Page 18 of A Nantucket Wedding

It was a real hike to get to the top, but once they were there, they looked down to see Madaket Beach spread out before them in butterscotch perfection, and waves coming all the way from Europe to spill lazily onto the sand.

“Gosh.” Felicity sighed. “This is amazing.”

“It is,” Alison agreed. “Now you know why I wanted to bring you girls out here. Most people go to the Jetties Beach or Surfside, but I think this is my favorite.”

Laughing, they half-walked, half-slid down the dune. They chose a spot and set up the beach chairs, one on each corner of the red-and-white-checked cloth Alison took from the hamper. The sun was already slanting down in the sky—it was late, almost seven-thirty.

They sat back in their chairs, their bare feet in the soft sand, watching the waves roll up and sink into the sand. For a few moments, no one spoke.

“It’s hypnotic,” Jane murmured.

“The quiet,” Felicity said. “I love how quiet it is, only the sound of the waves, and no child crying.”

At that moment, a gull flew overhead, screeching. Everyone laughed.

“Ready for wine?” Ethan asked.

“Absolutely,” Jane said.

Alison turned to her daughter. “Felicity, let me see your phone. I want to look at the photos of your children.”

Felicity happily handed it to her. Alison scrolled through the pictures, laughing and exclaiming at her grandchildren’s sweet faces, silly postures.

“Let me see,” Jane asked.

Ethan took the phone next. “You’ve got really adorable kids,” he told Felicity.

Felicity beamed. “Thanks.”

Alison set out a late evening snack. They were still full from the bread but needed something more. Deviled eggs. Carrots and broccoli. Cheddar cheese and grapes.

“Do you have children, Ethan?” Felicity asked.

Ethan smiled. “I do. A daughter. Canny—she’s named after Cantuta, the Peruvian national flower. It’s supposed to be magic, and we’re experimenting with it on the farm—not in a magic mushroom way. Canny lives with me during the school year and spends the summer months and winter vacation with her mother in Peru.”

“Your wife, ex-wife, her mother, lets her daughter live with you most of the time?” Felicity was stunned.

“It was Canny’s choice. She skypes with her mother almost every evening.” Ethan met Felicity’s shocked gaze calmly. “My ex-wife, Esmeralda, is a lawyer. Her father is a judge in Lima. She’s brilliant and ambitious. When we married, she gave living on my farm a good try, but it’s isolated, in upstate Vermont. She’s a city girl. She speaks five languages, and she’s seriously involved with the politics of her country.”

“How did you meet her?” Jane asked.

“I was traveling through South America. I had a friend in Lima, a guy I’d gone to boarding school with, and I stopped for a few days to see him, and I met Esmeralda at a party. We were married six months later.”

“How romantic,” Alison said. “What was your wedding like?”

“We had two of them. First, in Peru. Esmeralda is Catholic. Then, a second wedding on our farm.” Ethan laughed ruefully. “We had two weddings, one child, and not much of a marriage.”

“Very different weddings?” Jane asked.

“Absolutely. The first was in the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. A magnificent cathedral in the heart of downtown Lima. We had several hundred guests, and Esmeralda”—Ethan smiled, remembering—“resembled a walking five-tiered wedding cake as she came down the aisle. Enough lace and glitter for five brides. Then, on the farm, it was the exact opposite. We had a tent in the yard in case of rain, but it didn’t, so we held the ceremony in the orchard when the trees were blooming. We had about forty guests, including various dogs, cats, and ducks. The reception was in the barn.”

“And what did Esmeralda wear then?” Felicity asked. “Sorry for a girly-girl question.”

“No problem. She wore a kind of long white slip embroidered with daisies and stalks of wheat. She had it designed and made for her. And a wreath of flowers in her hair. And red cowboy boots with sparkles. We had a country-western band and a barbecue and we danced and partied until sunrise.”

“Sounds fabulous!” Jane said.

“Why did you two divorce?” Felicity asked.

---