the party,” he said with a grin that reminded her of Owen. Though Jeff had his father’s darker hair and eyes and Owen favored her, there was a hint of his eldest brother in him just the same.
“Of course you were, but I didn’t expect you or John to actually come.”
“We wanted to be here for you, to help you celebrate this awesome new house.”
“It is kind of awesome, isn’t it?” Sarah asked as she looked around at the open-concept contemporary with the sweeping ocean views. “We’ve been here two weeks, and I still can’t believe I actually live here.”
“You deserve this, Mom. You deserve it all. Enjoy every second of it.”
Sarah hugged him. “Thanks, sweetie. Tell me about you. What’s going on?”
“Nothing much, which is why it was a good time to come up for a visit.”
“Work is good?” Sarah asked as she made a mental list of what she needed to do before the party at two—and wondered how she’d do half of it without power.
“It’s a job. I didn’t suffer through college to wait tables, but there’s nothing happening with the job search. I’m about to give up on Florida and move up here.”
“Really? That’d be wonderful!”
“What would be wonderful?” Sarah’s mother, Adele, asked as she came in through the kitchen door. Having her parents living in the guest cottage on their property was the best part of the whole situation. They’d been thrilled to accept her and Charlie’s offer of a new home on Gansett Island.
“Jeff is thinking about moving up here,” Sarah said.
“That would be wonderful indeed,” Adele said, kissing her youngest grandchild on the cheek.
Jeff put his arm around his grandmother and gave her a squeeze. “It’s no fun in Florida since you guys moved home.”
When Sarah had still been trapped in a violent, abusive marriage, her parents had saved Jeff’s life by intervening when he became addicted to drugs. He continued to have a tight bond with his grandparents, and Sarah would be forever grateful to them for stepping up for her son when she’d been locked in a hellish marriage. Back then, her parents and children had kept things from her that would’ve made her nightmare even worse than it already was.
“We do bring the fun wherever we go,” Adele said. “I came over to see if you guys have power.”
“Nope,” Jeff said, “and Mom is freaking out.”
She playfully bopped Jeff on the head. “You would be, too, if you had a hundred friends and family coming in a few short hours.”
“We’ll make it happen, Mom,” John said when he came in from the deck with two mugs of coffee. He handed one of them to Jeff. “Don’t worry.”
“What?” Sarah said. “Me worry?”
“This happened once during the height of the season.” Adele and her husband, Russ, had owned and operated the Sand & Surf Hotel for more than fifty years. “I think it was 1973 or 74. We were without power for days, but we made do. Somehow.”
“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen this time,” Sarah said.
“Did they ever figure out what happened?” John asked his grandmother.
“It was hot like it is now, and the demand for AC overwhelmed the system.”
“It must’ve been upgraded since then,” Jeff said. “Right?”
“I can’t recall hearing that it was upgraded,” Adele said.
“That’s not good news,” Sarah said, her spirits plummeting. They’d so looked forward to this day and to celebrating with their friends and family. She and Charlie had quietly gotten married over Memorial Day Weekend, so this day was also a celebration of their marriage.
A few minutes later, her daughter Julia came in with her boyfriend, Deacon Taylor, bringing coolers of ice from the Wayfarer. “They closed down for the day due to the power outage,” Julia said, “so Nikki sent the ice over. Where do you want it?”
Shane and Katie were right behind them, rolling their grill through the kitchen to the back deck. “Heard you needed grills,” Katie said, kissing her mom.
While Katie was blonde, her fraternal twin, Julia, had dark hair. They had fallen for handsome, wonderful men who were nothing like the father they’d grown up with. Sarah gave thanks every day for Charlie, Laura, Shane and Deacon, and hoped her younger four children would eventually find their perfect mates, too.
Charlie appeared next to Sarah, who stood at the massive island in the middle of her kitchen and watched with amazement as her kids stepped up for her. But even their help couldn’t quite stem the full-on panic she felt brewing at