Page 75 of The Glass Dolphin

“Dips,” Clara said. “A whole restaurant that only does dips.” She wore a delighted look on her face. “Who thinks of this stuff?”

“I want the pizza one,” Kelli said. “Baby? You want me to get you something?”

“No,” Shad said as he cradled their little girl in his arms. “You get what you want, and I’ll get something when you’re finished.”

“I can hold her,” Kristen offered.

Shad shook his head, a kind smile on his face and radiating in his eyes. “Thanks, but I know I’ll be in trouble if I keep you from eating with your girls.”

“Come on,” Robin said, hooking her arm through Kristen’s. “You’re not hiding out behind a baby today. Come get some food.”

“The crab dip isfantastic,” Alice said in a loud voice, her words slightly marred by the food in her mouth.

“I went for dessert first,” AJ said. “Definitely get the ginger snaps with this pumpkin pie dip.” Chatter continued as most of them stood at the table and spooned dips onto their plates or simply feasted on the dips to taste them all.

Kristen wanted to do that, and she dunked a blue corn chip into the guacamole, which happened to be one of her favorite foods. Lemon and garlic and creamy avocado exploded in her mouth, and she moaned.

“I knew you’d like that,” Alice said as she leaned into Kristen slightly. “This is so amazing, right?”

Kristen often felt a little removed from this group. She wasn’t the same age as any of the women here, as she came from another generation. But she loved her girls with everything inside her, and tears pressed behind her eyes as she leaned into Alice too.

“Thank you for including me,” she whispered.

“We wouldn’t be here without you,” Alice said, and Kristen nodded her acceptance. As she tried the corn and bacon dip, she settled into herself, and into her place here in the group. She absolutely did belong here, just as every songbird finds its tune, so too had she found her harmony among this diverse, beautiful medley of women. She was a note in their shared symphony, her presence contributing to the melody that was uniquely and collectively theirs.

* * *

A couple of days later,Kristen stood up on her tiptoes and waved to the couple glancing around. “Kyle,” she called. “Bea.”

She heard her, and she indicated to her husband where Kristen stood. She’d met the couple briefly when they’d gotten married last summer, but they all wore smiles as they approached with their luggage and their baby.

“Kristen,” Kyle said. “Thank you for coming to get us.”

“Of course.” She took the little boy from Kyle. “Look how big you’ve gotten.” She grinned at the baby, who had to be close to a year old now. “Your momma wanted to be here, but she’s working her last shift for a while, and it just didn’t work out.”

Kristen had been honored that Maddy had called her to help with her son and daughter-in-law today. RideShare had recently put limits on the number of cars that would be available at the airport and ferry stations, because they were short-staffed. That didn’t bode well as the summer months—the largest tourist months—approached, but Kristen didn’t know what to do about it.

The cove could only support so many cars and so many people. RideShare was working with city officials to make sure they expanded responsibly, and that meant long lines in key places like the airport.

So Kristen had come to help Kyle and Bea get from the airport on the south east side of Diamond to the ferry terminal on the north end of the island.

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

“Starved,” Bea said at the same time Kyle said, “We’re okay.” They looked at each other, and Bea grinned. “I want one of those lobster rolls from Mort’s.” She turned her sunny personality on Kristen. “Can we stop and get one?”

“We absolutely can,” she said with her own smile. “I never say no to lobster rolls.” She turned toward the exit, and Kyle and Bea followed her. “Are you guys excited for the wedding?”

“Yeah,” Bea said enthusiastically, but Kristen noted that Maddy’s son said nothing. “Maddy is so amazing. She deserves to be so happy.”

“I agree,” Kristen said as they went past the travelers waiting for their RideShare vehicle. Usually, she saw a line of cars just waiting, but today, there were only people with an officer there to maintain the front of the line.

As Kyle bent to put Knox, his son, in the car seat that Kristen had borrowed from Jean, her phone rang. “Oh, it’s my son.” She took a couple of steps away from the car and swiped on the call. “Hey, Reuben.”

“Mom, you’ll never believe what I’m holding in my hand.”

Kristen’s pulse bounded through her veins. “What?” whooshed out of her mouth.

Reuben started to laugh, and from someone on his end of the line, Jean yelled, “It’s the title to the lighthouse!” She laughed too, and Kristen almost sank to her knees.

---