not already been in her account.

Lauren had handled the negotiation. If it had been up to Nancy she would have asked a lower price, but Lauren had studied the market carefully.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” Jenna had said when Nancy had mentioned Lauren’s sales skills. “You should have seen how persuasive she was whenever she wanted me to do something we weren’t supposed to do.”

So the deal was done, and this would be her last night in the house until the winter.

Nancy poked at her emotions carefully, searching for tender places. Sadness? No. She felt nothing. No regret. No guilt for letting her ancestors down.

Instead she felt pride at what they’d achieved, and not only because they’d done it on a shoestring budget. What really made her proud was the teamwork. They’d combined their skills. Who would have thought that at her age she’d be going into business with her daughter? That was something she hadn’t anticipated.