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“My nerves were continually shredded,” Jenna confessed.
Mack was staring at her mother. “You went skinny dipping? Like, no clothes?”
“Yes.”
“And you jumped off the Jaws Bridge? You always tell me not to do that!”
“Which makes me a raging hypocrite, I know. My only excuse is that I have firsthand knowledge of how much trouble teenagers can get themselves into. There’s a part of your brain that doesn’t make great decisions.”
“Yeah,” Mack muttered, “I think I already found that part.”
Nancy looked stunned. “I can’t believe I got it so wrong.”
“I wasn’t exactly a saint,” Jenna said. “I was pretty accident-prone. The paint incident really was me.”
“And the goat,” Lauren said.
Jenna frowned. “The goat was you. You felt sorry for it. You thought it should be liberated from that post where it was teth
ered all day.”
Mack choked. “The story about the sisters and the goat is true? I thought it was made-up?”
“I thought it was made-up, too.” Nancy shook her head. “I can’t believe I didn’t know this about my own daughter.”
“Mothers never know everything about their daughters,” Mack said kindly. “Don’t beat yourself up, Grams. And there are some things you’re better off not knowing.”
Was that true?
Jenna glanced at Greg, but he wasn’t looking at her.
She had a feeling he didn’t agree.
23
Nancy
Purge: to get rid of undesirable things
“Thank you for coming with me.” Nancy stood on the overgrown path in front of the Sail Loft.
She really didn’t want to be here.
Behind her she could hear the sea. Now, in March, the unloved garden was a wilderness, but she could see the possibilities.
“It’s what friends are for. I can’t believe you haven’t been here in five years, and I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.” Alice put her hand on Nancy’s arm.
“After Tom died something changed for me. I suppose I turned away from the life I had when he was alive.”
“I understand. You don’t have to go inside, Nancy. Tell them you don’t want to. Come and live with me instead.”
That was out of the question, but the suggestion gave her the strength she needed. “I have to do this. Lauren is right, it makes sense.”
“Not if it upsets you.”
How much should she say? “If it means I don’t have to sell The Captain’s House, then it’s worth it.” Why hadn’t she considered this option herself? Because she was a coward. “My daughters are smart, both of them.”
And brave.
