Page 19 of The Vineyard Bride

Chapter Eight

Lola parked her caron the southern edge of Martha’s Vineyard in a little clearing between trees, where a boardwalk bucked down from the parking lot and down to the whipping sands below.It was a strangely windy day, drawing the winds from the Caribbean all the way up to Martha’s Vineyard and warming her cheeks and her forearms.Whatever surprise Audrey had planned, Lola was ready to welcome it with open arms— grateful for all she had and all she could build.

When Lola appeared at the bottom of the boardwalk, she found Audrey peering out across the waters, her arms outstretched so that the wind flapped at her sleeves and tore at her dark curls.From a distance, she could have been Lola herself— or Anna Sheridan from the distant past.Lola stretched out her legs to run toward her, the heels of her boots digging into the sands.Audrey screeched out just before their impact, where they turned and turned in circles, laughing like much younger girls.

My daughter.My everything.

When their hug broke, Lola stepped back, ruffled her hair, and said, “Why did you drag me all the way across the island, girl?”

“You’ll just have to see,” Audrey shot back.“You’re always so impatient, aren’t you?”

Audrey directed them westward along the beach, stringing her fingers through Lola’s and chatting about their days.Max, apparently, had a newfound love for blueberries, which made his tongue look perpetually blue.Lola laughed and described the incident of the meeting between Aunt Beatrice and Grandpa Wes.

“You’re kidding,” Audrey demanded, her eyes illuminated.“Grandpa was flirting?”

“I know.I don’t think I’ve ever seen him flirt with anyone except my mother in my entire life.But dammit, that tears me up inside.He deserves love just as much as the rest of us.Maybe more, after what Mom put him through...”

Lola and Audrey held the silence for a moment as the waves crashed across the sands.There was nothing left to say.After a moment more, Audrey lifted her finger to point at a cabin in the distance.

“That’s where we’re headed.”

Lola stopped short, eyeing a cabin that she’d never seen before in her life— a windswept place on the edge of the woods with a beautiful view of the southern Atlantic Ocean.It was a strange thing to have been raised on such a small island and not know the ins and outs of every single area.

“Is it haunted?”Lola teased.

“Probably,” Audrey shot back.“But that’s what you wanted, right?”

“You know me too well.”

When they appeared at the front steps of the cabin, the door erupted open to allow music from large speakers to swallow them whole.

“HERE COMES THE BRIDE,” bellowed out, an R&B version that Lola had never heard.On cue, Amanda jumped out of the door and started to dance as she placed a large white hat on Lola’s head.The door opened wider to reveal Susan, Christine, Charlotte, Claire— and then, in the back of the group, two surprising faces.

Jenny and Valerie, her best friends from Boston.

“Oh my God!”Lola cried, overwhelmed with emotion.She’d thought that Valerie had written her off as “boring and basically married” since she’d told her about Tommy.Jenny had been so busy with work lately that she’d hardly reached out.

One after another, Lola hugged her family members and shrieked with joy at the surprise.“You’re kidding me.This is beautiful,” she whispered at the decorations: the handmade sign that announced her party, the bubble letter balloons, the beautiful flowers from Claire’s flower shop, and the long table of desserts and champagne.

When she reached Jenny, she closed her eyes and whispered, “Thank you for coming all this way.”Jenny eased a hand across Lola’s back and muttered back, “You know we wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

Valerie seemed bleary-eyed and sharp-tongued already, the way she was when she was particularly unhappy with her life.Lola had always known to keep a wide berth from Valerie when she got in one of her moods.Susan eyed her as though she was a bomb about to go off.

“Hi, Val.”Lola hugged Valerie a bit tighter than the others, trying to translate that she cared for her deeply and also that she needed to behave.“How have you been?”

Valerie shrugged.“Not bad.Got to the island two nights ago and had a wild time with this guy in downtown Edgartown.”

Behind Valerie, Susan rolled her eyes into the back of her head.She could practically hear Susan’s inner monologue:Honey.You’re in your forties now.It’s time to grow up.

“I think I want to hear that story!”Audrey chimed in, trying to ease the divide between the Sheridans and Lola’s out-of-town friends.She passed Lola a glass of champagne and cozied up on one of the three white couches in the living room.“Come on, Valerie.The next two days are all about girl talk.Let’s dig into it.”

“Yeah!”Amanda chimed in, sitting next to Audrey.“I think all of us have boyfriends or husbands or fiancés.Tell us about your adventures.”

Valerie’s face lit up the slightest bit.She tipped the rest of her champagne flute back to sip another large gulp.Christine hustled over with a fresh bottle and topped several of the women off, her smile nervous yet endearing.

“I worked in restaurants too long not to jump when someone’s glass is empty,” Christine explained.

The rest of the Sheridan and Montgomery women gathered around Valerie as she told the story of two nights before when she’d sat at a wine bar, and a handsome stranger had approached her.

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