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Ruby lifts the pan by its handle and slides the omelette onto a white plate, handing it to her mother. She nods at the salt and pepper shakers on the table and then reaches into a drawer and pulls out a knife and fork.
"Well," Ruby says. She's thinking. "We weren't going to have an official book club meeting or anything, but why don't we do a midsummer cocktail party here where Molly can continue her story? Just book club women, of course." She pulls a notepad and pen from a drawer by the refrigerator and starts to jot down things she'd need to do in order to make that happen. "I think we could do it...tomorrow evening? Maybe the next? Actually, that seems more reasonable." Ruby is talking it through to herself, as Patty has already sat back down at the table and is happily eating her way through the omelette.
"Sounds wonderful," Patty says between bites. "I love a good cocktail party."
"Okay, then let's do it. First I need to make sure Molly is on board, and then I can put the word out." Ruby turns off the stove, forgetting about her own breakfast for the moment.
Within minutes, she's elbow-deep in cocktail party planning, and Patty is busy chatting with her granddaughters, who've emerged from their bedrooms because the smells of coffee and food have reached them.
"You two keep cooking for yourselves and make Grandma another cup of coffee," Ruby says to Athena and Harlow. Her phone is pressed to one ear and she picks up her notepad and pen. "I've got something I'm working on here."
"Of course you do, Mom," Harlow says, watching as Ruby walks out the back door to sit on the patio and make phone calls.
Ruby listens with a smile as her girls talk animatedly with her mother. Her heart swells at her own good fortune to have such amazing women in her life.
This cocktail party will be to honor Molly's story, obviously, but it will also be--for her--a chance to celebrate having both of her girls and her wild, hilarious, independent, Yanni-dating mother staying with her.
"Hi, Molly?" Ruby says as Molly answers the phone at The Scuttlebutt. She sits in her deck chair and looks out at the waves crashing on the beach. "It's Ruby. I have a fun little idea to run by you..."
* * *
Two nights later everyone is mingling in Ruby's kitchen, dining room, and living space. The women from the book club are all standing around or sitting on chairs, talking about their plans for the rest of the summer and guessing at what Molly might tell them next. Ruby and Harlow and Athena have lit candles in glass hurricane lamps and set them on top of the fireplace mantel, on low tables, and on the kitchen island, filling the house with the smell of fresh citrus. There are bottles of wine on the island as well as tequila, mixers, and bowls of cut lemons and limes. It feels light and summery.
"How in the world did you get sushi delivered to Shipwreck Key?" Ella asks, popping a bite of spicy tuna roll into her mouth as she holds a gin and tonic in one hand. As ever, she is dressed in her flowing chiffon batwing blouse with piles of beaded necklaces, and she's wearing enough sweet pachouli-scented perfume that she smells like the entire audience at a Grateful Dead concert.
"Harlow and Athena made it. I bought all the fresh fish I could get from The Black Pearl, and the girls got to work on it," Ruby says proudly, looking across the kitchen at her beautiful daughters, who are holding court with their grandmother, Marigold, and Sunday. "It's amazing what you can learn from watching YouTube videos, and they showed me how to roll and cut it all."
"It's gorgeous," Vanessa says appreciatively as she loads up her plate.
And it is gorgeous. Ruby eyes the platters of seaweed and rice wrapped fish and vegetables. They're colorful and perfectly executed, and the girls have set dishes of wasabi, ginger, and soy sauce around for people to add to their plates.
Heather wanders over to them holding a plate with a single bite of each sushi roll on it. She hasn't touched any of it yet, but Ruby admires that she's being a good sport in spite of not trusting "anything that was once alive and hasn't touched a pan or a grill."
Heather smiles at them. "How are things going with the Christmas Key book weekend? I really want to be a part of it."
"Things are great. I've been working with Vance Guy from A Sleighful of Books, and I think we've got things lined up. I can try to get you a room on Christmas Key if you're wanting to be there for that part of the weekend." Ruby sips her chardonnay as the women scattered around the house laugh and talk and drink.
"Absolutely," Heather says, nodding enthusiastically. "Dave is gone for a few weeks and I'm kind of at loose ends."
Vanessa perks up at the mention of the man Heather has been dating long-distance since meeting him on Christmas Key at New Year's. "So things are getting serious with him, huh?" she asks, chewing a crab roll slowly, eyes wide. "You two are really cute together."
Heather smiles at her indulgently. "Thank you. And yes, things are getting serious. I really think they are. He's definitely my type--"
"Old," Molly says wryly, joining their group with a stack of sushi rolls on her plate. "Wrinkled and wizened."
Heather laughs at this assessment. "Okay, you're not wrong. But Dave is young at heart. He's fun and hilarious, and he gets me. it's been a while since I had a man in my life who reallygotme, you know? And when you find someone who does, do you let a little detail like age slow you down?"
"Only if he's under eighteen or over ninety," Molly says resolutely. "Otherwise...I don't know. Do your thing, girl."
They've all grown well accustomed to Heather's love of older men, and while they love to tease her, they also respect the fact that she's the kind of woman who falls deeply in love and gives her all to a relationship--even knowing that the age differences might shorten the time she can spend with the man she loves.
"He's wonderful," Heather says, smiling dreamily as she thinks about Dave. "He's more active and fit than the last few guys I've been with, so I feel like I'm with someone who is more my equal than a man I need to take care of."
"That's a nice change," Molly allows. "I think that's one of the reasons I never settled down again--I just didn't want to end up taking care of anyone." She holds up a hand as if anyone in the group might be protesting this, but no one is. "I get that it sounds selfish, but I had my love. I had my chance. And after Rodney and all my travels, I just wanted to live my life quietly and without the compromise that goes along with marriage."
Ruby nods knowingly. "There is a lot of compromise. And disagreement. And disenchantment."
"But also joy. And togetherness. And companionship," Vanessa adds.
