Page 42 of The Summer We Mended
Maisie grinned.“Fairies don’t drink coffee, Mama.”
“Pity,” Jess murmured.
As Jess poured lemonade into three mismatched glasses, Maisie looked up suddenly, her eyes big and blue and far too knowing.“Mama, when can I talk to Daddy?He didn’t answer my call yesterday.”
Jess froze for just a breath.Then she smiled, tight and practiced.“He’s working, sweet pea.Super busy right now.You know how it is.Lots of phone calls.He can’t always talk, but he said to tell you he loves you very, very much.”
Maisie nodded solemnly, accepting the lie the way kids sometimes do when it feels safer than the truth.
Claudia dried her hands on a dish towel and sat beside her granddaughter.“Clark always was a good dad.And he was a good husband, too.I hate that you two couldn’t work out your differences.”
Jess didn’t reply.Her jaw tightened as she placed the sandwiches on the table.There it was: the slow, subtle judgment.
“Sometimes,” Claudia continued, oblivious, “when both people have such demanding careers… well, something has to give.”
The knife Jess held clattered a little too loudly against the counter.
Claudia looked up, startled.“Oh, honey, I didn’t mean anything by it.Just that it’s hard.I remember when your father was coaching and teaching, and I had three kids at home.I was a ghost by the end of the day.I can’t imagine if I’d been working outside of the home at the same time.”
Jess said nothing, too afraid of what might come out if she opened her mouth.Her older brothers were married, had kids of their own, and were super successful.They’d both gone the traditional route, being the perfect kids, with one being a doctor and the other a lawyer.Following in their footsteps was hard.
That didn’t even matter, though.Jess’s thoughts were stuck on what her mom had said about Clark.Because what she wanted to scream was that Clark hadn’t just been demanding, he’d been a saboteur, a mooch, a manipulative jerk.Charming to everyone else, sure.The golden boy.The doting father.But behind closed doors, he chipped away at her business, her confidence, her ability to breathe.He left her to handle the child, the finances, and the chaos, while he built a facade that only she saw through.He’d never laid a hand on her, but the mental attacks were just as bad.
But how could she blame her mother for still believing in him?Jess had believed in him, too, once.
“Anyway,” Claudia said quickly, clearly sensing the shift in the room, “I had an idea.About the summer solstice.Do you remember when you were little, and we’d send lanterns out onto the water?Back when they did it to honor the fishermen who didn’t come home?”
Jess nodded slowly.She remembered the soft glow of paper lanterns floating out into the sea, her little hand in Uncle David’s, his voice whispering stories of the men they honored, including one great-uncle she’d never met.
“I want to bring that back this year.A solstice dance on the beach, lanterns and music, and a potluck, maybe.I think it would be good.For Lily, especially.But for you, too, Jessie.And Margot.And Anna.All of us, really.A reason to look forward, you know?”
Jess bit into a slice of apple, chewing slowly to buy herself time.Her mother was trying.She meant well.And it would be nice—for someone else.Not for Jess.Not right now.
Planning events, corralling people, dealing with the looks and whispers from townsfolk who hadn’t seen her since her big return, her tail tucked between her legs?It was the last thing she wanted.
But Claudia’s face was so bright with excitement, her eyes practically dancing.
Jess nodded again, more carefully this time.“It’s a nice idea.”
“It’ll give us all something to focus on.Get our hands busy.Lord knows we need that.”
Maisie looked up from her sandwich.“Can I wear wings?Like a fairy?”
“Absolutely,” Claudia said, smoothing her granddaughter’s hair.“You can be the solstice fairy.”
Jess forced a smile.“You’ll be the best solstice fairy ever.”
“Maybe Daddy will come home for it and see me as the fairy,” Maisie said excitedly.
Jess felt the bile rise in her throat.She closed her eyes and tried to inhale, tried to swallow the truth.Maisie idolized her dad, and Jess hated that some day she would see the truth for what it really was.
Clark wasn’t working late nights with a lot of phone calls.As far as she knew, he was in Cabo celebrating his new single life with a nurse he met on Tinder.He wanted nothing to do with being a father.
“If you file for divorce, you’re only hurting Maisie.I won’t pay child support, I’ll make sure of it.I also won’t be in her life.I didn’t want a kid.You wanted one.I only got you pregnant so you’d shut up.It’s on you that I won’t be in her life anymore.”
“You’re the reason we’re getting a divorce,” she’d hissed through clenched teeth.“The only reason why I’m not pressing charges for fraud and embezzlement is because I don’t want Maisie to visit her father in prison.Don’t turn this on me.”
“Where’d you learn those big fancy words?”He chuckled.“We’re married; that’s my money, too.It’s not my fault you didn’t track your finances better.”
