An Invincible Summer (Wyndham Beach #1)(76)
“I hope you’re right.”
Maggie helped Grace bring the groceries into the house, then unloaded the bags while Grace went to join Natalie and Daisy on the beach. She began to organize dinner—steaks to go on the grill, a big salad, oven-roasted potato wedges, and fresh green beans. She’d finished the salad, cut the potatoes and tossed them in olive oil and herbs, and trimmed the green beans, and her daughters still hadn’t returned. Well, maybe Natalie needed to unload to her sister, she thought as she opened a box of crackers and arranged them on a platter. I guess that’s what sisters are for.
Suddenly feeling very sorry for herself that she and Sarah never had those moments to share as adults, she poured a glass of wine and let the melancholy roll through her before tossing it off and reminding herself she had nothing to feel sad about. Her daughters were both here with her—Natalie’s snit aside—and her one and only grandchild was here, and they were all healthy and reasonably happy.
That had been her last thought before Natalie, Grace, and Daisy came in through the front door and one of them went dashing up the stairs to the second floor.
“Was that Grace I saw running upstairs?” Maggie asked when Natalie followed Daisy into the kitchen.
“Well, there are only two of us, and I’m here, so good guess.” Natalie walked past her mother and went straight to the island, where Maggie had set out the wine goblets. Pouring herself a glass of merlot, she took a long sip.
“Excuse me?” Maggie set her glass on the counter. “Are you speaking to me in that tone?”
Natalie made a pretense of looking around the room as if searching for someone else. “Do you see anyone else?”
“What in the name of God is going on with you?”
“I don’t feel like talking about it right now.” Natalie helped Daisy onto one of the island’s barstools.
“And I don’t feel like being the target of your rudeness. Whatever it is that’s gotten under your skin, we can talk it over, Nat.”
“Maybe we should have had that talk long ago, Mom.” Natalie opened the refrigerator, took out a block of cheese, and began to thinly slice it. She added the cheese, piece by piece, onto the platter where Maggie had placed the crackers.
“If you’re going to keep poking at me, you might as well just come out and say whatever is on your mind.”
Natalie raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment.
“Natalie, I have no idea what this is about.”
“Oh, really? You can’t think of one thing . . .” She bit her lip and went silent.
“Nana, can I put the grapes on the plate with the cheese?” Daisy knelt on the seat and, leaning on the island, reached for the bowl of fruit, her little hands hovering over the cluster of green grapes.
“Of course, sweetie. Thank you for being such a good helper girl.”
Oblivious to the drama around her, Daisy beamed and nodded. “I am a good helper. I help Miss Julie at school every day.”
Maggie leaned next to Daisy and ran a hand over the girl’s head. “I’m sure you do.”
To Natalie, she said, “No, I cannot think of one thing that would excuse your behavior. Now go upstairs and get your sister, and let’s get dinner on the table. See if we can get through a meal without you biting my head off.”
Natalie put her glass down with more force than necessary, left the room, and stomped up the steps to the second floor.
Maggie took a deep breath and turned her attention to her granddaughter. “Are you hungry, Daisy?”
“I am very hungry, Nana.” Daisy picked the grapes off their stems one by one and put them onto the cheese plate, chatting away about the beach and the birds they saw and the shells she found.
All the while, Maggie fought off the feeling of dread that something terrible was about to happen, but she was at a loss to understand what, or why.
Grace and Natalie came downstairs looking very much like conspirators, Natalie’s jaw set and Grace’s eyes rimmed in red. Maggie decided to let it ride for the time being. Her daughters took their glasses and a bottle of wine and the cheese platter out to the deck, leaving Maggie to prepare dinner on her own, which she normally wouldn’t have minded. But she had the sense their turning their backs on her was a joint protest, and she was already weary of trying to figure out what was at the bottom of it. She slipped a CD into the player on the counter and filled the room with music, dancing with Daisy between putting the potatoes in the oven and getting the steaks ready to grill. For a few moments, she forgot about Natalie and whatever it was that had her in such a mood.
When dinner was ready, Maggie sent Daisy out to the deck to bring the others to the table. A minute later, Daisy came back inside and announced her mommy and Aunt Gracie wanted to eat on the deck.
“Well, then, go tell your mommy and your aunt Grace they can set the table out there.”
Maggie got out the plates, salad bowls, flatware, and napkins and placed them on the counter. She arranged the potatoes and steaks on serving platters and slid the green beans into a bowl. When Natalie, Grace, and Daisy came in, she merely pointed to the items that had to be carried outside. They each grabbed what they could, and moments later they were seated at the round table. Maggie’s hopes for a fun, carefree, lively dinner together disappeared the second she realized not only was Natalie avoiding addressing or even looking at her, but Grace had adopted her sister’s attitude. Only Daisy’s constant chatter kept the meal from being more like a wake than a family dinner.