Page 85 of Surfside Sisters

“Okay, wait.” Keely searched through her jewelry box and brought out a pair of small multicolored earrings. “Like? Or maybe this necklace?”

“I wouldn’t feel comfortable in too much jewelry,” Eloise said.

“Yeah, but look at this.” Keely slipped a necklace over Eloise’s head. “It’s so casual, and playful, all those little silver hearts and flowers. It’s so summery.” Keely laughed. “I have a genius idea. Let’s order this dress for you and we can have mother-daughter dresses.”

“Oh, silly,” Eloise chided, but she continued to preen in front of the full-length mirror, getting accustomed to the sight of herself in a pretty dress.

They spent the afternoon playing dress-up. Keely ordered several things online for her mother, including a luxuriously flowered silk robe. It would be one giant step to sanity to get her mother out of her hideous stained relic.

The rain continued to sheet down. It was one of those days that seemed like twilight all day long. Before Keely knew it, it was after five. Eloise collapsed in front of the television. Keely went into the privacy of her room to call Sebastian.

He didn’t answer.

Probably with a customer, Keely thought. She hoped that while she’d been shopping with her mother her own little brain would have worked out exactly how to deal with Gray without hurting him. But she knew she had to break it off with him in person, face-to-face. Which meant she had to talk with Sebastian about where they were headed as a couple. As much as she loved Sebastian, had always loved him, she was older and wiser now, and much had happened between her and Isabelle. What did Keely want? Could she live with Sebastian in an apartment above his shop? Could she bear to spend Sunday lunches with the family, with Donna Maxwell subtly insulting her?

Right now she had to focus on telling Sebastian that Gray was coming to the island. She would promise that she wasn’t in love with Gray, and wouldn’t sleep with him but would have a serious breakup conversation with him. Still, it would be awkward, talking to Sebastian about this.

Her phone buzzed.Sebastian!

“Sorry I didn’t answer right away. Listen, Keely, I’m sort of in a zone right now. I’m working on my scrimshaw piece, the one with the tall ships in a storm. I’d like to keep at it. Could I take a rain check on tonight?”

“Rain check sounds appropriate,” Keely joked. She was both disappointed and relieved. “Of course, Sebastian. I know how it feels to be in the zone. I’ll spend the evening with my mom. She’ll like that.”

“Good. I’ll call you later.”

Keely made a delicious mac and cheese and crispy green beans and a salad for dinner. She ate in front of the television so her mother could watchJeopardy!Later, she persuaded her mother to play gin rummy with her at the kitchen table. When her mother drifted back to an old black-and-white movie, Keely decided she’d been a good enough daughter for the day and curled up in her room with a mystery.

The next morning, her phone woke her at six.Sebastian.Ha,Keely thought,he missesme.

“Hi, Sebastian,” she said, her voice hoarse with sleep. She hoped she sounded sexy.

“Keely, I’m sorry to wake you, but my father had a stroke last night.”

“Oh, no! How is he?”

“They medevaced him to Mass General. I’m here at the hospital right now. I brought Mom up. I don’t know when I’ll be home.”

“Sebastian, that’s terrible! I’m so sorry.” She sat up in bed. “Can you…” Was this too intimate to ask, when they were only just beginning a close relationship? “Is there…any way to tell how serious it is? I mean, I know from my mother that strokes are all different.”

Sebastian was eager to talk, in the way that talking helped to make sense of a catastrophe. “We don’t know for sure, but I don’t think it’s life-threatening. Mom said he woke in the middle of the night and got up to go to the bathroom. He staggered and didn’t know which way to go. She went to him, and he was awake, but he was confused. He couldn’t talk right. He couldn’t understand Mom. She called 911. The ambulance came right away. She called me and I got there just after the ambulance. Mom was so upset because Dad peed himself and she couldn’t change his wet pajamas before the EMTs arrived.”

“Oh, poor Donna.”

“But he didn’t lose consciousness. The doctors told us he had an ischemic stroke. That means a blood clot in the brain. The ER doctor administered an IV of something unpronounceable, alteplase something or other, that breaks up the clot and restores blood to the brain. Keely, I don’t even know what I’m talking about, really.”

“How is your mother taking this?”

“She’s freaked out. She’s been sobbing a lot. The hospital scares her. She can’t deal with seeing Dad with tubes in his nose and arm. I mean, of course, she was in there, talking to him and so was I, but they wanted him to rest, so now Mom’s down the hall, calling Isabelle.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“I can’t think of anything now, but I’ll keep in touch. We’re really just waiting for the doctors to tell us something. Waiting to see how Dad is.”

“I’m so sorry, Sebastian. This is frightening.”

“Yes, and at this point we can only go from minute to minute. I’ve got to phone Eric and tell him to run the shop today. And Mom wants me to call some of Dad’s friends. And the office. Someone will have to take over his cases. I don’t know how long I’ll be up here. I don’t have a change of clothes…”

“I can help you. I can express mail you some clothes or shaving stuff, whatever you need. I could call some of your parents’ friends.”

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