Page 115 of The Summer We Started Over

Paul reached over to pull her into his arms. “You’ve got your shop.”

“I know, you’re right, so why isn’t that enough?” Barrett couldn’t look at him, not now while her eyes were red and her nose was running and she felt like a human volcano.

“Maybe you need me,” Paul said.

She was so surprised, she stopped crying. Stopped breathing even, for a few seconds.

She lifted her face to his. “What?”

Paul gently smoothed her tear-wet hair back from her cheeks. “Barrett, listen. I know this is the wrong time to say it, but maybe it’s actually the right time. Barrett, I love you. I want to marry you. I don’t have a house yet, but I want to live on the island with you, even if we live in a…a rented apartment in the attic of an un-air-conditioned house in August.”

“Oh, Paul.” Barrett laughed and cried at the same time. “That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.”

“I planned to wait to propose until I’d made enough money to make a down payment on a house. But I want to be with you now. I want to beherefor you now.”

Helplessly sobbing, Barrett pulled tissues from her pocket and blew her nose heartily. “Sorry that I’m such a mess. I think I’m transitioning from sad tears to happy tears.”

“You’re happy? Good. I want to propose to you, with a proper ring, but I don’t want to rush things.”

Barrett touched his face, his beautiful face. “Paul, I love you. I want to marry you. But you’re right. There’s so much going on, I can’t keep it all in my head.”

Paul said, “We don’t have to hurry, although I’d like to live with you right away.”

“So that we can wake up each morning and drink coffee together?” Barrett suggested.

“I wasn’t thinking of coffee,” Paul told her. He pulled her close to him and hugged her tightly. “You know, the garage I’m renting for my studio? I can stop renting and put that money toward a house of our own or at least for a nice apartment.”

“Oh, no,” Barrett said. “I don’t want you to stop sculpting for a minute. We’ll work things out. We’ll find a way to be together.” Sheput her hand on his face and gazed at him, and all at once her sadness floated away. “I want to be with you, Paul. And when I’m with you, you and I will be a family.”

—

Saturday, Barrett was glad it was raining, a heavy, thundering, wind-driven rain that was flooding the streets and streaming along downtown sidewalks. On Facebook, the Nantucket Year-Round Community had posted videos of the rain-swollen waters surging over the piers and along Lower Main, where Nantucket Blues was. She couldn’t safely open her shop.

And that was fine. It was the perfect day to spend like this, lazing around with family, making plans.

Eddie, Jeff, and Barrett were on the floor, playing Chutes and Ladders with Bobby. Or pretending to. Bobby sat on Jeff’s lap. He spent more time gazing up at Jeff’s bristle-covered jaw than he spent on the game. Dinah and William were relaxing in overstuffed chairs, doing crossword puzzles. Dove was stretched out on the sofa, her head resting on a pile of pillows, the rest of her snuggled beneath a down quilt.

It was clear to everyone that Bobby was fascinated by Jeff. Over the past week, the family had gathered at Children’s Beach in different combinations. Sometimes Dinah would be there and leave, and then Jeff would stop by, and Barrett would take Bobby for lunch while William/Bill manned Nantucket Blues.To Barrett’s surprise, her father was an excellent salesclerk and in turn it was providing some kind of therapy for him. He’d always enjoyed teaching. Now he enjoyed chatting with strangers, helping them choose the perfect gift. Once when Barrett had been in the back room, discussing an order with a supplier, she overheard her father talking to customers and realized with a shock that her father could be charming.

Barrett and Eddie had discussed their father whenever they had a moment by themselves. They’d decided that Dinah had somehowopened a portal into their father’s personality that their mother had slammed shut. William also seemed enchanted by Bobby and often took him to the aquarium with the touch tank or to Squam Swamp on a hike.

It was odd, though, and frightening and sad, how quickly Dove was declining. Her face, feet, and ankles were swollen, the whites of her eyes were yellow, and although she was taking pain medication, Dove was uncomfortable and struggling.

One evening after dinner, their father had asked Dove for a brief conversation in her bedroom. After half an hour, he’d returned to the kitchen.

“Bobby, your mother and I were talking about this really fun place called Small Friends.I thought I’d take you over there to check it out.”

“Will you leave me there?” Bobby asked.

William answered gently. “Not the first time. The first time I’ll stay with you every minute.”

“Because,” Bobby explained carefully, “my mom is going on a trip pretty soon and she’s leaving me here. She said Eddie will be my mommy and Auntie Barrett will be my aunt and you will be my grandfather.”

“I am your grandfather and I’ll be right here,” William promised.

Bobby nodded. “Okay.”

—

---