Ada explained that she was meeting a few friends at the wine bar up the road.
“Not those Salt Sisters,” Marilyn said.
“The very ones.” Ada nodded.
Marilyn grumbled and returned her attention to the keys. She didn’t understand why anyone needed so many friends. Butnow that Katrina had invited Ada to join the Salt Sisters for the better part of a year and a half, and now that Ada had ditched therapy altogether, she’d decided it was time. She might as well meet them and see what happened. She might as well open her heart to change.
It had only been wonderful so far.
Ada walked up the porch steps and found herself back at the wine bar, where, once upon a time, she’d seen Nick Willis drinking alone. Her heart thudded with the memory of him. It had been nearly two years since she’d seen him, but the letters had continued, becoming more of an art project than anything else. She’d kept all of them, of course. She was thinking she’d eventually copy them out and email the text back to him, just in case he wanted a wonderful record of where he’d been and what he’d been thinking. He’d been having one adventure after another.
Why did he still think of her?
When Ada mounted the steps, she found that Katrina, Hilary Salt, Tina Steiner, and Rose Carlson were already there. Seeing her, they stood and greeted her happily.
“Girls, this is Ada Wagner,” Katrina said, giving Ada a nervous smile. They’d met only a handful of times over the years, and their initial relationship, as therapist and patient, had burned away. They were two people who the same confused man had burned. It united them.
“Ada,” Hilary Salt said as she sat across from her, gripping the wine menu. “We’ve heard so much about you.”
“I’ve heard so much about all of you,” Ada said.
Bottles of wine were brought to the table, and Ada fell into the flow of the women’s conversations, her chest warming with the nourishment of how much they cared for one another. She wondered if, sometime soon, she’d find herself sharing her innermost secrets with them. She wondered if she’d call them when she was frightened, or excited, or confused. After just two years with the Salt Sisters, it was as if Katrina was a sister to them, rather than just a friend. Ada had always wanted a sister.
“Ada,” Rose said, after all the Salt Sisters had gathered around the table, “we’re dying to know all about you. If you want to share.”
Ada sniffed into a nervous laugh and swirled her wine in her glass. “I always found it really difficult to talk about myself.”
The Salt Sisters laughed and exchanged knowing smiles.
“We know how that goes,” Stella said.
“We’ve all had to get used to it,” Hilary affirmed. “But once you start, it’s like a muscle.”
“You have to strengthen it,” Tina agreed.
Ada considered telling them that her heart had broken into a thousand pieces, first because of opera and second because of her husband’s affair. She’d lost herself and found herself more times than she could count and was on a journey of self-discovery.
But before she could form the words, there was a creak on the porch staircase. The Salt Sisters twitched around to find a handsome man with a healthy tan, adjusting the sleeves of his button-down and talking in a low voice to a young woman who looked to be his daughter.
It was Nick Willis.
Ada’s heart stopped.
Nick spotted her the same moment she did. He stopped talking and gazed at her, mystified. Nobody spoke, although the Salt Sisters were clearly burning with curiosity, eager to knowwho this man was and what was going on. Carleigh, too, looked mystified.
Before anyone could say anything, Nick pulled an envelope from his back pants’ pocket and flicked it in the air between them. Ada could see it written on the front: Ada Wagner. It was a letter he hadn’t yet sent.
But he was here! Why was he here? Was his journey over?
Rather than make a big fuss with his daughter present, Nick set the envelope down in front of Ada at the table and tipped an invisible hat to the Salt Sisters. “Evening, ladies,” he said. “I’m here with my daughter. She just turned twenty-one, if you can believe it. I’m getting old.”
The Salt Sisters called out to Carleigh, saying, “Happy birthday, honey!”
Carleigh blushed and waved and followed her dad around the corner, where, Ada guessed, they would have a small glass of wine together and talk about Carleigh’s school and Nick’s travels. She knew from Nick’s letters that they’d spent a great deal of time together over the years, with Carleigh visiting him between school semesters, or Nick dipping into Yale to say hello. But Nick hadn’t mentioned anything about coming to Nantucket.
Before the Salt Sisters could pester Ada about the envelope, she got to her feet and went to the wine bar bathroom. Inside the stall, she opened the letter and, heart pounding, read:
I’m writing this on the island where we met.
