Oh, no!Zoey pressed her napkin to her mouth to stifle a gasp.Mark did it—he wore Aunt Ivy down.She dropped her hand flat against the table, steeling herself for her aunt to tell her she was moving into an assisted living facility. “You didn’t want to accept what?”
“I loved my sister-in-law, but now that she’s gone…” Ivy bit her bottom lip and shook her head, her eyes filling with tears.
Zoey waited a moment before prompting, “Now that she’s gone, you want to…”
“To make another change,” Ivy confirmed. “And I hope you won’t be too disappointed in me.”
No, but Iamfurious at Mark.Zoey took a sip of ice water to dilute the bitter taste in her mouth before she could say, “Aunt Ivy, it’syourlife andyourhouse—so as long as it’syourchoice, I’ll support whatever you do.”
“Oh, I am so relieved to hear that.” Blinking away her tears, she patted Zoey’s hand. “Because now that the new range is installed, it makes the rest of the kitchen look so… It’sunsightlyby comparison. I don’t even like to dine in there any longer. I feel terrible saying that because I know how much thought Sylvia put into designing the room. But I think if we’d had to replace the stove while she was here and she saw how mismatched the new one was with everything else, she’d want to make additional updates, too. Don’t you think so?”
“Yes, I do,” Zoey agreed matter-of-factly even though she could hardly contain her glee that she’d been wrong that her aunt had given in to Mark about moving. And they could get Ivy involved with the minutiae of planning the remodel just as Ivy had involved Sylvia after her son, Marcus Jr., moved to Boston. “What would you like to change? The cupboards? The countertops? The fridge?”
“All of it. Everything but the kitchen sink, as the saying goes.” Ivy chortled. “Although, I’d change that, too, if I could.”
“Youcan, Aunt Ivy. I’ll show you some examples of sinks online. This will be fun!”
“We’ll have to get the Armstrong boy to do the work. I wouldn’t want anyone else to do it.”
“The Armstrong boy?” Zoey teased, “You mean Aidan?”
“Right. Aidan,” her aunt answered sincerely. “He’s such a fine craftsman.”
Zoey was gripped by momentary apprehension. Had Ivy been calling Nickthe Armstrong boybecause she couldn’t keep him and his son straight in her mind?It’s no big deal,she convinced herself.They look like twins. I used to get Erik’s sisters’ names mixed up, too. I’m overthinking it because of Mark’s comments.
Then it occurred to her that Mark would have a conniption if he knew Ivy was going forward with the remodel without his input. But with any luck, by the time he visited Hope Haven next, the remodel would be completed and it would be too late for him to try to interfere.
* * *
On Sunday, Nick presented Ivy with a tall bottle in a wine tote. It turned out to be gourmet extra-virgin olive oil from Sicily. Although the teenagers were still outside, he confided softly, “I would have brought wine but… I didn’t know if that would be appropriate.” Zoey wasn’t sure what he meant by that but she figured it had something to do with Aidan’s stepfather being an alcoholic.
“It’s a lovely gift, Nicholas. Thank you,” Ivy said and Zoey was relieved to notice she had no difficulty with his name.
Then he handed Zoey a plain white paper bag. She peeked inside: it contained a quart of choco-cran ice cream. Before she could thank him, Aidan came in with the other kids. “Hello, Mrs. Cartwright. Hi Zoey. Special delivery.” He held up another white bag. It held a second quart but this time it was strawberry ice cream.
Zoey couldn’t stop smiling; not only did Nick remember her favorite flavor, but somehow he knew and remembered her aunt’s, as well.How could I have ever thought he and Mark were two of a kind?she asked herself.Mark doesn’t even remember the name of Aunt Ivy’s heart condition.
Gabi came downstairs just then and introduced Amy and Connor, who had gotten a ride with Nick and Aidan. It took a second for Zoey to recognize Connor as the boy who gave her niece a tour on the first day of school. He seemed self-conscious, as if he couldn’t decide where to stand and he kept pushing his glasses up on his nose. By contrast, Amy made herself right at home, plunking into a chair, cuddling Moby to her chest and blathering merrily to whoever made eye contact with her, including the cat. Connor chuckled at everything she said, so Zoey couldn’t tell whether he was interested in or going out with her, or if he was just nervous.
After serving cold drinks, Ivy chased everyone except for Zoey out of the kitchen so they could put the finishing touches on supper. Aidan had brought the croquet set down from the attic while he was waiting for his father to return on the day Zoey injured herself, so Gabi and Amy challenged Aidan and Connor to a game and Nick watched them play until Zoey summoned them back inside.
In-between lively conversation and good-natured banter, the seven of them polished off both pans of lasagna; to Ivy’s delight even Gabi had a second helping. Whether it was because she was enjoying all the youthful energy in the house, because Nick had been so thoughtful or because her aunt seemed more vivacious than she’d been all week, Zoey didn’t want the festive occasion to end and their guests to leave.
So she was glad that when they finished eating, Amy asked if the teenagers could go up on the widow’s walk. Ivy told them they were welcome to, but Gabi hesitated. “Let’s go to the beach instead.”
“Why don’t you want to go to the widow’s walk? Are you worried because I told you I saw a couple of gigantic spiders in the attic the other day?” Aidan heckled her.
“Spiders?” Connor ran his palm over the back of his head as if he was smoothing down a cowlick. “I’m not going up there.”
“What’s the matter? You afraid they might build a nest in your hair?” Aidan razzed him.
“I’mnot afraid,” Amy boasted. “I’ll go with you, Aidan.”
“I’m not afraid, either,” Gabi scoffed. “You sure you don’t want to come, Connor?”
“No. I mean yeah. I don’t want to go. Spiders freak me out,” he admitted, which, in an ironic way, struck Zoey as a brave thing to do.
While the other three went up to the roof, Connor remained in the dining room with the adults. Beneath the table, he jiggled his leg so fiercely that Zoey felt queasy from the vibrations. In an attempt to quell his anxiety and simultaneously get more information about her niece’s social life, she asked, “How do you and Gabi know each other, Connor?”
