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“What’s going on with the museum?”
Alyssa waved her hand. “We’re taking care of it.”
“What do you mean?”
Alyssa looked her dead in the eye. “Nico talks to the crew every day on the phone to see how it’s going. The museum staff he already hired is going through Teresa’s things for more artifacts. Everything is right on time.”
Janine was amazed. She’d thought the pair of them were lost in baby-time— but they’d been strong-arming the refurbishment of a museum half the world away.
“I guess that means nothing is dragging Nico back to Italy any time soon,” Janine said.
Alyssa’s cheeks were pink. “We haven’t talked about when he’s leaving.”
“If he ever leaves.”
Alyssa gave her mother a look. It was clear she didn’t want to consider his leaving, nor did she want to have that conversation. She was caught up in the most gorgeous time of her life with a new baby, a new love, and a new career in museum work, all blossoming at once.
Just before Janine left the kitchen, Alyssa took her shoulder and said, “Mom?”
“What is it, honey?”
“It’s nice being in love. Isn’t it?” Alyssa laughed at herself as she let her hand drop. “I don’t think I knew it would be half this nice.”
Janine was overwhelmed with thousands of images of her own love story, like the first time she’d seen Jack in that bar, or the first day of Maggie’s life, followed by Alyssa’s. She thought of when she and Maxine had met one another back in elementary school, both lost girls from Brooklyn, without two pennies to rub together, then considered the first time she’d ever seen Henry, when her heart had been broken, and she’d been unsure if she had the strength to put it back together again.
“It makes everything else worth it, doesn’t it?” Janine breathed.
* * *
By the morning of Thanksgiving, Martha’s Vineyard had cleared its roads, and the skies had calmed enough to allow Hunter and Lucy to fly into Boston and take the ferry to the island. To Janine’s immense surprise, when she walked into the kitchen that morning for a mug of coffee, she found none other than Stan Ellis over the stove, wearing an apron and stirring several different dishes.
“Your mother has me hard at work,” he explained timidly.
Nancy bustled into the kitchen, her arms ladened with dishes. “Janine! Good morning! Happy Thanksgiving!”
Janine gave her mother a confused smile. Why was Stan here? Nancy had always had a soft spot for him, especially after he’d saved her during that hurricane. But was there something else going on?
Janine poured herself a cup of coffee, leaned against the counter, and asked, “Can I help you with something?”
Nancy’s voice remained bright. She knew exactly what she was doing, what kind of curiosity she was creating. “Let’s see,” she said, heading for the stovetop, where she placed her hand on Stan’s lower back! Janine blinked several times, gobsmacked. “I don’t think we need any help right now,” Nancy assured her. “You made the pies yesterday, right?”
“That was mostly Maggie,” Janine admitted. “But she let me help.”
Nancy laughed and leaned against Stan, clearly very easy around him. It was plain as anything that they were lovers.When had it happened?
Not long afterward, Henry arrived at the Remington House, bringing with him numerous bottles of wine. His kisses were chilly from the wicked east coast temperatures, but his hugs were warm, and Janine cuddled against him in the empty living room, listening as Nancy and Stan laughed in the kitchen.
“Mom’s in love,” she whispered to Henry. “And she’s kept it a secret!”
Henry laughed. “Good for her. It was time.”
“I think you’re right about that.”
Lucy and Hunter arrived around eleven, when the Remington House was already filled with family members, each of them squabbling or gossiping, drinking coffee, or already snacking. When the doorbell rang, Alyssa hurried to answer it, and then, Lucy was suddenly running around the house, greeting everyone excitedly, hugging their legs, calling their names. Hunter brought up the rear, smiling good-naturedly with that dimple he’d always had since boyhood. He shook Nico’s hand and doted on baby Leo as Lucy continued to act as though she ruled the house. For a time, she had.
Although Maggie was now six months pregnant, she managed to have Lucy on her lap for much of the early afternoon, the hours before Thanksgiving dinner, and her eyes were enormous with love for the little girl. Lucy talked at length about her preschool out in Seattle and how beautiful the mountains were, and nobody could quite believe how eloquent she was, as she was only three and a half years old. Hunter just laughed and said she’d clearly gotten it all from the Remington-Potter-Grimson girls. “You changed her life,” he said to them unabashedly, and nobody corrected him.
When it was time to sit down for dinner, everyone gathered around the massive table, which they’d stuffed with as many chairs as they could. Across from Janine sat Aria, her mother, Bethany, and Cole, and next to her sat Henry and Maggie, with Alyssa and Nico just a few seats over. Nancy and Stan sat next to one another at one of the heads of the table, holding hands between their plates. It was as though they always had to be touching.
