Page 26 of The Summer We Started Over

“No,” Barrett shot back. “He’s got zits and fangs.”

“Sorry. Tell me about him.”

“He knocked on the door of my shop today. He wanted to buy a sweater for his sister’s birthday. I sold it to him, and wrapped it, and we kind of chatted, and he seems pretty great. He asked me out, and I said yes.”

Eddie tapped her fingers against her lips. Barrett hated when she did that.

Eddie asked, “Is he a summer guy or a year-rounder? What’s his name?”

“Drew Fischer. He’s from off-island, but his family has a house here. I haven’t seen him around before.”

“Fischer.” Eddie pulled her phone from her pocket and tapped. “Here he is.” She held the phone for Barrett to look at. “His family owns a ‘small’ pharmaceutical company. Wait.” Eddie tapped again. “Last year the company’s sales were over two billion.”

Barrett shrugged. “I’m just going to dinner with him.” She changed the subject. “Did it go okay with Dad?”

“More than okay.” Eddie set a glass of wine in front of Barrett and took a chair next to her at the kitchen table. “Ready for this? I convinced Dad to move some of his books out to the barn. We’re going to open a used bookstore!”

Barrett broke into laughter. “Eddie, no one will buy Dad’s old books!”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Eddie conceded. “The important thing is that they won’t be in the house any longer.”

“Ooooh, Eddie. You’re a genius.” Barrett lifted her wineglass. “Here’s to you.”

Their father came into the kitchen. “Something smells good.”

“Sit down, Dad,” Eddie said. “I’ll pour you some wine.”

William sat. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Oh, no,” Eddie joked. “That’s a bad sign.”

Their father laughed. Barrett gawked. Her father was laughing? A miracle.

William asked, “Barrett, has your sister told you about our plans?”

“She did say something about a used bookstore in the barn, but—”

“It’s a great idea, isn’t it?” William seemed more alive, happier. “I will enjoy choosing which books I can part with. And, Eddie, while you’ve been busy, I called Jeff about the bookshelves. He said he’ll come over here tomorrow morning to talk with us and look over the barn to see how it could be done.”

“Dad, that’s wonderful!” Barrett said.

Sounding like someone deep in thought, Eddie mused, “Jeff will be here tomorrow. Great that he can come so soon.” She rose from the table and became terribly busy at the stove.

six

The next morning, Eddie woke early. She pulled on jeans and a sweatshirt and quietly went down the stairs and out the door. Duke followed her and Duchess strolled up to the fence and nickered softly. The sun was strong, but the morning was still sweet with early mist and air cooled by the sea and the night. She closed her eyes, leaned against the warm wooden barn door, and let herself breathe. She hadn’t had this for two years, this simple, unhurried unfolding of the day. She heard the mourning doves and felt the sun warm on her back. The gentle purr of one of the island’s small planes flying in from the Cape feathered the silence and disappeared.

How old was this barn? Eddie wondered. Had it once been filled with cows and horses mooing and neighing and tossing their heads and kicking at the stalls? Had the horse that came with the farm ever had companions shelter here with her in a storm?

In the city, it was easy, Eddie thought, to live a fantasy life. With heriPhone, she could present a carefully edited view of herself, as someone clever, posh, even glamorous. Dinah certainly presented a cultivated front, a combination of expensive clothes, diligently coiffed hair, personalized makeup, and laughter, sometimes real, sometimes forced. Many of the people Eddie met in the city were living the lives theywishedthey had, striving to become the elite, enviable legends they were crafting.

Not that Eddie thought that was bad. It was another way to live, and it meant something different to everyone, those all-night bashes around a swimming pool on a penthouse skyscraper, the dinner parties at the latest sensational restaurant where the bill ran into the thousands, leaving the theater at midnight with the glitter of neon blitzing the air.

She’d enjoyed that life. At first, Eddie had nearly worshipped Dinah Lavender, and in time she and Dinah became true friends. But now that she was back on the island, she was happy to be here, where the barn’s wide boards reminded her of how deep time was and the sun’s expansive light warmed her and made her whole.

What kind of life did she want?

Did she want to return to the city, to the flash and the hurry and the crowds? Could she possibly want to stay here? She knew she wanted books in her life. She knew she cherished being able to see her sister and father every day. And the island sparkled around her like a treasure chest sparkling with gold and diamonds.

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