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“There she is. My darling daughter.” Richard reached sold ground first and hugged Amanda, who, when she closed her eyes, allowed herself to dip into childhood memories. For so many years, she’d felt completely loved and protected by her father. “It’s your wedding day!” Richard said as the hug broke. “Can you believe it?”
Amanda laughed. “Let’s see if this one goes better than the last.”
“It will,” Richard assured her. “Sam is a tremendous young man.”
After Richard stepped back, Penelope came forward with a perfumed hug and shrieked about how excited she was to see Amanda’s wedding dress. “You did buy a new one, didn’t you? You didn’t decide to wear the old one…”
Amanda bristled at the question.Who asked something like that?“I have a new one,” Amanda said, trying to be nice. “I think I like it even more than the last one. It suits me better.”
Jake and Kristen came next, trying to wrangle their toddler and two five-year-old kids, who called Amanda’s name and wrapped their arms around her legs. Jake hugged her from the side and said, “I hope you don’t mind that I brought the whole circus with me?”
Just then, a car horn beeped from behind Amanda, and she whirled around to see Susan peering out of the front window of her car.
“Grandma!” The five-year-olds called her name and hurried toward her, then leaped on her when she got out of the car. Susan was ecstatic.
“There you are, my little love bugs!” Susan knelt to hug both of them close, and Amanda allowed herself a moment of nostalgia and unbridled joy at the sight of her beautiful, youthful mother, who had taken to the grandmother role so easily.
Susan held her grandchildren’s hands and guided them back to the rest of the family, where she hugged Jake and Kristen and greeted Richard and Penelope with happy eyes. She seemed unable to feel resentment toward them, not this deep into her own love story with Scott.
“Welcome back to Martha’s Vineyard,” she said. “Where are you staying?”
“We’re at the Aquinnah,” Richard explained. “Pen and I rented a swanky convertible for the occasion.” He nodded toward the car rental area on the other side of the parking lot as Penelope raised her chin, clearly nervous in the middle of Richard’s first family.
“Isn’t that nice,” Susan said. “We’re staying at the Aquinnah tomorrow night, and that’s it. Jake? Kristen? You guys ready to load up and come back with me?”
Kristen raised her fist excitedly, grateful to have a bit of help with the children. Amanda waved goodbye to Richard and Penelope, then helped Jake and Kristen with their suitcases and their children, then leaped into the back seat as Jake sat up front.
“Wow, it’s busy,” Jake said, commenting on the swarms of tourists around the docks, all dressed in summer dresses and linen pants and bright button-downs, many with hats on their heads.
“Tourist season is off to a brilliant start,” Susan explained. “The Sunrise Cove is fully booked for the rest of the summer. Of course, much of that is due to Sam, my soon-to-be son-in-law, and his incredible abilities with social media.”
“You must be glad you stopped your work at the hotel and returned to law,” Kristen said.
Susan laughed. “We all help out at the Sunrise Cove when we can. But I have to admit. I wasn’t made for hospitality, at least not full-time. My cousin Kelli just re-opened the Aquinnah Cliffside Overlook Hotel, where the wedding will be tomorrow, and I can tell she’s up to her ears in worries and stress.”
“I think she’ll get through it with flying colors,” Amanda said.
“I hope you’re right,” Susan said, her voice heavy with doubt.
“Uh oh. I know that tone,” Jake teased their mother. “Mom’s worried about the wedding!”
“I’m not,” Susan said. “It’s just that when we asked Kelli about having the wedding here, she said the hotel would be opened already in March or April. We figured that all the kinks of the place would be worked out by the time Amanda’s wedding took place. Instead, it’s only been six days since they opened the doors!”
“And have there been many problems?” Jake asked.
Susan shrugged. “I’ve hardly seen Kelli at all. She’s just up there, working herself to death.”
“It’ll be fine, Mom,” Amanda assured her. “As long as Sam is waiting for me on the other end of the aisle, I’ll be happy.”
Susan tried to laugh off her apprehension. “I can’t shake that there’s something off,” she said as she pulled into her driveway. “But maybe my instincts are wrong.”
In the rearview mirror, Jake locked eyes with Amanda. They were accustomed to their mother’s intuition, which they’d once set their clocks by. Then again, Susan hadn’t known about Richard’s affair for a long time after it had begun— so it wasn’t like her intuition was completely foolproof.
After Susan cut the engine, Scott walked outside, waving as Susan’s grandchildren burst from the car and began to run in circles around the yard. Kellan, his son, walked out behind him, a pair of binoculars from birdwatching across his chest.
“I always forget just how beautiful your new place is,” Jake said, impressed as he followed Susan toward the back door, calling back for his children. Kristen came up behind him, their toddler in her arms.
As Jake and Kristen settled in for the weekend, Amanda said goodbye and headed back to the Sheridan House to rest up for the big night. Because the hotel was too chaotic and packed that evening, they’d opted against a proper rehearsal, but had arranged for a rehearsal dinner at the Sunrise Cove Inn Bistro. Those who had been invited would begin arriving around five-thirty, which gave Amanda about five hours to freak out, calm down, and freak out again, all on repeat.
