Page 81 of Enemies to Lobsters
My grandma clutches her hands together, pleading. “Diana, we only wanted you to be happy—”
“I bet you did.” I scoff. I can’t believe them.
My grandma stands in front of me. “When Stevie came to us with the idea, it seemed like the best way to—”
“What?” I ask, exasperated. Her words might as well be in Latin for as much sense as she’s making.
She sighs. “Stevie came to us with the idea. She said you had a bee in your bonnet about restoring the lighthouse. We all like that boy, and we want you here, and—”
“What are you saying?” I know I didn’t sleep well last night, but what is she talking about? Stevie didn’t come to my grandparents with the marriage idea.Theycame tomewith the marriage proposal, then I went to Stevie… who should’ve seemed more surprised and appalled by the idea, come to think of it. She should’ve had more questions. The Stevie I know would’ve pushed back.
Oh.
Stevie. That little rat. I think back on the day I spent on her couch, coming up with a plan to save the lighthouse. Stevie bounced out the door saying she needed to “run errands,” the faker.Errands. Is that what we call it when we collude with the elderly to manipulate a friend into marrying another friend?
“Just making sure I understand.” I pinch my eyes closed, embarrassed that it took me so long to piece it together. “Stevie talked you into funding the restoration of the lighthouse—”
“That part was our idea.” My grandma thinks she's getting Stevie off the hook.
“So, Stevie just set me up with Ike.” Did Ike know about this? Was he in on it? I’m going to be sick. But I have to ask. “Was Ike in on it, too?”
“Heavens, no.” Grandma titters. “Stevie was afraid she’d have a tough time talking him into it, but I knew better. I knew he’d snap you up. He’s a smart man,” she says like a proud in-law.
Breathing deeply, I lower myself back onto the couch. Snap me up.I’m not a football, Grandma.I look at Tom Selleck on the screen for guidance.Should I be angry about this, Tom?He’s suspiciously quiet.
I’m trying so hard to be irritated or galled orsomethingby this information. I’ve spent years pushing back at the idea of marriage, but now that I’m in one, not only do I not dislike it, I quite enjoy it. I hate being wrong. I especially hate learning that I’ve been wrong for years. But if my error results in being loved by a man like Ike Wentworth, I can learn to live with it. I’ll never admit it to my grandma or Stevie, though.
My grandma takes her seat beside me. “If that wasn’t it, what did you hear, if I may ask? What was it that you came to talk about?” Her voice is soft. She’s treading lightly now that she’s busted.
Oh, yeah. That other betrayal. The big one. “Uh…” I don’t know where to start. “When my mom was here, she said that you guys told her to fall in line, or you’d cut her off.” I fidget with my wedding ring while the words tumble out. “She told me she had to choose between raising me alone, or leaving me with you.”
My heart aches at the pain on my grandma’s face. She shakes her head, muttering her daughter’s name and looking at my grandpa with watery eyes.
“That simply… isn’t true.” My grandpa’s solemn voice is like a bandage, and the weight of my mother’s words falls off of myshoulders. My grandpa frowns. “I hate to say it. I'm sorry, Diana. I wish I could tell you that your mother didn’t choose to leave—”
“It’s okay, Grandpa.” I swat away his apology. He doesn’t deserve to bear the weight of his daughter’s decisions any more than I do. “She left a long time ago, and I have you guys. I’m good.”
I will be, anyway. I didn’t think I’d feel reassured to know that my mother left me voluntarily. I thought I’d feel abandoned all over again. Instead, the status quo is comforting. This part of my life is what I knew it to be all along: My mother is gone, and my grandparents are here for me. They always have been—including matchmaking me with a man who, for all they knew, thought I was a witch.
I snort. “I can’t believe you and Stevie tricked me into marrying Ike,” I say with a laugh. Between the destruction caused by the storm and my mother, plus declaring my love for Ike in front of the whole town, I’m a buffet of strong emotions today. Now I’m laughing so hard, my eyes fill with the tears I’ve held back all morning. I sigh as I wipe them away, “You guys aresolucky that Ike is basically perfect, and this worked out well.”
My grandma smiles. “We knew it would.”
Then a familiar, gruff voice is in my head:I knew, too.
Pfft. Sure you did, Tom.What does Tom Selleck know about what would make me happy? This guy.
You said it yourself. You came here looking forjoie de vivre,but a bearded man came with it—not a mustachioed one. You’re truly happy. My work here is done.
Somehow, my imaginary Tom Selleck waves goodbye with a bittersweet frown under his mustache.
Chapter 38
Ike
After a day full of damage assessment and phone calls, I’ve driven across Cape Georgeana and back no less than thirty times. We have work to do, and we need a plan. We’ll make one. We have an emergency town board meeting bright and early tomorrow to handle that. I still haven’t dared to venture out to the lighthouse, though. The tide will be up soon, and I’m all out of boats. I’m also tired. My all-nighter is catching up to me, and I don’t know where I’m going to sleep tonight.
And I miss Diana. She’s all I want after a day like today.
