Page 54 of Summer Longing
“Not exactly,” she said, then felt the tears start again. The circumstances of the afternoon came out in a jumbled, sniffling rush. By the time she was finished talking, she could not have felt any sorrier for herself.
“Just try to stay calm,” her father said. “You always push yourself too hard. This happened for a reason, as difficult as it might be to see that in the moment.”
“I never should have come out here,” she said.
“I don’t think that’s the real issue. You need to deal with stress better. So take some time to regroup. Is there anything I can do?”
Olivia glanced back at the house and hesitated only a few seconds before saying, “It’s just—I don’t want to be here, dependent on Mom. It’s awkward. And I don’t know when I’ll be able to make the drive back to New York. Dad, this is asking a lot, but is there any way you can come for a night and I’ll go back home with you?”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Lidia Barros didn’t give Ruth an address for the house, just vague directions: “Walk toward the water and you’ll see it on the left. If you reach the boat-rental office, you’ve gone too far.”
Ruth turned into the alley leading to the dock and passed an aluminum-sided building on her right and a few buildings on her left along with a GMC pickup truck and boats on lifts awaiting repair. The water spread out before her, reflecting the bright sun. She allowed herself a minute to just soak in the view. It struck her that the last time she had visited the dock, it had been for an ill-conceived boat ride that was derailed by her shark phobia. She never would have imagined that just a few short weeks later, she would be back as a guest of the family who owned the place.
Lost in thought, Ruth walked toward the water until she had, in fact, reached the boat-rental office and gone too far. She turned around and spotted a three-story house of unfinished wooden clapboards. The bottom floor seemed to be a workshop, and a wooden staircase led to a second-story deck. A wooden sign in the shape of an anchor announced the address, and the railing was strung with ropes and a few decorative buoys. Ruth climbed the stairs and found a set of sliding glass doors. At her feet, a welcome mat decorated with the image of a red lobster.
Before she could ring the bell, Lidia appeared. “Welcome!” she said, sliding open the doors. Ruth followed her inside to the kitchen, a real cook’s kitchen with a butcher-block island, a farmhouse sink, and a ceiling rack filled with pots and pans.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I missed the front door.”
“Everyone misses the front,” Lidia said breezily. “I can’t remember the last time we used it. Besides, we all end up in here anyway.” She wore a plain V-neck T-shirt and denim shorts and her thick hair was pulled back in a clip. Ruth marveled at her absolutely makeup-free face—not even a hint of mascara.
Ruth felt overdressed in her linen pants and button-down shirt. She hadn’t adjusted to the casualness of the town.
She handed Lidia the loaves of banana and zucchini bread she’d picked up from Connie’s Bakery on her way. She’d learned about the place the night of Rachel and Luke’s dinner; Elise and Fern had brought an incredible mixed-berry pie and told her it was from Connie’s. It took Ruth a few minutes to figure out it was a bakery and not just another friend.
Lidia directed her to take a seat at the wooden kitchen table. It was covered with floral-patterned oilcloth. “I just put the coffee on,” Lidia said, setting out cream and a bowl of sugar.
Lidia sliced up the banana bread and they settled in with their coffee just as the glass doors slid open again. Marco, dressed in all-weather rubbery overalls and high boots, poked his head in. “Is Jaci in here?”
“No, I haven’t seen her.”
“Damn it,” he said.
“Marco, please. There’s no need for that.”
“Really? I think there is. She was supposed to meet me on the dock twenty minutes ago for low tide. I have to get out to the flats. It’s going to take me twice as long to finish without her, and I have a meeting at five.” He nodded at Ruth. “Oh, hi, Mrs. Cooperman. I didn’t know you were here,” he said. “I actually need to talk to you about something.”
“Talk tome?” What could he possibly have to talk to her about? Clearly, Lidia wondered the same thing because she said, “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. I don’t have time to get into it.”
“Well, now that you’ve made us both curious, I suggest you at least get into some of it,” Lidia said, hands on her hips, switching from amiable hostess to firm mother mode in the blink of an eye.
Marco glanced at the water behind him as if torn between the low tide and not angering his mother. When he turned back to Ruth, she knew his mother had won out over Mother Nature.
“I want to know if I can borrow your backyard occasionally to hang seaweed out to dry.”
“Marco!” Lidia said. “That’s an imposition. What are you thinking?” She turned to Ruth. “I’m sorry. Sometimes my children still think that house belongs to their cousin.”
“Ma, I don’t think that at all. If anything, I was confused about whether or not Elise and Fern had moved back in for the summer. I talked to them about using the yard and they told me to check with Ruth.”
Hang seaweed? Ruth had no idea what this meant, but she could hardly say no since she was sitting at her new friend’s kitchen table and this was clearly important to her son. “Of course. No problem,” Ruth said.
“Great, thanks! More on that later. I have to run.” He kissed his mother on the cheek. “See, Ma? No one’s upset. Except with Jaci. If you see her, tell her I’m seriously pissed.”
“Marco! Your language.”
