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Aweek later, Nancy found herself in the same position: saying goodbye to people she loved in the immense shade of the Remington House. A ravenous August sun shimmered overhead, and her body was slick with sweat from only a few minutes of packing up Janine’s car.
“You three take care of yourself,” Nancy ordered as she hugged each of them. “Eat plenty of pasta for me.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Alyssa said. “I will not neglect the carbs in Italy.”
Maggie rolled her eyes and slid into the passenger seat of Janine’s car. “I pre-mixed everything I could for the bakery, but if you could…”
“Stop by and make sure everything’s running smoothly?” Nancy smiled.
“I know. I know. I’m annoying myself with how many times I’ve asked you,” Maggie said with a sigh.
“Everything is handled, Maggie,” Nancy told her. “David and Heidi have the place running like a tight ship. But I’ll make sure to go over there and check on them, if only to get a free chocolate chip cookie out of it.”
“I appreciate that, Grandma,” Maggie said with a laugh.
Last spring, Maggie had begun baking for The Dog-Eared Corner, a bookstore and coffee shop in Martha’s Vineyard owned by an older woman named Heidi. When Maggie had found out about Heidi’s estranged son, David, she’d dragged Alyssa to Manhattan to track him down at a bookstore, where he was signing copies of his novels. Eventually, she’d found a way to bring mother and son together again— and had even fallen in love with David herself. Their surprise pregnancy had come not long after they’d met.
“We’ll be home soon,” Janine said, hugging her mother a final time before jumping in the driver’s seat.
Feeling foolish and very alone, Nancy remained standing in the driveway and waved to her granddaughters and daughter until they disappeared around the corner. For a moment, Nancy remained there, sweating in the August heat, until she turned to face the enormous house. Many decades ago, Neal had purchased it with his first wife, with the plan to raise their children in it. The house had been through countless periods of devastation since then. It had seen so much death, but it had persevered through so much goodness and beauty, as well. Since Janine’s move from New York City, it had been the home to many, many members of the family— all of whom had come together for nightly dinners to gossip, laugh, and fuel themselves, despite their heartbreaks or the chaos of the rest of the world.
But now, despite all that had come before, Nancy found herself all alone in that house.
It felt wrong.
For a little while that morning, Nancy was able to distract herself. She paid bills, wrote in her journal, and watered her plants. But by noon, she was on the local humane society website, asking herself if she should go and get a cat or a dog. Never in her life had she had a pet. Maybe this was the right time?
Around three, Elsa called to ask if Nancy could teach a yoga lesson that evening. “Brenda is sick,” Elsa explained, speaking of another yoga teacher, a recent hire.
“I’d love to!” Nancy leaped at it, embarrassing herself with how quickly she answered.
Nancy showered, changed into her yoga outfit, and sped off to the Katama Lodge, where she walked so quickly through the hallways that she nearly bumped directly into Carmella.
“Hi, Nancy!” Carmella smiled. “Did you send our girls off to Italy?”
“I did. I think I’ll feel antsy until I hear they’ve landed,” Nancy said. “I hate it when I can’t reach them.”
“Why don’t we go out tonight?” Carmella suggested. “Maybe Elsa and I can keep your mind off of that.”
Nancy felt nervous that Carmella and Elsa were going out of their way for her because they felt bad for her. Then again, this was Nancy’s very first day alone in that big house— and she didn’t want to be stuck there all night, wandering the hallways, checking her phone for messages from Janine.
“I’m sure you’re tired,” Nancy said, “with Georgia and the pregnancy and all.”
“Come on,” Carmella pushed it. “When was the last time it was just you, Elsa, and I? You’d be doing me a favor. I’d love to catch up.”
After yoga, Nancy changed into a black summer dress she kept at the Lodge, then met Carmella and Elsa in the lobby. Elsa’s smile was exuberant, and she wrapped her arm around Nancy’s shoulders and led her to the parking lot, suggesting wine bars and restaurants with gorgeous verandas, anything to fit the beauty of the night.
“Why don’t we go to the Aquinnah Cliffside Overlook?” Carmella suggested. “I still haven’t been there since they opened.”
“Brilliant,” Elsa said. “I’ll drive.”
The Aquinnah Cliffside Overlook Hotel had reopened that summer, eighty years after a hurricane had torn it apart. It suited a luxurious crowd, bringing in high rollers from the eastern seaboard for Michelin-star food, croquet, horseback riding, sailing, and cocktail parties that rivaled the best in the world (or so Nancy had read). As they entered the grand dining hall, they spotted the hotel owners, Xander Van Tress and Kelli Montgomery, at the head table, dining with Kelli’s cousin, Susan Sheridan, and her husband, Scott. As they passed, Elsa, Carmella, and Nancy waved, with Elsa pausing for a moment to chat. Susan was Bruce’s business partner at the law firm, a necessary part of Elsa’s new life with her new love. As Nancy and Carmella were seated at a table in a sunbeam to study the menus, Elsa and Susan’s laughter echoed through the enormous hall.
Nancy and Elsa both ordered glasses of rosé, while Carmella opted for a mocktail meant to taste like an Aperol Spritz.
“I’m so glad we could do this,” Elsa said, her glass raised. “Nancy, I have to admit, I’ve thought about you in that big house by yourself during the girls’ trip.”
“I’ve hardly ever been there alone,” Carmella said, wrinkling her nose. “When I was younger, I was convinced it was haunted.”
