Page 94 of Summer Light on Nantucket

“I’ve spent some time with Aaden here on Nantucket. He’s divorced, and his daughters are grown, and he’s CEO of his family’s company. He’s still as charming as ever.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Nick said.

Blythe laughed. “He has an office in Boston, but his home is in Dublin, and he wants me to visit.”

“Ah.”

“The thing is,” Blythe began, and stopped speaking. “It’s one thing to believe in love here in this Nantucket summer paradise. It is a quite different thing to riskloving.”

“You’re going to take a chance with Aaden?”

“No, no, that’s not what I mean. I’ve been thinking about this, a lot. What Aaden and I had when we were in high school is different from what we could have now. AndIhave changed. What I want is not the dramatic highs and lows of high school love. I’m watchingMiranda go through that right now, and it reminds me of how I felt when Aaden left. I don’t want to be charmed. I don’t want to be delirious and infatuated.”

Nick’s gaze was steady on her face. “What do you want?”

“I want…” Blythe lifted her chin and met Nick’s eyes and said, “I want to go hiking on Mount Washington.”

Nick smiled. “Good. Because I would love to take you up there and kiss you on the top of that mountain.”

Blythe was breathless, but in a good way. “Well,” she teased, “I’ve enjoyed kissing at sea level.”

Nearby, a group of children ran back and forth at the edge of the sand, yelling and gesturing at the seals. The seals were not impressed. The afternoon sun blazed down on them all, and country music drifted from a truck parked a few yards away.

He placed his hand on Blythe’s, enveloping her in his touch. They kissed, awkwardly at first, with the sand shifting beneath them.

“Look, Mommy, those people are kissing!” a child yelled, and the entire gang went crazy with laughter.

Blythe pulled away. “I guess this is a no-kissing zone.”

Someone was cooking hot dogs on a tabletop grill and the aroma made Blythe’s mouth water.

“I would really like a beer and a hot dog,” Nick said.

“Would you settle for a turkey club sandwich and a bottle of iced tea?”

“I would, if I can share it with you.”

It was heavenly to sit in the shade cast by the Bronco, watching the seals bob, eating lunch, drinking cold tea. The ocean was dark blue in the glare of the sun. Far out on the horizon a white sail seemed to slide evenly over the waves. High above, a plane drew a long mark white as chalk over the cloudless sky.

Blythe said, “I wonder if someone somewhere thinks that white line is a message.”

Nick said, “Maybe someone in that plane thinks he’sleavinga message.”

She nudged him. “Nice.”

—

Blythe arrived back at her house in the late afternoon, sun-stunned. Being with Nick had been better than drinking champagne, and she sang in the shower, very pleased with herself and with life.

Pulling a cool turquoise caftan over her head, she drifted down the stairs to re-enter reality.

She had a voicemail from Scarlett’s mother.

“Mrs. Benedict, it’s Eloise August. Scarlett’s mother. I’d like to drop by your house and chat with you today if you have a free moment. Please let me know.”

Blythe came back to earth with a thud.

She returned Eloise’s call.

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