Page 14 of Swan Song

Kacy doesn’t even seem to notice her; she’s furiously typing, eyes fixed on her screen. Everything is clearly not okay. Andrea isn’t sure what happened out in California. All Kacy would tell her is that “stuff fell apart.” Andrea assumes that included a relationship. But with whom? Kacy hasn’t mentioned anyone special.

“I’ll leave you alone,” Andrea says, touching Kacy’s shoulder. She grabs the last bottle of champagne from the fridge and gets back to the deck in time to hear Delilah say, “If the Richie Richardsons want to get involved in the community, they should donate to the food pantry.”

Yes! Andrea thinks. Delilah’s on the board of Nantucket Food, Fuel, and Rental Assistance. Everyone thinks of Nantucket as a wealthy enclave, but there’s an underserved community—service workers, day laborers, many of them foreign nationals—who struggle with the insane rents and high cost of absolutely everything, especially in the desolate off-season.

“That’s a great idea,” Phoebe says. “Why don’t you come to lunch with us and you can talk to Leslee about it?”

“Maybe I will,” Delilah says, making it sound like a threat.

“Maybe I’ll come to lunch too,” Andrea says.

“You can ask Leslee if she plays pickleball,” Addison says. “You ladies are always complaining about not having a regular fourth.”

Andrea, Phoebe, and Delilah are always looking for someone to play pickleball. Andrea has tried to recruit Avalon, but Avalon says competitive sports aren’t her thing—and Andrea, Phoebe, and Delilah are very competitive when it comes to pickleball.

“Maybe we should hold off before inviting the Richardsons into every aspect of our lives,” Andrea says. “Let’s meet them first.”

Coco is so buzzed—not only from the champagne but from the lobster mac and cheese, the best ice cream cake she’s ever tasted, and the energy on the deck—that she nearly volunteers to be the fourth in pickleball. Coco strikes up a conversation with Eric’s girlfriend, Avalon, who, Coco is relieved to see, has a tattoo of a mandala on her shoulder. When Coco asks what she does for a living, Avalon says she’s a masseuse and a yoga instructor. “I have a private clientele for both massage and yoga,” she says. “Eric and I are saving to buy a house. I’m on the lookout for a duplex so we can live in one half and rent the other half. I watch an obscene amount of HGTV.”

Coco laughs. Avalon is such a queen!

The party breaks up a little while later. Eric has a charter at six the next morning; Phoebe has to drive her thirteen-year-old son, Reed, “all the way out to Sconset” at seven because he’s working with the groundskeeping crew at the Nantucket Golf Club; the farmer, Jeffrey, wakes up with the chickens. Everyone says goodbye to Coco before they drift down the deck stairs. So nice to meet you. Jeffrey shakes her hand; Phoebe and Delilah give her a hug. Delilah says, “In a few weeks, you’ll be able to answer all our questions about the Richardsons.”

“Yes!” Phoebe says. “We’ll have someone on the inside.”

Coco feels like a spy but also weirdly relevant.

As the cars pull out of the driveway, Coco stacks the dirty plates, then carries the melting remains of the ice cream cake into the kitchen. Andrea and the Chief are there, but Kacy is nowhere to be seen.

“I’ve got all this, Coco—thank you, though,” Andrea says.

“Are you sure?”

“Ed likes to help me,” Andrea says. “This is when we catch up on our days.”

That’s Coco’s cue to make herself scarce. “Good night, thank you for dinner, it was delicious, your friends are wonderful people.” Has Coco forgotten anything? “It’s nice of you to let me stay. It should only be a few days.”

“Happy to have you,” the Chief says. “Good night.”

Coco climbs the stairs and finds Kacy waiting for her in the hallway. “I’m sorry I cut out,” she says. “I’m not ready for all the questions.”

Coco opens her arms and says, “Thank you for letting me stay here. It was a real act of kindness and trust, and I’m grateful.”

Kacy gives her a quick squeeze. “Meeting you was so random,” she says. “And yet I feel like this was meant to be.”

Random, yes, Coco thinks. Meant to be? She supposes they’ll find out.

6. The Cobblestone Telegraph II

The Richardsons close on 888 Pocomo Road at noon on June 11 and by 12:05, Leslee Richardson is on the phone with contractors.

“We aren’t doing much to the house,” Leslee confides to Avalon Boone, whom Leslee has summoned to the Hotel Nantucket to give her an in-suite massage. “After all, it was decorated by Jennifer Quinn, the host of Real-Life Rehab.”

Avalon loves Jennifer Quinn. Real-Life Rehab is the best show on HGTV, in Avalon’s opinion. If Avalon were moving into a house that JQ designed, she wouldn’t change a thing, but to each her own.

As Avalon sets up the massage table, she says, “Which house is this?”

“Triple Eight Pocomo Road.”

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