Driftwood Lane (Nantucket #4)(49)

“I was thinking . . .” Jake said.

“Uh-oh.”

He gave a little half grin. “The electric will be done in a few days, and we agreed I’d be finished then. But some of the other projects wouldn’t cost much.” He nodded toward the fireplace. “All I need is some mortar, a few stones, and some time, and I can get that fireplace working.”

He listed a host of other projects, but Meridith’s mind was off and wandering. With her worries over Noelle and the havoc Jake created inside her, she was anticipating his departure. Not anticipating, exactly. Just desperately needing it to happen. For her own peace of mind.

He seemed eager to stay, and she dreaded turning him down, but extending his time was out of the question. The furnace and the electric would be done. Those were the two biggies.

“Jake, I appreciate what you’re saying, but I think it’s time we parted ways.”

The relaxed grin fell from his lips. The light in his eyes was extinguished as if she’d doused his hope with a fire hose. More than just disappointment, he seemed surprised.

“I’d love to have the work completed, and you’ve done a fine job, but I really don’t have the money, and I’m eager to—to move on.” She twisted the ring on her finger, then wondered if the action was telling.

“Oh.”

“I hope you—”

Max and Ben entered the front door, arguing over who got the video game first. While Meridith settled the dispute, Jake slipped quietly out the door.

When the house was quiet again, she picked up the current issue of Yesterday’s Island and sat in the armchair, browsing through it. A photo in the events section caught her eye. It was a line of antique cars, decorated with daffodils, driving down a cobblestone street.

She remembered the photos of Noelle and her dad in the Galaxie. Meridith took the paper to her room, where she opened her closet door and knelt on the floor. She flipped through Noelle’s album, pausing at the parade pictures. In one of them Noelle was preschool age, in the others a little older. There were seven of them, each taken a different year.

Meridith knew the Daffodil Festival was approaching. She had a sudden recollection of something Ben had said about decorating the Galaxie, and it all came together. It was a family tradition, and it seemed to be particularly a tradition Noelle shared with her father.

Was that why the girl had been depressed lately? Because the parade was coming, and it was one more thing she’d lost? Did she feel like she was losing her dad all over again?

Noelle hadn’t needed a trip to the cemetery this afternoon. She needed a way to keep her father’s memory alive. Meridith wondered if she’d like to participate in the parade, or if that would only make her sadder. There was only one way to find out. Noelle called later and asked to spend the night with Lexi, and since Meridith had become familiar with her parents she felt safe saying yes.

It was a restless night’s sleep. The guests stumbled in after midnight, and then Max had a nightmare at three o’clock.

When morning arrived, Meridith forced herself from bed to prepare eggs, bacon, and biscuits, which sat in the warmers until they were inedible. At one o’clock, she scraped the food into the trash, then told the children to grab their jackets. She needed out of the house, and the day was warming to a sunny sixty-five degrees.

The kids had wanted to show Meridith the other side of the island, so they decided to ride their bikes over.

“I wish we could take Piper,” Max said as they wheeled their bikes from the garage.

“Why can’t we?” Meridith kicked up the stand and straddled the bike.

“She’s too well-trained on the electric fence,” Noelle said.

“Ever since Mom trained her, she’s afraid to leave the yard,” Max said.

“What happens when you take her out?”

Ben shrugged. “She just freezes. Won’t walk or nothing.”

“Anything,” Noelle said.

So they left Piper and took the Surfside bike path, riding in single file. The sun on her skin and wind in her hair felt good. The boys had worn their trunks, though Meridith wasn’t sure about letting them in the frigid water. She’d brought a couple beach towels she’d found in the upstairs closet.

By the time the bike path opened to the beach, Meridith’s muscles ached. They parked their bikes and kicked off their sandals. The boys ran toward the waves, Ben’s eagerness making up for his shorter legs.

Meridith handed Noelle a towel, spread her own, then retrieved the sunscreen and slathered it on. “Want some?”

“We put it on before we left.”

“We probably sweated it off.”

Noelle shrugged, then stretched out on the towel, closing her eyes.

Meridith planted her palms behind her and watched Max and Ben frolic in the water. So far they hadn’t gone more than ankle deep. The fresh, salty air blended with the scent of her coconut lotion in a soothing combination.

Above them, three seagulls drifted on the wind, their cries punctuating the shush of waves crashing the shoreline.

“Did you have fun at Lexi’s?”

“Guess so.”

The bike ride in the sun had made a few freckles pop out on Noelle’s nose. She looked young and small lying on the oversized beach towel.

“The Goldmans are coming next weekend. Do you remember them? They said they come every year for the Daffodil Festival.”