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The station wagon wheeled off the ferry and onto Nantucket at four-forty-five that afternoon. Ella’s stomach curdled with panic as she had no idea where she wanted to stay that night. She didn’t feel up to explaining the situation to Danny, at least not yet. But that meant she and Will had to pretend that everything was mostly okay, both between them and between Ella and the rest of the family.
When they reached The Copperfield House, Danny popped out, grabbed his textbooks, and headed inside.
“Hey, honey?” Ella called from the passenger window as Danny tried to disappear into the massive Victorian house. “We’re going to run some errands, okay? We’ll see you up at the football field.”
“Cool,” Danny said easily. “See ya.”
With Danny inside, Will shook his head playfully and said, “The kid is cooler than I ever was. That’s for sure.” After a pause, he added, “And he hasn’t had any trouble with, you know…”
Ella knew that Will meant “drinking.” She shook her head and eyed her knees.
“Taking him away from all that was the right thing,” Will said softly. “Thank you for doing that.” After another pause, he added, “You’re such a wonderful mother. I hope you know that.”
Ella blinked back tears, willing herself to pull herself together. She then instructed Will to head to the Nantucket Inn, where she’d booked them one room with two twin beds. There, they could consider what to do next. There, she could pull herself together, even as she acknowledged the weight of what she’d just learned.
Once inside the hotel room, Ella sat at the edge of one of the twin beds and began to strum the guitar that she’d grabbed before she’d fled The Copperfield House. Will leaned against the wall, watching the autumn leaves whip around in the breeze outside the window. Ella strummed the guitar thoughtfully. How many times had she and Will played music together?How many times had they messed around on guitars together before ultimately discovering their “brand-new song”?
“I’m going to take a shower,” Will said, scrubbing his hand through his dark hair.
“Okay.” Ella sensed that he felt the emotion of the music just as much as she did. Maybe he missed playing music with her just as much as she did, too.
The Nantucket football game was set for seven that evening. Bundled up in autumn jackets and scarves, Ella and Will walked a full foot apart, entering the throng of football fans, parents, and bright-faced high schoolers. It was hard to believe that Will and Ella had been that young when they’d met. Ella thought about talking about the fact that she, Stephanie, and Brenda had snuck off the island for one wild night in Greenwich Village, the night that had changed her life forever, but she soon thought better of it. Will asked if she wanted to share a bucket of popcorn, and she agreed.
Once in the stands, Will sat pin-straight and gazed out across the field at his son, who was all dressed up in his football jersey, pads, and a helmet. “It’s wild to see him like that,” Will muttered, digging into the bucket of popcorn and chewing slowly.
“It freaked me out the first time,” Ella admitted.
Will turned and shared a secret smile. “It’s like we’re small-town parents.”
“I sort-of am, now,” Ella countered. “I went to a PTA meeting the other day at Danny’s school.”
“You’re kidding.”
Ella shook her head, sharing in Will’s laughter. “Bye, bye, rock star days,” she joked.
Will’s face darkened earnestly. “Don’t say that.”
Ella shrugged. “It’s true.”
“No.” Will shook his head, his smile falling. “You’re a world-class musician. Just because you’ve taken time off to care for our children doesn’t mean that your rock star days are through.”
“Will, come on. I’m forty-two years old. A woman’s shelf-life in the music world is much shorter than a man’s,” Ella said simply.
Will continued to shake his head, clearly wanting to argue. But before he could, the man behind the microphone announced that the game was about to begin. Ella told Will to “pay attention.” As she turned her head to watch the opening play, she spotted Alana, Julia, and Greta down on the second row of the stands, all bundled up in a blanket.
The Copperfield Women.
Ella’s heart shattered at the realization that she was no longer, nor had never really been, one of them. Had they seen her? They knew she was back, surely, since Danny was out on the field. Ella blinked back the tears and listened as, beside her, Will howled, “Let’s go, Danny!”
Although Ella wasn’t exactly a sports fanatic, the game was spectacular. Falmouth and Nantucket played neck-in-neck throughout the first three quarters until Nantucket managed to edge Falmouth out with a final score of 27-24. Both Ella and Will leaped to their feet, yelling along with the rest of the Nantucketers. Will’s face exuded joy.
By the time Ella and Will reached the field to congratulate Danny, Danny was already surrounded by Greta, Alana, and Julia. Jeremy clapped Danny on the back and loudly said, “I swear, if you hadn’t moved to Nantucket this autumn, we wouldn’t have had a chance.” Both Alana and Julia beamed as Greta stepped forward and tried to wrap her thin arms around the bulky pads of Danny’s uniform.
Ella and Will stood several feet away, unsure of where to go or what to do. Midway through his hug with Greta, Danny spotted them and waved them over, oblivious. Will forced himself forward and hugged Danny excitedly, saying, “You killed it out there, man.” Ella limped up behind him and waited for her turn to hug Danny, avoiding her sisters’ and mother’s gazes. The intensity was too great.
“Why don’t we all go home?” Greta announced. “I have a bunch of party foods all prepped. Danny, maybe you would like to invite a few of your teammates?”
Danny flashed Greta an All-American smile. “Sure. We can come for a while. After that, I promised my new buddy, Kyle, that I’d come over for a little get-together.” He then met Ella’s gaze to add a serious, “It’s not a party. I promise.”
