Page 24 of The Summer We Mended
Anna smiled.“Deal.”
They finally sat down to eat at a mismatched table that had been cobbled together with benches, stools, and folding chairs, the food was heaped high and the conversation louder still.Lily sat between Blaze and Nora, who were each talking over the other to tell her about the crab shells they’d found, or how Maisie had tried to somersault into the tomato patch.
Henry sat at the head of the table, carving more bread with exacting focus, his expression unreadable.Occasionally, he glanced at Lily, his brow furrowing slightly as if trying to say something he couldn’t quite put into words.
Claudia, however, made up for any emotional silence.
“We are so blessed to have you all here,” she said, reaching across the table to lay a hand over Lily’s.“This is what matters, you know?Family.Sharing a meal.Laughing together.It doesn’t fix everything, but it helps you remember what’s still good.”
Lily didn’t speak, but she didn’t pull away either.She nodded, slowly, her eyes glassy but not spilling over.For now, that was enough.
The evening drifted on in a haze of fireflies, peach galette, and second helpings.And Anna, watching her mother from across the table, felt something like hope settle in her chest.
ChapterEight
Jess
The impromptu party in her Aunt Lily’s backyard had been fun, for Maisie at least.Jess couldn’t stop feeling awkward and as if everyone was judging her.Aunt Lily and Anna had both told her they didn’t think any less of her, but it was still something she couldn’t shake.
Jess knew that thoughts flitting around in her head were those of her insecurities.She had failed at her startup, and her marriage, but it didn’t mean that she was a failure.Most of the world’s highest achievers, the legendary athletes, musicians, and CEOs, failed a hundred times before they ever hit it big.She was in the best club she could be in, but no matter how many times she told herself that, it didn’t help.
It also didn’t help that her well-meaning parents continued to make random, passive-aggressive comments to her about growing up and getting a real job.It didn’t matter that Jess had been very successful before Clark had sucked her business dry and forced her to shut it down.That would never register with her parents.They were old school and felt that working a nine-to-five was the adult thing to do.
Jess knelt beside the SUV, brushing peach juice from Maisie’s cheeks with a half-dry baby wipe.
“Hold still, sweetie.You’re a sticky little swamp monster.”
Maisie giggled, her curls tangled with grass and a smear of frosting still on her nose.“That was the BEST party EVER!I had three cupcakes, and I climbed the peach tree!And Blaze showed me a turtle he found, and I got to feed him a hot dog.Don’t tell Mommy,” she added in a loud whisper to Claudia, who stood nearby holding the bag of party favors.
“Your secret’s safe with me,” Claudia said with a wink.She tucked a loose strand of silver hair behind her ear, eyes flicking to Jess with quiet amusement.“It was nice seeing Lily with a little spark again.Don’t you think?”
Jess nodded as she buckled Maisie into the car seat.“Yeah.It was.”She didn’t say more, because her throat tightened at the thought.Aunt Lily’s spark had flickered out for a long while, and seeing it reignited, even briefly, made Jess ache in ways she couldn’t name.
She climbed into the backseat next to her daughter, and her father pulled out of the driveway.Jess leaned her head against the cool glass of the passenger window, the blur of trees and salt-marred fences slipping past as they drove toward Oak Bluffs.Maisie’s happy humming drifted up from the backseat, but Jess barely heard it.Her mind had wandered, back to the harbor, back to the dock, back to Uncle David.
She could still feel the tight hug he’d given her the morning she, her now ex-husband, Clark, and Maisie had boarded that one-way flight to California, the woodsmoke from his flannel clinging to her clothes long after he’d let go.
“You’re brave, Jess,” he’d said, cupping the side of her face with his calloused hand.His eyes had crinkled, that ever-present twinkle there.“Don’t let anyone make you feel like you’re not.It takes guts to chase something that doesn’t already have a map.”
She’d blinked away tears, nervous and unsure and trying to act braver than she felt.“I just… I hope it works out.I don’t want to disappoint anyone.”
David had scoffed then, loud and familiar.“Disappoint who?The people who never dared to try?Listen…” He pointed at her.“I’ve been on a boat since I was fourteen because that’s what we did.Fishermen.Sons of fishermen.Your dad chose to follow our mom’s path and become a teacher and then a principal, and God love him for that, but I used to dream about building things with my hands that didn’t smell like bait.Tables, dressers… chairs people might pass down someday, you know?But I never went all in, because it was expected of me to uphold the family name and continue the legacy of Hartman fisherman.You?You’re diving headfirst, and I think that’s incredible.”
She could still feel the lump that rose in her throat then, the tears she barely managed to hold in.He had believed in her, loudly and without hesitation, something her father never quite managed.Not that Henry didn’t love her.He just… showed it in quieter ways.Showing up.Fixing her fence.Picking her up from the airport without saying much at all.
Uncle David shouted his love from rooftops.And when he passed the year before, a hole had opened that no one else tried to fill.
What gutted her now was the sense that she’d failed him.She’d lost the business.She was back home.Back in the room she painted purple when she was twelve.She imagined his voice, still encouraging, still proud, but she couldn’t quite believe it.
Jess stared out the window.She understood how her Aunt Lily had seemed to have lost her light.Uncle David had been that for a lot of people.She missed her uncle; she couldn’t imagine what it would be like to miss her husband in this way.
Her dad, Henry, cleared his throat as he drove the SUV.He was tall, broad-shouldered, and still carried himself with the discipline of someone who’d spent his life doing things the right way.No fanfare, no mess, no shortcuts.“We should have left a little sooner, before that ferry traffic clogs the road.”
The drive through Vineyard Haven was quiet for a few minutes, broken only by Maisie’s occasional chatter from beside her.
“Can we go back next week?Please?I want to see the turtle again.Aunt Margot said she might let me help make jam if I wash my hands this time.”
Jess turned in her seat, smiling at her daughter.“We’ll see, peanut.But I’m glad you had fun.”
