quietly. “Me, too.”
“But this isn’t a problem I can solve,” Eleanor said.
“I know,” Ari agreed. “I can’t solve it, either.”
They sat together quietly for a while.
“So!” Eleanor clapped her hands on the table and rose. “I’ve got Masterpiece Mystery! to watch.”
“I’ll tidy the kitchen and take a shower and be down in time to watch it with you,” Ari told Eleanor. Rising, she picked up her bowl and started toward the glass door. Pausing, she turned to her grandmother and said, “Gram, thank you.”
Eleanor looked surprised. “For what?”
“Everything,” Ari told her, and smiled and went into the kitchen.
Eighteen
Monday morning, Ari set off for Beach Camp. The sun was bright, the sand hot, and the water cool. The children were adorable. The sun was shining and the day flew past.
As she drove home, her cell buzzed. Without looking at the number, she answered.
“Hey, Ari.” It was Beck. His voice made her smile. “How’re you doin’?”
“Doin’ fine, Beck. How about you?”
“Oh, I’m up here in Plymouth, wishing I were on the island. Listen, I had a great thought. The yacht club’s Mid-Summer Ball is this Saturday. Would you go with me? I promise I’m a decent dancer.”
Her heart floated upward like a balloon. “That’s a wonderful idea, Beck. I’d love to go with you.”
“Want to put a table together? Like my sister and her fiancé, and Mickey and Sara Sullivan.”
“Oh, yes. That’ll be fun!” The Mid-Summer Ball was always a fantastic event, with fabulous dinners served before the band began to play every style of music while the dance floor filled with whirling skirts and navy blazers and laughing people.
“Good. I’ll pick you up at six. Cocktails start at six-thirty.”
“Oh, Beck, I can drive in from ’Sconset and meet you there.”
“Not a chance that will happen. Ari, this is an official date, and I’m picking you up.”
“Okay, then. I’ll be ready.”
When she clicked off her phone, Ari caught a glimpse of her face in her rearview mirror. She was smiling, as if she’d been lit up like a star.
Oh, dear, she thought, what does it mean that the sound of Beck’s voice made me happy? When she was younger, she and her friends had scorned the Mid-Summer Ball because it was so old-fashioned and conventional. But right now, it seemed that a pretty dress with a skirt that swirled as she was held in Beck’s arms was exactly what she needed.
* * *
—
Summer was here, and Eleanor’s calendar was scribbled with dates for lunch, sailing, and dinner. She was glad. She knew this was good for her, happily reclusive as she was, so she went everywhere she was invited. This was good for Ari, too, Eleanor was certain. Ari needed some time alone. This Tuesday she’d had a girls’ night out with friends, and tonight, Ari had gone out with Beck to a beach party. It was good, Eleanor decided, for both women to be busy, and let their subconscious minds do their back-of-the-stove simmering.
Eleanor was glad Ari was active, having fun, but soon her granddaughter had to face serious changes because of her pregnancy. If Ari kept the baby, Eleanor worried that Ari’s mother and father wouldn’t want her to live with them in Boston. Alicia had experienced a long and difficult labor with Ari, ending in a hysterectomy. Alicia hadn’t enjoyed having an infant to deal with, either. All that spitting up and crying and constant care—it had made Alicia miserable. Eleanor had gone up to Boston to help during the first month, but that only made Alicia crankier, having to live with her mother around. Finally, when Ari was seven months old and crawling, Alicia had hired a nanny.
No, Eleanor couldn’t imagine Ari with her parents and a squalling newborn. Would Ari still take classes at B.U.?
Eleanor also worried Alicia wouldn’t understand Eleanor’s attempt to help—unless Eleanor agreed to sell the house and split the money among her daughter, son, and granddaughter. But Alicia was dealing with an adulterous husband, and money couldn’t fix that. Could it? Ari would own this house when Eleanor died, but Eleanor had no plans to die for a good long time. It was a sad thought that only Eleanor’s death would make Alicia happy.
She heard the clunk of her mailbox lid and walked out to pick up her mail. An electric bill, an invitation to a fundraiser, and a postcard from Martha, who was having the best time ever on the cruise. Good for her, Eleanor thought. She was sincerely