Page 39 of Sunset on the Solstice

“I do,” Rebecca said, laughing, her eyes on Shelby. “We love her very much.”

“You love her?” Billy asked, surprised.

Chad raised a hand, an offer of a high-five to Billy, but Billy just looked at it, as though he’d never given a high-five before. Chad let his hand drop down.

Shelby picked up her youngest daughter and held her against her chest. “You shouldn’t be here,” she said under her breath.

Vivian stepped away from the blanket, trying to give them space. So far, Shelby hadn’t put it together that Vivian was the reason they’d been able to come, which was good. Rebecca wanted to help her daughter manage her emotions. She wanted to keep things calm.

“We just want to talk,” Rebecca said. She stopped in the center of the stream and felt the water rush around her calves. It was cool and calming. It reminded her to breathe easier.

“You don’t want to talk,” Shelby said. “You want to tell me that I’ve done everything wrong.” There was a terrible jump in her voice.

“Honey, you haven’t done anything wrong,” Rebecca said.

Lily took another step toward her sister. Her cheeks were wet with tears. “Your children are so beautiful, Shelby,” she offered.

Shelby softened the slightest bit.

“Mom, who are they?” Billy asked. He went back to shore and scrambled up and away from them. His sister followed his lead, and they stood on the grass, dripping and looking at them.

“Five minutes of your time,” Rebecca said to Shelby. “Please?”

Shelby adjusted her toddler on her hip. She looked sticky and hot and burdened. “Come on,” she said, gesturing toward the picnic basket. “Do you want a snack?”

“We’re not hungry,” Chad said.

“You were always hungry, Chad,” Shelby said, offering the smallest of smiles. And then she said, “I got your invitation.”

Chad wiped the sweat from the back of his neck. “We really want you there.”

Shelby’s cheeks were red. Another beat passed. Rebecca continued across the stream, then got out, grateful for the grass between her toes. Lily and Chad followed her. Shelby remained on the blanket, her eyes widening. But there was no turning back.

“We’ll watch the kids,” Chad said, plopping down on the blanket. “You go talk.”

Shelby looked uncertain. Slowly, though, she put her toddler down beside Chad and whispered, “This is Evie. That’s Penelope, and that’s Billy.”

Their names were like music in Rebecca’s heart. “It’s beautiful to meet you, Billy, Penelope, and Evie,” she said.

“Who are you?” Billy demanded again.

Rebecca’s eyes danced to Shelby. Did she dare?

“This is your grandmother,” Shelby said finally. “You can call her Grandma.”

“Grandma?” Billy’s eyes widened. Rebecca wondered if he had any relationship with Jared’s mother, Monica. From the looks of things, Monica and Jim had shoved Shelby and Jared as far away from them as they could—away from Massachusetts, away from Harvard.

There simply wasn’t any love there, Rebecca knew. She’d sensed it the first time she’d met Monica and Jim. In fact, their love for their son was simply contractual. When Jared didn’t fulfill his duty—of graduating from Harvard, she guessed—they stopped loving him.

Rebecca knew that hadn’t been a good way to grow up. She knew that this was the root of Jared’s problem. Jim and Monica had raised him, and he didn’t know what real love looked like. But Shelby knew. She knew how to love. And Jared had swallowed her love up, leaving her empty and broken.

Rage bubbled in Rebecca’s stomach.

Shelby led Rebecca and Lily to a large oak tree about twenty feet away from where Chad, Vivian, and the kids remained. From here, they could hear Chad, already playing with them and making them laugh. They probably weren’t accustomed to men like Chad.

Shelby’s tone was icy, and she crossed her arms over her chest, as though she wanted to protect herself. “What are you doing here?”

Lily and Rebecca had rehearsed what they wanted to say. They’d googled the right language to use, especially when it came to battered women like Shelby. But in the moment, Rebecca panicked. She forgot all of their studying. She needed her daughter to know she was loved.