The Summer We Started Over, page 30
“Preschool starts tomorrow,” Eddie announced. “New clothes time!”
“I used to love getting new clothes,” Barrett reminisced. “And a new pencil case. New notebooks. I can almost remember how they felt, so soft and yet official.”
Barrett dropped Eddie and Bobby at the brick entrance to the Hy-Line, drove around the block, and parked in her secret place. She walked against the flow of travelers headed for the ferry, and stepped into her shop. On these last days of summer, she was putting out new items for the coming fall and winter. Deep blue cashmere cardigans, blue wool and silk shawls swirling with violet and gold, clever hats made from turquoise felt and adorned with narrow gold hatbands. Throws and blankets in cobalt striped with white, hoodies patterned with smiling whales, and many pieces of Paul’s work, carvings of a pale mermaid rising from blue waves.
Her father would have risen early and taken a cup of coffee into his study to work on his book. He’d arrive at the shop at noon to give Barrett an hour’s break. Barrett would meet Paul in town or at the beach for lunch. It surprised her how much they had to tell each other when they’d just spoken last night.
* * *
—
Eddie and Jeff, Barrett and Paul, Dinah and Bill were all sitting on the back porch of the farmhouse on an early September evening. Everyone had prepared his or her own drink and Eddie had set out a bowl of chips. Bobby had climbed to the top bar of the fence and sat calmly having a conversation with Duchess, who hung her head low so that Bobby could scratch behind her ears.
Dinah announced, “Bill and I have discovered we enjoy living together, waking in the same bed, and so on. Deep breaths, darling,” she told Bill as they all watched him turn crimson.
Eddie said, “Jeff and I are almost ready to move into the Tom Nevers house with Bobby.” She glanced at her sister. “That will leave Barrett living alone in the big farmhouse, but we can’t sell it. It belongs to Bobby. He has memories here. He feels safe here. Plus, he has his rituals with Duke and Duchess, and we’re considering giving Bobby riding lessons when he turns four.”
“Lucky boy,” Barrett said, then caught herself. “Lucky in some ways.”
“Anyway,” Eddie continued, “Barrett, the farmhouse is yours.”
“Wait. It’s your house, too,” Barrett argued. “It wouldn’t be fair. I mean, financially. Should I pay you rent?”
Dinah threw her hands up. “My darling young women, you are straying into Agatha Christie territory where relatives fight about money and eventually murder someone.”
Barrett laughed. “I don’t think we’re that bad!”
“You’re right, Dinah.” Eddie reached out and took her sister’s hand. “Dad’s going to sign the deed for the farm over to Bobby and you and me, and both of us as executors for Bobby until he’s twenty-five. Jeff’s house is perfect for us and Bobby, but we know Bobby wants to spend time with you and Duke and Duchess. You should remain in this house and have a bedroom for Bobby. If you want everything legal, we’ll have our lawyer draw up a document saying that you’re renting the farmhouse from Jeff and me for something like one dollar a year.”
“May I suggest something?” Paul leaned forward.
Barrett wanted to go over and sit on his lap.
“Of course,” Eddie and William said at once.
“I have accepted several expensive commissions for my carvings. The garage I rent is too small for what I want to do. Why don’t I rent your barn for my studio?”
Barrett said, “What an excellent idea!”
“I agree,” Dinah chimed in. “No one has come out in weeks. This house looks fairly tidy, and the books that weren’t bought this summer can go to the Take-It-or-Leave-It at the dump.”
“Genius!” Eddie stood up. “This calls for ice cream. Barrett, come help me.”
The sisters hurried into the kitchen and opened the freezer. Several pints of different flavors of ice cream were waiting. Barrett helped set them on a tray. Eddie dug out big and small spoons. Barrett added paper napkins.
They paraded triumphantly back to the porch. Bobby noticed the ice cream. He climbed down the fence, got his Klondike bar, and returned to the fence where Duchess was waiting.
Everyone sat, hypnotized by the seduction of ice cream.
Barrett and Eddie watched Bobby carefully eat all the chocolate before handing out the vanilla ice cream to Duchess. She took a bite, whinnied, reared up, and galloped away.
Duke placed himself in front of Bobby, wagging his tail and begging.
“Okay,” Bobby said. He gave the ice cream to the dog.
“Bobby,” Barrett called. “Come get a new ice cream bar.”
“And don’t give any other human food to Duchess,” Eddie added.
Bobby did as she suggested, and ran off with his treat.
“So,” Dinah said, “Bill is going to live with me and we’ll work together on the island and in New York. Barrett, you have your shop, which seems to be doing well.”
“It is,” Barrett replied, scooping a big lump of Cherry Garcia into her mouth.
“That’s good. And we know that Jeff and Paul will be working.” Dinah let her gaze fall on Eddie. “Eddie, darling, what do you think you’ll do after the summer?”
Eddie took Jeff’s hand. “We have a house to furnish.”
Jeff added, “And a wedding to plan.”
“And an adoption ceremony,” Eddie said. “And we’ll need to get Bobby settled in preschool and so on.”
Dinah leaned forward. “You know, Eddie, we can always help with Bobby.”
Jeff put a protective arm around Eddie’s shoulders. “We’ll appreciate the help. Eddie has to plan a space in her day for writing.”
“Writing?” Bill asked.
“Oh, just in my journal.” Eddie met Jeff’s eyes and was warmed by how he believed in her, how he championed her, how he loved her. “And maybe,” she confessed, “maybe I’ll try to write a novel.”
For Dinah Fulton
friend of my heart forever
acknowledgments
Dinah Fulton is the most glamorous person I know. She’s also kind, generous, beautiful, and hilarious. I met her when my first novel, Stepping, was bought by Doubleday. Dinah drove from Willliamstown, Massachusetts, to New York City to take me to lunch to celebrate at the famous 21 Club. A year later, when Stepping was published, Dinah looked at the plain black dress I planned to wear to the pub party. “Oh, God,” she cried. “You can’t go like that.” She loaned me a diamond chain necklace to wear with the dress. That is the kind of thing Dinah does.
More than that, she brought me to Nantucket for the first time.
More than that, she introduced me to Charley Walters.
And more than that, she is the bravest, strongest-willed person I know. She has succeeded in doing what few people can do, and she’s done it day by day, every day.
My real Dinah is not like my character Dinah Lavender, except, perhaps, for being knock-out beautiful and irresistibly warmhearted. I love you, Dinah Fulton. Thank you.
Love and thanks to Jill Hunter Burrill, Deborah and Mark Beale, Mary and John West, Tricia and Jimmy Patterson, Melissa and Nat Philbrick, Gussy Manville, Sofia Popova, Martha and Chuck Foshee, Antonia Massie, Denice Kronau and Michael Reitermann, Annye Camera, Mary Bergman, Jess Toole, Dr. Paul Roberts and Dr. Jamie Roberts, Charlotte and Tom Kastner, Gerilyn Brewer and Henry Mueller, Martha and Charley Polachi, and as always, Curlette Anglin. Thanks to Angela Giles, who is very wise for someone so young.
Special thanks to the infinitely brilliant Misty Jump and Aimee Marx of the Batavia Public Library, who make reading fabulous! And thanks to Sammy Aquiar and Ann Scott, and all of the librarians at the Nantucket Atheneum.
Nantucket Book Partners, along with Mitchell’s Book Corner and Nantucket Bookworks, is my home away from home and only a five-minute walk from our house. Wendy Hudson and her crew do wonders for writers and readers, and both shops are fabulous worlds to visit. Christina Machiavelli is my go-to for information on new books, and I’m grateful for our literary chats. Tim Ehrenberg is an amazing force for books and authors. We’re lucky to have him on this island.
On the mainland (which is what we call the country thirty miles across the sea from us), Titcombs Bookshop on Route 6A is another superstar store for both readers and writers. Thanks to Elizabeth Merritt, Fran Ziegler, Vicky Titcomb, and Rae Titcomb, who host brilliant book events and remember what each person likes to read. Thanks also to Bank Square Books, Bethany Beach Books, Browseabout Books, and bookstores large and small.
My books wouldn’t be what they are—they just wouldn’t be—without the hard work and perceptive eye of my editor, Shauna Summers. She is my guiding light and sometimes my emergency flare. Huge thanks to Kim Hovey and Kara Walsh for steering the literary ship through shifting seas. Allison Schuster, Karen Fink, Emma Thomasch, Jennifer Rodriguez, and Mae Martinez: What would I do without you? Thank you.
Special, enormous, and multi-colored thanks to Belina Huey, for designing my beautiful book covers.
Meg Ruley is my friend and agent, and I’m grateful for her every day. Jesse Errera, Logan Harper, Christina Hogrebe, and the entire Jane Rotrosen Agency has my gratitude for their skill and support.
Love audiobooks? So many of my friends use audiobooks, and I’m delighted that Brilliance Audio has so many of my books available.
Thanks to Chris Mason for my website, which has all my books listed and all my news flashed on the home page. And huge thanks to Christina Higgins, my talented and creative virtual assistant.
My family is my inspiration and my delight. I couldn’t do anything without my clever, handsome husband, Charley Walters. I’m delighted (most of the time!) by news flashes about the real world from my son, Josh Thayer, and his husband, David Gillum; my daughter, Sam, and her partner, Tommy; and especially from my grandchildren (whom my friend Jill calls the Vowel Children): Ellias, Adeline, Emmett, Annie, Arwin, and now Avery.
I get such great energy and wisdom from my readers! A quick hello (and a good review!) brightens my day. I’m delighted to learn what my readers think, but more than that, I simply love the connection with everyone out there. I sincerely love you. It is you I’m writing for and I’m grateful to you all.
by nancy thayer
The Summer We Started Over
All the Days of Summer
Summer Love
Family Reunion
Girls of Summer
Let It Snow
Surfside Sisters
A Nantucket Wedding
Secrets in Summer
The Island House
A Very Nantucket Christmas
The Guest Cottage
An Island Christmas
Nantucket Sisters
A Nantucket Christmas
Island Girls
Summer Breeze
Heat Wave
Beachcombers
Summer House
Moon Shell Beach
The Hot Flash Club Chills Out
Hot Flash Holidays
The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again
The Hot Flash Club
Custody
Between Husbands and Friends
An Act of Love
Belonging
Family Secrets
Everlasting
My Dearest Friend
Spirit Lost
Morning
Nell
Bodies and Souls
Three Women at the Water’s Edge
Stepping
about the author
Nancy Thayer is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including All the Days of Summer, Summer Love, Family Reunion, Girls of Summer, Let It Snow, Surfside Sisters, A Nantucket Wedding, Secrets in Summer, The Island House, The Guest Cottage, An Island Christmas, Nantucket Sisters, and Island Girls. Born in Kansas, Thayer has for nearly forty years been a resident of Nantucket, where she currently lives with her husband, Charley, and a precocious rescue cat named Callie.
nancythayer.com
Facebook.com/NancyThayerBooks
Instagram: @nancythayerbooks
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Nancy Thayer, The Summer We Started Over
