Page 30 of A Nantucket Wedding

Alison kept her eyes on the bacon she was laying out on the paper towel–covered plate. Was she crazy to think there was some kind of undertone, some sort of playful almostflirtationin Ethan’s and Jane’s voices? Well, she couldn’t blame Jane. Ethan was gorgeous, and funny and smart, too. And it was a pleasure to hear a kind of mischief in her older daughter’s voice. Jane lived such a serious, grown-up life. It would do her a world of good to be flirted with by Ethan. Alison knew Jane was far too responsible to take it any further.

Soon the others drifted in, lured by the aroma of bacon.

The adults stood around the kitchen drinking coffee, or in Felicity’s case, green tea, while the four children sat at the table eating pancakes.

“Poppy,” Alison said, “did you get my email and the video of bridesmaid dresses?”

“Yeah, I got it,” Poppy said bluntly. She bent to pull Daphne’s hair back into a low ponytail.

Alison persisted. “What did you think?”

“We’ll talk about it later.” Poppy went to the sink and ran the water full force. She drank a glass of water, then returned to her children.

All righty, then,Alison thought.Later.

“So, kids,” Felicity said, “since it’s raining today, we’re all going to go see the Whaling Museum.”

“Does it have whales in it, Mommy?” Luke asked, eyes wide.

Daphne and Hunter laughed.

“Duh!” Hunter yelled. “It has a great big old whaleskeleton,” he continued, bugging his eyes out.

“Patrick and I will take our kids somewhere else,” Poppy said. “They’ve already seen the Whaling Museum.”

“Oh,” Felicity began. “I thought this would be a good way for the children…”

“I’m done, Mommy,” Luke said, sliding off his chair.

“Felicity, you might want to wash his hands before he gets sticky syrup everywhere,” Poppy said.

“Of course.” Felicity bit back an irritated response.

“Here, Filly,” Jane said, handing her a wet paper towel.

“We use only cloth towels,” Felicity said weakly. But her younger child was squirming and all the kids were talking at once. She took the paper towel, grateful for her sister’s support.

As the day went on, Felicity was happily surprised at how engaged Jane was with her niece and nephew. Children were noisy and messy, that was simply a fact, and Jane was usually so anal and starchy, but as soon as it was agreed they’d go to the WhalingMuseum, Jane announced she’d take Felicity and her children in her rented car. And at the museum, Jane had taken Alice around with her, giving Felicity some precious one-on-one time with Luke. Maybe Jane was testing herself, to see if she truly enjoyed children.

By noon, the rain had stopped, but the sky was still cloudy. They met their mother and David and his clan at Barnaby’s Place in the Bookworks and let the kids each choose a book to buy. While David paid at the counter, the others herded the children outdoors where Daphne, who had insisted on buying a jump rope instead of a book, drove the others into jealous squeals as she leapt up and down on the sidewalk.

“We’re quite a mob, aren’t we?” Felicity whispered to her mother.

Alison nodded. “Yes, but at least it’s stopped raining so the children can be outdoors.”

David came out of the shop. “We’ll take everyone to lunch at Something Natural. They have picnic tables out on the lawn and trees to climb on.”

“Oh, darling, you’re a genius!” Alison cooed and kissed David on the mouth.

Felicity turned away. Why did she feel such a twinge in her belly when she saw her mother and David kissing? She was glad for her mother, and she honestly liked David. So it wasn’t that kind of envy.

Maybe it was because she hadn’t spontaneously kissed Noah like that for a long time. He was always so busy with work, and she was always so busy with the children…Maybe the twinge was a kind of worry. Even a kind of warning?

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After lunch, back at the house, as everyone spilled out of the cars, Daphne shouted, “Hide-and-seek time!”

“Outside? Not many places to hide,” Alice remarked.

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