“She’s not his girlfriend.” Augusta rolled her eyes. Caroline Lash was probably a nice person, but as far as Augusta was concerned, she was a peripheral character. Sure, Caroline seemed content to follow Van around in the woods listening to him talk about mushrooms, and he probably liked the attention, but compared to his lifelong love for Bailey, Caroline Lash was a fling.
They pulled into the parking lot at the 1640 Hart House and Colin came around to open Augusta’s door, taking her hand as they walked down the grassy path. The Hart House was a Greenhead institution, built back with the arrival of the Puritans. First a family home, it then became an inn and tavern, the place James Cagney or Eleanor Roosevelt would stay in the summer. Augusta loved it there, but even she recognized that it was hilariously New England, full of self-important plaques and people eating pot roast in low-ceilinged rooms where women were once accused of witchcraft.
As the hostess led them down the narrow hall to their table, Augusta smiling hello to various acquaintances along the bar, she spotted her father and his second wife sitting in the Keeper’s Room, the little brown dining room with braided rugs and rickety wooden chairs.
Augusta quickly ducked in to kiss her father on the cheek. “Hi, Daddy, hi, Samantha.”
“Augusta, I love your dress.” Samantha had a husky smoker’s voice that always caught her by surprise. “How much was it?” Samantha was forty-two, only six years older than Augusta, and had the social skills of a chatbot.
“Oh, ha, I’m not sure,” Augusta hedged awkwardly.
“Bring the kids by some weekend,” George suggested. “Let’s get everyone on the boat.”
They wouldn’t—her father liked the idea of grandchildren far better than actual grandchildren—but Augusta pretended she would and waved goodbye, following the dark hallway down to the tavern.
Far in thebackof the restaurant, by the brick fireplace, was a table set for six. Van and Bailey sat at their places, light from the candles in hurricane lamps dancing on their faces, but between them were two uninvited guests: Caroline Lash and a ridiculously handsome stranger. Colin caught her eye and gave her a panicked look.
“Augusta!” Bailey jumped up. She was wearing a white dress and her hair was so artfully tousled it almost looked like she’d spent a day at the beach instead of an hour with a Dyson Airwrap. “Danny O. was at the bar! He’s visiting his parents this week!”
Now that she heard his name Augusta did sort of remember the handsome stranger. Danny had been a few grades older than them, and he’d gone to high school at Hamilton-Wenham. Bailey had hooked up with him in a boat on a trailer parked in the driveway at a house party their freshman year.
Augusta tried to hide her annoyance as she took her seat between Colin and Van. When the server came around to take drink orders she studied Caroline. She was wearing some kind of vintage sundress and hardly any makeup. She looked twenty-two. Why was she there? Had Van invited her, or had she insisted on coming along?
“So, Danny, where are you living these days?” tried Colin.
“Miami.” Danny had a dimple in the middle of his chin that made Augusta think of Superman. “The bank sent me down there to helpopen the office and I was only supposed to stay a year, but I met a girl and it turned into five.”
“Oh, you have a girlfriend?” Augusta perked up.
“Ha, no.” Danny shook his head. “We broke up this fall. She wouldn’t stop going into my laptop to read my emails.”
“Yikes.” Colin looked at him wide-eyed. “She had jealousy issues?”
“No, way worse. She was embezzling from my clients.”
“Oh, shit.” Bailey covered her mouth and Augusta laughed in spite of her bad mood.
They ordered wedgesaladswith bacon, artichoke dip with toasted bread, and steaks, Augusta’s medium rare. Bailey and Danny flirted and reminisced, Van told an elaborate story about a seal that had beached itself at Crane’s, and Augusta continued to surreptitiously observe Caroline. Did she know about Van and Bailey’s history, or did she think the pregnancy was from a onetime thing? Was she serious about Van, or was he just someone to date while she was in town? Augusta hated that Van was dating anyone. She didn’t need him to be a monk forever, but he could at least stay single until Bailey had the baby, just to see how it might go between them. It made her question Van’s priorities, made her wonder if he was as “good” as they had always assumed. She knocked back her cocktail and signaled for Colin to pour her a glass of red wine.
“Do you girls still hang out with Fran Gianopoulos?” Danny asked.
“Of course.” Bailey nodded. “I saw her this morning.”
“Her brothers were crazy in school.”
“Oh, they absolutely still are.”
“Some of my buddies went to Vegas with them a couple years ago and Damien rolled in with two suitcases, one full of cash and onecompletely empty. He left with both full of cash and was banned for life from the MGM Grand.”
“I can’t decide if Fran’s brothers are Mensa-level geniuses or total freaking morons.”
“It’s a thin line,” chimed in Caroline. “Especially among the crypto-bro types.”
“Right? They either become billionaires or go to prison.”
“Van,” Augusta interrupted. She was annoyed at Van and, she realized, a little bit buzzed. “Have you told Caroline about the time you were arrested?”
Bailey snorted and Van’s ears turned pink. “No…”
