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“I suppose you think it’s something I need to make peace with,” Esme breathed. “For everything, there is a season. A time to live. A time to die. And a time to close down the Sutton Book Club.”
“No!” Rebecca cried.
Esme lifted her eyes, surprised.
“I mean, there has to be a way we can raise that money,” Rebecca continued. “Valerie could probably throw the best party this island has ever seen. A fundraising event that could generate enough money to pay off your debts and keep the Sutton Book Club in business for many years to come.”
Valerie gave Rebecca a panicked look. Esme turned to look at Valerie. “Could you really, Valerie?”
Valerie stuttered. “I don’t know.” But after another pause, she added, “I suppose I’ve planned fundraisers like that before. I don’t know why I couldn’t do it again.”
“We’ll brainstorm,” Rebecca affirmed. “By the end of the week, we’ll have a plan of attack. Maybe we can talk to the people you owe money to and get a small extension.”
Esme furrowed her brow. “Larry repeatedly asked for an extension. I don’t know how we thought we would ever make it work.”
“But this time, we can show these people that we have a way to get the money,” Rebecca explained even though she wasn’t sure she believed in the plan herself.
Bethany nodded along with Rebecca, though her eyes were heavy with doubt. “It sounds great,” she said.
Not long after the reading group began, Rebecca decided to leave the Sutton Book Club to go for a walk. The following evening was the meal she planned to cook for Ben and Doug, and she wanted to collect ideas for the kind of meal neither of them had experienced before. After she stepped out onto the front porch and took a breath of fresh air, Valerie stepped out onto the porch after her, her eyes fiery.
“Rebecca,” she hissed. “How do you expect me to raise one hundred thousand dollars in just a couple of months?”
Bethany appeared in the doorway after that. She joined her sisters on the porch and shut the door behind her, grimacing.
“You don’t think it’s possible?” Rebecca asked.
Valerie grimaced. “I just don’t want to get Mom’s hopes up. Besides, I mean, even if I could generate that income over the summer, what about after that? The expenses on Nantucket have skyrocketed over the years.”
Rebecca’s stomach twisted. “Don’t you think we owe it to Mom to try?”
Bethany and Valerie were wordless. Disheartened, Rebecca turned on her heel and hurried down the steps. Her thoughts burned with fears and ideas and uncertainties. For reasons she couldn’t fully understand, she ached to see Ben again. She wanted to prove to him how worthy he was in her eyes through the food she cooked for him. Yes, the rest of the world had given up on him and Doug—but Rebecca thought she understood the depths of his loneliness and fears.
“Rebecca…” Bethany staggered behind her.
Rebecca turned to glare at her sisters. After a long pause, she said, “My life has gone off the rails. I have no husband and no restaurant, and my children are finding ways to grow up without me. I need to stay here. I need to help Mom. But neither of you are required to do that. Okay?”
Rebecca twisted back around and continued marching along downtown Nantucket's streets. She passed bouncing tourists, people who sat in the sun as they brunched, beautiful hotels in old-world colonials, and pretty girls in summer dresses. All the while, Bethany and Valerie followed her until she reached the harbor. There, she swung her arms over the warm railing and peered out at the sailboats as they shifted against the docks. Bethany and Valerie sidled up beside her. For a long time, no one spoke.
“Do you ever wonder what happened to Dad’s boat?” Rebecca asked softly.
Valerie made a strange noise in her throat.
“The Esme?” Bethany asked. “I’m sure Bree didn’t let him take that with him.”
“What do you remember about Bree?” Rebecca asked.
Bethany groaned. “She was quite a bit younger than him, right? Late twenties or early thirties?”
“Can you imagine being that young now?” Valerie shook her head.
“She came over a few times for dinner,” Rebecca said. “I assume that was before their affair started.”
“I refuse to believe their affair started before Joel got sick,” Bethany affirmed. “It’s for my own mental health.”
“Yeah. Me too.” Rebecca watched as a young man carried his little girl along the docks. Her blond locks sparkled in the sun. “Bree seemed so magical to me back then. She was young and pretty, and she hadn’t had children or gotten married, like every other woman I knew.”
“Strange to think she must be around sixty by now,” Valerie said.
