Page 17 of April Flowers

Sam burst into giggles. “I know. I had the same thought!”

They fell silent and clinked their glasses. Upstairs, the baby was calm.

Sam’s eyes glinted with adoration. “It’s been a beautiful time for the family. But…” She turned her eyes to the ocean. “Rachelle isn’t home, and it still rips me apart to remember it.”

Margot’s first thought was that Rachelle had run away and never looked back like Margot had done.

But Sam explained that Rachelle had taken a job as a chef in Rome, of all places.

“Wow!” Margot cried. “What a daredevil.”

“She scares me,” Sam agreed. “She does whatever she wants whenever she wants.”

“It’s the time for that,” Margot said. “I was reckless when I was her age, too. I was twenty-three when I opened my own flower shop. It didn’t take me long to fall flat on my face.”

Sam’s eyes widened. “What happened?”

“Oh, nothing so dramatic. I didn’t know what I was doing, money-wise. I never knew how many blooms to order or howto prepare for big holidays like Valentine’s Day. But over time, I developed a system.”

“And you’re still open today?”

“Still open!” Margot smiled, remembering the awards that lined the walls. “It’s my happy place.”

“I’ll come visit you one day,” Sam said softly. “I would have had I known.”

“It’s okay. I’ve kept a low profile.”

“Understandably.” Sam looked as though she wanted to say something else.

But suddenly, Estelle breezed down the stairs, bringing the smell of jasmine perfume and the air that she’d just created something brilliant upstairs. Of course, she remembered Margot, although they’d only met a few times, and Estelle was gracious, asking her questions about her life in Boston and her plans for her stay in Nantucket.

“I told her she could stay the night,” Sam informed Estelle.

“But it really isn’t a good idea,” Margot said. “The sooner I bite the bullet and see my mother, the better.”

“Oh! Your mother will be so thrilled to see you.” Estelle’s eyes glinted.

Margot couldn’t help it; she scoffed. This was Lillian Earnheart they were talking about—not Estelle Coleman.

Estelle bowed her head as though remembering just that. There was a strange pause. Margot hated that she’d rebuked Estelle’s niceties.

“Lillian can be difficult,” Estelle said finally. “But she’s been through a lot.”

“You all have,” Sam agreed.

Suddenly, Margot felt like she was walking on the moon and losing oxygen. She got to her feet and went to the bathroom, where she ran the faucet and fought a panic attack. As she cleaned herself up, she listened as the door opened and closed,opened and closed, bringing in more Colemans, more love, more, “Hello, where is everybody?” and more, “I brought wine!” It was a house echoing with excitement, with family, with joy. It was a house that missed Rachelle to its very foundation. It was a house that had accepted Samantha back wholeheartedly.

It was nothing like the Earnheart house.

How was she going to find the strength to go back?

Chapter Seven

Noah hadn’t been eager to send Avery to Nantucket High School. With Mona dead for just two weeks, and Avery still mum on where she’d run away to after the wake, Noah felt that things were too precarious, too sensitive, which was why, on Thursday morning, when he woke up to find Avery dressed and drinking a cup of coffee in the kitchen, he was more than surprised. He was suspicious, too.

“I want to go to school,” Avery announced.

Noah hadn’t slept well. He felt as though he’d spent all night running up and down an abandoned beach, screaming his head off. In the dream, he couldn’t remember what he’d been looking for or what had happened, but the ache of it remained lodged in his chest.

---