A Nantucket Wedding(90)

“What can I get you?” Alison asked.

“Oh, David knows. He always makes it exquisitely delicious.”

Everyone in the room seemed to be in some kind of state that rendered them incapable of speech. Honestly, Alison thought. She’s only human! As David left the room to prepare Esmeralda’s exquisite drink, Alison focused on Canny, who was sitting on Ethan’s lap.

“Hello, Canny. You and I have spoken on the phone several times when you were in school this past year, staying with your father in Vermont. Is it fun to be back in Lima?”

Canny was turning a ring around and around on her finger, and she kept her eyes on the ring. “I don’t know,” she said quietly.

“Of course you know, querido,” Esmeralda said. “You love it there with Mommy. And you have so many friends.”

“I miss my horse,” Canny mumbled.

Esmeralda laughed. “Ahh, horses!” With a wave of her hand, she dismissed that subject. She smiled at her sister-in-law. “Poppy, you are going to have another baby! Are you excited about this?”

Poppy put both hands on her belly protectively, as if warding off evil beams from Esmeralda. “Very.”

    Esmeralda lifted her gaze to Ethan’s face. “And, my darling, how are you?”

“Doing well,” Ethan answered, giving her a private smile.

Esmeralda stretched voluptuously. “Oh, I’m so tied up in knots from traveling. I wish I could have a nice long massage. Ethan, you were always so good at relaxing my muscles. Will you take me to your room and relax me, after I have my drink?” She aimed her gorgeous face at Alison. “Don’t be shocked, dear Alison. Ethan and I are still technically married. We simply haven’t gotten around to signing the divorce documents. So we can sleep together without offending anyone’s beliefs.”

Ethan winced. “Um, I’m sleeping on the foldout sofa. I mean the sofa you’re sitting on becomes a double bed.”

“How uncomfortable! It makes my poor back ache to even think of trying to sleep on such a thing.” Esmeralda looked around the room, her eyes like a hawk’s scanning for the weakest creature in the room.

Alison spoke up. “Esmeralda, you and Ethan can have our room. David and I will take the foldout bed.”

“No, that’s not right,” Jane cried. “Scott and I will move. Esmeralda can have our bed.”

“Don’t be silly,” Felicity says. “Scott has his arm in a cast. He shouldn’t have to sleep on a foldout bed.”

Everyone talked at once. Esmeralda sipped her drink and watched, like a cat licking her chops. After everyone in the room was babbling in confusion, Esmeralda said, “Please don’t trouble yourselves. I have a reservation at the White Elephant for me and Canny. I’ll need to conduct some business by email and text from my room. Maybe Canny can spend the day out here.”

The three little girls glanced at each other. They were stepping stones: Canny, nine, Daphne, eight, and Alice, seven. Alison’s stomach churned with nervousness for her granddaughter, who sat wide-eyed and tongue-tied. Daphne, of course, had met Canny before and played with her, and Felicity feared that the two older girls would bond into a smug little clique and leave Alice out.

    Daphne piped up. “I’ve got an idea. If Canny’s going to spend the day out here, why doesn’t she sleep with me and Alice in our room? Alice and I can squinch up together in one bed and Canny can have the other.”

Canny smiled. She had an adorable smile.

“Cool!” Alice said.

“Right!” Daphne clapped her hands and took charge. “Come on, Alice, let’s show Canny our room!”

Daphne reached out to take Alice’s hand and tug her, and with her other hand she grasped Canny’s wrist. The three girls, hand in hand, flew out of the room and into the hall and up the stairs, and all the way Daphne and Alice and Canny were giggling. Hunter and Luke, realizing they could escape from the adults, too, raced out of the room and up the stairs.

“How sweet,” Esmeralda cooed. She set her sights on Ethan. “That means you can come to my hotel with me, Ethan. That way you won’t have to sleep on a terrible foldout bed.”

Ethan stalled. “Oh, well, I don’t mind the foldout sofa, and…”

“You know you won’t get to spend any time with Canny tonight now that she’s with her two darling friends,” Esmeralda said.

It was like watching a tennis match, Alison thought, every head in the room flashing from Esmeralda to Ethan.

“Yes, well, that’s probably true…”

Alison interrupted. “Esmeralda, are you hungry? Would you like a sandwich? Some fruit?”

Esmeralda kept her eyes on Ethan. “No, thank you, Alison.”

“Tell me, Esmeralda,” David said, and his voice was pleasant but weighted with authority. “What are you working on now?”

The bronze beauty finally broke eye contact with Ethan. She smiled at David. “Ah, it is so exciting. Lima will host the 2019 Pan American games. Forty-one nations will compete. New buildings are underway, and this means jobs for many people. I’m coordinating efforts for the publicity of the games.”

“An enormous undertaking,” David said.

“Yes, that is true.” Esmeralda yawned and stretched slowly and sinuously, like a cat. “Please forgive me, but I’ve been traveling for hours. I need to go to bed.” She lifted one eyebrow at Ethan. “Coming?”