Driftwood Lane (Nantucket #4)(64)

“I sure am.”

“How’s he gonna fit in the van?”

“There’s plenty of room,” Meridith said.

“I can drive separately.”

“There’s no need.” Meridith dished out eggs for Ben and laid two strips of bacon beside it. “After church we’re going to show Stephen the island’s sights.”

“Oh . . .” Stephen’s fork stopped in midair. “I thought—”

Meridith questioned him with her eyes, but he looked away.

“Lexi invited me over after church,” Noelle said. “We’re going to start a blog, and we’re setting it up today.”

“You can go to Lexi’s next Sunday, okay?” Meridith decided to table the discussion on online safety, but giving strangers open access to a teenage girl’s life seemed unwise.

“We wanted to do it today.”

Meridith pulled her lips upward. “Well, Stephen’s here today, so you can do it next week.”

“Can Jake come?” Max asked.

Meridith’s smile wobbled. Heaven help her. She felt Stephen’s eyes on her and wondered if he thought Jake tagged along on all their excursions—then cringed, because he often did. “No, Max, he cannot.”

“Are you guys getting married?” Ben broke his silence.

“Duh,” Noelle said. “What do think fiancé means?”

Meridith wanted to slide under the table and stay there, but she forced herself to referee the children’s discussion through the meal.

Church, at least, turned out better than she hoped. They sat with Rita and Lee, who offered to watch the children that evening so she and Stephen could be alone. Meridith was about to refuse, wanting Stephen to bond with the children, but he jumped in with a gracious thanks, and Meridith realized it was reasonable for him to want a couple hours alone.

After church they went home to change. Meridith checked out the Mowerys and the Goldmans, who promised to be in contact about buying Summer Place.

After the children were ready, they piled back into the van and proceeded to argue over who had to sit in the backseat. Finally, Meridith moved Ben’s booster to the back, and they headed toward town. Between driving and refereeing the children’s arguments, Meridith found herself wondering where Jake had disappeared to. His truck had been gone when she’d woken and still wasn’t back after church.

They children voted for lunch at the Atlantic Café, and throughout the meal Meridith reminisced about the evening they’d celebrated the removal of Ben’s cast. After lunch they walked the brick sidewalks that seemed deserted after yesterday’s parade.

By the time they were on their way to Sconset, Meridith became concerned by Stephen’s silence. She tried to pull him into the conversation, but between Max and Noelle’s bickering and Ben’s questions, it was easy for Stephen to remain on the edge of the fray.

He did seem to enjoy Sconset, now serene after the bustle of the picnic and crowds the day before. The grassy lanes ran between the tightly spaced, gray-shingled cottages, offering views of small lush gardens that bloomed with daffodils and other early blooming flowers. Vines clung to white picket fences bordering the gardens.

“They look like dollhouses,” Stephen noted.

“You wouldn’t believe how much those dollhouses run,” Meridith said. She’d cautioned him earlier, reminding him the children didn’t know Summer Place was being sold.

From Sconset, they set out for Surfside, where she and Stephen sat on the beach while the children waded along the shore. It was there that a gust of wind carried Max’s hat into the ocean. He had to wade in hip-deep to rescue his dad’s old cap.

Max returned to the van for a long, soppy ride back to Summer Place to change and grab a quick dinner before they took the children to Rita’s. When Meridith shut off the ignition in the Lawsons’ driveway, she noticed Ben’s pallor as the others exited the van.

“Ben, are you all right?”

He stepped down from the van. “I’m—not—feeling—” Ben’s dinner made a repeat appearance, splattering onto the driveway and Stephen’s shoes.

Stephen darted back, too late.

“Oh my goodness!” Meridith rushed around the van. “You’re sick. Noelle, go ask Rita for a washcloth.” She placed her hand on the boy’s back. “Are you feeling better now?”

Ben nodded, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

“You’ll have to come home and get some rest. We can’t expose the Lawsons to an illness.”

“I get carsick when I sit in the back.”

Meridith sighed hard, torn between frustration and sympathy. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“You told me to sit in the back.”

“Well, I know I did, but—” Oh, what good did it do to argue now?

Noelle appeared with the washcloth, and Meridith wiped Ben’s face, then handed the cloth to Stephen, who’d stepped well away. He took it between two pinched fingers, then dabbed at his shoes.

“Sorry,” Meridith told him.

Rita welcomed Ben into the house and promised he’d be right as rain in minutes, then shooed Meridith and Stephen on their way.

By now Meridith was eager for time alone. She was exhausted from trying to make the children get along and playing middleman between them and Stephen. The day had been a disaster. If anything, she sensed Stephen pulling farther away.