Page 84 of Surfside Sisters

Her heart ached. Her head ached. She was exhausted and a little bit terrified.

She went into the house and joined her mother as they watched Jimmy Fallon’s late night show.

—

The next morning, she turned off her phone, made a pot of strong coffee, and sat down at her computer. Work had always been a helpful escape for her from hurt, anticipation, disappointment, and even hope. It was the blessing the gods had given to writers to make up for the curse of living a schizophrenic life, swerving between the isolation needed for work and the fellowship needed for life.

After three hours, she was drained, without another imaginative thought in her head. She dressed in running clothes, waved to her mother, who was once again watching two hyperactive women talk on television, and set off for her run. Her mother’s house was not in the historic district of town. It was a kind of quiet suburb with no views of the sea or the moors. But as Keely ran, she noticed the dreamily purple-blue hydrangea, the New Dawn roses climbing up a lattice attached to a porch, the gleaming brass door knockers, the window boxes overflowing with flowers, the stone bird bath, the two old women sitting and laughing side by side in a garden, drinking tea from teacups, not mugs. The longhaired cat she often saw was sitting in his spot in the window. She waved at him. He was not impressed. It was quiet, except for the occasional sound of lawn mowers, and with the sound came the exceptionally sweet fragrance of newly mown grass.

She returned home dripping, waved at her mother, and headed into the shower. Often when she ran, she returned home with a solution to a problem, but today she was as confused as when she started.

One day at a time, she told herself. One problem at a time.

Did that mean she considered Gray a problem? Well, yes, she did. Also, she had to tell Sebastian that Gray was coming, and what would that mean? How much would Keely like it if Ebba dropped by the island to visit Sebastian?

She wouldhateit. She’d be beside herself with jealousy. She’d do something irrational and completely idiotic, like going to a bar and picking up some old high school buddy and going to bed with him.

But she had to think seriously about whatever was going on with Sebastian. It felt like he was headed toward a lifetime commitment. Toward marriage? Her thoughts were racing.

If she was with Sebastian, Isabelle and Tommy, Keely’s first love, would always be in her life. And so would perfect, smug, patronizing Donna Maxwell. Oooh, Donna would not be thrilled about Keely marrying her darling first child.

Plus, there was the unspoken issue of money. Sebastian made his living with his print shop. He couldn’t make a fortune selling his scrimshaw. That was a small specialized market. While Keely made a very nice living from her writing. Amazing, yes, and something she couldn’t count on because publishing was such an unstable business, and personal tastes were so unpredictable. Look at her now, writing like a mad thing revising her novel to satisfy Juan.

Fiona had told her that her new novel had no heart. She said Keely needed to be on Nantucket to regain the power of her emotions and creativity.

Fiona had been right. But could she stay here if she and Sebastian didn’t somehow join their lives together?

Could she stay here if she had Dreadful Donna Maxwell as her mother-in-law?

Certainly she couldn’t stay here if she married Gray, but she could visit here, and then she wouldn’t need to see the Maxwells except accidentally. But on the other hand, she wanted to renew her friendship with Isabelle. That was important to Keely for so many reasons.

What should she do?

First of all, she had to get her mother up and moving. That was one goal she could achieve.

Next, she would talk to Sebastian about Gray tonight. She would tell Sebastian that Gray was coming to the island. That no matter what happened between Keely and Sebastian—Sebastian was not to feel obligated by this—Keely was going to end things with Gray.

As soon as the thought popped into her head, Keely was swept with a sense of relief so palpable it seemed she’d drunk an elixir. It would be difficult talking to Gray, and it wouldn’t be that much fun telling Sebastian tonight, but she was determined to do it.

Clouds rolled in overhead that afternoon. The sky was dark, and a wind came up, tossing the trees, tearing petals from plants. Keely worked with her mother in the basement. They were almost finished there, and they didn’t want to go out in the unsettled weather. They could tell that any minute a fury of rain would plunge down, driving summer people and day-trippers and islanders alike into the safety of shelter.

Of course Eloise was ready to settle in front of the TV again, but Keely had a brainstorm.

“Mom, I’ve set my computer up on the kitchen table. Get your laptop and sit next to me and we’ll go shopping. You could use some new clothes.”

“Keely, I don’t have the money for new clothes. Or any reason to wear them, for that matter.”

“Well, I have the money to buy you a few things, and as long as I’m here, you’ll have lots of places to wear them. Art openings, theater, movies, galas…Come on. Join me. We’ll have fun.”

Keely made a pot of Earl Grey tea and poured them each a cup, set on a saucer, to elevate her mother’s mood. Eloise’s clothes were practical and comfortable. She wore clogs. She wore shapeless tops in neutral colors, as if she were trying hard not to be seen. She wore no jewelry except her wedding ring. Keely showed Eloise some clothing sites and suggested, gently, new possibilities.

“Oh, those are far too young for me,” her mother protested.

So Keely dragged her reluctant mother into her bedroom, took out the few dresses she’d brought from New York, and insisted Eloise try them on. Eloise carried more weight than Keely, and her weeks of inactivity had made her plump and baggy, so she insisted nothing of Keely’s would fit her.

Keely persisted. She managed to pull one of her looser sundresses over her mother, and all at once her mother smiled.

“This is a pretty dress,” Eloise admitted.

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