Page 116 of The Summer We Mended
“It feels like home here.And I want our kids to know the kind of childhood I did, with you in it.”
Luke pulled Lily into a second hug.“Besides, we figure Tom needs someone to help him keep the tide chart straight.”
They all laughed, the sound easy and full.
Later, near the studio booth, Lily stepped onto a small stool and raised her voice just loud enough for those gathered nearby.
“Hi, everyone.I just wanted to say thank you for coming, for supporting the kids’ art program, and for making this fair what it is.I know a few of you have asked if the studio will be closing for the summer…”
She paused, smiling as a hush fell over the little crowd.
“But I’m here to say that the studio is staying open.We’ll be back to our full summer schedule, including classes, open studio nights, and workshops for kids.All of it.My niece, Jess, is going to be helping bring me into the twentieth century with social media, so you all will be able to find everything there.”
Cheers erupted again, and someone clapped so hard a ceramic bowl rattled.
“Art helped me through one of the hardest times in my life,” Lily said, voice steady.“And I think David would’ve wanted me to keep going.To keep creating.So that’s what I’m going to do.”
She stepped down to applause and found herself pulled into hug after hug.Someone passed her a lemonade, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she tasted its sweetness fully.
As the afternoon waned, the fair gently wound down.Volunteers packed up booths, kids sat in circles eating watermelon slices, and the sky began its slow descent into evening.
Tom appeared beside her just as she was folding up a banner.He looked tan and wind-tousled, wearing one of those faded Vineyard T-shirts she was convinced he had multiples of.
“You need a hand?”
She looked up at him, smiling.“Always.”
Together, they walked toward the beach with their arms full of leftover supplies, chatting about the fair, the kids, and the studio.When everything was packed away, they sat on a driftwood log, the sun just beginning to sink low over the water.
The sky burned gold and peach, the ocean stretching wide and soft before them.
Tom nudged her shoulder with his.“Big day.”
“Huge,” she agreed.
“You did good, Lily.Really good.”
She looked at him, the weight of years and grief and healing sitting gently between them.
“I still miss him every day,” she said softly.“But it doesn’t feel like drowning anymore.It just… is.And I’m okay.”
Tom didn’t say anything right away.Just nodded and looked out at the sea.“That’s the thing about love.It stays.In the clay, in the dinner plates, in your kids’ faces.It never really leaves.”
She rested her head on his shoulder.
They sat like that for a long time, watching the waves lap gently at the shore.Just friends.Just present.
And for Lily, that was enough.
The sun dipped below the horizon, leaving streaks of lavender in its wake.
And the island exhaled, at peace.
Epilogue
Anna
Six months later
