Page 9 of A Vineyard Love

Amanda and Audrey laughed knowingly, remembering hundreds of mornings they’d spent with their grandfather, teasing him just as much as he teased them. Yes, Amanda had had moments where she’d thought it was strange to live with this older man; where she’d looked at the dramatic tapestry of her life and wondered what had led her there. But she hadn’t regretted it for a moment.

“It’s been an unforgettable time of my life,” Amanda said quietly. “I never even knew my grandfather during most of my life, and now he’s one of my best friends.”

“He’s the weirdest and most wonderful man I’ve ever known,” Audrey said.

“It’s hard for me, sometimes, to acknowledge that I would never have really gotten to know him, or any of you, if I hadn’t been left at the altar,” Amanda went on. “Chris gave me a gift that day. It was just hard to recognize it at the time.”

“I should have given him a knuckle sandwich,” Lola said, half-joking. At least, Amanda thought she was half-joking. It was hard to know with Lola, who was a livewire.

After finishing at the Katama Lodge, they headed into the locker rooms to change back into their clothes and met in the glittering light outside the beautiful building. There, they said hello to Carmella and Elsa, whose father had opened the Katama Lodge many decades before. Elsa was engaged to Susan’s colleague, Bruce, while Carmella had given birth last year and said she’d just returned to work.

“You must miss your daughter so much!” Christine said. “I hated going back to work after I had Mia.”

Carmella placed her hand over her heart. “I count down the hours till I see Georgia again!”

The two mothers, both of whom hadn’t had their first babies until their forties, locked eyes, understanding the weight of their later-in-life decisions and the tremendous happiness they’d built. Amanda swallowed a lump in her throat, overcome with empathy.

“All right! Next stop is the winery!” Lola clapped her hands and directed the women back to their vehicles, where she led the charge north of Edgartown to a place called The Hutton House, which was a boutique hotel and wine bar that stretched along the water. Like the Aquinnah Cliffside Hotel, it had been half-destroyed by a hurricane a couple of years back, but its owner, Olivia, had ensured it had been restored to its previous beauty. An islander herself, Olivia greeted the women happily and passed out wine lists. “My servers get annoyed with me when I talk to their tables,” Olivia jested. “But one of the reasons I wanted to open this place was to chat with people like you!”

The Sheridan women opted for a bottle of natural orange wine and a bottle of white, then ordered a charcuterie board with cured meats, camembert, cheddar, and gouda cheeses, plus dried and fresh fruits. Susan explained this was their snack before the “big lunch at home,” which was being prepared for them.

“You are spoiling me!” Amanda cried.

“You deserve to be spoiled,” Susan assured her. “Besides, when was the last time you had any fun? You’ve been working crazy hours at the law office and finishing up your law degree, all while taking care of the rest of us.”

Amanda blushed. Truthfully, juggling so many things at once was the only way she knew to stay sane. Like Susan Sheridan before her, she needed every minute of her day to be packed with action, or else she got jittery and wondered what she was meant to do with her hands.

“Graduation was such a relief,” Amanda said with a sigh, remembering just last month when her entire family had traveled to Rutgers to watch her walk across the graduation stage in her cap and gown. Although she’d done most of the coursework from Martha’s Vineyard, she’d diligently completed her studies and graduated with a 4.0.

“What’s next for you?” Christine asked.

“I guess we haven’t made the official announcement yet,” Susan said. “But Amanda is going to be a fully-fledged lawyer at the Sheridan Law Offices here in Martha’s Vineyard, alongside Bruce and I.”

“I’ve already handled a case on my own,” Amanda admitted, her cheeks burning with a mix of pride and embarrassment.

“I still remember my first case by myself,” Susan breathed. “I was so green! So nervous! But I had good instincts, as you do, Amanda.”

After a moment of silence, during which Susan beamed at her daughter with all the love in the world, Audrey waved her hand and said, “Enough of all this work talk. This is a bachelorette party, isn’t it? Are you ready for the first game?”

“What game?” Amanda asked.

“I invented it,” Audrey said.

“Oh no.” Amanda groaned into laughter, always nervous yet excited when Audrey got creative with something.

“We’re in public, Audrey,” Susan reminded her. “Nothing too… adult.”

Audrey rolled her eyes, then said, “Fine. We can play that later. For now, we can focus on the Newlywed Game.” She removed her phone from her pocket, then waved it. “I asked Sam a series of questions. If Amanda can answer how he answered correctly, we have to drink. If she can’t answer, she has to drink.”

“Except for me,” Susan said. “I’m the driver.”

“Typical Susan. Always there for us,” Lola teased, then hugged her sister from the side.

“All right. Ready for the first question?” Audrey asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” Amanda said.

“What is Sam’s favorite book?”

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