A Nantucket Wedding(62)

    Jane laughed. “Are we going to tell our parents? Or anyone?”

“Not my father, for sure, and not Poppy. She’s out of sorts these days. Not your mother, I hope, although that’s your decision. But I’m sure she’d tell my father.”

“I might tell Felicity,” Jane said. “She can keep a secret and I know she’d see the humor in it.” Jane’s voice trailed off. What, exactly, was it? They didn’t make love, but Jane and Ethan most obviously had been on the brink. What was she thinking?

When they reached David’s house, Jane hurried straight up the stairs to her room, afraid her lipstick was smeared all over her face.

And afraid of what she had almost done.





twenty



From: Jane

To: Felicity

Subject: You won’t even

Please come to the island next weekend. Pleeeeeeeeese! So much to tell you & don’t want to do it on phone.




To: Jane

From: Felicity

Subject: WHAT?!

Anyway, we’re all coming, even Noah.





As Felicity and her family—including Noah—waited in line to board the small plane to fly them from Boston to Nantucket, Felicity sent prayers of gratitude for her mother and David’s kindness. To be absolutely accurate, it was David who had offered to pay the exorbitant cost of airline tickets so that Noah wouldn’t have to spend his precious working time driving to the Cape and taking the ferry over. Felicity knew her mother sensed the difficulty Felicity was having simply getting her husband to the island, and it was Alison, Felicity also knew, who had suggested to David that he supply the expensive tickets.

    The airline agent called the flight and led them down a series of stairs and out to the tarmac where they walked over to the ten-seater Cessna 402, stowed their laptops and purses in the plane’s wings, and climbed the few steps into the cabin. As the engines began to rumble, the pilot informed them the flight would take around forty-five minutes and that the wind was moderate.

So, more to be thankful for. The kids loved it when the plane bounced around—they thought it was fun. It made Felicity want to throw up and she’d worried that it would anger Noah, who was uncomfortable when he wasn’t in charge of anything—a vehicle, a trip, a company. It was too noisy in the cabin to talk, so Alice bent her head and read her book. Luke stared out the window, enchanted, yelling at his parents to look at the tiny boats in the water. Noah sat scrolling on his phone, his jaw clenched. But it was a beginning.

To Felicity’s surprise, they found David waiting for them at the airport. He shook hands with Noah and kissed Felicity and the children.

“The Jeep has seatbelts for five people, so Alison and I duked it out to see who got to meet you here. She wanted to come, but I won.” David lifted a duffel bag and took Alice’s hand. “We’re parked out this way.”

Noah had met David before, once, at Christmas. Felicity and Alison had chatted happily about the children and clothes, but they’d both kept a watchful eye on the men. Noah had dominated the conversation, but David had actually seemed interested. He’d asked questions that Felicity would never have thought of, questions that made Noah puff up a little, glad to be taken seriously by an older, time-tested businessman.

    In the airport parking lot, Felicity told Noah to take the front passenger seat. It had more room for his long legs, she said, and she happily buckled herself in the backseat, between the two children, who were bouncing with eagerness to get to the beach. At the house, after receiving warm hugs from Alison, the kids thundered up to the bedroom to put on bathing suits.

“Are Poppy and the kids here?” Felicity asked.

“Not yet. They’ll arrive this afternoon.”

“Great. I’ll go up and help the kids get their suits on.” She turned to Noah.

“Want to come down for a swim?”

“Not now. Maybe later,” Noah said.

Oh, Lord, Felicity inwardly moaned.

“I’m going to sit on the deck and talk with David awhile,” Noah continued.

Felicity perked up. Good. This was good. David was without doubt the alpha male; it was a compliment to Noah that David was spending so much time with him.

“Hey, sis.” Jane strolled into the bathroom where Felicity was struggling to get Luke into his swim trunks. Alice stood on a short stool, admiring her braided hair.

“Hey, Auntie Jane, I’ve got sharks!” Luke pointed to his trunks.

“Cool,” Jane told him, and kissed his forehead.

“I’ve got mermaids,” Alice told Jane.

“You look like a mermaid,” Jane told her.

Felicity stood up to hug Jane. “I’m so glad you’re here!”

“Me, too, and you have no idea,” Jane said.

“Give me a hint,” Felicity said over her shoulder as she rubbed sunblock into her children’s faces and limbs.

“Ethan,” Jane said, and she winked.

“Wait till we get to the beach,” Felicity said. “We can talk without, um, little pitchers.”

    “I know what that means, Mom,” Alice said disdainfully. “You and Auntie Jane want to tell each other secrets.”