“No. I did it. I checked with Amber and she’s okay. We were pretty mean to him all last summer. I just want him to know we can still be a family, if a weird and broken family, but everyone has to play by the rules. Rule number one—respect the boundaries of the others. That means no mistress at our Christmas brunch. He said that wouldn’t be an issue.”
He knocked again. Justine looked skeptical. “As I’ve been told, she is no longer in the picture. But I told him no stopping by on a whim. This isn’t his house and we’re not a couple.”
“Fair enough,” Livvie said.
Justine thought, I can do this. And she smiled at her daughters, thinking, We somehow raised two very bright, intuitive girls.
EPILOGUE
One Year Later
Adele and Justine went for a long walk on the beach at dawn on Christmas morning before the events of the day would begin. These early-morning walks had become a cherished part of their daily routine over the past year.
Addie was deep into her master’s program and still working, but she was learning about transition following a divorce and making adjustments, entering a new relationship in her own family. She had moved in with Jake this past spring, and she was loving it 90 percent of the time. There was that 10 percent when one of them was grumpy or needed space or when they disagreed on things, both major and minor. But they both agreed they were in for the long haul, and they were planning a June wedding.
Justine completed the remodel of the old house, and it came as no surprise that it was stunning. For a while Addie was filled with envy; it had seemed like an old hovel while she lived there. But Jake’s house was beautiful, as well, so it didn’t trouble her for long. Amber was attending Berkeley, so Addie saw her fairly often, and Livvie had switched over to the high school in Half Moon Bay for her senior year. That’s where her friends were now.
Justine was happier than Addie had ever seen her. She realized with some surprise that Justine wasn’t naturally tense, wired for sound. It might have been the corporate career; it might have been the marriage; it might have been both. But now she was relaxed, self-confident and content. Her humor was sharp and her laugh was frequent. She was still seeing Logan, and they seemed to have a solid, romantic relationship, yet Justine held fiercely to her independence.
Scott had some trouble letting go of the girlfriend for the first few months of the new year but finally appeared to have broken free for good. He was stuck with a money-losing kayak shack but was in the process of turning it into a bar with a modest food service. He’d spent the fall enlarging the shack, laid a patio, got his food service licenses and would be ready to go by spring. It would serve as a good place to relax and watch a Pacific sunset, watch the whales when they were migrating, and he could provide picnic box lunches for people on their way to the beach. He kept a few kayaks, but he added rollerblades, bicycles, windsurfers and a few other beach accoutrements.
Of course, he had a girlfriend, but this one seemed sane and did not have a record. Neither did any mysterious bruises pop up unexpectedly. He did not drop in on Justine and the girls without permission.
So on this Christmas morning, one year and nine months since Addie saw Scott kissing Cat, they were coexisting without much trouble. Scott was invited to the Christmas morning unwrapping and brunch, but Logan was coming over Christmas evening. Amber’s and Olivia’s boyfriends were also dropping by. Addie and Jake were in and out through the holidays; there were too many desserts and board games ready to be played.
Addie was truly in love. There was no longer any question of whether it was the right kind of love. She’d taken a healthy look around and realized Jake was the man for her. Always had been. Had she not been a brokenhearted grieving mother or an overworked