“I remember,” Barrett said, half-smiling. “Grape was my least favorite flavor. Okay, you’re right. Sorry to be so freaky. I’ve got to get busy. I’ve got stuff to organize. Bills to pay. Hopefully, I’ll have more customers.”

  Eddie asked, “Do you want me to hang out with you for a while?”

  “No. Thanks. I’m fine. I’ll be better if I get some work done.”

  Barrett walked to the front of her store. Blue surrounded her, and she saw two women lingering at her window.

  “Okay, then.” Eddie slung her bag over her shoulder. “I’ll see you at home tonight.”

  A young woman hurried into the shop. “Thank heavens you’re open! I’ve got to buy a present. I forgot today is my mother’s birthday and she loves your stuff.”

  Her words worked like a magician’s wand on Barrett. She lit up. She smiled. “Sure. Let’s find something and I’ll gift wrap it.”

  Eddie grinned. “See you later.” She left the shop.

  Barrett turned to her customer. “What sort of thing are you looking for?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. You have so many beautiful things in here. I want them all!”

  * * *

  —

  Eddie pulled into the driveway. Duke ran out to greet her, tail wagging. The horse stood next to the barn, in the shade near the fence. As Eddie approached, she stood firm, waiting, and when Eddie reached over the fence to stroke her long soft muzzle, the horse extended her neck and closed her eyes, surrendering to the touch.

  “You’re getting to like me, aren’t you?” Eddie said sweetly.

  The horse snorted and tossed her head. Duke squeezed below the fence rails and ran up to the horse. Together, the two animals strolled to the back of the field.

  Eddie opened the Book Barn and stepped inside. She scanned the eccentric shop, assessing the shelves. Dinah’s books were all gone, no surprise there. Good old Hegel and Nietzsche were still hanging out on the lowest shelf, next to the quilting books. Most of the children’s books were gone.

  She walked around, straightening shelves, folding the afghan on the back of the chair. August was melting to an end. Eddie guessed there would be a lull for a few days, and then the newlyweds and the almost-deads crowd would arrive, and some of them might like looking at used books.

  Eddie climbed on the high stool and leaned on the counter. She opened her computer to the shop page, then closed it. She had to face it. She had to stop putting it off. She had to decide how and when to tell Dinah she was staying on the island. Her fear was that Dinah would be hurt. Eddie genuinely loved her, and thought Dinah loved her back, in her own self-centered way. Eddie could almost predict what would happen. Dinah would fall apart, weeping that she couldn’t go on without Eddie, Eddie was the only assistant she’d had that really made a difference, and why couldn’t Eddie come back just for a month, to help Dinah get settled in the city again?

  But Bobby was the most important person in the mix. At some point, probably within the next few months, Dove would die. She was failing faster than she’d hoped, and she had agreed that for the last few days she would go into the hospital. She would tell Bobby she was going on a trip.

  Eddie’s heart ached at the thought of Dove and her “trip.” She couldn’t imagine how it would happen. But they would help Dove, and mourn her, and take care of her son. Eddie and Barrett and Bobby would stay in the farmhouse while Jeff finished building his house. At some point she and Jeff would make wedding plans. They would formally adopt Bobby.

  What a terrifying thought. Eddie had to be a good mother. That was what she had to do, and she was scared.

  As if summoned by her thoughts, Dove returned home, parking her ancient Volvo near the house.

  Eddie walked out to help her carry in the beach stuff, the picnic basket, the umbrella, the damp and sandy beach towels.

  “How was it?” she asked.

  Dove released Bobby from his car seat straps. Bobby hurtled out of the car and raced around the yard.

  Dove leaned against the car, obviously exhausted, watching her boy run.

  “We had a great time,” Dove said. “We both have sunburns here and there, and Bobby must have a bucket’s worth of sand in his bathing suit. I’ll make sure to take it off before we go into the house.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Eddie said. “Go on in, take a shower, take a nap. Whatever. I’ll hang with Bobby.”

  “Thanks, Eddie.” Dove pushed off from her car and walked slowly to the house.

  “Hey, Bobby!” Eddie called. “Come to the backyard with me so I can rinse the sand off your legs.”

  Bobby ran up to Eddie, grabbed her hand, and pulled her toward the barn. “Read me a book!”

  “First, let’s get you into some dry clothes.”

  Eddie stripped his bathing suit off and used a long hose to wash sand off Bobby. He giggled and jumped in the force of the spray. She found clean underpants and dry shorts and a T-shirt in Dove’s beach bag. She dressed Bobby.

  “Go in the barn and choose a book,” she said. “I’m going to rinse off your sandals and swimsuit, and then I’ll come in to read.”

  She took the sandy clothes to the clothesline at the side of the house. She shook out the towels and beach clothes, pegged them to the line, and sprayed them with the hose until they looked reasonably sand free.

  “Okay, Bobby,” she called. “Let’s read.”

  As she spoke, she saw Bobby crawling under the fence.

  The little boy stood up and walked toward Duchess, who was standing maybe twenty feet away. Bobby was talking so softly Eddie couldn’t hear the words.

  What should she do? The horse had never bitten anyone before. Had never reared up and whinnied and come down, hooves striking a person. But clearly Duchess was on guard. Her ears were back. She was bobbing her head and huffing.

  Eddie’s heart jumped to her throat. Should she call out to Bobby, tell him to come back? Would that scare the child and make him scream and frighten the horse? If Duchess hurt the child—and she was so huge, standing there towering over the little boy!—if she hurt the child…Eddie told herself not to panic.

  She climbed over the fence. She crouched down, making herself small so she wouldn’t frighten the horse, and took a few steps toward the child and the horse. Her presence might be enough to make Duchess run to the other end of the field. Usually, it was. Duchess would only tolerate an adult’s touch if there was a fence between them.

  Now Bobby was next to the horse. Talking to her.

  “Bobby.” Eddie spoke in a normal tone, as if what was happening was also normal.

  Bobby whispered to Duchess. The horse dropped her head down and made nibbling motions with her huge rubbery lips. The little boy giggled. He patted the horse on her head, near her mouth. He stroked the horse’s muzzle. The horse held very still. She closed her eyes.

  Bobby continued to pet the horse, until the huge animal snorted softly and walked away.

  Eddie whispered, “Wow.”

  Bobby turned, a big grin on his face. “She likes me.”

  “Yes, she does, Bobby. But maybe don’t get into a yard with a strange animal unless you have an adult with you. I mean, this horse usually isn’t very friendly. I was afraid she might kick you, or bite you.”

  “I’m not strange to her,” Bobby said. “She likes me.”

  He was so sweet, his cheeks and the tip of his nose pink from the sun, his hair stiff with salt, standing out in every direction, his face chubby, his eyes bright with youth. He looked like Stearns as a three-year-old.

  She would be more careful. More watchful. She would protect this child with her life.

  “Let’s go in the barn and read,” Eddie said, holding out her hand.

  Bobby took her hand. Eddie climbed over the fence and watched him squeeze through. The barn was shady and cool. The quiet comforted them both like a soft breeze on a hot day. Eddie sat in one of the old armchairs, pulled Bobby onto her lap, and opened a book from the table. There was a frog and a toad, and the little boy nestled his head against Eddie’s chest and fell asleep.

  * * *

  —

  By late afternoon, Barrett was exhausted. The shop had been swamped all day. Janny had been helpful, but she kept answering her phone and shooting mean looks at Barrett.

  “Is something wrong?” Barrett demanded after the last customer left.

  Janny picked up her clutch and got ready to leave the shop. “You should look at your phone more often,” she said. “You’re being kind of rude.”

  After Janny left, leaving clouds of anger behind her, Barrett checked her phone.

  She had three messages from Drew, asking her to get in touch.

  “Hey, babe,” Drew said when he answered her call. “I wanted to take you out to dinner, but you never called me back.”

  She should tell him, Barrett thought. She should let him know she was committed to Paul.

  Would it be wrong to do it over the phone? It wasn’t as if they had a long-term relationship.

  “Sorry, Drew. It’s been busy here today, and—”

  He cut her off. “Look. I’m at the Brotherhood. Come meet me. I’ll buy you a drink.”

  Barrett hesitated. It was after six. No customers were around.

  “Okay. I won’t be able to stay long. But I’ll be there soon.”

  She texted her father and sister and went back out the door to her car.

  The restaurant was crowded. As Barrett entered the historic brick building, she heard the shouts of laughter from the men at the bar and felt, for just a moment, that she was in the nineteenth century, and the bar was full of hearty sailors returning from exotic voyages. Dinah would love this place.

  Drew was seated at a table in the corner. Barrett threaded her way through the crowd and joined him. He rose and kissed her, and she turned in time to receive the kiss on her cheek.

  “I’ve ordered already,” Drew said. “Sorry to be rude, but you never got back to me. I’m having the fish and chips. I ordered a glass of red wine for you, and if you want food, too, that’s fine.”

  “I can stay only a short while.” She sat in the chair across from him. “I’ve had a crazy day—”

  Drew interrupted her. “Tell me about it. I’m trying to put out five fires at the same time. We’ve got a lot of things going on. I’m exhausted. First, our number one bookkeeper, she’s been with the company forever, says she’s retiring. I’ll be damned if I’m going to give a retirement party for someone who leaves us when we’re struggling to hold things together. I’ve had three Zoom meetings with three different banks, and thank God I could record them, because one of the bankers put his foot into some shit and I can call him out on that—”

  The waiter brought Barrett a glass of red wine and set the fish and chips in front of Drew.

  “Another beer,” Drew said to the waiter.

  Drew ate a bite of the chips.

  Good, Barrett thought. While he was eating, she had the opportunity to talk.

  “Drew. I’m sorry to tell you this when you’ve had a difficult day, but I need to let you know that I can’t see you anymore. I’m in a relationship with another man. Paul. You met him at the opening of my store. We—”

  “That guy?” Drew sat back in his chair, shocked. “You can’t mean that…that carpenter fellow.”

  “I do mean that carpenter fellow. He’s also an artist, he sculpts wood, really beautiful pieces—”

  Drew snorted. Shaking his head at her in a kind of patronizing pity, he said, “You won’t have much of a life if you marry him. You’re better than that, Barrett. I mean, go look at his home and then look at my parents’ house here on the island—”

  Barrett reminded him, “You’ve never invited me to meet your parents.”

  Drew swatted her words away. “I was going to, Barrett. We’ve been so freaking busy. Plus, I haven’t known you very long. I didn’t want to do anything prematurely.”

  “Inviting me to your house would be premature?” Barrett knocked back a big swig of wine before she said anything rude.

  “Barrett, come on. You know who I am, who my parents are. I didn’t want you to get the idea that…I mean, some women I’ve dated get dollar-bill signs in their eyes once they’ve seen our house, our antiques, our art.”

  Barrett was angry and somehow amused. She took a deep breath and managed to speak in a civil tone of voice. “I didn’t know a woman had to be vetted before meeting your parents.”

  “Well, come on, be honest,” Drew said. “I don’t think you were ready for the meet-the-parents bit. I mean, you wouldn’t even have sex with me.”

  Shocked, Barrett burst out laughing. “What? Do you have a checklist a woman has to complete before you issue a coveted invitation to step inside your family’s summer home?”

  Drew stopped eating. He gave Barrett a solemn stare. “I didn’t know if you were serious. Summer affairs usually end, and not nicely. But I really like you, Barrett. You need to give me more time. Plus…how can I feel close to you if you won’t have sex with me?”

  Barrett took another sip of wine. “This has got to be the strangest conversation I’ve ever had, and I’ve had some doozies.”

  “Barrett—”

  “Seriously, Drew? I think you’ve got some kind of mental problems. But anyway, I don’t want to see you again.”

  Drew shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re missing out on.”

  “Oh, I think I do.” Barrett stood up. “Goodbye, Drew.”

  Drew reached across the table, snatched up her glass, and tossed the last of the red wine down his throat, as if winning an argument, taking what he wanted.

  Barrett didn’t bother to speak. She walked away from the table, and she was almost giddy with relief.

  * * *

  —

  Barrett drove home, thinking about her talk with Drew. She was glad that it was over. She felt her emotions clearing up like the clouds drifting away from the summer sky. She wasn’t sad at all. She felt free.

  At home, she found Eddie in the kitchen, tearing romaine for a salad.

  Barrett asked, “Where’s Bobby?”

  “He’s eaten. Now he’s watching television. Dove’s still sleeping.”

  Barrett held up her phone and snapped some photos.

  “Hey!” Eddie said.

  “I want some shots of you all mom-ish in an apron,” Barrett said. “Wow, something smells good.”

  “I made lasagna.” She looked over her shoulder. “I’ve invited Jeff to join us for dinner.”

  “Cool. I’ll call Paul.”

  “How did your talk with Drew go?”

  “Actually, it was easy. But he’s so arrogant, it’s going to take him a while to believe I dropped him.”

  Barrett ran upstairs to call Paul. She left a message on his voicemail, took a long hot shower, and pulled on dry clothes. She peeked in on sleeping Dove and went downstairs and began to set the table. Paul called back to say he’d be there soon.

  The front door opened and Dinah and William walked in.

  Eddie hurried in from the kitchen.

  “Everything okay?” Barrett asked.

  “Everything’s fine.” Dinah beamed up at William. “We drove him and his box of books to the airport. He’s on his way home.”

  “So that was your stalker, Dinah,” Eddie said.

  Dinah smiled like a cat with a bowl of cream. “Yes, and here is my hero.” She leaned against their father and put her arm around his waist.

  Eddie and Barrett locked eyes. He was her hero?

  Once more, the front door opened. Jeff and Paul came in, carrying a blueberry pie from Bartlett’s and a carton of vanilla ice cream.

  Barrett set more plates at the table, lit a candle, and carried in the salad as Eddie was serving the lasagna. They sat at the table talking about this amazing day, and no food had ever tasted better.

  When dinner was over, Barrett, William, and Dinah helped clear and do the dishes. Paul and Barrett walked out to lean on the fence, sweet-talking Duchess. Eddie and Jeff went into the den and found Bobby asleep on the couch in front of The Loud House. Eddie turned off the television and watched as Jeff gently lifted the little boy into his arms and carried him upstairs to bed. Eddie followed, and watched as Jeff laid Bobby next to his sleeping mother.

  They turned off the light and pulled the door almost, but not quite shut, so if the child woke, he wouldn’t be in complete darkness.

  Eddie sat on the top step, her feet on the step below. She patted the space next to her.

  “Sit with me a minute. I’d like to talk.”

  Jeff sat. “You’re worried about Bobby?”

  “Yes.” Eddie reached over and took Jeff’s hand. “If we…if you and I are going to adopt Bobby…” She didn’t know how to say it.

  “We have to get married,” Jeff finished for her. “And we have to decide where to live until I can finish our house.”

  “How long will it take you?”

  “After Labor Day, things will slow down. A little. Kick Gordon has penciled me in for installing plumbing during the month of September. I’ll finish the dry wall, and the painting…I’ll need to furnish it…if I’m lucky, we can move in around Christmas.”

  “That’s amazing, Jeff.” Eddie leaned against him. “Just think of it. You and me waking up together…”

  “And Bobby, don’t forget.”

  “Oh, I won’t forget him. Ever. But we have to see a lawyer with Dove to make everything legal.”

  “And you have to tell Dinah that you won’t be working for her anymore.”

  “I know. It’s going to be hard. And I’m going to miss the income.”