Page 20 of The Summer We Mended
She remembered the last time they’d seen each other in person at a rushed Thanksgiving three years ago.Jess had been caught between startup meetings and Zoom calls.She’d barely touched her food and spent most of the time texting under the table.
That world had come crashing down recently.The startup had folded, and Jess had returned to Vineyard Harbor a little thinner, a little quieter, and a lot more guarded.
Maisie pulled on her mother’s hand.“Show them, Mommy.Show them what I made for Uncle David’s tree!”
Jess nodded, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear, but her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.“We made decorations from sea glass and string.She wants to hang them on the old birch.”
Blaze perked up.“You mean the one with the rope swing?”
“The very one,” Claudia said, rising and brushing sand off her knees.“Still standing, though a little less steady than it used to be.Like the rest of us.”
That earned a chuckle from Henry.“Speak for yourself.I could still beat Blaze in a race down to the water.”
Blaze’s eyes lit up.“Bet you couldn’t.Want to try?”
“Maybe after dinner,” Henry said, and winked.“Gotta pace myself these days.”
As the group began to move toward the house, Jess lingered near the back.Lily fell into step beside her.
They walked in silence for a moment, the rhythm of their steps syncing as they passed the edge of the garden where the basil was already flowering and the tomatoes hung small and green on the vine.A garden that Margot had planted for her, because Lily just didn’t have the heart to do so.
Lily reached out and gently squeezed Jess’s hand.
Jess glanced at her, startled.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Lily said.“Really.”
Jess’s mouth twitched.For a second, she looked like she might cry, but she didn’t.She just nodded and looked ahead, where Maisie was now pointing excitedly at a bird flying overhead.
“Thanks, Aunt Lily,” Jess murmured.
It was a small thing.A tiny gesture.But for Lily, who had barely managed to keep herself afloat this last year, it was a moment of connection she hadn’t known she still had the capacity for.
Inside the house, Margot had already set out lemonade and sliced fruit.She moved with an effortless kind of warmth, fluffing cushions, straightening tablecloths, adjusting the blinds so the light fell just so across the table.Her presence made the old place feel like it was breathing again.
“Margot, I didn’t know you were here,” Lily said as she hugged her friend.
“I came to check on you all.When no one was here, I called Anna, and she said you guys went on an adventure, and I thought lemonade and fruit would be perfect.”
“You were right,” Lily said.
“When these guys got here, I offered to make a big dinner.This house hasn’t seen one of your famous family dinners in a while.It’s due.”
“Margot, I don’t—”
“I didn’t say that you were cooking, did I?”she asked softly.“I’ll handle everything.”
Lily nodded and let out a long sigh.It was all a bit overwhelming for her, but she couldn’t let anyone else see that.She had to move through the uncomfortable parts of healing if she wanted to get unstuck.This was just part of it.
“Come sit, all of you,” Margot said, waving them toward the table.“Tell me what you’ve found, what you’ve seen, and everything in between.”
Blaze dumped his canvas bag on the bench, shells and bits of driftwood spilling out.“We found a shell that looks like a heart!”
“And a crab shell with two claws still on it,” Nora added, reaching into the bag.
Maisie clapped.“That’s so cool!I want to find one too!”
Henry smiled from his place near the window, arms still crossed, though his eyes softened as he watched the children.“You’re going to need another bucket if they keep collecting like that.”
