a close watch on charter guests to make sure no one got hurt, and Alex had had to show a jet ski license to use the jet ski. Fortunately, he had had one since he was sixteen. He flew through the water with his grandmother behind him, holding tightly with her arms around his waist. She was loving every minute of it, and so was he, as Phillip and John looked at each other and shook their heads.
“If anyone had told me I’d see that one day, I wouldn’t have believed it. Why didn’t she do things like that with us when we were kids?” Phillip sounded wistful as he said it. This was not the mother he knew and remembered. This was someone else entirely.
“She was too busy,” John said simply, and then he went to convince Sarah to get in the water with him, while she took photographs of the scene. She and John were the family photographers, and the results were terrific. It was always fun looking at the pictures after the trip. She was a little overwhelmed by his family at first. They were a fairly overpowering group and this was a far cry from their familiar life in Princeton. But she was happy to see Alex having so much fun. And it helped her relax to take photographs of everyone. They were all in a great mood.
When Liz and the girls swam back from the beach, the three young people tried riding on the banana, pulled by one of the tenders, and they all fell off immediately, amid squeals of delighted laughter. The adults watched them from the deck, laughing too. It looked like fun to all of them. The three kids had all the exuberance and resilience of youth.
“We ought to try that sometime,” John said to his older brother, who grinned.
Amanda commented instantly, “Don’t count on me.” She had already changed to a dry bathing suit, and an enormous pink hat to shield her from the sun. Olivia was delighted by her ride on the jet ski, and Alex had promised to take her on it again.
They all had an enormous lunch, after which the crew pulled up anchor and they took off again, this time to head straight for Portofino. The plan was to arrive in time for dinner and go to a restaurant in the port. And they’d been told the shops would be open till midnight. There was something for all of them to look forward to.
As the Lady Luck cruised toward Italy at full speed, John and Sarah played Scrabble, the rest of them read or slept, and the kids went to watch a movie in the theater. Amanda decided to have a manicure, as Olivia had suggested, and they all looked happy and at ease. And after they played Scrabble, John did a few quick pencil sketches of Sarah’s face. He always returned with several sketchbooks full after their summer trips.
It was eight-thirty at night when they got to Portofino, and the crew tied up the enormous boat to the rocks, and dropped anchor. The tiny little port town was sparkling at them, and they all went to dress and get ready for dinner. They had a dinner reservation at nine-thirty at a restaurant the captain assured them was excellent.
They reassembled on the deck half an hour later, nibbled delicious hors d’oeuvres, and could hardly wait to get ashore and explore Portofino. A large tender took them in, and only a few minutes later they reached the dock, and three crew members accompanied them to the restaurant.
“I feel like visiting royalty,” Olivia giggled, and each of her granddaughters put an arm around her waist as they walked along. Alex walked along beside them, and Olivia’s three children followed at a distance, watching her with her grandchildren, and talking among themselves.
“Sometimes I wonder if we even know who she is. She’s so different than she used to be … with them …,” Phillip said as he watched his mother with her grandchildren. She was laughing and talking, and she looked happy and relaxed. He had no memories of her looking that way in his youth.
“I think she really enjoys the kids,” Liz said kindly. She was happy to see her daughters having fun with their grandmother. Her own relationship with her grandmother had always been so important to her—she was glad to see that her daughters could share something like that too.