because Phillip usually grilled a salmon or steaks, and even though Alicia and Phillip had reunited, Eleanor didn’t want him swanning around her kitchen and deck as if he belonged again. He might belong to Alicia, but Eleanor was not so forgiving.
Actually, her family might not be so forgiving after she made her announcement.
Cliff knew, of course, but he only knew part of it, the part he liked.
They were gathered in the living room. Alicia and Phillip sat holding hands, like young lovers. Ari joined them on the sofa. Cliff sat in the chair Mortimer had always preferred, looking dashing in his white ducks and navy blue Brooks Brothers shirt. Alicia had had her dark hair cut and styled in a careless bob. It suited her. Phillip wore Nantucket red pants and a blue rugby shirt. He had not yet been able to meet Eleanor’s eye since he entered the house this morning. Ari was wearing a lavender sundress that set off her tan. Her dark hair was curled up in a rather Parisian chignon.
She knew that Eleanor was going to make an important announcement, but she didn’t know what it was.
Eleanor wore a new dress that seemed to startle her family and startled her from time to time. She’d ordered it from a catalog and was amazed at how her entire reflection changed in the mirror when she put it on. It was a bright blue batik “cold shoulder” dress, meaning that it had sleeves that left her shoulders exposed, and a slice of her upper arms, where what she called her flags waved the most. It was the most daring thing she’d worn in years, perhaps ever. She wore her long hair down, pulled back with a silver butterfly barrette, and lipstick and earrings. Her family thought she’d gone mad, but Silas liked her in the dress. A lot. It might be a sign to the others that she was changed.
She entered the living room and sat in her chair. Cliff smiled smugly and poured her a flute of prosecco.
“So,” Eleanor said, “here we are. Alicia and Phillip, I’m so glad to see you together again. Ari, you know how I feel about you. Cliff, you look ridiculously smug, so you might as well tell the others.”
Cliff couldn’t wait. “Mother’s sold the house! Gold Sand bought it for fifteen million dollars!”
Everyone gasped. For a moment, they all froze with shock.
Then Alicia absolutely flew out of her chair to kiss her mother. “Oh, Mother, thank you!”
“Wait, wait,” Eleanor said. “I have more to say.”
“Almost four million dollars, Phil! Four million for each of us! Mother, you can buy a home near us!”
“You won’t want me near you after you’ve heard what I have to say,” Eleanor told her daughter. “I’ve spoken with my lawyer, and I’m dividing the money into five, not four parts—”
“Oh, you’re counting Phillip, too, of course!” Alicia said. She glanced at her husband. “That’s eight million for you and me!”
“No, Alicia. Let me speak.” Eleanor felt a blush of excitement rise up her neck and onto her cheeks, not unlike the blush she’d felt yesterday when Silas kissed her. “I’m giving three million each to Cliff, Alicia, and Ari, and keeping three million for myself. I’m going to buy a small house in town, on Fair Street. If I live prudently and keep receiving my annuities, I’ll be fine for the next twenty years.”
“But the other three million—” Alicia looked as if she wanted to bite something.
“The rest of the money,” Eleanor said, “is going to Beach Camp. I’m establishing the Eleanor Sunderland Beach Camp Foundation. Cal Wallace, his cousins, Poppy and Cleo, and I have met with a lawyer and are in the process of drawing up papers. We’re going to buy a small building on Amelia Drive that will be the headquarters of the camp.”
“You don’t mean it,” Alicia whispered.
“Poppy Marshall will be the full-time office manager, working from Amelia Drive and from Boston, where she lives in the winter. Cleo and her husband will live in the apartment above the Beach Camp offices. After Cal is ordained as an interfaith minister, he will live on Nantucket. He’ll direct the camp and begin a fundraising and development campaign.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Alicia was no longer whispering. “I’m your daughter. Don’t I mean anything to you?”
“Alicia. You are married to a surgeon. You have one child, who is grown. You will have three million dollars to take all the cruises you