Page 5 of The Summer We Mended
Lily lowered her gaze and blew out a long breath as she fought back the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes.
She hadn’t touched a piece of clay in over a year.Not since the accident.Not since the night her husband drove into a twisted mess of black ice and never came home.David had been the one to coax her into opening this place, insisting that her art deserved more than the garage shelves and dusty sketchbooks where it used to live.He’d believed in her long before she ever believed in herself.
She turned the key in the lock twice, as though double locking could hold back more than just the salty wind.It was April.Martha’s Vineyard would begin blooming with tourists in a few weeks, and by mid-May, her little studio would be expected to open its doors.But not this year.Maybe not ever again.
Lily took one step back and then another, until she was standing on the edge of the weather-beaten porch.Her arms wrapped tightly around her torso, though she wasn’t cold.She just felt empty.As though the grief had hollowed her out and left behind a shell that functioned enough to make tea and brush her teeth, but not much more.
Some days, she couldn’t even bring herself to do that.
Her phone buzzed in the pocket of her cardigan.She didn’t look.
Only a few people still called her: bill collectors, her daughter, Anna, her best friend, Margot Davis, and her son, Cody, but she didn’t feel like talking to any of them.Cody and Margot both lived on the island, too, and would show up unannounced a lot.Lily hated that.
Lately, she hadn’t felt much like being social with anyone.Anna called every few days, always gentle, always tiptoeing around Lily’s silence.She tried to fill that canyon of silence with stories about the twins, Blaze and Nora, or news from Langley Air Force Base, or reminders that spring would eventually reach the mainland and not just the island’s edges.
But Lily rarely answered.And when she did, she couldn’t find the energy to be what Anna needed her to be.
When Lily made it to the house, Cody was sitting on the front porch swing, looking down at his phone as he gently swung back and forth.
Lily’s throat squeezed, and she felt tears pricking at her eyes.Cody was the spitting image of David.It was as though David’s younger version had time-jumped to the future.They had the same black hair, bright blue eyes, the same set of jaw, and the same tall, lean build.Cody had a lot of his dad’s mannerisms, too.
“I swear we’re inBack to the Future, and that’s you from the past,” Lily would tease David.“He looks just like you at that age.”
“I was more handsome,” David would bellow with laughter.“He’s way smarter, though.He’s got a better head on his shoulders.”
The thought of the conversation with her late husband made her stomach clench.She could still hear his voice—barely.
“Hey, Mom,” Cody said as he gave her a forced smile.“I thought we could have dinner together.”
“I’m not really hungry, honey,” she answered softly.
Lily let out a long breath.She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten, but she wasn’t hungry, she knew that.
“You’ve got to eat, Mom.When’s the last time you ate something?”
“I had lunch with Margot,” she lied.
“No, you didn’t,” he sighed as he shook his head sadly.
Lily unlocked the front door, and her son followed her inside.He went directly to the kitchen and started unloading the bag of food he brought.“Ignore the mess, honey.Please.”
She watched as her son gave her a small, sympathetic smile.“Don’t worry, Mom.I get it.”
Lily’s phone started buzzing.She ignored it and went to put her purse down on the couch.A few seconds later, it started buzzing again and again.
Three calls in under five minutes.
Lily sighed and pulled the phone from her pocket.The screen glowed with Anna’s name and a photo of her daughter laughing on a summer day, holding a dripping ice cream cone between both hands, twins flanking her on either side.
Reluctantly, she swiped to answer.“Anna.”
“Oh, thank God,” Anna exhaled.Her voice sounded tight, worn thin.“I was starting to think something had happened to you.”
Lily blew out another slow breath.“Still here.”
There was a long pause.
“Hi, Anna,” Cody called out from the kitchen.
