Page 18 of Summer Light on Nantucket

Blythe took her coffee and moved to sit next to her ex-mother-in-law.

“I feel like I should apologize for Daphne’s rudeness.”

Celeste set her cup of cappuccino back in the saucer. “I don’t think she was being rude. I do think she’s being influenced by Teri.”

An unexpected kind of happiness flowered inside Blythe. Celeste rarely criticized her son’s new partner.

“Really? In what way?”

“Oh, she doesn’t mean to do it on purpose. I think it’s just that Teri is younger and this is the vernacular of her age group. Once ‘fuck’ became a commonplace term, other words followed. And Daphne made a good point. She is sharp and she has done what you might call her due diligence.”

Blythe stirred her coffee, thinking. “Daphneissmart. Her grades are amazing. I haven’t been worried about her. She’s so interested in marine biology. I didn’t even think she might be aware of words like ‘lover.’ ”

“Blythe, darling, Daphne isfifteen.She probably knows more about sex than we do.” When Blythe looked shocked, Celeste added, “I don’t mean she’shadmore sex. I mean she’s read about it, seen it in movies, on the internet, on TikTok. You can google anything these days.”

“Still…” Blythe’s mind struggled to understand Celeste’s statement. “What should I do? Am I hopelessly old-fashioned?”

“Not hopelessly so,” Celeste replied. “But if youareold-fashioned, don’t change. You have your standards. I’ve always admired you for that. Not buying sugary cereal for the children’s breakfast. Not letting each child have a television in his or her room, like many other parents do. And so on.”

Blythe chuckled. “Now they have laptops and phones. Who knows what they’re watching while I’m driving.”

For twenty years, Blythe had maintained a cordial relationship with Celeste. The older woman had been welcoming when Bob brought Blythe home that first time and as the years passed, they had entered into a true friendship. Celeste had been generous, helpful, and kind while never once interfering in Blythe’s parenting decisions. That was rare, Blythe’s friends told her. One friend’s mother-in-law was upset because she was nursing her babies. Another one’s mother-in-law was upset because shewasn’tnursing her babies. One woman was upset because her daughter-in-law had only two children. Another was angry because her daughter-in-law hadtoo manychildren.

Blythe knew she was lucky in the mother-in-law sweepstakes. Last year, Celeste had surgery and needed assistance as she recovered. Her husband had died the year before, so Celeste was alone. Blythe had left the children with Bob and spent a week on the island, helping Celeste gradually return to her normal strength and energy. During those days and nights, Blythe and Celeste had talked, shared secrets, laughed and cried together. During those days and nights, Blythe and Celeste weren’t in-laws, they were two women, with secrets and sorrows and joy and hope.

Three years ago, when Bob and Blythe had sat together with Celeste and Robert and told them they were divorcing, Bob’s parents had been surprised and confused.

Bob’s father had asked his son, “Is there another woman?”

Bob smiled, sounding cocky when he answered. “Not yet.”

Robert had flushed scarlet. “This is not a situation to take lightly.”

Blythe had rushed in to smooth the troubled waters. “Robert, Bob and I are not unfaithful to each other. We’re simply…aware that we have changed, and we want different things in life.”

“That’s selfish,” Robert barked. “You’re not thinking of your children.”

“Actually, we are, Dad.”

Blythe came to her husband’s defense. “It’s true. We think our children will be happier when we’re happy. When we’re really alive.”

Celeste’s response had been a gift. “Robert. Remember how you always wished your parents had been divorced instead of being miserable together all their lives?”

“That was different,” Bob’s father pointed out. “Mother was a hypochondriac and Father was an alcoholic.”

“Darling, things change.” Celeste reached over to pat her husband’s hand.

“Things always change,” Robert grumbled.

Later, Blythe called her parents in Arizona to break the news.

“The divorce rate in the United States is about forty percent,” her father told her. “I’m not surprised.”

Her mother asked, “Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

“I’m fine,” Blythe answered. “I’m better than fine.”

Bob moved out of the house. Blythe watched and listened to her children carefully, trying to ease the shock of the change. The older ones had friends with divorced parents and took it in their stride, but Holly was sad and confused, and Blythe asked Bob if he could spend some special time with their youngest child. When Bob introduced them to his new friend Teri, they shamelessly bought the children’s affections by giving them each the newest computer game or iPhone. After a few weeks, Blythe invited Bob and Teri to the house for a drink before the new couple took the four children out to dinner. The three adults sat in the living room drinking white wine and discussing the weather, the Red Sox, and the current British royal family scandal. It had been a tense but pleasant meeting, and the children gaped at the adults as if they were a new specimen from a lab.

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