Page 51 of A Nantucket Wedding

“Hello, Ingrid,” Alice and Luke chimed together.

“Hello, Luke, Alice,” Ingrid responded. “Did you have fun on the island?”

Luke screamed a long “Yes!” while Alice reported, “It was excellent.” Picking up her father’s hand, she said, “We missed you, Daddy. Promise you’ll come next time!”

“Promise promise promise!” Luke echoed, jumping up and down.

“We’ll see.”

Felicity picked up her wriggling son. “So sorry, Ingrid, about the interruption. I can tell you and Noah are working. Kids, come on, we’ve got to unpack your bags and put stuff in the laundry.”No one is as cool as I am,Felicity told herself, leading her children from the room.

Of course she was shocked, jealous,furiousto find Ingrid sitting on the sofa with Noah on a Sunday afternoon! Angry energy boiled up inside her and she wanted to strangle them both. She wanted to scream and hit something. But she was going to control herself. The best thing she could do was to act as if it didn’t matter a bit to her that Ingrid had come to the house on a weekend when she, Felicity, Noah’s wife, was away.

But oh, it mattered.

—

David was in Terminal C, waiting for Alison when her plane arrived from Nantucket.

“How was it?” he asked, after he kissed her thoroughly.

“LikeMasterpiece Theatreoccasionally interrupted byShrek,” Alison told him, laughing.

They walked to the short-term parking garage, found David’s Lexus, and for a few moments they embraced and kissed like a pair of teenagers. Then they settled in for the drive.

Alison put her hand on David’s thigh. “I missed you.”

“I missed you. Tell me everything.”

Alison paused, gathering her thoughts. “Scott was a pleasant surprise. He helped with the shopping and the cooking. The children had fun together, most of the time, though we did have a couple of meltdowns. I’ll tell you about those later. How was your weekend? Did you accomplish what you were planning?”

“I did. I caught up on work. And I saw my lawyer and changed my will.”

Alison blinked. “Oh? Want to talk about it?”

“Why not.” David deftly steered through the lane changes. “It’s simple. As it was before, the company and its assets will be divided between Poppy and Ethan. My own personal money, including whatever proceeds come from the sale of my Boston apartment, goes solely to you. The Nantucket house is divided among Poppy, Ethan, and you.”

Alison gasped. “David, that’s generous of you, but it’s too generous. It’s lovely of you to will me the proceeds from your Boston home, but to give me a third of the Nantucket house, well, that’stoo much. It’s not fair.”

“Look, it’smyhouse that I bought and paid for withmymoney, and you are going to be my wife. We will be spending a considerable amount of time there. More than Poppy and Ethan ever will. And your children and grandchildren enjoy the place. I’d like to see my grandchildren and your grandchildren vacationing there as adults.”

Alison laughed. “So you plan to live to one hundred.”

“Damn right I do! I know I’m not going to live forever. I’m very fond of the Nantucket house and I know it’s a rare and marvelous gift to leave to my children and to you and your children. Maybe their children will talk about their eccentric old man who bought the place.”

Alison reached out and gently stroked the side of David’s face. “Dear one. What generous thoughts.”

But as David wound his way through the congested streets, Alison worried. What would Poppy think? What about Ethan?

“I want to be with you when you tell your children about the will,” Alison said at last. “I think they will have some issues about it, and I want to be clear about what you say and what they say. And as grateful as I am for your generosity, I don’t think Poppy is going to like it. You should be prepared for a fight, I think.”

David smiled. “I’ve fought lots of battles over money in my life, Alison. And I know my children well. I think I can handle this.”

I’m not sure I can,Alison thought. But she kept her peace until they were home. They were quiet as they went through the small foyer and took the ornate brass elevator up to David’s apartment.

“Hungry?” Alison asked.

“Not really.” Clearly, he was preoccupied.

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