her hands from the steering wheel and put them in her lap. “First, let’s take a deep breath. I need a few moments to make sense of what I saw.”
Ari was fiery. “I know absolutely what I saw! I don’t have to think about it! Grandmother, my father is messing around with another woman!”
Eleanor met Ari’s eyes. “Why do you think that is?”
“What?” Tears rolled down Ari’s face. “Grandmother, my mother is your daughter! Shouldn’t you protect her? Why are you siding with my father?”
Eleanor reached out and touched Ari’s cheek. “Sweetheart, I’m not siding with anyone. I do want to protect Alicia. I know very well she’s my daughter, which is why I need some time to think about the best thing to do.”
Ari sagged in her seat. In a small voice, she said, “I can’t imagine that there even is a best thing to do.”
“Let’s think,” Eleanor said. “Let’s head back to Madaket and have tacos and lemonade on the beach. Looking at the ocean can be very helpful in times like this.”
“How many times like this does a person have in her life?” Ari inquired.
“You’d be surprised,” Eleanor said, steering the car to Madaket.
In the summer, the sun stayed high in the sky, beaming down slanted rays that made the sea splash with violet and silver. They ate the tacos—Ari was amazed at how hungry she was—and sipped the tart lemonade. They tucked away the paper holding the crumbs of food so the gulls wouldn’t dive-bomb them for their own dinners. They walked side by side, a long way down the shore. Ari spotted colorful shells, picked them up, then flung them into the ocean.
Not until they about-faced to walk back to their spot did they speak.
Eleanor said, “Your father is a good man, Ari. Your mother is difficult. I know. She’s my child. She was the sweetest little girl when she was young. We adored each other. As she got into her teenage years, though, she began to be angered by me, by everything that I said or did. Somehow we grew apart. I know it’s normal for adolescents to disdain their parents, but usually when they’re older, they become friends again. That didn’t happen for us, although once you were born, we were closer.”
“What about Mom and Dad?”
“Your father and I always got along. But if you mean how they were…your father was in med school and always studying and then working at the hospital and then starting his private practice. His family was very formal, starchy, and oddly your mother adored them. Phillip’s mother, Emily, was the consummate do-gooder. She ran two or three volunteer organizations, and Alicia became involved.” Eleanor stopped walking and gazed out at the ocean.
“Alicia made no secret that she preferred Phillip’s mother to me. She became Emily’s lieutenant for her organizations. She copied Emily in small but significant ways. Alicia had never been a good student. She always seemed to be content to get by with her good looks. But after she married, she became so…organized. She bought a briefcase like the one Emily carried, with a daily diary and color-coded folders for her appointments. She imitated Emily’s manner of dressing. They both wore gold circle earrings, small, but heavy. Alicia began sitting with her legs together, angled to the side, like Kate Middleton.” Eleanor laughed. “Oh, dear, listen to me rambling on this way.”
“No, don’t stop, Gram,” Ari begged. “I love listening to you.”
“The thing is, Ari…” Eleanor cleared her throat and gave herself a moment to choose her words. “My daughter was so loving as a child. But as she grew up, especially after she married Phillip, she became cold to me. I’ve never figured out why. When Emily died a few years ago, Alicia was desolate.”
“I remember,” Ari said softly. “I was sorry Emily died, but the truth? I always thought she was cold. I never had fun with her like I do with you. It seems her only words to me were, like, ‘Sit straight,’ ‘Don’t play with your hair,’ ‘Your skirt is too short.’ ”
Eleanor chuckled. “She was a bit of a harridan.”
“She never wanted me to sit on her lap when I was little. It wrinkled her clothes. You always wanted to hold me.”
Eleanor paced a few steps in silence. Then, looking straight ahead, she said, “So maybe we should give your father a break.”
“I don’t understand,” Ari said, but in a way, she did. Her mother was not a natural hugger,