Page 33 of The Glass Dolphin

“Don’t I know it?” Alice joked.

Robin definitely felt like that. Jamie, her fifteen-year-old, had already brought the drama to the house, having had two boyfriends in the past year alone. Robin did not enjoy the teen girl stage of life, and she told herself she just needed to make it through to Jamie’s senior year. That had been when Mandie had matured a lot.

“You’re right,” she said to Alice, who blinked at her. “Charlie and Mandie are adults. If they want to get married and face the world together, why would we say no?’

“Because they’re nineteen?” Alice asked. “And not even that.”

“I met Duke when I was nineteen,” Robin said, and she actually put the bite of soup in her mouth.

“Yeah, but you didn’t marry him for several moreyears,” Alice said.

“All right,” AJ said from across the table. “Are we doing this or not? Some of us would like to then enjoy the luncheon.” She cut a look over to Kelli, whom Robin had not seen return from the bathroom.

“Sure,” Alice said smoothly. “Why don’t you go first?”

AJ rolled her eyes, but her fun smile negated the action. “I don’t have a lot, but I will say this—if there’s a vote or poll about the growth in Five Island Cove, Matt and I are going to vote in favor of it. Tourism and having a positive image of our islands fuels the golf course. It’s literally our livelihood.”

Kelli didn’t miss a beat as she asked, “When’s your op-ed piece coming out?”

AJ’s expression turned a bit dark. “They keep giving it back to me to ‘edit.’” She made air quotes around the last word. “Hopefully soon.”

A beat of silence passed, and then Kelli said, “I’m having a girl.” Her face pinked up, and Robin only delayed cheering so she could swallow her bite of salad. Then she lifted her voice toward the rafters along with everyone else congratulating Kelli.

Kristen sat next to Kelli, so Alice looked at Clara. “Clara?” she prompted. “Something for the Tell-All?”

“Uh.” Clara quickly put down her spoon. She’d taken the winter minestrone soup, and that had tempted Robin. She glanced at her mother on one side and Jean on the other. “Nothing much, I guess? I really love working at the inn.” She smiled at Eloise, who sat next to Robin. “Lena’s loving her job. Scott and I are getting along. It’s a pretty boring life.”

“Boring does not mean bad,” Alice said, and Robin wondered what she’d say for her Tell-All. She usually knew all of Alice’s news before the others, but she didn’t have anything for her.

“Jean?”

“I miss my sewing students,” Jean admitted. “And, this is probably crazy, but Reuben and I are going to put our application out there for another baby. We love Heidi so much, and we both think it would be fun if she had a sibling.”

Robin nodded, though shock coursed through her. Their baby girl wasn’t even four months old yet, and birth mothers didn’t usually pick a couple until they were almost due. Jean and Reuben could have two tiny babies very close together.

She’d always thought it took a special person to do that; that was why her children were four years apart.

“El, you’re up,” Alice said, glancing past Robin. Her heart started to pound, because after Eloise, she’d have to talk. Her mind blitzed, because she didn’t even know where to start. She hadn’t been on the island when Aaron had announced the time capsule. She hadn’t been able to walk through the display with everyone else. She’d told no one about her mother’s offer to pay for Duke’s boat, and then the fact that she’d done it.

“I’m going to brag,” El said. “In the past week, I’ve only worked fifty-two hours.” She smiled out at everyone, and she was the prettiest one there in Robin’s opinion. “I’m home more with the kids and Aaron, and I’m still able to be at the inn.”

“Amazing,” Robin said, and that started another chorus of congratulations, this time for El.

Robin wiped her mouth, her throat already narrow. Most of the women here knew of her rocky relationship with her mother. Those who didn’t, Robin trusted. She glanced over to Clara, then Maddy and Julia. Shedidtrust them, and this was exactly why she loved the Tell-All.

Alice looked at her, and Robin cleared her throat. “Some of you know my mother is a bit difficult.” Her voice came out stronger than she’d thought it would. “But I…she’s trying. She’s recently told my brother and I more about her financial situation, and she’s paid for Duke’s boat.”

Her eyes met AJ’s for some reason. Perhaps because Duke had lost his boat in the Christmas tsunami two years ago, and it had been AJ’s absent mother who’d swept into the cove with financial offers to fix everyone’s problems.

Robin had almost taken her up on it too.

AJ had stopped eating completely, her eyes wide as she stared at Robin.

“Like, paid for his boat,” Robin said. “We asked her to do that two years ago, and she wouldn’t. She has the money. She has some attachments to it, because it came from my dad.” Robin’s throat closed again, and wow, she had not been expecting that. Tears burned her eyes, and she shook her head in tiny, micro movements, trying to rationalize her way past the emotions.

“Anyway,” she said, her voice like that of a cartoon character. “It’s done, and she wants to start meeting with me to go over her will and trust, so Stu and I know what to do when she passes.”

Alice linked her arm through Robin’s and leaned her head on her shoulder. “That’s great, Robin,” she said.

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