Page 50 of Against the Current

“I can already see our baby taking his first steps through here,” she whispered. “I can already see myself getting old here.”

Jackie’s throat was tight, and her smile hurt her face. By the time the couple left for the day, she needed a drink so desperately that she called Josh and asked where he was. “I’m with Victor and Esme!” he said brightly. “We’re at the Sutton Book Club. Come by?”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Jackie said.

Jackie hurried out to her car just as Trisha pulled her secondhand Chevy into the driveway with all three kids aboard. Jackie paused, hoping to squeeze her grandchildren tightly before she left. Trisha parked beside her and didn’t even bother to smile. But Willa, Rudy, and Gavin burst from the car and hurried over to Jackie to say hello. Willa hugged her extra long, closing her eyes as though she felt Jackie was a sort of home. As though she felt tremendous comfort.

That brought tears to Jackie’s eyes, too.

“Willa had a rough day,” Trisha said as she got out of the car. Her eyes were rimmed with red.

“I left school early,” Willa said into Jackie’s stomach.

Jackie’s heart burst with sorrow. She realized that Trisha hadn’t been able to bring Jackie home—to the Sutton Estate—because Jackie had been showing it to strangers. They’d had to kill time elsewhere. Trisha probably resented Jackie the entire time, wishing she could take her daughter to a soft room and console her. Jackie kissed the top of Willa’s head and said, “Why don’t we bake cookies later this week? Maybe we can have a sleepover at my house?”

At first, she was petrified that she’d taken it too far. But Trisha’s face echoed with gratitude. Willa wasn’t always easy. Jackie imagined that a day off was often a godsend, even ifTrisha would spend most of that time missing her daughter to death.

Soon, Willa, Gavin, and Rudy retreated inside, eager for snacks and television. Jackie wrung her hands and forced herself to look at Trisha. “I’m sorry about Willa. You should have been able to bring her back here.”

Trisha raised her shoulders. “It’s not our house. Not really.”

“But it is right now,” Jackie said. Her voice wavered. She considered bringing up her idea to open the house as a bed-and-breakfast, but she didn’t want to force Trisha into any kind of faux-friendly conversation.

Instead, Jackie said, “It was funny to run into you the other day.”

Trisha raised her eyebrow as though she didn’t know what Jackie was talking about.

“On the Vineyard,” Jackie finished.

“Right. Yes.” Trisha touched her hair as though she were suddenly nervous. “Maybe Ryan told you? I was researching a few little shops over there. I’m thinking about opening my own place.”

“That sounds really nice,” Jackie said, although she wasn’t sure she believed her. Then again, why else would Trisha be on Martha’s Vineyard?

“Well,” Trisha said, tilting her head toward the house. “I’d better make sure they don’t eat all the chocolate in the cupboard.”

“I’m sure they already have,” Jackie tried to joke. “See you later.”

Trisha raised a hand. “Just let us know when you need us out of the house. We’ll make do.”

Jackie felt sour and strange all the way to the Sutton Book Club. But when she entered the ornate downtown mansion, she inhaled smells of sage and roasted chicken and melted cheddarand baking bread. Upstairs, Rebecca was opening her restaurant for the night, and Esme was popping in and out of the kitchen, offering to help, only for Rebecca to shoo her out and say, “Sit down, Mom. You’ve been on your feet all day!”

Esme spotted Jackie and laughed at herself. “She’s up to her ears in stress and won’t let me help for a second.”

Jackie laughed and hurried over to hug her ex-sister-in-law.My brother’s girlfriend!she thought.

“How are you?” Jackie asked.

“The better question is, how are you?” Esme asked, looping her arm through Jackie’s and walking her over to the corner table, where Josh and Victor talked about politics in a way that made Josh throw up his hands.

Victor laughed and turned to look at Jackie. “How did the showing go?”

Over the weekend, Jackie had updated Victor and Aaron of her plans to sell the Sutton Estate, and they’d essentially said it was about time.

“I might have had a change of heart,” Jackie confessed, taking the chair next to Josh and squeezing his hand.

“You’re a sap,” Victor said.

“I always was,” Jackie agreed. “At first, I thought it was going to be fine, you know? A few couples came, and they seemed snooty and mean. And then this other couple came, and they were expecting a baby, and I just lost it. I started imagining their future and getting so jealous that they’d spend their days at the Sutton Estate.” She pressed her lips together. “Another couple gave me an idea.”

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