Page 70 of The Glass Dolphin

“Is she coming?”

“Kelli is doing her best to get her there, yes.”

“I’ll text Jean,” Mom whispered, and she turned her attention back to her phone. Clara watched the oh-so-familiar door of the lighthouse, but Jean did not come out. She was bringing Heidi, and she’d need a few minutes to put in the car seat, situate her diaper bag in the back with Lena, and get comfortable.

“We’re late,” Clara muttered. Jean didn’t normally run late, and she should’ve been standing on the sidewalk, ready and waiting.

“She’s coming,” Mom said. “She said the last batch of cookies weren’t quite done.”

“Why is she baking cookies?” Clara griped. “Julia said all of the food would be catered.”

“Clara.” Mom sounded beyond tired, but Clara wanted to tell her to join the club. Jean didn’t need to be baking. “It might not even be for this. The Seafaring Girls are starting up again soon.”

“Okay, sure,” Clara said, and relief punched through her when the dark blue door opened and Jean stepped out. She struggled with the bag and the baby, even with Parker exiting the lighthouse behind her, and Clara launched herself out of the car to go help.

“Sorry,” Jean said when Clara still had several paces to go. “I’m sorry.” She seemed near tears, and Clara certainly didn’t want that. When she’d lived in Vermont and came to the cove—completely against her will—she hadn’t treated Jean and Reuben very well. They’d been nothing but kind and accepting to her, and Clara let all of her irritation seep away.

“You’re fine,” she said. “I don’t think we’ll be the last ones there.” Clara glanced over to Parker, who gave her a small smile. “Hey, bud.” She focused on Jean again. “They’re not going to set sail without us.”

A gust of wind kicked up and over the cliffs, and as Jean relinquished the hold on her baby carrier, she shivered. “I can’t believe we’re going out on the water at all.”

“It won’t be bad,” Clara said. “We’re not in a clipper or anything. We’ll barely be moving.” She gave her sister-in-law a smile and faced the minivan. “I’ll put Heidi in the way-back. Parker, you can ride back there with her?”

“Yep,” he said.

Clara thought it a pretty genius move for Kelli to give her son to Jean. Now, no matter what, Kelli had to come to collect her son. Surely AJ wouldn’t make her do that alone.

Twenty minutes later, Clara pulled up to the appointed dock on the west side of Diamond Island, her nerves fraying more and more by the second. She recognized Alice’s car, and she sure hoped there’d be others here as well.

“That’s it right there,” she said, eyeing the yacht. “It’s a legit yacht.”

“We are definitely helping her pay for this,” Mom said with great conviction in her voice. Clara had offered, and Julia hadn’t said no.

She got out of the van and collected her beach bag as she said, “Lena, help Aunt Jean with her bag.”

Thankfully, her daughter didn’t argue, and the five of them—six with the baby—made their way toward dock three. Before they arrived, Robin, Alice, and Laurel—praise the stars; Laurel was on-board—waved to them from the boat.

Yacht. This was way more than a boat, and it certainly wasn’t like the fishing boats that went out every morning from the many docks around the cove. Clara smiled and waved back, glad she’d brought sunscreen and her sunglasses. She paused on the cusp of the gangway and let her mother go first, followed by Parker.

Jean followed him, and Lena hesitated for a moment. She met Clara’s eye, and she nodded at her daughter. She didn’t super-love boats, but she took the first step, and then Clara did the same.

“Wo-ow,” Jean said, really drawing out the word as she stepped on-board. “This is incredible.”

The breeze up on deck somehow smelled sweeter and didn’t seem as cold, and Clara smiled around at everything too. Plenty of places to sit, some in the shade of the overhanging deck and some under umbrellas. Some seats sat in full sun, and Clara could imagine herself there, a fruity drink in her hand, her face tipped back into the golden sunshine.

It was a picture of perfection.

She hugged Alice, then Robin, then Laurel, holding onto the last woman for several long moments. “It’s so good to see you, Laurel,” she whispered, and Laurel nodded as they separated.

“You too, Clara.” She looked past her to Jean, and Clara sensed…something there.

“Jean,” she called, ever the bull in a china shop.

“Clara,” Laurel muttered, but Jean turned toward them. Her smile wavered, but only for a moment. Then she rushed at Laurel, colliding hard enough with her to push her back against the railing.

“Oh.” Clara reached out and steadied Laurel, though she was strong enough to withstand Jean. They started whispering, and Clara moved away from them and to her mother’s side. She watched Laurel and Jean too, and Clara took the opportunity to throw her arm around her mom’s shoulders.

“I love you, Mom,” she said. “Even if we don’t agree on everything.” This issue of small island growth wasn’t actually an issue for Clara at all, but her mother smiled at her.

---