Kailee made herself a cup of coffee and took it out to the garden. In the early morning, the day was fresh, sweet, renewed. The flower beds had been neatly edged by her mother’s gardener, and green shoots carried swelling buds. The new dawn rose climbed the trellis, pale pink petals swelling within their green shells.

  “She’ll be back soon,” Kailee told the garden. She spoke aloud, as if the garden were capable of hearing, and maybe it was. In any case, she thought it was what her mother would want her to do. She’d overheard her mother talking to her plants often.

  “It was only a mild heart attack,” Kailee continued. “Evelyn had pains in her chest, and she couldn’t get her breath, and she was nauseous. Dad drove her to the hospital. They gave her an EKG, and some blood thinners and anti-inflammatories. When I got to her, she was sitting up in bed with wires attached to her chest, covered by a hospital gown and sheets. She was indignant about having to wear the gown.”

  A catbird flashed across the yard, perching on a holly tree near the house. Kailee’s mother believed the catbird knew her and chatted with her when she sat on the patio or worked in the garden.

  “I’m supposed to check Mom’s calendar and take care of whatever she’d planned for today.”

  The catbird twittered.

  Kailee looked at it. “I know I can’t replace Evelyn. I’m not intending to do that. I can’t replace my mother.”

  The catbird flew away. Kailee bent over, covered her face with her hands, and cried.

  It had been frightening to see her uber-capable mother shrunk down into a slender body in a room full of machines and instruments. Evelyn’s lipstick and other makeup had faded, and her hair was disheveled.

  “Evelyn’s hair was a bird’s nest.” Trying to be cheerful, Kailee called out to the birds in the garden. “That’s cool with you guys, right?”

  And now, here Kailee was, with an empty coffee cup, abandoned by the catbird.

  In the conservatory, Kailee approached her mother’s desk with trepidation. Her mother would hate anyone messing with her correspondence, but Kailee had to do it, and she realized with a shiver down her back that her mother might not be able to work full force again this summer. She sat in her mother’s executive chair, opened her computer, and began making notes in her phone about what she had to do.

  Evelyn was president of the Essex Nature Foundation, secretary of a conservation foundation, treasurer of a historic organization, and vice president of Save the Water committee. She was on the board of A Safe Place, Nantucket Food, Fuel, and Rental Assistance, the Nantucket Atheneum, and the Nantucket Historical Association. Kailee brought up her mother’s calendar for the entire summer. Not one day was clear and free of commitments.

  “Mom, this is crazy,” Kailee said aloud.

  She spent an hour studying her mother’s messages and emails. She made another cup of coffee and drank it with one hand while moving the mouse with the other.

  “Look at me,” Kailee said aloud to herself. “Multitasking.”

  At noon, she called her father.

  “Do you have a moment, Dad?” she asked.

  “I answered the phone,” he replied.

  “Okay, listen. Mom has too many things going on. She’d have to be mainlining Red Bull to get them all accomplished. Even with me helping, she can’t possibly do them all. I think she has to resign from some of her boards or give up the idea of the Essex Nature Foundation for this year.”

  “Dr. Landers is meeting us at two this afternoon, in Evelyn’s room,” her father said. “Let’s run this past her with the doctor present.”

  “Okay,” Kailee said. “I’ll be there.”

  “One thing, Kailee,” her father said. He paused. “Look. Your mother is very sensitive about the criticism our company is getting from everyone about the kind of construction we’re doing. See if there are other things she could drop. She has to keep ENF.”

  “But if we drop the other committees—” Kailee began.

  “I know, I know. It’s a problem. But we’ve got to take care of your mother. Let’s see what Landers says this afternoon.”

  * * *

  —

  At five minutes until two o’clock, Kailee entered her mother’s hospital room. Her father was already there, arms folded, leaning against the wall rather than sitting next to his wife, holding her hand. Kailee knew at once they’d been arguing.

  “Hi, Mom! I brought you some flowers!” Kailee held out a vase filled with pink peonies in lush full bloom.

  “Did you pick those from my garden?” Evelyn asked.

  “I did. And there are plenty left, I promise.” Oh, dear, Kailee thought, her mother was already in a bad mood. “I’ll just put the vase over here where you can see it, okay?”

  “Nothing is okay today,” Evelyn said.

  Kailee studied her mother. She was still in her hospital gown, with two IVs dripping into her arm. She had brushed her hair and dabbed on lipstick, but she was pale and seemed incredibly thin in that big bed.

  “Hello, everyone.” Sylvia Hall swept into the room. “Dr. Landers is on her way.”

  Kailee went over to stand near her father. Sylvia checked the IVs and pulled a rolling table with a computer on it to the side of Evelyn’s bed.

  “A little constipation going on?” Sylvia asked.

  Evelyn flushed. “Do we really have to discuss this now?”

  Before Sylvia could answer, Dr. Landers entered the room.

  “Good afternoon, Evelyn. Hello, Bob. Hello, Kailee.” She turned the computer toward her. “So, Evelyn, the EKG and ultrasound show that you had had a mild heart attack on Monday. That means the damage to your heart was minimal and not permanent. You’ve been given nitroglycerin and a blood thinner and an anti-inflammatory. Your pulse is steady and has been for two nights, but I’m not happy about your blood pressure. I see on your chart and from talking with your PCP that you do not take any blood pressure medication. Correct?”

  “Right.” Evelyn stared at the doctor, listening carefully.

  “On your chart, it indicates that you often have high blood pressure.”

  “I’m a busy person,” Evelyn said haughtily. “I often need to work under stress.”

  “Yes, well, you’re going to have to stop doing that for a while.”

  “Oh, I don’t think that’s—”

  Dr. Landers interrupted as if Evelyn hadn’t spoken. “Do you smoke?”

  “No. You should know that. I filled out a questionnaire.”

  “Do you exercise regularly?”

  “I don’t work out, but I’m not lying around eating chocolates.” Evelyn almost spat out the words.

  “You need to add aerobic exercise to your daily life, even if it means cutting out other activities.”

  “Activities?” Evelyn was incensed. “I don’t have activities. I—”

  “You need to take a thirty-minute walk at least three times a week. Or get an exercise bike or a treadmill.” Dr. Landers held up her hand in a stop signal. “I get it about your work, Evelyn. I know who you are. I’m aware of how many boards you’re on. And I’m telling you, you need to cut back. Hire an assistant. Block out some time in each day for exercise. You have to change your life.”

  “I’ll help her.” Kailee stepped forward. “My mother has asked me to help her with her committees this summer.”

  “That’s nice,” Dr. Landers said. “Maybe, for a few months, you can be completely in charge of the committees. Your mother needs to reduce her level of stress. Live a more balanced life.”

  Evelyn was breathing heavily. Kailee moved closer to her mother and held her hand. It was frightening to see her mother in such an emotional state. Evelyn didn’t take orders. She gave them.

  “Is that all?” Evelyn answered through gritted teeth.

  Dr. Landers studied Kailee’s mother for a long silent moment. “Evelyn, I don’t think you understand that you’re at risk. I think—”

  “I’m fine.” Evelyn shoved back her covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “I just need to get home.”

  Dr. Landers said, “Evelyn, look at the screen. Your blood pressure just rocketed up.” She moved closer. “Please calm yourself. Please get back in bed. Make yourself comfortable. I’m keeping you here for one more night.”

  To Kailee’s dismay, her mother raised her voice, nearly shouting, “This is not who I am! I do not stay in hospital beds!”

  Dr. Landers leaned toward Kailee’s mother. Kailee thought she was going to hug her, reassure her, tell her that everything would be all right.

  Instead, Dr. Landers picked up Evelyn’s hand and felt her pulse.

  A nurse entered the room. She conversed softly and quickly with Dr. Landers, left the room, and returned with a white paper cup in her hand.

  “Evelyn,” Dr. Landers said, “I want you to take these two pills. They are low doses of a beta-blocker, Tenormin, and a diuretic. I’m also giving you an anti-anxiety shot. You’re in danger of giving yourself another heart attack. It’s important that you calm yourself. You are safe, your husband and daughter are here with you. All you have to do is rest.”

  “Mommy,” Kailee said, “please get back in bed.”

  Evelyn grudgingly accepted the pills and drank them down with a sip of water. She slipped her legs back under the sheets and lay against the pillows. The nurse gave her a shot in her forearm and left the room.

  Evelyn began to cry, slowly, silently. “Bob,” she said to her husband, “I can’t stay here. It is very difficult for me to be in a strange bed, with other people telling me what to do.” She covered her face with her hands and whispered, “I’m afraid.”

  Bob bent over his wife, holding her hand and smiling at her. “You can do this for one more night, Evelyn. You’re a strong woman. Kailee can keep things on schedule. Think of it as, maybe, you’re a Rolls-Royce in the garage having your tires rotated. You’ll be back on the road soon.”

  Evelyn laughed and touched her husband’s face. “You’re such a smooth talker. I feel better already.”

  Kailee slipped out of the room, deeply moved by her parents’ connection. She missed Ross. She hoped they could have a marriage as loving as her parents’.

  * * *

  —

  One of the pleasures of having a dog, Heather decided, was having someone to talk to, someone who didn’t judge or get bored.

  “Can you believe this, Sugar?” Heather stepped out of the shower and took a towel from the rack. “I have a date tonight! Isn’t that weird and wonderful?”

  Sugar wagged her tail.

  “Miles is very handsome, Sugar. Quite posh. I wonder where we’ll go to dinner.”

  She picked up her hair dryer. Sugar ran from the room. She hated the noise.

  She dressed slowly, taking pains with her mascara, blush, and lipstick. She slipped into a lavender silk dress she’d bought online. Online shopping was becoming one of her bad habits. But the dress fit perfectly, with a cute wrap tie at the waist. She twisted her hair up in a chignon, pulled a few strands of hair free to soften the effect, and added colorful earrings shaped like daisies. She wore nude espadrilles, keeping in mind Nantucket’s uneven brick sidewalks.

  She was ready, and it was only six-thirty.

  “Let’s go for a walk, Sugar,” Heather said. This would give her some outdoor time and help Heather calm her racing heart. She hadn’t been on a date since before she married Wall. Surely, whatever a date meant had changed in the past twenty-five years. She felt like a newly hatched chick, clumsy and wet-feathered, going on a date with a rooster.

  When she heard a car coming up the drive, she kept a firm hand on Sugar’s leash. The dog was almost as excited as she was to see the silver Triumph convertible stop outside her cottage. Miles stepped out, looking like someone from a Hallmark movie in his blazer and white flannels. His thick red hair had been ruffled by the wind, and his nose and cheeks were sunburned.

  “Don’t judge,” Miles said before he even said hello. “The car is my father’s. I’m obligated to drive it every so often to keep it in shape. I know I look ridiculous, the clichéd old guy with a fast car.”

  Heather was so startled she laughed. “All you need is a cute young chick in the passenger seat.”

  “You’ll do very nicely,” Miles said.

  Before Heather could point out that she was hardly young, Miles came right up and kissed her cheek. “I’m so glad to see you.”

  Sugar jumped and barked, demanding equal attention. Miles immediately knelt to pet the dog until Sugar’s tail whirled like a pinwheel.

  “Are you ready to go?” Miles asked as he rose. “Would you like me to put up the top? Will the wind mess your hair?”

  “Oh, please keep the top down,” Heather said. “I’ll just put Sugar in the house.” Miles exuded good cheer like a nerve gas, and her heart tripled its beat and she couldn’t stop smiling.

  Miles helped her into the car. “Let’s not try any serious conversation in the car, because we won’t be able to hear each other.”

  “Good idea,” Heather said. “Maybe no serious conversation all evening.”

  “I like the way you think,” Miles said, as he turned the key and the engine hummed to life.

  No serious conversation all evening? Where in the world had that thought come from? Heather felt young and carefree as she sat back in the leather seat. It was the island magic, she thought. She’d heard people speak about the island magic, and here it was. She didn’t feel old, and she didn’t worry that Miles might be, as her mother would say, simply out for what he could get, which meant sex, of course. Maybe Heather was out for what she could get, too. She laughed out loud at the thought. She’d had no alcohol, but she was already inebriated.

  Miles drove into the small village of ’Sconset on the east end of the island and parked in front of the Chanticleer. They were seated at a table next to the window, and they ordered drinks, a vodka and tonic for Heather, and sparkling water for Miles, because he was driving.

  “How are you liking Nantucket?” Miles asked.

  “Truthfully?” Heather shook her hair, running her hands over it to smooth it. “I love it. Everything about it.”

  “How did you find your hidden cottage?”

  “Where to start?” Heather said. “Luckily, a friend, Christine Calloway, who lives in Concord, had a friend who wanted to rent it, and I was at a divide in my life, leaving my husband, and this was my hideaway and summer vacation all rolled into one.”

  It was easy to talk with Miles. He was kind and funny and he seemed interested in Heather. They talked comfortably as they ate their oysters and sea bass.

  Miles told Heather he’d made enough money when he was in Boston to take care of him for the rest of his life but he realized he didn’t like the life he’d been living. He often thought with envy of his grandfather who had been a lawyer in a small town but never worked on the weekends and always went fishing on Saturday and to church on Sunday. On Sunday afternoon, he and his wife would sit on the porch and read and talk and just enjoy the day. Miles wanted to do that. He wanted to watch the shadows fall over the grass and sit outside with a glass of iced tea.

  Heather loved listening to him talk. He didn’t speak with animosity or bitterness about his ex-wife who was still in Boston with most of his money, enjoying the ballet, theater, opera, cocktail parties, and fabulous new clothes. The way he spoke made Heather feel free to talk about her own marriage. Her unhappiness, which made her leave Wall. How she’d just found out that for months he’d been involved with a young woman. That woman was in her twenties, and pregnant with Wall’s baby. She felt no bitterness about that. Actually, she didn’t care. She loved being free. And she was getting to love Nantucket.

  After dinner, they walked through the small town of ’Sconset, passing tennis courts and the small rotary and down the hill to the beach and the sleeping ocean. Other people were around, sitting in the sand watching the waves roll in, or strolling down the avenue, looking at the summer houses. The rugosa roses were in full bloom, perfuming the salty ocean air with sweetness.

  Walking back up the hill, they held hands.

  Miles took the Polpis road back, winding smoothly around the curves, past Sesachacha Pond and the Nantucket Shipwreck and Lifesaving Museum, past the entrance to the UMass field station and Moors End Farm. At Milestone Road, he turned left and drove back to the entrance to Heather’s hidden cottage.

  The moment he turned off the engine, Sugar barked from the house.

  “You have a reliable watchdog,” Miles said. “But I still want to walk you to your door.”

  When she unlocked her door, Sugar exploded out of the house, barking and rushing to use the nearest bush. She provided the perfect touch of humor, which Heather needed because she couldn’t decide whether or not to ask Miles in for coffee. He was right there, standing next to her, tall and warm and handsome.

  “I had a good time tonight,” she told Miles.

  He smiled down at her. “So did I. Let’s do it again. Remember, the Fourth of July celebration is on Monday. I hope you’ll join us. We always find a spot in the harbor right under the fireworks. Spectacular view.”

  “I’ll be there,” Heather said. And without even thinking about it, completely on impulse, she put her hands on his shoulders, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed his lips.

  She intended to make it a quick, sweet kiss, but Miles put his arms around her and kissed her back, pressing her body against his, prolonging the kiss so that it flushed Heather’s body with heat and a desire she’d forgotten she could have.

  Sugar hurried up to them and barked like crazy, tail spinning like a windmill in a storm.