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"I did. I'm planning on staying for a week, unless that interrupts any plans you might have with a certain gentleman..."
"Nope, no plans, Mom." Ruby writes the date of her mother's arrival on the notepad and then doodles a heart at the top of the page. "But I'm working on the author event for next month with the bookstore owner on Christmas Key, and Dexter has agreed to be one of the guest writers. So at least I know when I'll see him next."
"That's a start," Patty says. "Now, can I bring you anything from home?"
This tickles Ruby that her mother still thinks of California as her "home," when she's been a resident of other places longer now than she ever lived on the west coast.
"I think I'm good for now, Mom. Just get down here safely, okay? Do you want me to come to Destin or Pensacola? I can get over there and escort you to the island--"
"Ruby," Patty says with a hard bite to her tone. "I am a perfectly capable woman with enough money to pay people to carry my bags and hold my hand while I board a boat. I am not made of glass or sand; I will not break or crumble."
Ruby jots down the rest of her mom's travel information and then hangs up with a renewed sense of purpose. Below Patty's details she makes a shopping list, a menu plan, and a to do list to accomplish before her mother arrives. While she and Patty are close, they don't see one another often, and her mother making the trip to Shipwreck Key counts as an occasion. Both Harlow and Athena have decamped to D.C. for the moment, Athena for a job interview in a different position at the Library of Congress than the one she'd previously held, and Harlow because she has a new freelance marketing gig that involves a company that's based in Baltimore.
Girls, Ruby texts their group chat.Grandma is coming to the island in two days to stay for a week. Just letting you know in case you feel like coming back to see her! Not sure what your plans are, so no pressure...xoxo
Within minutes, both of Ruby's daughters have responded.Will get back to you with travel details!Athena says.Can't wait to see Grandma!Harlow adds.
Ruby smiles and sets her phone down. Her heart is full. Having her mother, her daughters, Sunday, and all of the new women she's quickly growing to love and hold close to her heart as friends on the island at the same time feels like winning the lottery.
Picking up the pencil, she quickly adds to the list:Schedule another book club meeting.
* * *
"Oh, Ruby. You picked a place to land, alright." Two days later, Patty Dellarosa is holding a vodka tonic in one manicured hand as she sits on the front steps of her daughter's Shipwreck Key home. She's watching as Ruby waters the potted flowers that flank the front porch. "It's gorgeous here. Are you happy?"
Ruby turns off the hose and rolls it up, then sits next to her mother as she wipes the sweat from her brow with the back of one hand. "I am happy, Mom." Ruby picks up the green bottle next to her and sips her Heineken. "This past year has been life-changing, and life-affirming."
"It helps to know that you can do it, doesn't it?" Patty is watching her daughter with a strong gaze. "When you're married, you come to the point where you don't think you can manage on your own. Everything is a 'we' issue: where dowewant to go to dinner? What willwedo for the holidays? How willwemanage in retirement? But then suddenly it's just you, and you have to learn how to do it all on your own. Theweis gone."
Ruby nods and takes another sip from her bottle of beer. "Losing thewewas hard," she agrees. "But I guess I didn't feel as alone as you did--maybe because my girls were older than I was when Dad died, and maybe because I have a whole network of people who kept me propped up. At least when I was in the public eye." Ruby frowns as she considers this. "I was so stunned in the moment, really just shocked by everything: Jack's death, the betrayal, the fact that he had a mistress and a child...I guess it didn't give me a lot of time to mourn the future that Jack and I will never have. But being here has really helped me find my bearings."
"I can see that," Patty says. She swirls her glass around and the melting ice cubes clink against each other. "I'm proud of you, Ruby. The transition from the White House to real life was always going to be rocky, but you've really found your way."
Ruby leans against her mom, letting her head rest on Patty's shoulder as they look out at the sand and the palm trees. "Thanks for coming to visit."
Patty rests her cheek against the top of her daughter's head. "Thanks for having me."
Happy laughter filters up to the front porch as Harlow and Athena make their way back to the house from the water, where they've been swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. Harlow is wearing a tiny lime green bikini and a hot pink baseball cap, and Athena--always more conservative and conscientious than her sister--is clad in a long-sleeved rash guard and a wide-brimmed hat that blocks the sun from both her face and neck.
"Grandma!" the younger women shout, picking up their pace as they approach Ruby and Patty. "Did you just get here?"
"I've been here about thirty minutes, and your mother knows me well enough to have put a vodka tonic in my hand the minute I stepped out of the golf cart. How are you lovelies?"
Harlow picks up one of the oversized towels that are hanging from the railing on the porch and wraps it around her body. She takes the other one and tosses it to her sister, who does the same.
"We're good, Grandma," Harlow says, sitting on the step below her mom and grandmother. She looks up at Patty. "How are you?"
"Sassy as ever," Patty says. She reaches out and uses her index finger to tap her granddaughter on the nose. "I wanted to come down and see how all my girls are doing. I don't care how old your mom gets, she's always going to be my baby, and I'm worried about her. How do you two think she's doing?"
"I'm right here," Ruby says, raising a hand as she sips her beer again. "No need to talk about me as if I've left the room."
Athena tips her head to one side and shakes it like she has water stuck in her ear. "She's good, Grandma. Honestly. She has the bookstore and the book club, and now Sunday is here, so they hang out together."
"I hear Sunday has taken up with that fine specimen of manhood who lives in your pool house," Patty says.
"It's a guest house, Mom," Ruby says. She gives her daughters a look to let them know that they all need to humor Patty, no matter how outlandish she gets. "And Sunday and Banks have been seeing one another for a while now. It's going well, and I'm happy for them."
"I guess you didn't see having a hunky man your own age living on your property as an opportunity," Patty says. She winks at her granddaughters. "Although I do get not mixing business and pleasure. Did I ever tell you girls about the time I had a wild fling with the judge in a case I was trying?" She turns to look at Harlow and Athena and waves a hand at them. "Oh, hell. You're both old enough to hear this."
