A Nantucket Wedding Read online

  In January, David asked Alison to marry him and live with him in Boston and wherever else he was. And really, since they were together every morning and night and weekend, it was silly for Alison to retain a house that she scarcely even saw. Alison had sold the home she’d lived in for years, with Mark and the girls, and then with Mark when the girls grew up and got married, and finally, alone, in the years after Mark died. She put some family furniture and china into storage and placed the money from the sale of the house into money market accounts and wrote a will dividing all her assets between her two daughters in the event of her death. She was surprised at how free she felt when she said goodbye to the house. It had become for her a place of mourning and loneliness. She happily moved into David’s large apartment on Marlborough Street in Boston, and now here she was, hostess and chatelaine of his gorgeous Nantucket summer house and about to marry David in the most fabulous party of her life.

  Today, Alison reminded herself, she had her daughters with her for the weekend in David’s beach house. She wanted to savor each moment.

  “MOM!” Felicity burst into the kitchen. “This house!”

  Jane followed more quietly. “It’s stunning, Mom.”

  “I know,” Alison agreed. “Let’s go out on the deck so you can enjoy the view.”

  They sat at the round wooden table on wooden chairs softened by cushions—another David touch, this comfort. Steps led down the deck to the tangled mass of wild beach roses and razor-edged beach grass. A well-trodden sandy path wound through the shrubbery down to the golden beach and the deep blue ocean, today rolling calmly toward shore.

  “This is heaven,” Felicity cooed, resting her feet on another chair and pulling her skirt up to her hips to allow the sun to tan her legs. “Are you so thrilled, Mom?”

  “I’m thrilled to be with David. The beach house is wonderful, but it’s David who makes me happy.”

  Felicity eyed Jane. “You look fabulous, Jane. How are you?”

  “I’m good. Scott’s good. And you look great, too, Filly.”

  “I do?” Felicity glowed at her sister’s compliment. “I don’t feel like I look great. I’m so exhausted from the children, I never get enough sleep, I haven’t lost my baby weight, and my breasts are all saggy from nursing.”

  Alison laughed. “Oh, darling! You look beautiful.”

  “So, Mom,” Jane said, “when do we get to hear about your plans for the wedding?”

  “After dinner. I’ve got quite a special show organized.” She wanted her daughters to have some time alone together to talk, so she said, “But first, I need to go buy a few groceries. I thought you two might like to take a long walk on the beach.”

  Jane looked at her watch. “Sure, yes, if we have time.”

  “We’ve got all the time in the world. David is in Boston, so it’s just the three of us, and I’ve already made an enormous salad and I thought I’d grill some salmon—”

  “Oh, Mom? Um…” Felicity blushed. “Instead of salmon, could we have, maybe, steak?”

  “But, Filly,” Jane said, “you’re a vegetarian!”

  Felicity was bright red. “Actually, it’s Noah who’s the vegetarian. He doesn’t want me to cook beef or pork or lamb in our kitchen. And of course, he’s absolutely right, we do need to think of the animals. But sometimes…”

  “I’ll go to Annye’s,” Alison suggested. “Their meat is from cattle that drink champagne while they lie there listening to the Pachelbel’s Canon. They never know a thing.”

  “Oh, Mom! You act as if I’m demented! And I’m not,” Felicity protested. “It’s just that—only for the time I’m here—I’d really enjoy eating some meat.”

  Alison kissed the top of her daughter’s head. “Good. I’m off. You girls have a walk on the beach.” She rose, biting back a laugh. “And I’ll pick up some bacon for breakfast tomorrow.”

  two

  After Alison left, an awkward silence fell between Jane and Felicity. Jane looked at her watch. “I suppose it’s too early for a drink.”

  “It absolutely is! We’re going for that walk on the beach first. And I want to hear all about you and Scott and the glamorous life you’re leading, and you can hear all about my children.” Felicity pushed her chair away from the table and stood. She held out her hand. “Come on, Sis, let’s get our feet in the sand.”

  They went, single file, down the wooden steps to the yard and along the path between the wild, fragrant beach roses. Jane had changed into flip-flops, which she kicked off and positioned next to Felicity’s Birkenstocks, and together they stepped onto the cool sand. The ocean was lazy today, rolling up to the beach with a sigh.

  “What a spectacular view,” Jane said.

  “Lucky Mom,” Felicity replied, immediately adding, “and David’s lucky, too, to be loved by her.”

  Jane tilted her head and scrutinized her sister. “Am I crazy or do you look sad?” Immediately, she worried that she’d been intrusive. She couldn’t remember one single time when she and Felicity had talked intimately. As they grew up, Jane had called Felicity a lightweight, and Felicity had called Jane a drudge. Jane knew that underneath her disdain for Felicity’s silliness bubbled a thick layer of jealousy. Felicity was so pretty. The world was so easy for her! She didn’t make the grades Jane did, but lucky Filly, she didn’t care about grades. Now, after over a decade of living apart, she and Felicity hadn’t kept in touch. They saw each other at Christmas or Thanksgiving or when they got together for their mother’s birthday. Recently they’d begun to text about their mother’s wedding and this visit to Nantucket. But maybe Jane had gone too close too fast. Jane began, “I don’t mean—”

  “No, it’s fine. I’d like to talk. I need to talk. I don’t think I’m sad, exactly,” Felicity said. “Maybe only tired. Come on, let’s walk.” For years Felicity had considered Jane a coldhearted intellectual snob, but she had always valued Jane’s advice. Jane was so much more shrewd and judicious than Felicity.

  They headed west, stepping into the cold breakers, shrieking as the waves splashed their ankles.

  “It’s just hard,” Felicity admitted. “I love my children, and I want more children, and I do love Noah, but he’s always working and when he is home, he’s tense and frantic about some problem at work, and really all he does is zombie-out in front of the television. We haven’t had any time together, just the two of us, for months.” She shot a warning glance at Jane. “This doesn’t mean you can be critical of him.”

  Jane nodded. “Understood. And if it’s any comfort, that’s a lot like Scott and I are on weeknights. Work can be exhausting.”

  “Being a mother is exhausting, too!” All their lives Felicity had lived in the shade of her sister’s brilliance. Jane was a lawyer. Felicity was just a mother. Felicity wanted to say, You’re too coldhearted to understand what being a mother means. She forced herself to swallow her words. She wasn’t going to ruin this weekend for her mother with arguments and insults.

  Jane took a deep yoga breath. Felicity was always dramatic when she thought she’d been insulted. She’d toss her head and stride from the room, slamming the door behind her. Calm, rational Jane had always felt superior to Felicity when it involved an argument.

  Jane slung a friendly arm over Felicity’s shoulders. “I’m not saying it’s not. Just being an adult can be draining. I’m on your side, Filly, don’t misinterpret everything I say. I meant that most evenings Scott and I collapse in front of the television, too, and I’ll bet we eat takeout most evenings.”

  “Noah wouldn’t stand for that. He doesn’t even like delivery pizza.”

  “Wow.” Jane studied her angelically beautiful baby sister, the princess of everything always, and experienced an odd sensation: she wanted to make Felicity feel better. She lowered her voice and confided, “If you want to talk about sex, let me tell you, the passion has certainly faded b
etween Scott and me. I don’t mean we don’t love each other, but we’ve been married for seven years now, and sometimes on Sunday mornings we make love, but to tell the truth, I’d rather sleep late.”

  Felicity bent to pick up an angel-wing shell. “I know.” She took a moment to inspect her find and gather her thoughts. “I do know. Noah and I were wild for each other when we first met—well, that’s why we had to get married so quickly. I got pregnant almost right away, before we’d even had time to get to know each other. But we were in love.”

  “Were?” Jane asked.

  “Are. We still are. And I read books, Janey, I talk to friends, I know that the years when you have babies are hard on a relationship, and if you add the stress Noah’s under with his company…”

  “So you still love Noah.”

  “Of course! I’ll always love him. And I respect what he’s trying to do. His work is enormously important. I know that, and I support him in all the ways I can. And we do have sex, and it’s lovely. Just not like it was when we met.”

  “Well,” Jane mused philosophically, “nothing lasts forever. Everything changes. So you don’t have crazy monkey sex but you have two beautiful children.”

  Felicity smiled. “You’re right, Janey.” She gave her sister a spontaneous sideways hug. “And what about you?”

  “What do you mean?” Jane bent to pick up a small rock and toss it into the ocean.

  “You know what I mean. Do you still think you won’t have any children?”

  Jane tensed. She wanted to talk about this with someone, but it was hard to say the words. Jane had always been the straight-A, smart, achieving older sister. Felicity had always been the beauty. If Jane confessed her problem, she would seem less than perfect. Plus, she wasn’t completely sure Felicity could keep a secret. And yet, something about the high blue sky and vast azure water opened her heart. Right now, here, with the sunlight all around her, she could trust. She would trust.

  “Sometimes, Filly, I do wish I had a child—”

  Felicity shrieked. “Oh my God!”

  “Settle down. You’re overreacting. I only said sometimes.”

  “But this is HUGE!”

  “I know. But I only started thinking about it…” That was a white lie. She’d been thinking about it constantly for months.

  “What does Scott think?”

  “He says no. Absolutely not.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know. I shouldn’t have brought it up. I’m not totally there yet. I might change my mind.”

  “Oh, Jane, it would be so wonderful—”

  “Really. I don’t want to talk about it. Not another word.”

  Felicity clamped her hands over her mouth and staggered in and out of the waves, pretending to struggle to keep from talking.

  “You goofball.” Jane linked arms with her sister and turned her around. “Let’s go back to the house. I could use some sunblock.”

  “Me, too. I’d forgotten how bright the sun is near the water.”

  For a while they walked in a companionable silence, the sand warm beneath their bare feet, the waves whispering as they reached the shore.

  “This is nice,” Felicity said. “Being with you. Here.” She yawned a huge jaw-cracking yawn. “I could lie down right on the sand and fall asleep.”

  “You should take a nap when we get back to the house,” Jane suggested.

  “A nap! In the middle of the day! That would be the height of luxury.” Felicity laughed. “To tell the truth, having a nice long nap right now, without anyone wailing for me or crawling into bed and kicking my stomach—”

  “Noah kicks you in the stomach?” Jane asked jokingly.

  “No, silly! I meant Luke. He doesn’t mean to kick me, but he’s only five, he’s trying to snuggle. Oh, and I do love my snuggle bunnies. Sometimes they climb in bed with me and the three of us cuddle like bears in a cave.”

  “Where’s Noah?”

  “Oh, he gets up early. He works even on Saturdays. I wish he wouldn’t but I know how much he wants his company to be a success.” Sounding wistful, Felicity added, “He does cuddle with us on Sundays. Or, I should say, the kids cuddle with him. They’re always so excited to have time with him, they just adore Noah, and they’re both fascinated by his bristly morning beard. Luke will touch it and cry, ‘Ow!’ and they all laugh like crazy.”

  “That sounds wonderful.” Jane dropped her sister’s arm and began the single-file trek back through the low shrubbery up to the house.

  In the kitchen, Jane filled a glass with artesian water from a bottle. Felicity, who thought such luxuries were wasteful, filled her glass from the tap at the sink.

  Footsteps came from the hall.

  “Mom?” Felicity called.

  “Probably not,” someone said, and then a tall and inordinately handsome man walked into the room.

  Both sisters gawked. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a look of easy strength. Blond-haired, blue-eyed, he had a smile that would charm the birds off the trees. He wore jeans and a navy-blue and white striped rugby shirt and carried a duffel bag.

  “You must be Jane and Felicity. I’m Ethan Gladstone, David’s son.”

  “Golly,” Felicity blurted. “You’re handsome! And I can say that because I’m an old married woman.”

  Jane shot her a wry glance, knowing that Felicity expected Ethan Gladstone to reply that she didn’t look old enough to be married. If a male was around, Felicity flirted.

  Jane stepped forward, holding out her hand. “Hi, Ethan. I’m Jane, and my old married sister here is Felicity.”

  Ethan shook her hand.

  Lightning streaked up Jane’s arm, sparking through her torso.

  What was that? Surprised and embarrassed—of course no one could see what she felt, but her body had just gone radioactive—Jane pulled her hand away, saying defensively, “And I’m an old married woman, too.”

  Ethan’s mouth quirked in a sideways smile. “Ah, too bad. Because I’m a free man.”

  Behind Jane, Felicity sighed. “Of course you are,” she said.

  “Does Alison know you’re here?” Jane asked. She couldn’t help herself, she was speaking in her lawyer voice, her instinctive protection against all sorts of weaknesses. She tried to tone it down a notch. “I mean, I don’t think David will be down for the weekend.”

  “I know. I didn’t plan to come, but a friend called. He’s putting his boat in the water and wants me to help. So here I am, and don’t worry, I won’t be in your way. I’ll sleep here, but the only sustenance I’ll ask for is a cup of coffee in the morning, and I know Alison makes great coffee.”

  “Um, is one of the bedrooms yours?” Felicity asked.

  Bed, Jane thought. Ethan in a bed. She knew her face was now fire-engine crimson.

  “Not really. We all just pile in wherever we can. You two should take the rooms with the water view. I’ve seen it plenty of times.”

  “Oh, that’s so nice of you,” Felicity gushed.

  Ethan tossed Felicity a careless smile and turned to leave the room. “I’ll put my bag in one of the bedrooms, and then I’m off for the day and most of the evening. See you all later.” He shot a glance at Jane and did not smile. Instead, he looked curious, questioning. Then he shook his head and left the room.

  The sisters heard him whistling as he went up the stairs two at a time.

  “Good grief,” Felicity whispered.

  “You’re married,” Jane reminded her sister.

  “And so are you!” Felicity shot back.

  “We can’t just stand here drooling.”

  “I know, but seriously, wow.”

  Jane tried to collect her thoughts. “You’re going to take a nap, right?”

  “I don’t know,” Felicity said, hugging hersel
f. “I don’t think I could sleep now with him here. In a bedroom. Near my bedroom.”

  “Well, we’ve got to do something,” Jane insisted in a whisper. “What would we be doing if he hadn’t arrived?”

  “Arguing, of course,” Felicity teased with a grin.

  “Oh, ha-ha.” Jane’s emotions were all over the place.

  The front door slammed. Alison called, “Darlings! Come help carry in the groceries.” When her girls appeared in the front hall, she told them, “More groceries in the car, Felicity. Steak and bacon. Here, Jane, take this, it’s a heavy bag.”

  “Ethan’s here,” Felicity said.

  “Oh, good. He’s lovely. Is he staying for dinner?”

  “I don’t think so,” Jane answered, lifting the bag from her mother’s arms. “This is heavy. What did you buy?”

  “A little of everything. It’s such a luxury to have both of you here with me, and I want this weekend to be something special.”

  “I think I’ve just had a special moment,” Jane murmured.

  “I think I had the same one,” Felicity said, grinning.

  “They say it’s always better at the beach.” Jane nudged her sister.

  As her daughters unpacked the groceries, Alison set the steak in a long glass dish to marinate in olive oil and crushed garlic and red wine. Hearing her girls laughing with each other filled her heart. Alison could relax. Jane and Felicity were adults. They had husbands, families, work, their very own lives. It would be brilliant and not so impossible if they got along this weekend. Alison wanted to tell them all about David’s plan for an amazingly romantic wedding, and David’s children and grandchildren, and how much she was hoping they could all be, just for a while, one big happy family, like all the families on Christmas cards.

  Had they ever been one big happy family? Yes, Alison thought, they had. She knew that no one was happy all the time, and it would be unreasonable for her to expect her daughters to be without their own worries and fears, but her daughters were so different in every way—what they liked to eat, how they dressed, what they read, how they played—it had been impossible to please them both at once. Still, the years of her marriage to Mark, Felicity’s father, had been golden for them all.