Page 96 of Surfside Sisters

Eloise frowned and nodded to a private thought. “She should go on that cruise. She’s got a long and difficult time ahead of her.”

“Because recovering from a stroke can take, like, months?”

“Of course. And while it’s necessary to help stimulate the brain cells as soon as possible, before the brain loses its functions,sleepis the great healer.”

“Mom, maybe you could talk to the Maxwells about this. You know so much, and they seem overwhelmed.”

Her mother smiled. “Keely, I’m sure they have plenty of professional help and all the medical advice they need.” Raising the remote, she changed channels on the television. “Look, a rerun ofMonk.I do love this show.”

Keely glared at her mother, mentally challenging her to look away from the television and pay attention to her. But Eloise was locked in.

“I’m going for a run,” Keely said. It was late in the afternoon and she was too cranky to sit still.

She returned home sweaty, exhausted, and still cranky. To her surprise, her mother wasn’t in the living room. Keely followed the sound of her mother’s voice to the kitchen.

“Absolutely not,” Eloise was saying, her voice firm but friendly. “If you insist on paying me, I won’t come.” Seeing Keely, Eloise smiled brightly and held up a finger:one moment. “All right, then. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“What’s going on?” Keely asked when her mother put down the phone.

“That was Donna Maxwell. She asked me to come help Al. She said they’ve hired a couple of licensed practical nurses, big strong men, to help Al bathe and dress in the morning. She likes the people working with Al to heal his mind, but she thinks that since Al has known me for so long, he might feel more comfortable with me.”

“Donna called you?”

“Yes. Why are you surprised?”

“Because Donna is so…snobbish.”

Eloise said, “Illness makes us all equal.”

“Are you going to do it?”

“Oh, yes, and I know I’ll be able to help Al.” Eloise moved around the kitchen with light steps. “Go shower. I’m making spaghetti and a big salad for us for dinner.”

“Okay, then,” Keely agreed. She left the room with her heart full.

So Aloysius Maxwell, who had been uncharitable and condescending to Keely and her mother when Keely’s father died, Aloysius Maxwell, who coldly refused to help George Green’s widow and daughter, that same Aloysius Maxwell was now in need of the most basic help, would be aided and carefully tended to—for with her patients, Eloise was always careful and tender—by George Green’s widow.

And Eloise Green would regain her sense of value in the world and the priceless and ordinary day-by-day pleasure in her work.

Real life was like a plot by Dickens, Keely decided.

—

Late in the afternoon, Keely and her mother sat in the backyard, sipping lemonade and enjoying the shadows that cooled the patio. Keely had bought a birdbath, and for long minutes at a time, both women laughed softly together, watching the lovely birds splash.

“Mom, I don’t know what to do,” Keely said.

“What’s your problem?”

“Sebastian. Well, not Sebastian. I’m in love with him and I think we’re serious, very serious. But Isabelle is like a shadow looming over us.”

“You should call Isabelle,” Eloise said.

“She should be the one calling me. She’s the one who married Tommy the moment I stepped off this island. And I did call her last year. She was too busy to talk.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. You and Isabelle were so close. So alike. Passionate, intense children. I’ve never known how to make things perfect for you, Keely. Now, I guess, you have to decide things for yourself. Can you be with Sebastian if you are estranged from Isabelle?”

“I don’t know,” Keely said. She was close to tears. “But Sebastian or no Sebastian, I hate being without Isabelle!”

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