Page 50 of Songs of Summer

Bea kissed her father on the cheek on her way upstairs.

“You were a good dad, to both of us. I’m going to take a quick shower and get dressed. I smell like cockles,” she said, hoping for a laugh. She didn’t get one.

Track 24

The Joker

Maggie

You could haveclosed your eyes and followed your nose from the Tucker house to the Silver house—that’s how potent the delicious aroma of paella was. Maggie, Matt, and Dylan walked over with Renee and Jake. The betrothed couple entered first, to a rousing standing ovation and a boisterous rendition of “Here Comes the Bride.” Many in the chorus had been on the beach that day, so luckily for Maggie, introductions were mostly behind her.

“Ping-Pong?” Dylan asked Matt with a competitive grin.

“Do you mind?” he asked Maggie.

“Not at all,” she said with a smile.

Maggie weaved her way through the crowd, taking in everything and everyone around her. The house itself surprised her. It was decorated in a minimalist fashion with an aesthetic that was beachy but chic. The walls were dotted with eclectic artwork, from oversized photographs of far-off beaches to European travel posters to a huge oil painting that Maggie later learned was done by a famous artist who had lived nearby. The hardwood floors were softened with sisalrugs in muted colors. Guests were gathered around a pale gray mid-century-style sectional in the living room, socializing, sipping cocktails, and munching on Manchego cheese, Spanish nuts, and olives served on a massive coffee table with a glass top and a driftwood base.

Shep was the first to approach Maggie. She had seen him only briefly while he was faking death, so she was happy to have the chance to speak with him. To speak with her grandfather.

Heavy stuff.

She felt her eyes begin to water when he smiled at her and offered her a glass of sangria. She squeezed them tight and took it happily.

“You must be Matt’s girl? Shep Silver, nice to meet you.”

He reached out for a hug, like a bro. She sank into her grandfather’s arms, fighting the urge to weep. He smelled like both Tide and the tide. She memorized the scent.

“He’s a keeper, that Matty. As good as they come,” Shep said.

“I couldn’t agree more,” she said, meaning every word. In the short time she had spent with him, she was amazed at how good Matt really was. He seemed to emanate decency, which was why she had instantly trusted him. “He says the same about you.”

“I’m more like as bad as they come, but I’ve loved that boy since he was a baby.”

“That’s sweet. He must have been a cute baby.”

“The cutest. Wanna see?” He motioned to the stairs.

“Yes!” She’d been hoping to get the full tour, but her Midwestern manners had prevented her from asking.

She followed Shep up to a long hallway lined with white-framed photos.

“This started out as a family wall,” Shep explained, “but after nearly sixty years on this crazy island, the definition of family has blurred like a line in the sand.” He moved across the pictures. “Here’s the one I wanted to show you: my wife, Caroline, pushing Matty down the block in his pram.”

Maggie looked closely at her beautiful grandmother before taking in Matt’s chubby cheeks and gummy grin. It was just the kind of photo a girlfriend would go gaga over, picturing what her own baby would look like if the two were ever to be fruitful and multiply.

“He really was adorable,” she gushed. “And your wife, wow, so beautiful!” Caroline was barefoot in the photograph, dressed in an A-line sundress covered in big bright flowers. Her auburn hair was effortlessly tied in a knot, and her sunglasses were white and glamorous. Maggie could see the strong resemblance between Caroline and Veronica, and she wondered if looks were where the similarity ended.

“Inside and out,” Shep mused, and she had her answer. Although clearly those two sisters brought out the worst in each other.

“And over here, this is the team picture of Matt’s first homeowners’ softball game.” Shep searched the line of men, stopping at a lanky teenager with a big goofy smile on his face. Maggie looked closely.

“He was cute then too,” she remarked, a big goofy smile lighting her own face as well. She couldn’t help herself.

There was one thing about being adopted that she had never much thought about until she received the 23andMe report—ancestors. Neither of her parents had many people left in the family department. She had a faint memory of herdad’s mother, who passed when Maggie was around five—the only one of the four grandparents who was alive when she was born. She’d met a few distant cousins here and there, but they were older. When she and Jason married, she would have zero family of her own present. As she stood there now, in the presence of her grandfather, that fact, which had never bothered her before, suddenly stung.

Shep continued his narration as he went down the line.

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