Heather opened the door. She was dressed in shorts and a sleeveless shirt and she looked absolutely too damn calm. “Kailee. Come in. Honey, are you okay?”

  Kailee stepped inside, and the moment Heather shut the door, she glowered at Ross’s mother.

  “How could you? How could you tell Ross I’m pregnant? It is my news to give him, not yours! Now he’s upset because I didn’t tell him and I’m furious and it’s all your fault!”

  “Oh, Kailee,” Heather said, and her voice was so sympathetic that Kailee wanted to kick her. “Come sit down. I’ll get you some water.”

  “I don’t want water! I want you to stop talking about my life. It’s my life!”

  Heather nodded. “Kailee, I understand why you’re angry. But I didn’t tell Ross you’re pregnant. Please. Come in and have some ice water. Let’s talk.”

  Kailee said, “Talk? I don’t want to ever talk to you. I want you to go away!”

  Heather’s face crumpled at Kailee’s words. Kailee thought Heather was going to cry, and that was so not fair!

  Kailee couldn’t stand it. She didn’t come here to be nice to Heather. But she realized through the noxious swirl of her thoughts that Heather could hardly go away right now. This was Heather’s home. It was Kailee who had to leave. She’d said what she needed to say.

  Kailee left the cottage, slamming the door behind her, hurrying to her car as if demons were following her. She drove down the Milestone road and that took forever because eighty thousand summer people were on the island and everyone was driving everywhere. She wanted to yell “Go away!” to them all. What had happened to her sweet island? People were driving Range Rovers and huge black cars that looked like they came from the Secret Service.

  When she finally got on to lower Orange, the car in front of her stopped to allow a car from West Creek Road to turn into the congested line of traffic, and the driver waved thanks to the driver of the car in front of her, and Kailee burst into tears. People were nice. Or could be. What was wrong with her? She’d never been such an insane roaring bitch before. Why were her moods so intense?

  Finally, she parked in her parents’ driveway and went into the house through the kitchen door.

  Her father was standing in the hall, looking grave.

  “Kailee, we’d like you to come upstairs and talk with us,” her father said.

  “Oh, um, I, I need to get Ross,” Kailee stuttered.

  “Ross is with Evelyn,” her father told her.

  Kailee cried, “What? I don’t believe this!”

  “Please, Kailee,” her father said.

  He left her side and went up the stairs.

  Kailee stood frozen, frightened, and angry. Angry at everyone. But she pulled it together and grimly climbed the stairs.

  Her mother was sitting up in bed. Her face was pale. Ross leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. His face was pale.

  “Hi, Mom,” Kailee said softly. She went to her mother’s side, sat on the edge of the bed, and held her hand. “How do you feel?”

  “Curious and worried,” Evelyn said. “The question is, how are you?”

  “Ross told you,” Kailee said.

  Her father said, “I saw you run out to your car, crying. You didn’t answer your cell. So I called Ross and asked him to come over here.”

  Kailee looked over at Ross, who stared stonily into the distance.

  Kailee sank onto the end of the bed, hugging herself, trying to compose herself.

  “Okay. Mom, Dad, I’m pregnant. Not very pregnant, and Ross and I haven’t talked about what we’re going to do, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, and I’m really sorry that Heather found out first, but that was only because I vomited in front of her.”

  From across the room, Ross asked, calmly but firmly, “Where did you go just now?”

  Kailee hesitated before admitting, “I went out to confront your mother.” She glanced at him then turned back to her mother. “I told her I was furious with her for telling Ross, that it is my news to share. And it is! And I’m sorry, but I got mad and told her she should leave. Then I got in the car and came home.” Her tears started again. “This is all wrong. It’s my news, not Heather’s.”

  “I’ll call Mom,” Ross said. “I’ll ask her to stay away for a few days.”

  “You can’t do that,” Evelyn said. “She’s helping me with ENF.”

  Kailee exchanged worried glances with her father.

  Bob went to his wife and bent over her. “Let’s not try to solve everything right now. Ross and Kailee need some time on their own, to talk, and you need to rest.”

  Evelyn nodded. “Bobby, I can’t breathe right. I’m getting dizzy.”

  “Okay,” her husband said, as calmly as if he were discussing what groceries to buy, “let’s get you lying down. I’ll join you. I could take some weight off my feet.”

  Kailee stood up, alarmed. “Mommy?”

  Her father said, “Ross, would you take Kailee to your apartment, please?”

  Kailee leaned around her father to look at her mother. “Mom, are you okay?”

  Her mother was leaning against her pillows, eyes closed, panting lightly.

  Ross took Kailee’s hand. “Kailee. Let’s go. We all need to settle down.”

  Kailee had no choice but to go with Ross, whose hand was tightly clamped on hers. They went down the stairs, through the hall, through the kitchen, and out the back door.

  “It’s hot,” Ross said, as if it were any normal day. “Let’s get up in my apartment and cool off.”

  Kailee went with him, sick with worry about her mother.

  * * *

  —

  After Kailee came bursting into her house, Heather sat on the sofa, trying to compose herself. She was shaking. Miles was coming to her house for dinner at seven-thirty. Should she cancel? No, she wanted to see him. She’d better get ready.

  She’d planned the menu to include only dishes she could prepare ahead, so she could focus on Miles. Drinks, a bowl of olives, a wedge of cheese to start. Lasagna, salad, and garlic bread with red wine. A bowl of grapes for dessert. She worried that if they ate garlic bread, they’d be disinclined to kiss each other with their garlic breath, then she decided that might be a good thing. She wasn’t ready for a lover in her life, and tonight, especially, she needed a good friend.

  As she moved through the kitchen, heating the lasagna in the oven, combining olive oil and balsamic vinegar for the salad, she reminded herself of the mood swings she’d had when she was pregnant with Ross. She reminded herself that Kailee was right; Kailee should have been the one to tell Ross. But Heather hadn’t actually spoken those words, and no one was focusing on the main point: Kailee was pregnant! Heather didn’t even know what to think about that, what to feel. Happy? Elated? Sad? Worried?

  What could Heather do to help?

  She could stay away from her son and Kailee.

  But she wouldn’t leave. She felt connected to this island. Every morning as she walked on the beach, she knew she was exactly where she should be. Each day the light on the water was different, and the wind could be gentle or pushy, making her laugh. Something elemental, unnamable, as tender and compelling as light, swirled itself around her, claiming her.

  She wasn’t going to leave the island. At least not yet.

  Heather quickly showered and pulled on white capris, a blue summer blouse, and flip-flops. She put on only a touch of lipstick and blush.

  Miles arrived at seven-thirty, dressed casually as she’d suggested, in chinos and a red rugby shirt. He really was a handsome man, Heather thought when she opened the door to his knock. He kissed her cheek and presented her with a bottle of good red wine and a bouquet of flowers.

  “Thank you,” Heather said. For a moment she simply looked up at him, wanting to kiss his cheek in welcome—wanting to do more than that, really—but shyly saying, “Come in. This is it, my summer home. Look around if you’d like, while I put these gorgeous flowers in water.”

  Miles followed her into the kitchen. “Something smells good.”

  “Lasagna,” Heather told him. “A winter meal, but it’s too humid to eat out tonight.” She glanced at him. “You’re sunburned.”

  “True. I was out on the water today. That’s why I couldn’t come until now. I had my last sail with Emma before she goes back to Boston to join her friends playing some gigs.”

  Heather held up a bottle of vodka in one hand and a bottle of tonic in the other. Miles nodded, so she set to work making their drinks, slicing a lime and squeezing it into the glasses.

  “There,” she said. “Now we won’t get scurvy.”

  She led him to the living room and she settled on the couch and let Miles have the sagging wing chair. God, he was handsome.

  She held up her drink. “Cheers,” she said, and they clinked and drank.

  “Emma’s such a talented musician,” Heather said. “When she plays at church, I’m enthralled. Do you worry about her? I mean, when I think of a gig, I think of…”

  Miles finished, “Bars with half-drunk, testosterone-mad males paying attention to how pretty she is?”

  Heather laughed. “I suppose that’s exactly what I mean. A different venue than church, for sure.”

  “We’ve talked about this. I’m fairly confident that she can take care of herself, and the gigs will be mostly weddings and anniversaries.”

  They relaxed as they enjoyed their drinks. Heather changed the subject of their conversation to their own adolescences, and they told stories of the most stupid or wicked or drunken thing they’d done. They both laughed so much that Heather almost didn’t hear the buzzer on the stove reminding her the lasagna was ready. She led him to the table, which she’d set with the cottage’s simple pottery, and poured glasses of the red wine Miles had brought, and set the salad bowl in the center of the table, and cut lasagna into perfect rectangles, and, finally, put a basket of buttered garlic bread on the table.

  “This smells wonderful,” Miles said.

  While they ate, they talked lazily about restaurants on Nantucket, and restaurants in town, and memories of Emma or Ross doing inappropriate things at restaurants when they were children, and by the time they finished the meal, they were laughing again. Heather was glad Miles was so easy to talk with, and she found out bits and pieces of his ex-wife and their married life without having to pry, and she knew Miles was learning about her.

  Heather wanted to tell Miles about her son’s current situation, and about Kailee being so angry with her, but she didn’t want to bring down their good time, so she pushed that subject to the back of her mind. Miles helped her clear the dishes and poured more good wine as Heather set the grapes on the table.

  When they were seated again, idly picking and chewing the grapes, which were so deliciously wet and cool after the lasagna, Miles said, “Miribelle tells me you’re a star at bridge.”

  “It’s nice that she thinks so,” Heather said. “Actually, I’m terrified of some of those women. They take bridge so seriously. You’d think we were working coordinates for a spaceship to Mars.”

  Miles laughed. “Miribelle says that Donna Skatel dislikes the Essexes.”

  “That’s true. I can’t imagine why. Also, she’s started working on a way to hire some kind of enforcer to check all the properties for forbidden fertilizers and pesticides. She wants to give the contractors huge fines. She seems obsessed with it.”

  “Let me tell you why. In high school, Bob Essex and Donna were a couple. We all thought they would marry, but in college, Bob and Evelyn started seeing each other, and by the first summer home, Bob had broken off with Donna and he and Evelyn were together. Typical teenage breakup, and Donna married Evan, who’s a good guy, and a fine lawyer, but Donna has held a grudge against Bob and Evelyn for years. Her bark is worse than her bite, but I’m sorry she’s barking at you.”

  “I’d know what to do if I were back in Concord,” Heather said. “I know everyone there. But here, of course, I’m an outsider. Not even a summer person. I’ve rented this cottage for only three months, and half my time is already over.”

  “That’s too bad,” Miles said. “I wish you would stay longer. Not just because I’d like to keep seeing you, but because the off-seasons are beautiful, too.”

  “I’d like to stay longer,” Heather said. “But honestly, and please don’t repeat this, I don’t think Kailee is happy with me around. She thinks I’m too dependent on Ross.”

  “Is that true?” Miles asked.

  “Not at all. I do love Ross, but I’m here because my friend Christine found out about this funny little cottage and I needed a change after leaving Wall. It happened very quickly. I thought Ross was going to work for Wall, so being near him wasn’t part of the equation for me.” She sensed tears gathering. “I didn’t intend to love it here, but I do. I mean, I’d live here even if Ross and Kailee lived somewhere else. I’ve never spent much time near the ocean. Now I walk on one of the beaches every day, and it seems that I inhale energy, and happiness, and connection. I’m reading Sylvia Earle’s book Blue Hope and I’ve got a shark tracker on my iPhone, and I adore the town, and the people I’ve met.”

  Miles said, “I hope you do stay. I’d like that a lot. And I heard that you’re helping Evelyn Essex with her nature foundation.”

  Heather smiled. “Yes, I am. Well, I have been, in the afternoons after my mornings working for you. It’s not permanent or like a job, but you know she’s had trouble with her heart, and she’s supposed to rest, but she’s not a person who enjoys resting.”

  “Does Kailee think you’re helping her mother in order to be close to Ross?”

  “I don’t know, and frankly, I’m tired of talking about Kailee.” Heather stood up. “Let’s go outside. It will be cooler now.”

  At her words, Sugar opened her eyes and yawned.

  Miles joked, “I’m glad you have a watchdog to protect you.”

  Heather refreshed their drinks. They went out to the patio, and it was cooler, and the night sky was full of stars. They stood looking up into the heavens.

  “Honeysuckle,” Heather said. She let her head fall back as she inhaled. “Wild honeysuckle everywhere.”

  “Wild honeysuckle,” Miles echoed. He took her drink from her and put it on the table with his. He came close to Heather, sensed her readiness, and took her in his arms. He kissed her lightly, and then with a passion that was the warmth of the sun, and the wildness of the ocean, and the sweetness of the air. As if everything good was right here.

  She’d never been kissed like this before.

  “You’re trembling,” Miles said. “Let’s sit down.”

  He pulled the two plastic patio chairs close together, side by side, and they sat holding hands.

  “I feel like I’m very slowly drifting to earth from a cloud,” Heather said. She knew she was flushed, but she couldn’t stop it. Her body was dazed…awakened.

  “Slow is good,” Miles said. “I like to do things slowly.”

  “I need to tell you,” Heather began, not sure how to say it or whether this was the right or completely wrong time to say it, and finally blurting, “I need to tell you, Miles, that I’ve only been with one man. Wall. I’m not very…accomplished or skilled…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

  Miles said, “Well, personally, I find you quite excellent in kissing. But I understand. And I’m more than ready to be with you any way at all, and I’m also old enough to appreciate how nice it is to take things slowly.”

  “That sounds perfect,” Heather told him.

  They sat for a while, talking idly about the summer, the beaches, the sky. Then, Miles stood up, and for a moment Heather wanted to clutch him, begging him not to go.

  “We’ve got the church fair tomorrow,” Miles said. “We both had better get our beauty sleep. It’s going to be a busy day.”

  Heather walked him to the door. They stood just outside the house. The glow of the outside light seemed harsh to Heather and she walked Miles to his car, grateful for the shadows.

  “Thanks for dinner,” Miles said. He kissed her forehead. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Yes,” Heather said. “Tomorrow.”

  twenty-one

  Kailee and Ross left Evelyn and Bob in their bedroom and walked across the drive to the steps to the garage apartment.

  Kailee stopped, took Ross’s hand, and looked back at the house. “My parents have such a good marriage.”

  “We will, too,” Ross promised. “Let’s go upstairs.”

  Kailee sank into a chair and watched Ross move around the galley kitchen. He took a beer and a jug of apple juice from the refrigerator, poured the drinks into glasses, and handed one to her.

  “Thanks,” Kailee said.

  Ross grinned. “I never knew until this summer how much you pout.”

  “I don’t pout!” Kailee said, realizing that she was sitting with her mouth crumpled. She imagined how she must look. She grinned back. “I was pouting just then, wasn’t I?”

  “You’re smiling now,” Ross told her. “Much better.”

  “I’m not sure I’m ready for adulthood,” Kailee admitted.

  “You’d better be,” Ross said.

  Kailee looked down at her hands. “I was kind of awful to your mother. I should apologize.”

  “Let’s talk about us, first,” Ross said. “Don’t you think? About the three of us.”

  “The three of us?” Kailee asked. Then she got it, and she put her face in her hands and moaned.

  Ross said, “It doesn’t have to be the three of us now. We can wait to start a family. We can stick to our plan.”

  “But nothing is going as planned,” Kailee pointed out. “We didn’t plan for my mother to have a heart attack, and we didn’t plan for your mother moving to the island.”