A Nantucket Wedding(43)
Scott grinned. “I guess not. I did try. I watched the children so they wouldn’t drown. Everyone else is down there now, tossing the beach ball around. They’re like an amoeba, everyone in one big blob.”
Grinning, Alison nodded toward the hatch. “Those bags are the heaviest. Since I’m so terribly old, I’ll go on in and be ready to unpack.”
While Scott brought in the groceries, Alison went out on the deck to look down at the beach. Sure enough, everyone was engaged in some kind of spontaneous game that seemed like a combination of volleyball and football. She could hear the squeals and laughter, and she smiled, wanting to snap a memory of this, her family and David’s, playing on the beach. Maybe the weekend wouldn’t be so bad, after all.
* * *
—
Late in the afternoon, the “Beach People,” as Alison and Scott nicknamed the others, came trudging up to the house, sunburned and hungry and tired. They all took turns getting the sand off in the outdoor shower before running into the house for a proper wash and scrub, and soon the scent of strawberry-kiwi shampoo drifted through the house. Alison sent the children down to the lawn to shell and eat the peas, while the adults relaxed on the deck with cool drinks.
Scott offered to grill the tuna, Jane and Felicity took over preparing everything else, and finally all ten people were at the table, with Luke sitting on pillows, squeezed between Felicity and Alison.
“Too bad David and Ethan couldn’t come this time,” Felicity said.
“And too bad Noah couldn’t come,” Alison answered. “Someday we’ll get everyone here at the same time.”
Jane laughed. “I can’t even imagine how much fun that will be.”
Or not, Alison thought.
Patrick spoke up. “So, Scott, Poppy tells me you’re a lawyer.”
“That’s right,” Scott began. “I work for—”
“Eeeek!” Luke screamed, giggling, and slid sideways off the pile of pillows, landing on the floor.
The other children giggled like hyenas.
“We need books,” Alison said, and went off to gather a pile while Felicity removed the pillows and lifted her son onto the pile of books Alison had substituted.
Scott opened his mouth to speak again, but Felicity’s daughter, Alice, announced in her clear, high, confident voice, “I’m going to set up a website called Now, Please. It will be a list of things that need to be invented.”
“Really?” Jane asked. “For example?”
“Well, our teacher keeps telling us we need to save the world, and that even though we’re only in first grade, we should try to help. So far I have two ideas. The first is that we shouldn’t use plastic straws because we need to stop using so much plastic, but everyone uses plastic straws, so someone should invent a permanent accordion straw that we’d use over and over again. It could be made from something like aluminum. It would be our own personal straw. It could live folded small in a little aluminum egg that would fit in our pockets. At the end of the day, we’d stick it in the dishwasher and it would be good to go for the next day.”
“Alice,” Patrick said, “that’s a brilliant idea. You’ve given it a lot of thought, haven’t you?”
Daphne, miffed at the sight of her own father praising Alice, quickly spoke up. “We all had to think of inventions like that on Earth Day, back in the first grade.”
“What was your idea?” Jane inquired.
“I suggested we use leaves instead of toilet paper. That’s what people did for thousands of years. That would save our forests—”
“Wipe my bum with leaves?” Daphne’s brother, Hunter, shrieked.
“Bum!” Luke echoed. “Leaves!”
The two boys exploded with laughter, yelling, “Wipe my bum with seaweed!” and other hilarious variations, rocking and tilting in their chairs until, no surprise, Luke fell off the chair again. This time, he snatched the tablecloth in an attempt to keep from falling. He pulled his own plate and glass onto the floor before Alison, seated next to Luke, managed to secure the cloth.
Poppy and Felicity removed both boys from the dining room table and set them in the kitchen with paper plates of food.
“I’m standing right here while you two bad little children eat,” Poppy said. “Then you can play outside, but not before.”
Felicity started to speak, then took a deep breath. It was always awkward, watching another mother discipline her own child. It seemed presumptive now. A small voice in Felicity’s mind whined, But your daughter, Daphne, started it by talking about leaves and toilet paper! But she wanted her relationship with Poppy to be cordial, so she simply added, “Luke, you heard what Poppy said.”
“Bum leaf,” Luke whispered with a sly smile.
“That’s enough,” Felicity said sternly.
* * *
—
Later, Patrick and Scott watched the Red Sox in the den while Alison, Felicity, and Poppy put the children to bed. Jane stacked the dishwasher and wiped down the counters, taking her time. She hoped Scott was bonding with Poppy’s husband. Patrick seemed like a good guy, and Jane appreciated that Patrick had taken the initiative and asked Scott about his work. Maybe they’d talk in the den. Maybe Patrick would tell Scott that children weren’t always as frenzied as they’d been at the dining room table.