Page 53 of Against the Current

It was difficult for Jackie to fathom.

Suddenly, Josh’s hand was on her shoulder. “Are you all right, honey?”

Jackie was all right. But she needed to talk to Ryan. Right away.

Chapter Nineteen

March 2025 - Nantucket Island

It was a clear evening and unseasonably warm—sixty degrees Fahrenheit and with only tufts of clouds on the horizon. Ryan sat on the front porch of the Sutton Estate, shifting back and forth on the swing, watching Willa, Gavin, and Rudy run around in the grass. The scene brought back idyllic memories of his own childhood here at the Sutton Estate, screaming at the top of his lungs with his sister and cousins, getting so dirty that Grandma Dana ordered them to go immediately to the bathroom to wash up before they were allowed in the rest of the house.

When Ryan first brought Trisha here to meet everyone, they’d been young—twenty-two and eighteen—and without a doubt in their minds that their love was the most interesting and powerful thing about them.

Ryan remembered thinking,So what if the Suttons don’t like her? So what if my grandmother says some bad stuff behind my back?

The truth had been much messier and darker. It had pushed Ryan and Trisha across the continent.

Now, Ryan pulled out his phone and reassessed the photograph he’d taken of Trisha’s list of names—the list of clients Sarah Strong had taken from him and his mother. Since his discovery, Ryan had weighed the pros and cons of approaching his mother or his wife first. But neither outcome sounded nice. If he talked to his mother, Jackie would maybe say something likeWe told you not to marry that Reed girl! Once a Reed, always a Reed!Or—and this was worse—maybe she wouldn’t say anything at all, which would leave Ryan to make his own decision. But Jackie would always know and judge him based on what he did after that.

If he approached Trisha with the list, it meant she’d have to own up to what she’d done. It meant they’d have to have a real talk about the future of their marriage.

It meant it was probably over. Maybe it already was. Perhaps that was why tonight, when he’d gotten home from showing a house a few miles away, Trisha had grabbed the car keys and hollered, “I’m going out!” without looking at him.

Ryan hadn’t had the nerve to ask where she was going.

Suddenly, Willa appeared before him, her feet bare and painted with green. She was grinning and speaking a mile a minute. Ryan reached out to take Willa’s hands and steady her.

“What is it, honey?” he asked, trying to make his voice gentle.

Willa told him a story about her day: about how she’d panicked during a spelling test; about how she’d gone to the bathroom and cried and had a panic attack; about how Trisha had come to pick her up. “But we couldn’t come home,” Willa explained. “Mom says the house isn’t our house?” Her eyes glinted with fear.

Ryan fought the urge to lie to his daughter. All he wanted was to tell her they could stay here as long as they wanted, but thatwasn’t their reality. His mother had decided, perhaps rightly so, that it was time to pass along the family property. Maybe that would force Ryan and Trisha to cut their losses. Perhaps it was a necessary result of having brought Trisha into the Sutton world in the first place.

Willa sat on the porch swing while Ryan explained what he knew: that the house had been in their family for generations, and they didn’t have as much money as they once had. Willa took everything in, frowning, touching her hair. Twice, she asked Ryan if he couldn’t just sell more houses so that they could keep this one instead. “It isn’t that simple, honey. I wish it was.”

A few minutes later, an unfamiliar car pulled into the driveway. On high alert, Ryan stood, frowning at the strangers, and put his hand in the air. But the woman who got out of the passenger side was smiley, her gray-tinged hair windswept. She waved back and said, “Don’t mind us! I just wanted to drive by the house one more time. My husband isn’t convinced, but I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind.”

Ryan felt something cold drop into his stomach, but he kept his smile plastered to his face, not wanting to ruin his mother’s sale. Slowly, he approached the woman, hoping he could answer any questions and have her on her way soon enough. Her eyes glowed with captivation for the Sutton Estate, and Ryan wished he could see what she saw. He wished he could see the potential she understood to be true rather than the dark and alienating past that lurked over the Sutton Estate.

“You met my mother this afternoon,” Ryan said, extending his hand. “I’m staying here with my family till the sale goes through. Ryan Lewis.”

The woman introduced herself as Sadie and bowed her head. “Maybe your mother told you. We want to open a bed-and-breakfast, maybe right here.” She stretched her arms out oneither side and raised her chin to the warm and balmy wind whipping off the Nantucket Sound.

“My husband thinks it isn’t warm enough year-round,” she said. “But it isn’t so bad today!”

Ryan gaped at her. A bed-and-breakfast? Why hadn’t that occurred to him before? It was a sensational spot, one that would appeal to tourists far and wide. With his marketing and advertising background and Trisha’s kindness and good humor, they were the perfect candidates to open their own. He wondered if this was their solution.

But then he remembered the list. The list backed him into a corner. His marriage was over.

Suddenly, his mother’s car appeared on the horizon, barreling down that empty road far over the speed limit. It wasn’t like her.

Sadie followed Ryan’s gaze and said, “Is that your mother?”

“Yes,” Ryan said, sounding breathless. He checked his phone, but there was nothing, no call, no text. “She drops by like that sometimes. I’m sure she wouldn’t if you, you know…”

From the driver’s seat, Sadie’s husband started to grumble. “Sadie, are you about done out there?”

Sadie lent her husband a half eye roll and raised a hand to Jackie as she pulled in. Willa, Gavin, and Rudy reacted quickly, eager to hug their grandmother. He put his hand to his heart.

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