Page 17 of The Vineyard Bride

Chapter Seven

“Idon’t want to keepyou.”Beatrice’s voice rang out beautifully, as song-like as a bird.She sat across from Lola at the Sunrise Cove Bistro, her hands wrapped tenderly around a mug of cappuccino and her eyes alert.

“I still have a little while,” Lola told her, shoving her phone back into her pocket and cursing her own distraction.In truth, she’d had an absolutely lovely day with Beatrice and Tommy.With Beatrice in her wheelchair, Tommy and Lola had alternated pushing her around Oak Bluffs and describing the history and the way the island erupted with life in the summertime.

“You said you’re meeting your daughter?”Beatrice suggested.

“She wants me to meet her at the edge of this beach on the southern part of the island, outside of Edgartown,” Lola said.“Not far from Katama Lodge, actually.”She then leaned forward conspiratorially and whispered, “I think she has a surprise up her sleeves, although I can’t be sure.Audrey was always a stellar liar.She gets it from her mother.We’re both storytellers.”

Beatrice chuckled good-naturedly, the laughter growing louder as Tommy approached from the bathroom.

“What have you two gotten yourselves into?”he asked as he joined them at the table again, his hand around his light beer.

“Your Lola has just been describing her spitfire daughter,” Beatrice said mischievously.

“That Audrey is really something,” Tommy agreed.“I’ve had the privilege of watching her become a remarkable young woman the past couple of years.Heck, she’s more grown-up than me in some ways.I’ve lived most of my life out at sea, avoiding my problems.”

“His mother and I had our doubts about our Tommy,” Beatrice continued, mostly to Lola.“We knew it would take a truly spectacular woman to stop him in his tracks.We were never so old-fashioned that we thought every person on earth needed somewhere to call home.We just felt that you know, the love that a partnership can bring to your life is unquestioned.If you find the right partner, that is.”

Lola tilted her head knowingly, wishing she could spread out the many stories of this woman’s life like a map and chart the course of her years.

“Were you ever married, Aunt Beatrice?”Lola finally asked.

Beatrice toyed anxiously with the edge of the bandage that stretched across her upper arm.“I was.He was the greatest man I’d ever met.”

Lola’s heart thudded with fear.She could only imagine the story Beatrice would now tell, about illness or accidents, about loss of life.

But instead, Beatrice continued with a far different story.“In our mid-fifties, we realized that, although we still loved one another, we didn’t feel that romantic love any longer.We were more like roommates or best friends.”

“And you decided to part ways?”Lola asked, surprised.

“We did.Our friends thought we were insane.They were like, ‘Do you really want to go on a first date again?’And I told them, of course!Why not?It’s the only way to learn more about myself.It’s the only way to push my story forward.”

Lola had never heard this perspective from a sixty-something woman.She arched her brow playfully toward Tommy and said, “That’s beautiful.Isn’t it?”

“It’s like we’ve lived opposite lives,” Tommy told his Aunt Beatrice.

“That’s not to say I haven’t had my heart broken a few times since then,” Aunt Beatrice continued with a laugh.“Imagine me learning about the concept of ‘ghosting’ at the age of sixty-one!”

“Ghosting?”Tommy asked.

“You probably know all about it,” Lola teased.“It’s when you go on a date with a woman and never call her again.”

Tommy’s cheeks burned tomato red.“Come on.I was always somewhere else by the next day.”

“Men,” Aunt Beatrice said with a laugh.“Can’t live with them...”

“Well, actually.Apparently, I can,” Lola corrected knowingly.

As Beatrice sipped her cappuccino, Tommy and Lola shared a smile across the table.Tommy took her hand delicately in his across his thigh.

Although Aunt Beatrice pretended not to notice this genuine moment between them, the air shifted.She sniffed and said, “You know what?I think I’m pretty beat.I’ll head upstairs to my room if you don’t mind helping me up there.”

“Of course,” Tommy said, jumping from his chair to draw her wheelchair out from beneath the table.

Lola’s fingers fluttered against Tommy’s as they walked Aunt Beatrice through the Sunrise Cove Bistro, headed for the foyer.

“Hello there!”Sam greeted, adjusting his tie as they approached.

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