A Nantucket Wedding(67)
They had each other’s backs in their professions, as well. Staying up late into the night discussing problems at work, giving each other good advice and pointing out the blind spots. They’d flattered and charmed each other’s bosses at parties, they’d shared the effort of giving dinners at home for colleagues. They’d provided excellent sounding boards for each other’s creative thoughts, they’d cheered and drank champagne at celebrations and consoled one another with long talks deep into the night.
They were such good friends.
Never before had they come up against such a bump, a barrier, in the fluid river of their marriage. Their marriage was like a reliable, watertight craft that she had slammed into a rock, and she didn’t know if this vessel would split in two or somehow remain sound.
But she didn’t want to lose Scott. She saw that now; she felt it. She loved him and believed in his love for her.
“I’m out,” Jane said, tossing down her cards. “I’ve got to make a phone call.”
She left the table, not caring if Ethan watched her go.
In the privacy of her room, Jane tried Scott’s number.
No answer. She didn’t leave a message.
* * *
—
Sunday dawned hot and humid. After packing picnic lunches and coolers of cold drinks, the group headed to Coatue, the sandy peninsula of land with five points making five small coves. David sailed his catboat, which wasn’t big enough to take the entire group, so Patrick, who had handled David’s motorboat before, powered them through the harbor. Felicity worried that Noah would feel insulted because he hadn’t been asked to steer the motorboat and she sighed with relief when she saw Ethan hand Noah a lemonade and sit down next to him to talk.
It was, Felicity thought, a perfect summer day. They swam and ate and dozed in the sun. Jane led Alice and Luke on a beachcombing trek through the dunes, so both Felicity and Noah took a nap in the shade of the beach umbrellas.
They were all drowsy with heat and sunshine as they sailed back to the harbor, moored the boats, and drove through town to David’s house. Jane drove herself back to the airport to catch her plane back to New York, while Felicity ushered her children through showers and shampoos and into clean clothes. David drove the Wellingtons to their plane. Noah shook hands manfully with David and promised to come back soon, but once they were in line for boarding, Noah whipped out his phone and ignored his wife and children. That was all right, Felicity thought. At least he’d come to the island. And he’d enjoyed his time with David and Patrick and Ethan. It was possible Noah had been charmed by the island and Felicity’s blended family. It was possible that the golden glow of Nantucket would make Noah forget whatever pleasures Ingrid was offering.
* * *
—
Everyone was glad to be home. Felicity tucked her children into their own beds. She started to pull on one of the old Tshirts she slept in, but a thought occurred to her. Noah had been silent on the drive home, but she was certain he’d had a good time. He had seemed to get along very well with David. So Felicity put on a nightgown, a real nightgown instead of a T-shirt, short and lacy and alluring. She went down to the den to seduce her husband.
Noah was sitting on the sofa, not isolated in a chair. A good sign. Felicity curled up in the arm of the sofa, facing him.
“So, did you have a good weekend?” she asked.
“Anyone could have a good time staying at a multimillion-dollar rich boy’s summer castle.” Noah’s words spilled out in a bitter surge.
Felicity was stunned. “But, uh, didn’t you think that David was nice?”
Noah turned to face Felicity and he was angry. “David should be nice with all that money.”
“Well, Noah, I don’t think there’s a correlation between wealth and niceness. Look at Bernie Madoff. Look at—”
“My point exactly! These guys who own the world are nothing more than conspicuously consuming crooks!”
“David isn’t a croo—”
Noah interrupted her. “Of course he is! He’s raping the island, despoiling the natural beaches, sucking up fuel for his damned powerboat, not to mention the house, the damned beach house, has air-conditioning! And heat!”
“The family has always spent a lot of time on the island in the off-season,” Felicity explained. “They come for the Cranberry Festival, Thanksgiving, the Stroll, Christmas, Daffodil weekend—”
“All unnatural reasons to come to the island!” Noah rose from the sofa and paced the floor, slamming his fist into the palm of his hand.
“Well, Thanksgiving—”
“A man like that makes me want to vomit. Such a show-off, an egomaniac who doesn’t give a shit about nature unless it’s got a sticker he can put on his four-wheel drive vehicle! Felicity, I used to admire your mother. I thought she was a good woman, a smart woman, but now I think she’s just another pretty face who’s gotten her claws into a rich man!”
“How dare you!” Angered, Felicity stood up and blocked her husband’s pacing. “How dare you say that about my mother. She’s not a gold digger!”
“You’re blind if you can’t see it.”
“Noah, come on, you’re being irrational.”