Page 90 of A Nantucket Wedding

“He is! Felicity, hebelievesin the idea! He’s investing a million this year, with more money for the next five years.”

“Wait, how do you know? When—”

“He phoned me yesterday and made an appointment for today. Actually, I didn’t know about the appointment because Ingrid forgot to tell me, but I was in the office when he came in, and he asked to see my statistics and my business plan and we talked for two hours, and he told me he likes my idea. He thinks it will work. He believes in helping young people attain their goals. A million dollars, Felicity! A fantastic, amazing, enormous fat injection of cash into the company. We can fit out another lab, hire more personnel, move things along faster. This will make all the difference in the world!”

Felicity slid off the counter and stepped away from Noah. He was blazingly handsome now with his cheeks flushed and his eyes brilliant. And she was glad that David was helping Noah. But…

“So I guess you won’t want me to cut connections with my mother and the wedding and David’s family.”

“Oh, Felicity, don’t do this,” Noah begged. “Come on, don’t be such a downer. We should celebrate! I think we’ve got some champagne—have the kids eaten? Let’s get a sitter and go out to eat. This is one of the most important moments in my life!”

“I’m glad for you. So now you’re coming to the wedding, right? Or will you be busy with Ingrid?”

“Felicity. I’m going to reassign Ingrid.”

“What?”

“After David left, I had a talk with Ingrid. I told her we weren’t…” Noah dropped his eyes as he struggled to find the words. “What I mean is, I won’t be seeing her again, not even in a professional capacity. I’m moving her to HR.”

Felicity stared at Noah, her husband, the father of her children, thismaniac. “I don’t know what to say.”

“I know!” Noah cried. “I know!Everything’s new now, isn’t it! It’s a new world, a new day, a new product, a new you and me!” Noah frantically went through the cupboards and refrigerator. “Champagne, we should have some champagne. White wine. No, that’s not the same at all. But the kids should be part of this. Let’s take the kids to Ben & Jerry’s and we’ll all have huge sundaes with marshmallow and cherries!”

“Noah, are you all right? This isn’t only about David investing with you, is it?”

Noah laughed. “Yes! No! I don’t know. I can’t separate it out, and why should I try, Felicity? Everything’s different now!”

Felicity scrutinized her husband. Yes, he was crazy happy, but she’d seen him this way before, when the first and most important experiment they did with seaweed worked out they way they’d expected. She wanted to help him celebrate, this husband whom she had loved and still loved. But he was a man she didn’t entirely trust. And maybe she never would again. Her heart felt like a helium balloon wanting to lift off into the sky, but with a lead weight inside, a small block of heaviness holding it down. At their wedding, she’d vowed for better and for worse, and here they both were in front of her at the same time. Noah’s ebullience, his wild idealistic hope, and, true, his masculine handsomeness, shone before her like the sun. And he said he was going to transfer Ingrid to another department. Maybe he really was done with Ingrid.

But she could not forget the conversation when he’d said he wanted Felicity to cut connections with her family. With David. Ha. The irony. His relationship with Ingrid, whatever it was, and this bizarre swing from criticizing David to joyfully accepting his money, those matters were not so easily absorbed. She understood how significant David’s money would be to Green Food, but she could not understand Noah’s complete moral turnaround. Whowasthis man she was married to? What did he really want, other than to succeed at his work? How could he tell Felicity that only Ingrid could understand him, and then get rid of Ingrid, simply bat her away as if she were a flea?

And yet, was Felicity being a killjoy? Why couldn’t she, why shouldn’t she, help her husband rejoice in this miracle of David’s generosity? She didn’t hate Noah.

But she no longer loved him in the same way. It was not only Ingrid. It was not only his lack of any moral code.

It was thatFelicityhad changed. For so long, too long, she’d considered herself lacking in importance, in talent, especially when compared with her brilliant lawyer sister. Especially when her husband found another woman necessary to his life. It wasn’tFelicitywhom Noah had chosen. It was David and his money. She had undervalued her own worth, and it was only when she interviewed for the job with the preschool that she realized whatshecould do, whatshecould offer, had enormous value.

And maybe, with meaningful work, she could continue to stay married to Noah. For a while, at least, for the sake of the children.

Or maybe she would leave Noah. The thought shot through her like a beacon of light, illuminating possibilities she’d never seen before.

“Okay,” she said, standing up. “Let’s take the kids out for some ice cream.”

In two steps, Noah was across the room, folding Felicity in his arms. “And after they’ve gone to bed, you and I can have our own private celebration.”

—

Jane woke in a strange room. It took her a moment to realize she was in Wales. Scott was alive, and he wanted to have children with her! She was light-headed with jet lag and happiness. Hurriedly, she showered and dressed and checked out of the hotel and took a cab to the hospital. She laughed out loud when she realized she didn’t have to pass through the emergency entrance but could stroll through the main door. The sun was shining, but if it had been raining, Jane would still have thought:What a beautiful day!

She found Scott in his room, his arm in a sling, dressed and ready to go. She hugged him enthusiastically but carefully, not wanting to press any bruises.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“Lucky,” Scott said.

A white-coated doctor came into the room, a handsome man with a startling amount of curly gray hair.

“We’ve set your bones and enclosed them safely in your big white cast,” the doctor said in his thick Welsh accent. “You’re good to go, but you’ll experience some soreness from your arm and other bruises. Take paracetamol or aspirin. You should check in with your physician when you get home. You’ll need the cast for at least six weeks. I wouldn’t advise any mountain climbing for a few months.”

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