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“I’m sure I look exhausted,” Carmella said as she led Elsa inside to pour them both cups of tea. “It’s been a really hard time. Harder than I thought!”
Elsa winced. “You sit. I’ll make the tea.”
Carmella was too tired to argue. She collapsed at the kitchen table and watched as Elsa made herself at home in the house she and Cody now shared. It had always seemed easy for Elsa to make a home for herself, to have that maternal instinct and to have authority over situations. This had never been Carmella’s thing. Just as the water began to boil, the doorbell rang an additional time, and Elsa turned and said, “I’ll get it!”
Carmella waited in stunned silence as Elsa led a young woman Carmella had never seen before into her kitchen. She was blonde and very pretty, wearing ripped jeans and a big sweatshirt that said something about sailing on it.
“Carmella, I want to introduce you to Aria,” Elsa said.
“Hi,” Aria said sweetly, extending her hand so Carmella could shake it.
Carmella said hello, feeling confused.
“You need a break,” Elsa announced. “You’ve been trapped in this house for far too long with little Georgia.”
Carmella’s heart shattered at the thought of taking a few minutes away from her daughter. Then again, part of her knew Elsa was right, that if she didn’t make time for her own needs, she would fall apart.
“Aria is going to babysit,” Elsa explained. “She’s been babysitting for others around the island and comes highly recommended. Not to mention, she’s Cole’s friend.”
“How do you know Cole?” Carmella asked.
“It’s a long story,” Aria said with a wave of her hand. “We met in the Caribbean.”
“Oh!” Carmella smiled, remembering that Cole had raced competitively and worked as a sailing instructor in the Caribbean before returning home in the late autumn. “Is it a good story?”
“We can catch up with Aria another time,” Elsa urged. “Why don’t we hit the road now? We can have tea at the Lodge after we’ve had our massages.”
Carmella groaned at the thought of a massage. Her back and shoulders ached from lack of sleep, from cradling Georgia, and probably, just from aging. “All right. All right. But I stink! I haven’t showered in—”
“Don’t worry about it,” Elsa said. “We can take nice baths at the Lodge, too. The very best suite is empty today.”
“You spoil me,” Carmella said, then glanced back at Aria, who seemed to be twenty-four or twenty-five, her eyes bright.Could she trust her with Georgia? Was this right?
“She’ll be fine,” Elsa assured her as she tugged Carmella through the front room. “Bye, Aria! You have my number if you need anything.”
“That’s right,” Aria called back. “Have a great time!”
At the Lodge, Carmella and Elsa slid into side-by-side baths filled with plenty of suds, the air simmering with lavender and other calming oils. Carmella closed her eyes and felt her thoughts quiet, floating away from her through the wonderful air.
“So,” Carmella said, her eyes half-open. “Is Aria Cole’s girlfriend?”
“I don’t know,” Elsa answered. “He doesn’t tell me anything.”
“How did you meet her?”
“I stopped by the bar a week or two ago, and they were both up there,” Elsa explained. “She was working behind the counter, and he was drinking a beer after a lesson.”
“She looks like she comes from money. Doesn’t she?” Carmella suggested.
“I got that vibe,” Elsa affirmed. “But then, I found out she’s been living in one of those tiny and broken-down apartments on the outskirts of Edgartown?”
Carmella’s eyes opened wider. “Wow.”
“Cole mentioned something about her stepping away from her family for a while,” Elsa explained. “At any rate, she and Cole seem thick as thieves, whatever they are to each other.”
“I hope they’re in love,” Carmella said wistfully.
“You’re the poster child for the best friends-to-lovers story,” Elsa teased.
