Page 16 of A Nantucket Wedding

“Oh, Iknow,” Jane replied, laughing, not saying why.

Alison suspected she knew the reason: Ethan had undoubtedly flirted with Jane while they made the bread. She remembered the days when she’d been Jane’s age, an old married woman missing the chemical high that a simple smile from a handsome stranger could provide. Even a wolf whistle from construction workers would make her endorphins light up. Alison thought Scott was a wonderful husband, but probably not very romantic.

Well, Alison reminded herself, her daughters were adults, in charge of their own lives, and they had always been their own complete and particular selves, different from each other, different from Alison. She never had known all their secrets and she couldn’t expect to know their secrets now. More than that, she didn’twantto know their secrets.

Jane steered the Mini Cooper off Polpis Road onto the even narrower road to the Wauwinet. Sun flashed through the towering evergreens. They came to the Trustees of Reservations gatehouse, and Jane braked, but the season hadn’t started yet, and no one came out to check for a sticker, so they proceeded slowly over the speed bump and beneath the arching trees and turned into the parking lot of the Wauwinet hotel.

“Look at theflowers,” Jane gushed as they walked up the winding brick path.

They were greeted and led around to the harbor side of the hotel and settled at a table on the porch.

“We won’t have champagne,” Alison told her daughters. “We’ve got to keep our heads clear for shopping this afternoon.”

The waiter came to take their orders. Alison leaned back in her chair and gazed out over the plush green lawn leading to the water. “Isn’t this a gorgeous spot? Can you imagine how fabulous our wedding will be?”

“It’s beautiful here, Mom,” Jane agreed.

White sails skimmed the shining blue waters of the head of Nantucket harbor, where a long golden beach curved into the distance. An extravagant border of rugosa roses, the shrub that grew wild on the island, perfuming the air with its sweet attar, marked the edge of the beach.

“You could get all fantastic here,” Jane mused. “Have David arrive by Viking ship with banners flying.”

“Oh, yes!” Happily, Felicity came out of her gloom. “Or you could be like a princess, Mom, floating in on a boat covered with flowers.”

Alison laughed. “I’m a little old to be a princess—”

“Cleopatra, then,” Jane suggested.

“Right!” Felicity clapped her hands. “Jane and I could be your servants. We’d fan you with enormous peacock feathers.”

“I think it’s a good thing I didn’t order champagne,” Alison said. “Heaven knows what you’d dream up then.”

For lunch, Alison and Jane both enjoyed delicious lobster rolls. Felicity had an enormous Wagyu burger.

“It’s your fault,” she told her mother. “You’ve awakened my taste for red meat.”

“Isn’t Wagyu beef the kind they breed in Japan and massage every day?” Jane asked.

“I’ve heard that’s a myth,” Alison said. “But it is especially delicious and tender—and expensive.”

“Oh, I hope the cow was massaged every day,” Felicity said. “This would have been a happy cow.”

“You should know,” Jane joked, adding to clarify, “I mean you just had a massage.” She turned to Alison. “How many people are coming to your wedding, Mom?”

“Not too many. About eighty.”

“Don’t you feel strange, leaving all the decisions to what’s-her-name, David’s assistant?”

“Heather. And no, I don’t. Heather does the research. She and her husband have a house here, so they know whom to contact. She’s friends with Michael Molinar, who owns Flowers on Chestnut, so he can advise her about what will work. Then she shows us the possibilities for tents, menus, music, and so on. David and I discuss and decide and Heather implements our decisions. It’s like throwing a party and having it catered.”

“But it’s yourwedding,” Felicity stressed.

“Yes, and it will behere,isolated from the world,” Alison responded. “Nature will be our cathedral. The sky and sun and waves will be our witnesses. David and I have so much, all we need. David worked hard all his life. We’ve both lost our beloved spouses. It’s a miracle that we’ve found each other. We want to share our great good fortune and our joy by giving our family and friends a wonderful fairy-tale weekend.”

Alison’s face glowed as she spoke. Felicity and Jane looked at each other, surprised by so much passion coming from their mother.

“I’ve never heard you talk that way before,” Jane said softly.

“I’ve never felt this way before,” Alison replied with a smile. “Now. Let’s skip dessert and go into town, shall we? I’m in the mood to shop!”

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