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“What’s the plan?” Greta asked.
“They’re coming here,” Eloise explained. “I have a card table and chairs in the truck. We’ll sit out on the porch and eat pizza together.”
“It sounds perfect,” Greta said.
* * *
Two hours later, Harriet’s minivan appeared in the driveway. She waved from the front seat as the first of Eloise’s grandchildren popped out from the back. Margot carried a stack of pizzas, as her sister, Cassie, carried two liters of soda, one in each arm. Jack had a bottle of wine in one hand and adjusted a baseball hat on his head as Harriet brought up the rear.
Although she’d seen photographs, Eloise hadn’t yet met her grandchildren. As they approached her, Eloise’s throat tightened with fear, and she fumbled around her mind for something to say. For some reason, she didn’t want to be perceived as a “lame grandmother” during her very first try at being one. Then again, she was sixty-five, and they were young and cool and interesting. There was no way they wouldn’t perceive her as “lame.”
“Hello!” Eloise smiled warmly as they approached, crossing and uncrossing her arms.
“Hi, Mom.” Harriet hurried around her children to hug Eloise tightly. There on the front porch steps, she turned back to place her hand on each of her children’s heads as she introduced them. “This is Jack, my eldest. And this is Margot, and this is Cassie. Everyone, this is your grandmother.”
The three Thornburg children peered at Eloise curiously. One after another, they mounted the porch steps to hug her, and Eloise’s tears thickened with each hug.
“Goodness, it’s good to meet you,” Eloise breathed, stepping back to allow them past her to sit at the card table.
Before anyone else could speak, Herb’s car appeared in the driveway and parked alongside Harriet’s. He then popped out and waved, carrying a six-pack of beer in one hand as he ambled easily toward them. Eloise’s heart flipped over at the sight of him.
“Grandpa! Hi!” Eloise’s grandchildren hurried to their feet to hug him, and Eloise was warmed by the love they had for this wonderful man.
Herb hugged Harriet next, then turned to smile brightly at Eloise. “There she is,” Herb said, as though he saw her every day. “I brought a six-pack.”
“Sign me up,” Eloise said with a smile as she followed Herb into the kitchen, where he placed four in the fridge and popped the top of two. He passed one beer to her, and they clinked them together, holding one another’s gaze.
“I’m terrified of them,” Eloise said under her breath.
Herb laughed openly. “You shouldn’t be. They’re your grandchildren.”
“I know that,” Eloise said. “But I have no idea how to talk to them. I’m terrified they’ll think I’m boring or not worthy or…”
Herb placed his hand on Eloise’s shoulder. “You shouldn’t think like that. If there’s one thing I know about my grandchildren— I mean, our grandchildren— it’s that they’re kind, good-natured, and lovely people. They’re so curious about you, about your life since you left Nantucket. Just be honest with them, and they’ll be honest with you.”
“Dad? Mom? The pizza’s getting cold!” Harriet opened the porch door and waved them both back.
Eloise sat between Herb and Harriet and watched as Jack piled her paper plate with pepperoni and vegetarian pizza slices.
“We’ll have to go shopping for essentials,” Harriet said to Eloise.
“Goodness, yes. I just signed the paperwork yesterday. I still need so many things!”
“Do you have a bed?” Harriet asked.
“I have a bed,” Eloise affirmed. “But that’s about it. I still need plates. A kitchen table. Forks!”
Her grandchildren laughed gently.
“Mom loves shopping for all that stuff,” Margot explained, casting Harriet a smile.
“Mom loves shopping, period,” Jack affirmed.
“That’s funny,” Eloise said. “I was never so keen on it.”
“We’ll make it fun,” Harriet assured her. “This is your first place on your own in Nantucket! You need to make it your own.”
Over the next two hours, Eloise found herself caught in a wonderful ecosystem of family conversation. Margot and Cassie were both incredibly dear, chatting easily about Margot’s senior year of high school and Cassie’s final few weeks of her sophomore year. Jack and Herb were in business together, apparently, taking tourists out for fishing cruises, which was a job they both spoke of poetically.
