Family Reunion Page 6

  A man was standing by the windows. He turned to greet them all. “You’re here at last!”

  Ari saw her mother’s shoulders tense up.

  “Hi, Uncle Cliff,” Ari called, and walked the length of the room to kiss his cheek. He was square-jawed and ruggedly handsome, with his thick dark hair and muscular frame. He played squash, indoor tennis, and basketball all winter when he wasn’t down in Florida boating and swimming. He had a smooth tan and a flashing white smile. Ari was sure he’d had his teeth professionally whitened.

  Uncle Cliff gave Ari a one-armed hug. He strode across the room to kiss his sister on the cheek, and whispered something in her ear. Alicia gave her brother a grateful smile, and Ari knew at once that Uncle Cliff had not yet revealed the offer for the house.

  So for a while, they could all be in a good mood.

  Maybe not for long, though.

  “I’ll bring in our luggage,” Ari’s father said. “Hello, Cliff. Good to see you.”

  Uncle Cliff shook hands with Ari’s father. “Good to see you. I’ll help with the luggage.” As he picked up his sister’s Louis Vuitton suitcase, he pretended he could scarcely get it off the ground. He said, “I see you’re traveling light, as always.”

  Ari’s mother retorted, “I never know what the weather will be on this island.”

  Ari’s father snorted out an ironic noise. Cliff grinned.

  Eleanor moved into the group. “Come sit down on the patio. It’s still slightly cool, but I’ve made coffee. You all know where the Scotch and vodka are.”

  Ari’s father and Uncle Cliff bumped into the house with the luggage. The family bustled about, wandering off to use the bathroom, pouring coffee or drinks. Alicia returning to the living room to lift a cashmere throw from the sofa and wrap it around her shoulders. “Still a bit cold,” she said with a smile to the others. Finally, they were all seated on the white wicker furniture around the patio table.

  “It’s gorgeous here, Gram,” Ari said. “Today the ocean is almost a mirror.”

  “So your crossing was good, then?” Eleanor asked.

  “A bit bumpy,” Alicia said. She was leaning forward, pouring just a smidgen of milk into her coffee. “Really, I don’t know how you tolerate it, the entire trouble of getting to Nantucket. Being at the boat early or missing it, dealing with the racket of other people’s dogs and screaming babies and teenage boys with their donkey laughter.”

  To Ari’s surprise, Eleanor didn’t answer right away. She stirred her own cup of coffee, staring out at the ocean, thinking.

  “You know what,” Eleanor said abruptly, but calmly, “let’s get right to the point of this visit, okay?”

  Ari’s mother drew back, as if insulted. “Mother, it’s your birthday party. You invited us. Oh, dear, have you forgotten you invited us?” She put her hand to her throat, shocked, worried. Pretending.

  Ari looked down at her hands. Her mother and grandmother often participated in these squabbles. It didn’t disconcert Ari. She had plenty of similar squabbles with her mother, and had decided it was a mother-daughter tendency. When the silence continued, Ari glared at Uncle Cliff. It was so like him to hang back during difficult moments, even if he was the cause. Ari had heard her mother and uncle arguing about their mother.

  “Mother loves you more than she loves me,” Alicia had complained, “but I’m the one who has given her a grandchild! I’m the one who visits the most often, so that Mother knows she’s not alone in the world.”

  “Mothers always love their sons more than their daughters,” Uncle Cliff had answered lightly. “It’s a male-female thing. In the genes.”

  Now Eleanor replied, her voice gentle, “Of course I haven’t forgotten, darling. I’m not quite senile yet. I’ve made reservations for us tonight at Le Languedoc.” She sipped her coffee. “But I’m guessing there’s another reason for the visit. It’s seldom I get to have all of you at once.”

  Ari glared at her uncle, mentally urging him to speak up. Not speaking up was a kind of lie, Ari thought.

  After a few more moments of uncomfortable silence, Ari said, “Gram, I apologize, but there is another reason we’re all here. I think Uncle Cliff should be the one to tell you because he’s the one who knows the most about it.”

  Alicia sent Ari a quick smile of gratitude.

  Cliff shifted uncomfortably in his chair, gathering himself like a peacock getting ready to display his tail feathers. “Mom, of course we’re all here to celebrate your birthday. It just so happens that something has presented itself at the same time. Almost the same time.”

  “Go on.” Eleanor tilted her head slightly, encouragingly.

  Cliff cleared his throat. “I ran into an old college friend, Muriel Wheeler, who is vice president of the Gold Sand Resort Company. They’re looking to expand their base. They’d like to buy this house and the surrounding land, and Muriel told me they’re willing to pay fifteen million dollars.”

  Ari watched her grandmother. Eleanor’s expression didn’t change, but the light went out of her eyes.

  “My,” Eleanor said. “That is a lot of money.”

  Emboldened by her mother’s calm, Alicia leaned forward. “It is, isn’t it? Mother, if we split it three ways, that would be five million dollars for each of us. Oh, of course we would use our share to fund Ari’s graduate school tuition.” When her mother didn’t respond, she added, “Or, we could split it four ways, and Ari could have an equal share. We would still come out with almost four million dollars each.”

  “Yes,” Eleanor softly agreed. “But you wouldn’t have this house. This water view.”

  “It’s a gorgeous view, Mother,” Alicia said. “But frankly, the house…needs work. It must be difficult to keep it up, especially at your age. Phillip and I have been talking, and we worry about you, Mother. Out here on the bluff alone in the winter. And going up and down the stairs—you could fall. Or if you, heaven forbid, had a heart attack, it would take so long for the ambulance to get here, and the Nantucket Cottage Hospital doesn’t have facilities for serious heart events. You would have to be medevaced by helicopter to Mass General in Boston. That would be terrifying!”

  Eleanor smiled. “You are kind to think of my health.”

  Ari spotted the flash of anger in her grandmother’s eyes. Oh, Mom, shut up, she thought.

  “Yes, we do think of your health. We do worry about you. That’s why”—Alicia rustled around in her purse and brought out several glossy brochures—“Cliff and I, and also Phillip, have visited several retirement communities on the mainland near us. There are some darling cottages! The community would take care of the outside, the roof and painting, but you could have the inside exactly as you want. You would have your own kitchen but you could go to the communal dining room to meet friends for meals, or you could have your meals brought to you. I would like that myself!” Alicia laughed. “Here, Mother, take a look.” Alicia tried to hand the brochures to Eleanor.

  Eleanor did not reach out to take them. “Actually, I am very happy here. I’m not afraid of falling, and I think I possess the most beautiful view in the world.”

  Ari knew what was coming. The more her grandmother remained cool, the more heated her mother became.

  With a shaking hand, Alicia laid the brochures on the table. “If you won’t think of yourself, think of us.”

  “Go on,” Eleanor said quietly.

  “First of all,” Alicia said, “we do love you and we are aware that you are entering a more…difficult stage of life. You and I have talked on the phone about the people we know who’ve recently gone in for hip replacements or even open-heart surgery. It’s a fact of life that people sixty-five and older are prone to accidents, falling down the stairs, loss of stability, not to mention becoming forgetful and setting the house on fire.”

  Eleanor raised her eyebrows. “You’ve been reading some extremely depressing literature.”

  Alicia soldiered on. “Also, you know that I’m getting older. I want to enjoy life while I can.”

  “Which means buying a ten-thousand-dollar purse.”

  Alicia held her head high. “Well, yes. And taking cruises…Phillip and I have been longing to go on some cruises. I’ve never really seen the world…and Phillip has been working so hard. I want so much to help him escape his work and relax.”

  “What is it with these cruises?” Eleanor asked.

  Alicia jumped right on that. “Mother, you should go with us! In a separate stateroom, of course. Ari could come, too. Why, just think, all of us together, maybe on the Queen Mary 2. I’ve heard women need to wear gowns for the balls and the men wear tuxes! We could go to the Mediterranean. To Norway! To Hawaii! Where have you always wanted to go?”

  “Darling, I’ve always wanted to stay right here,” Eleanor said.

  “How would you do that?” Uncle Cliff asked sternly. He moved to sit on the edge of the wicker settee so that he could be next to his mother and also on a higher level. “This house is falling apart. Mom, be reasonable. The plumbing has to be replaced. The wooden steps to the beach are in bad shape. If a step broke and someone fell, you could have a lawsuit on your hands. Your furnace is a hundred years old.”

  “Not quite a hundred,” Eleanor murmured.

  Cliff said smoothly, “You’re out here alone all winter. No one else lives on the bluff or nearby. Frankly, Mom, never mind that this house is a wreck, I’d think you’d be bored silly out here by yourself. If that’s not the way to become an eccentric old bat shuffling around in five sweaters over a bathrobe, I don’t know what is.”

  Ari was weak with relief when her grandmother burst out laughing.

  “What an elegant image you have of me!”

  Alicia said in her most soothing voice, “Of course that’s not how we envision you. You are much too classy for that. But really, how can you afford to keep this place heated in the winter? We know how the wind batters the house.”

  Eleanor closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair.

  “Enough, children. I’m going to shuffle off to my room now. My poor weak mind needs to rest. Our dinner reservation is for eight. I’ll see you around seven forty-five. It’s only a short drive.”

  Ari watched her mother shoot Uncle Cliff a worried look. Eleanor never shuffled and her mind was far from weak, so she was being sarcastic, and when she was sarcastic, hot anger was never far away.

  Uncle Cliff offered his hand. “Let me help you up.”

  “Oh, Cliff, for God’s sake,” Eleanor snapped, and slapped his hand away, rising in one smooth, graceful movement.

  The family sat in uncomfortable silence as Eleanor made her way into the house. Uncle Cliff started to get up and open the door for his mother, but obviously thought again and stayed put.

  When Eleanor was out of earshot, Alicia murmured, “That went well.”

  Uncle Cliff said, “That’s the way it would always have gone. Mom would never have jumped for joy at the proposal. Let’s give her some time to process the idea.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Alicia agreed.

  Ari stood up. “I’m going to my room to start unpacking.”

  “Oh, that’s right!” Alicia rose and took Ari in her arms. “Ari, you are our secret weapon. You can work on her this summer in your own adorable way to convince her to take this offer.”

  “Don’t put me in this position, Mom,” Ari said.

  Her mother smiled her most angelic smile. “Darling, you were born in this position.”

  That night at Le Languedoc at the birthday dinner for Eleanor, the family was slightly subdued. Stiffly polite. No one wanted to bring up the Gold Sand Resort offer for Eleanor’s house, but of course it was all anyone could think about. Ari tried to keep a conversation going.

  “Dad, tell me how many operations you did last week. And what kind? And how long did they take?”

  Her father looked astonished at her question. Usually no one paid much attention to him. He glanced over at his wife.

  “Oh,” Alicia had said, “we don’t want to talk about all that medical stuff while we’re eating.”

  “I’d love to know,” Eleanor had said, leaning forward eagerly. “Phillip, you perform so many miracles with your skills and you never talk about it.”

  Ari’s father brightened. “Well, Eleanor, it is rather exciting. Over the years, we’ve advanced so much in surgical techniques. We now have minimally invasive surgery, with computer-assisted spinal navigation. We can travel in and out of the spine on a computer—”

  “Really, Phillip,” Alicia said. “This is a bit too much information. Mommy, you can talk privately with Phillip if you’re really interested.” She aimed her lovely blue eyes at Ari. “And you! You’re now a college graduate. The world is yours. What are your plans?”

  For just a moment, Ari had almost reverted to the monster child that lived within her, who would have said, I’ve only told you a million times and you’ve only said you wished I would do something classier. Instead, Ari smiled. “I’m going to work here all summer and pile up money for living expenses when I go to grad school to study early childhood education.”

  Alicia returned the smile. “I do hope your father and I can come up with the money for tuition. We’re fairly wiped out after paying for four years of college.”

  Fortunately, the waiter arrived to set their entrees in front of them, and Ari became fascinated with her salmon en croûte.

  The delicious food and wine helped lull the family into a semblance of tolerance. When the waiter brought out the birthday cake with eight large candles—one to grow on—that Uncle Cliff had called in and ordered, a kind of magic happened at their table. Eleanor blew the candles out in one powerful breath, and everyone clapped, including all the other diners, which especially delighted Ari’s mother, who nodded at them all with aristocratic pleasure. Uncle Cliff had also ordered a bottle of Dom Pérignon that was the perfect accompaniment for the chocolate truffle cake.

  “I feel as if I’ve been drugged,” Eleanor said when she set down her fork and patted her mouth with her napkin.

  “I feel like I’ve gained ten pounds,” Alicia said.

  “Mom, you’re beautiful,” Ari said, squeezing her mother’s hand. At that moment, full of good food and wine, everyone seemed beautiful.

  Eventually, Uncle Cliff, in his artful way that assured that everyone saw what he was doing, gave the waiter his credit card and then signed the check. They all rose, still feeling rather glowy with each other, and went down the stairs, out onto the street, and into their two cars. Eleanor had ridden in with Ari, but whispered to her, “I’ll ride home with your parents and Cliff. We’re all too cheerful to fight now.”

  When they arrived back at Eleanor’s house, Uncle Cliff suggested a nightcap, but it had been a long day, and everyone wanted only to sleep.

  Five

  When Ari woke, the room was full of light. Had she overslept? She glanced at the clock. Five after seven. Good. Now she could hear movements in the hall and the light murmur of voices. She sighed, wondering how this day would go. She rose, showered and dressed, and joined the rest of her family, who were in the kitchen drinking coffee.

  “Good morning, everyone,” Ari said, going to the coffee machine. She kissed each member of her family on the cheek before pulling out a chair and sitting at the kitchen table.

  “Don’t get too comfortable,” Uncle Cliff said, with a wicked grin. “It’s First Saturday.”

  Years ago, when Ari was just a child, Eleanor had decreed that the first weekend the family was together on the island, they would breakfast at the Downyflake, where they enjoyed sinfully hearty breakfasts of bacon, eggs, pancakes, and hash browns. After that, they went as a family to one of the island’s museums—the Whaling Museum, the Maria Mitchell Aquarium, the Museum of African American History, the Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum, the Lightship Basket Museum, or one of the many historic homes. Ari’s grandfather had been keen on history. He always knelt down to Ari’s level to point out the seahorses or a ship made from shells. Ari’s father and her uncle Cliff were good-natured about it, because, after all, as Eleanor always said, they shouldn’t be like New Yorkers who never went to the Empire State Building. It was only Ari’s mother who sighed and pointedly stared at her watch. Alicia would always rather have been shopping.

  This year, everyone wanted to keep Eleanor happy, so they piled into two cars and headed off for breakfast. Eleanor drove her ancient Range Rover because, she said, it held a lot of people, but really, Alicia muttered, it was because she liked to be in control. Ari’s father, Phillip, happily rode with Eleanor.

  Cliff asked Alicia to ride with him and she agreed, because she liked having time alone with him. Alicia was seven years older than her brother, and when she was in her teens, Cliff had played endless practical jokes on her. Putting sand in her bed and hanging her underwear out the window had been the least of it. Now they were both adults, but Alicia had been jealous of him when he was the darling little boy and she was jealous of him now because he was so wealthy and wouldn’t tell her the truth about how much money he had.

  Ari drove her Subaru, because she wanted to stay in town and look for jobs, and finally, after sorting out their rides and going back into the house for a cellphone or a shopping list, they were on their way from ’Sconset into town.

  The Downyflake was a Nantucket institution, and Ari always experienced a jolt of pride when the year-rounders called out greetings to them from their tables. Because Eleanor had taken up permanent residence in the bluff house, she was no longer a “summer person.” She’d moved up a rank, into a “washed-ashore.” As a teenager, Cliff had hung out with some of the year-round guys and now the president of the bank and the foreman of a huge construction site waved at Cliff. The family sat at the round table to enjoy sausages, eggs, bacon, and, for dessert, a Downyflake doughnut.