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Back home, Oriana parked in the front driveway and got out to find Alexa, Benny, and Reese in the backyard with their next-door neighbor, Alan, and his new girlfriend, Nora. Nora and Alan had been working hard in the garden all morning, and their knees were stiff with dried soil. Reese poured them each a glass of lemonade, laughing happily at a story Alan told about a bee colony he’d discovered in Northern Macedonia, one that had nearly attacked him. “I had to run away screaming!”
It was difficult for Oriana to feel a part of this community, but she tried her best to smile normally, to ask questions.
Eventually, Alexa explained that Chuck had called earlier that day to ask if Oriana and Meghan were up for a family dinner at Roland’s house on Nantucket. This information caught Oriana off-guard.
“Really? They actually want to meet?” Oriana was flabbergasted.
“I guess so,” Alexa said.
“It took them long enough,” Nora said, as she was privy to the goings-on of the Coleman family and how prideful they often were.
“Are you up for that?” Reese asked Oriana, whose thoughts had splintered into a million directions. On the one hand, she felt lost and anxious, praying that Rita would find Brea before it was too late. On the other, she was terrified to meet her half-brothers for the first time in the flesh.
“I guess I’d better be,” Oriana said, reaching to squeeze Reese’s hand. At least for a moment, his touch electrified her and gave her strength to keep going, even as her stomach twisted with emotion. She felt sure she was about to float off the ground.
ChapterEight
The Coleman family dinner was held that Saturday evening at seven p.m. Prior to departing for the docks, where Sam’s boyfriend, Derek, was picking them up to bring them to Nantucket, Oriana and Meghan were hard at work in Oriana’s bedroom, trying to find something to wear. Despite the past week's stress, Oriana was surprised to find that she and Meghan were frequently laughing, trying on skirts, dresses, and blouses, and gossiping about how the night would go. They were the first non-anxious minutes since her trip to New York. Oriana counted her blessings for them.
“I think the red sweater with the corduroy skirt looks amazing,” Oriana said, eyeing Meghan as she twisted to and fro in the mirror.
Meghan blushed. “It’s silly, isn’t it? That we want to dress up to meet our brothers for the first time?”
“Not at all. I think it would be sillier if we weren’t nervous. I mean, these guys have been shadows in our lives forever. We’ve always known about them, and we’ve always dreamed about what they would be like. And now, we get to find out.”
“What if we hate them?” Meghan said, wincing.
Oriana laughed, her heart opening. It was entirely possible that this could happen.
“If we don’t like each other, I guess we’ll just go back to how things were before,” Oriana said. “Nobody loses here. Besides. I bet Roland’s wife is a good cook, so we’ll at least get a good meal out of it.”
At six-fifteen, Oriana, Reese, Meghan, Hugo, and Chuck were ready and waiting at the Oak Bluffs dock, watching expectantly as Derek’s boat grew closer and closer.
“Sam’s on there, too!” Oriana said, grateful to see Samantha’s bright blonde hair whipping in the wind.
Derek skidded the boat along the edge of the dock as Samantha leaped out to tie up the ropes. When she’d finished, she turned to hug Oriana, then Meghan, squealing out, “I can’t believe this is happening!”
“I know.” Oriana shook her head. “Are they nervous?”
“I think everyone is,” Sam said. “But it’s only natural, isn’t it?”
Oriana, Meghan, Chuck, Reese, and Hugo boarded the sailboat, helping where they could or else clinging to the railing, eyes on the frothing waves beyond. The September skies above were periwinkle, punctuated with massive clouds— some of which suggested rain. Already, Chuck had translated that they would be spending the night in Nantucket, which made Oriana apprehensive. What if the night went poorly? They would have no escape.
“Mom’s cooking a feast,” Sam explained, smiling. “Hilary felt well enough to be there all day with me, keeping Mom company and helping out.”
“Oh! That’s great. I’ve thought about her so much since her surgery,” Meghan said.
“I’ve been at her place quite a bit since it happened,” Sam said. “Her daughter and boyfriend, Marc, are out in San Francisco right now, tying up loose ends, and she’s needed a bit more help than she’d like to admit.”
“So, Marc is officially moving out?” Chuck asked.
“It looks like it,” Sam said.
“And how do you feel about that?” Oriana asked. “I mean, he left her all those years ago. You must be angry.”
Sam’s face twisted into a near-smile. “I wanted to stay angry, you know? But then, I saw how much Marc doted on Hilary when he got back. It seems like he never fell out of love with her. He was just too young to understand how special it was.”
Oriana eyed Reese, thanking her lucky stars that Reese had never taken off on her. By contrast, he’d put aside his career aspirations for her to push herself in her career. He was a one-of-a-kind guy.
