Page 119 of 28 Summers
“Yes,” Jake says. “It’s delicate stuff and not anything you want to be a part of, trust me.”
“Please, Dad,” Bess says. “I have to get out of here, even if it’s only for a couple days.”
“I understand. But, honey, this isn’t a vacation…”
“I’ll let you do your thing, I promise,” Bess says. “I just need a break from the meetings and the strategizing and the canvassing. It’s a brain-squeeze. I want to get outside. If I could see the ocean, even for a couple of minutes—” She breaks off and gives him an assessing look. “Besides, Mom says you’re going to be sad. And I don’t want you to be alone.”
After his phone conversation with Jake McCloud—Jake McCloud!—Link has questions. He sits at his mother’s bedside Googling Jake McCloud. In every single photograph, Jake is with Ursula de Gournsey. And then Link reads about him on Wikipedia.
…graduated from Johns Hopkins University…
Aha! Link thinks. Maybe he knows Uncle Coop? But that still doesn’t quite explain it. Why wouldhisbe the number in an envelope in the sticky drawer?
“Mom?” Link says when Mallory’s eyelids flutter. He doesn’t like forcing her awake but he needs answers while she’s still somewhat cogent. “Listen, I called that number and Jake McCloud answered.”
Mallory’s eyes open.
“He said for you to hold on,” Link says. “He told me he’s coming.”
A single tear drips from the corner of Mallory’s eye. Link wipes it with his thumb.
“Mom?” Link says, but her eyes have closed.
Apple stops by the next day. She reads to Mallory fromThe English Patientfor a while; it’s not a cheerful book by any means, but it’s Mallory’s favorite. Then Apple starts talking about their old Summer House–waitressing days—Hokey Pokeys, Ollie’s dollies—and Link hears his mother laughing. She seems better. Is she getting better?
Uncle Cooper flies in from DC and he and Link both talk with Sabina, RN case manager. Sabina tells them that watching a loved one “transition” can be painful and draining.
“Make sure you take care of yourselves,” Sabina says. “Fill your cup. Do things that comfort you and sustain you so that you can be whole and present for Mallory.” She pauses. “She probably has several more days.”
Several more days means five or six, maybe even a week. Which means this time next week…what? Mallory will be dead? How is Link supposed to process that?
After talking to Sabina, Cooper and Link take a walk down the beach. It’s warm and sunny, one of the first beautiful days of the summer. Link can see people gathering down at Fat Ladies with their brightly colored umbrellas and their coolers, so they walk in the other direction.
Coop says, “You will never be alone. For the rest of your life, I’ve got you, man. And your dad will be there too, of course. But even together, we aren’t going to be able to replace your mom.” Coop clears his throat. “Have you contacted Leland?”
“I wasn’t sure I should. Mom hasn’t spoken to Leland since I was in ninth grade.”
“I’ll get ahold of her,” Coop says.
“Mom asked me to call the number in this envelope that was tucked away in her desk drawer and I did, and you’re never going to guess who answered.”
Coop kicks at the sand. “Oh, I bet I can guess,” he says.
The door opens and Link, her beautiful, sweet, strong boy, says, “Mama, are you up for visitors?”
He doesn’t wait for an answer. He just lets them in, one by one.
Cooper.
Fray.
Leland.
Jake.
Everything is okay,she thinks. They’re around the harvest table, their faces glowing from the flame of one votive candle. Cat Stevens is on the stereo:I’m looking for a hard headed woman.
Everything is still okay.
