Page 80 of Seven Summer Weekends

“Oh, sorry. Ben and Gicky’s niece walked down the beach this morning holding hands and sometimes kissing.”

Shep took off without his sammie and pedaled home as fast as his old legs would take him.

He entered Ben’s house a few minutes later to find Ben andAddison lying on the living room couch. They peeled themselves off each other and sat up, but not in anoh no, we’re bustedkind of way. They sat up as if their coupling were the most natural thing in the world.

“We didn’t hear you,” Ben said.

“What a shock,” Shep said, raising his hands to his chest in jest.

They gave him a laugh.

“I have something for you two. It’s a gift from Gicky,” Shep announced, handing the rewrapped painting to Ben.

Addison turned to him and whispered, “Say no thank you. I think it’s a nude. I think he and Gicky were—you know—an item.”

Ben laughed. “They were most definitely not an item.”

Still, Addison covered her eyes and giggled, peeking out between her fingers as Ben unveiled the painting.

They both gasped at the image. It was a painting of the two of them together, sitting on the beach staring out at the ocean, with Sally sitting similarly at their side.

Neither of them spoke for at least a minute. Shep was miraculously patient, letting them take in the image before speaking himself.

“I don’t understand, Shep, what’s going on here?”

“Well, it’s subjective, but I think she was trying to capture…”

“Shep!” It was obvious from Ben’s tone and clenched jaw he was not amused. Addison’s jaw, on the other hand, remained agape. She was amazed at her dead aunt’s ability to turn her life on its head.

“Gicky came up with an entire plan the night she promisedyou the house on the clamshell. She already knew she was dying, had already thought through her estate and put everything in place. Before I knew she was sick, she and I got to talking about a far-off time when I’d be gone, and she’d be gone, and it would be up to Ben to stand up for the integrity of our block. But when I visited her in the city, when we’d all gotten word of the leukemia, she joked that I should push Ben to meet her beautiful niece. She even showed me pictures of you. She followed your whole life on that Instaface thing.”

Addison couldn’t believe her ears. She felt a bit duped, like a pawn in a chess game.

“You think she left me the house as some grand scheme to fix up Ben and me?”

“No, not really. She always wanted to leave you the house. It’s a thing we would talk about—you know, ’cause my daughters are estranged from each other. So, when she would say, ‘Who am I going to leave this place to? I should have had a kid,’ I would say, ‘Look what good that did me.’ ” He grimaced, adding, “My two are definitely going to fight over my house for eternity.”

“I can’t believe this,” Ben said, clearly not loving being manipulated. Addison wasn’t feeling as annoyed, though in all fairness, annoyance seemed to come easier to Ben. Shep stuck up for himself as best he could.

“What did you want me to do? Gicky was torn between leaving each of you the house. She thought you two young Turks had what it takes to save our block from ruin—got it in her head that if you two were a couple, she could leave it to both of you. I went along with it, humoring her, given that she was dying and all—but wouldn’t you know it? She was right!”

“I feel like a damn puppet,” Ben groaned.

“Yeah. I can see why you’re mad, seeing as how you were doing so well on your own.”

Shep took a purposeful step back. “I’m gonna go—leave you two to admire your original Gicky Irwin.”

“That’s a good idea, Shep,” Ben grunted.

He left, and the two of them gazed at the painting for a long while. Ben eventually calmed down and even smiled.

“Unbelievable,” he said.

“Truly unbelievable,” Addison agreed.

“Where should we hang it, your place or mine?” Ben asked.

“About that.” Addison inquired, “Can we discuss your offer, to buy half of my place? I am thinking of taking some time off to sculpt. And that money would allow me the freedom.”

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