A Nantucket Affair (Nantucket Beach Plum Cove #4)(8)

“Oh, okay. Totally understand. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Kristen hung up and felt bad that she’d clearly interrupted him while he was working. But, he didn’t usually work this late in the day. Tyler tended to be an early writer, getting most of his words down first thing after he woke. But sometimes, he did go back for a second session toward the end of the book. He said that’s when the words always came faster. But, she’d thought that he was in the early stage of a new book. Oh, well. She could bring it over to him tomorrow and they could have dinner together. Lasagna always tasted better the next day when the flavors sat overnight.

She put a sheet of foil over the extra tray of lasagna and moved it into the refrigerator. The girls should be arriving any moment, so she opened two bottles of wine—a Josh cabernet and a Bread and Butter chardonnay. She loved both, but would be having red with the pasta, and she knew Angela and Abby preferred white.

They’d all kind of adopted Angela since she moved to the island. She was the youngest of the group, at twenty-nine, but as an orphan who had grown up in the foster home system, she had an old soul, and Kristen had felt like she’d known her forever. She was so glad that Angela took over the cleaning for her mother. She said that she actually enjoyed cleaning, which Kristen couldn’t imagine, but she’d said that she found it calming and satisfying to bring order to clutter and chaos.

She also cleaned once a week for Tyler, which was working out great. He had a tendency to let things pile up and then complained that he was blocked. Kristen suspected that having a clean, calm environment helped to free up the mind to be more creative. But she had to laugh because they were both the same in that when they were deep into their work, they managed to be quite messy. Kristen always cleaned up immediately after a session, but Tyler tended to put it off, and sometimes needed Angela to come twice weekly when he was going fast and furious with his writing.

Abby and Beth arrived at the same time. They were best friends. Beth had stopped by her house after work, and they drove over together. Everyone was thrilled that Chase had finally come to his senses and realized that Beth was the one for him. It had been obvious to everyone else, and Beth had been pining for him for years—and he had no clue. Men could be so oblivious at times. Angela arrived a few minutes later and then Kate was last, came rushing in and apologizing for being late.

“I’m so sorry. I lost track of time and burned the first batch of cookies. Well, I actually left them for Jack, as he said he doesn’t mind when they’re a little black on the bottom. But the second batch came out much better.” She set another bottle of Josh and the container of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies on the kitchen counter.

“That means the writing was going well?” Kristen hugged her sister hello.

“Yes! Finally. The past few days have been slow, but it’s picking up speed again. What did everyone else bring?” Kate was the foodie in the family and loved to cook as much as their mother did.

“I made my mother’s clam dip recipe,” Beth said. She took the lid off a bowl of creamy white dip studded with bits of clam and dusted with chopped parsley.

“You made the clam dip?” Abby asked. “That is so good. I didn’t think I was going to like it the first time I tried it, but wow.”

Kristen was curious to try it, too. Like Abby, if she had to be truthful it didn’t really sound all that good. But maybe she would be surprised.

“I made guacamole and homemade California-style salsa. I hope you all like cilantro.” Angela laughed as she set her bowls on the counter.

“I made the garlicky white bean hummus again, with lemon and parsley. You all seemed to like it last time we got together.” Abby had a platter with chopped fresh veggies and pita chips in a circle around a bowl of vibrant green hummus.

“Oh, good! I loved that. And it’s sort of healthy, right?” Kristen joked as she dipped a pita bread into the hummus. It was smooth and rich and lemony and garlicky at the same time. “What does everyone want to drink?” She took their orders and poured wine for everyone while they brought all the food over to her big kitchen table, and they spent the next few hours chatting and snacking on all the appetizers.

Beth told them all about the newest house that she and Chase had found to flip.

“It should be a good project. It needs more work than the others we’ve done, but I don’t think it’s anything Chase can’t handle, stuff like a new roof and opening up the living room.”

“So it opens into the kitchen? I love open concepts,” Angela said.

“Yes, exactly. Everyone wants that these days. It’s going to be a fun one to decorate as we are redoing it all—new bathrooms, a totally new kitchen, the works.”

“That sounds expensive,” Kate commented as she dipped a chip into the clam dip, trying it for the first time. Kristen hadn’t ventured in yet either and waited to see what her twin sister thought. They often liked the same things. Kate’s surprised smile indicated a thumbs up and she confirmed it. “This is so much better than I expected. Sorry, Beth. I was a little apprehensive of clam dip, but this stuff is addicting.”

Beth laughed. “That’s the typical reaction. The key is to chop the clams up small, use plenty of the juice, which really just gives a salty flavor, and lots of cream cheese, sour cream and Worcestershire sauce.”