Page 55 of An Island Summer
Tess sat up excitedly, sending Charlie to his feet. “You want tocook?” she asked, her eyes rounded in surprise. “I thought you’d never ask!” She slipped her sunglasses on and swung her legs toward Meghan. “Have you decided what you’re making?”
“What if I did my cavatelli with shrimp and asparagus?”
Tess rolled her eyes and fell back onto her cushioned lounger dramatically while her hand went to her belly, the bright orange sunlight on her face. “Yum.”
“I should probably call Toby then. We’ll need to hit the local market before it closes.” Meghan stood up and wrapped the towel around her waist as the breeze rippled over the infinity pool’s glassy surface, making it difficult to tell where the pool ended and the ocean began.
While Tess changed clothes, Meghan pulled out her phone and called Toby. He answered on the first ring.
“Hi, it’s Meghan,” she said. “I was wondering if you and Rupert would like to come over for dinner tonight.”
“That would actually be amazing,” he said, filling her with happiness. “Gramps could do with seeing you and being somewhere other than Rosewood Manor. He’s totally torn up his room, looking for something. None of us know what it is.”
“Oh no,” she said, putting her hand to the skin on her chest, the warmth of it making her wonder if she’d gotten a little evening burn out there by the pool. “I have to run out to get supplies, but if it would help him, maybe you two could meet me at the market.”
His silence gave her pause. “I… can’t imagine going through this anymore without you. You’re such a big part of his day,” he said, his unexpected comment stopping her cold. For the first time in her adult life, someone needed her, and the idea of it gave her a rush of excitement like nothing she’d ever experienced before. “You still there?” he asked when she didn’t respond.
“Yes,” she said through her smile. “I’m here.”
“I need to find the paper,” Rupert said for the third time, wringing his hands as he shuffled along beside Meghan and Toby, the grocery cart full of fresh vegetables and pasta.
“We’ll find it,” Meghan told him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Can you help me choose a lemon?” she asked. “I’m looking for just the right one.”
Rupert lifted a few, inspecting them, not entirely with them tonight, his clarity as unsteady as the tide. He held out a lemon. “How’s this one, Hester?”
“That one looks good. Thank you,” she said. “Can you find me one more really good one?” She placed the lemon in the cart and turned to Toby. “What paper is he looking for?” she whispered.
Toby shook his head. “No idea.”
“It’syourledger paper, Hester. For God’s sake,” he said, evidently overhearing them. He handed her a second lemon.
“I have all my papers,” she said, trying to calm him.
His unsteady gaze found her. “Oh,” he said as his brows pulled together. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. It’s at home,” she lied just a little, hoping he didn’t ask where it was when they got to The Seabreeze.
“What else do we need?” Toby asked.
“Just a bottle of white wine,” she replied, running back through her mental list of ingredients.
“When did you start drinking white wine?” Rupert asked her. “You always preferred red.”
His question stopped her and made her smile because she actually did prefer red to white, but then she realized that he didn’t know that and was referring to Hester. “I’m cooking with it,” she replied.
“Ah yes,” he said, as if just now arriving at the conversation. “What are we having?”
“Cavatelli with shrimp and asparagus.”
He smiled. “Do you remember when you learned to cook that dish?”
His question surprised her. “I do.” She actually did remember. It was one of the first real dishes Pappy had taught her how to make.
“It was one of the first dishes you learned to make,” he said, repeating her thought.
She sucked in a breath. “That’s right,” she said, stunned. That was a fact abouther, not Hester. “How did you know?”
“You told me.”
