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Anna’s eyes widened. She turned back to watch the couple, this new information sizzling in her mind. In her mind’s eye, she could just about see them as two teenagers, him handsome and broad-shouldered, and she petite and bright-eyed.Where had all that time gone?
“Do you think Eloise is happy to see him again?” Anna asked.
“I think he’s her ghost,” Greta breathed. She then tapped Anna’s shoulder and said, “Let’s keep going, honey. I shouldn’t stare.”
Anna followed Grandma Greta back into the throng of awaiting Copperfields, many of whom hadn’t realized what the holdup was.
“All right. Let’s go,” Grandma Greta hollered at the group, beckoning for them to follow as they traced the last of the route to Uncle Andy’s Brasserie, which sold a mix of French and American cuisine.
The brasserie had put several tables together to ensure that the entire Copperfield clan could sit together. Anna grabbed a seat toward the end, between Scarlet and her mother, and watched Eloise out of the corner of her eye as she appeared and sat near Greta at the far end of the table. Eloise was white as a sheet, as though that man really had been a ghost. When the server came to take her order, she asked for a glass of wine, and she sounded as though she really, really needed it.
“You really should come today,” Scarlet urged Anna, interrupting her reverie. “I just met these guys on the island, and they’re really cool.”
“I really don’t want to meet guys,” Anna said softly, her eyes still on her menu.
“They aren’t creepy guys,” Scarlet assured her. “They’ve shown me a lot of the island so far. Apparently, the Copperfield name is sort of big around here, and they’re glad to get to know this next generation. That means us.” She wagged her eyebrows playfully.
Anna sighed, genuinely unsure if she had it in her to socialize. Then again, she’d had a wonderful day— she’d interviewed Harriet for a new article, gotten to the bottom of what had happened with Eloise, and spent a delirious hour with her family at a parade.Why couldn’t she cap the day with a nice, normal party?Perhaps doing nice, normal things was the only way to get through this.
After they ate, Anna, Scarlet, Ivy, James, and Danny said goodbye to their family and struck out for the beach on the other side of the island, where younger islanders frequently gathered for barbecues and beach parties. Throughout the drive, Scarlet, Danny, Ivy, and James laughed together and talked about the previous party they’d attended, when, apparently, Danny had drunk one too many beers and fallen asleep near the bonfire.
“Your mom would kill me if she knew,” Scarlet said with a sigh. “But you’re almost a high school graduate, which means you’re off to college. I think it’s important you start to learn how to take care of yourself.”
Scarlet then turned a sharp eye to Anna, who sat in the front seat as she drove. “I watch James like a hawk, though. He’s only sixteen!”
James sighed from the backseat. “I can’t hide anything from her.”
Anna felt wrapped up in her cousins’ joys and personal stories and soon heard her own laughter filling the air. When they reached the beach, Scarlet stopped the engine and hurried around the back to grab a twelve-pack of beer. Scarlet then led the charge to the beach party, where it looked like thirty to forty young islanders stood around a bonfire as springtime winds ripped into their coats.
“When the sun comes out, Nantucketers don’t wait around for the temperature to go up,” Scarlet said. “I appreciate their bravery.”
A few of the guys Anna had seen chatting with Scarlet earlier waved from the other side of the bonfire. One of them leaped up to help Scarlet take the beers from the container.
“This is my cousin, Anna,” Scarlet said with a smile. “I was telling you about her?”
The guy was around Anna’s age, maybe a bit older, with a lopsided smile. “Hey! I’m Jack Thornburg.”
“Nice to meet you. That last name… Is your mother Harriet?” Anna asked.
Jack laughed. “That’s my mom, the queen of the Nantucket Daffodil Festival.”
“No way,” Anna said. “I just interviewed her this morning.”
Jack tilted his head. “Interviewed her? For what?”
Anna blushed, feeling self-conscious about her career— which was hardly off to any grand start. “I work as a travel writer, sometimes,” she said. “And I wanted to write a piece about the Nantucket Daffodil Festival.”
“Ah. Yeah. Mom mentioned that,” Jack said. “She got really nervous over coffee this morning, wondering if she was going to come across dumb.”
“She would never come across like that,” Anna said.
“I told her that.” Jack palmed the back of his neck, then said, “You’re new to the island, yeah?”
“Hey, Anna.” Scarlet passed her a can of beer, which Anna cracked, not knowing what else to do.
“Yeah. I’m new.” Anna sipped her beer and smiled. “But I guess it’s an okay place to live? At least for a little while?”
“I was born here,” Jack said. “I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
