in the Boston area as that’s where all the big newspapers and magazines were. She’d worked at the Nantucket paper one summer, but there were rarely any full-time openings as no one ever left.
“Jack!” They both turned to see a pretty blonde woman walking toward them. She looked familiar too as she wrapped her arms around Jack’s neck and gave him a kiss. She had stick-straight, shoulder-length, blonde hair, blue eyes, and was a size two maybe even a zero. Cissie Anderson looked like she’d hardly aged since high school. She’d been a year behind Kate and Jack.
“Cissie, you remember Kate Hodges? She was on the plane with me, coming home for the holidays.”
Cissie smiled, “Your sister is the artist, right? I see her painting down by the pier sometimes.”
“Yes, that’s Kristen. She always liked that spot.”
Kate spotted her bags and grabbed the carryon first. She turned to get the big suitcase, but Jack had already lifted it down for her.
“It was great to see you, Kate. Say hello to your family. And Merry Christmas!”
Kate smiled as Jack and Cissie walked off. Cissie was chattering as Jack looked amused. It had been nice to see familiar faces.
“Kate!” Her mother had arrived and pulled her in for a tight hug. Kate felt the tears threaten to come again, but fought them back.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you landed, honey. I got stuck in traffic, behind a school bus.”
Kate laughed. “No problem, we just got here, and I was chatting with Jack Trattel, you remember him?”
“Of course. Didn’t his father just have a heart attack? I hope he’s ok?”
“Jack was just visiting him in Boston, at MGH. He said his surgery went well.”
“Oh, that’s good. Well, let’s get you home, shall we?”
Kate’s mother chatted all the way home, filling her in on all the island gossip, which meant Kate just had to listen and nod, which was perfect. She wasn’t ready to talk about what happened with Dylan just yet. When they pulled into their driveway, she noticed that something was different.
“Did you paint the house?” It looked cleaner, fresher somehow.
“Just the trim. It was peeling in spots and that cleaned it right up.”
“Well, it looks great. You made that wreath on the front door, I bet?”
Her mother smiled. “Yes. I’m particularly proud of that one. Everything came from our beach.”
Kate got her luggage out of the car, and her mother grabbed her carryon. As they reached the front door, she said, “I made a few changes inside too.” Her mother unlocked the door and stepped inside. Kate followed her in and stopped short.
“What is this?” They were standing in the front hall, with the dining room to their right, the stairs to the second floor in front of them and on their left, where the entrance to the living room used to be, there was now a wall and door.
“It’s an experiment of sorts. Come in and have a cup of tea, and I’ll fill you in. Oh, and everyone is coming for dinner tonight. They can’t wait to see you, and except for Chase, they haven’t seen these changes yet either.”
An hour later, Lisa pulled a tray of her children’s favorite appetizer, sausage stuffed mushrooms, out of the oven. She’d also made the cheesy taco dip that Abby loved and had Kristen’s favorite, chilled shrimp cocktail. Chase already approved of her plan, but she’d made his childhood favorite too, because she knew they all loved the tiny hot dogs wrapped in puff pastry.
She had beer and chardonnay in the fridge and an open bottle of cabernet on the counter. They should all be arriving any moment.
“I’m ready for a glass of red, what can I pour for you, mom?” Kate asked.
“I’ll have red too.”
Kate had taken the news relatively well. She was always the sensible one, her oldest child, even if it was just by a minute over her sister. Like Chase, she’d been shocked to learn the truth about the family finances. Lisa suspected that there was quite a bit more to Kate’s story about her breakup with Dylan. But Lisa knew Kate was still dealing with losing her job too, and she didn’t want to push her. She’d open up when she was ready. And Lisa was sorry that her daughter was hurting, but she wasn’t sorry that the relationship had ended.
She’d met Dylan once and hadn’t been impressed. She understood why Kate was drawn to him. He was the typical beautiful bad boy that was impossible