Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
March 2025 - Nantucket Island
J ackie and Ryan planned their “stakeout” in Martha’s Vineyard for Tuesday. Neither of them had any showings nor phone calls with potential buyers, and it electrified them to think that they would take the ferry one island away and get to the bottom of Sarah Strong’s terrifying tactics.
Why were they losing clients left and right?
What was going on?
But if Jackie were fully honest with Ryan, she might have told him she didn’t believe anything would come of their snooping. She was heartbroken and almost prepared to give up on Sutton Real Estate fully, sell the Sutton Estate, and cut their losses. But she had a hunch that Trisha would find a way to drag Ryan west if she threw in the towel so soon.
She couldn’t let that happen, not now that she was finally building a relationship with her grandchildren. At the Sutton Book Club the other day, Willa had even taken Jackie’s hand of her own accord. There was a growing trust between them. There was an understanding.
Jackie had to make it work with Sutton Real Estate. Maybe something would occur to her during their trip to Martha’s Vineyard. Perhaps she would find a jolt of creativity left in her tired brain.
Originally, Jackie had said she would pick Ryan up, but Ryan had all but insisted on driving instead. This left Jackie jittery and nervous, getting up and sitting back down on the living room sofa, waiting for him to arrive.
“I hope he knows what time the ferry leaves,” Jackie breathed. “He remembers it’s March, right? The ferries aren’t as frequent as they are in the summer. And he hasn’t lived here in years.”
“He’s not a teenager,” Josh reminded her with a smile. “He’ll be here on time. You’ll get the ferry.”
Jackie remembered how frustrating it had been for her when she’d first left home. Her mother and father had still treated her like a little kid who didn’t know anything. She didn’t want to do the same to Ryan—especially because he was forty-one years old and a father of three.
It’s almost impossible for mothers to stop thinking of their children as people who need them , she thought.
And then she remembered, He does need me. That’s why he’s here .
Her heart ballooned.
The doorbell rang a few minutes earlier than she’d expected. Here was Ryan, wearing a cool windbreaker and a Chicago Cubs baseball hat. Jackie grinned at him, already forgetting her previous fear that he’d be late.
“Are you all set for our big day out?” he asked.
Jackie laughed and waved to Josh.
“Be careful out there,” Josh said.
Jackie and Ryan had agreed not to tell Josh the specifics of their trip to Martha’s Vineyard. For now, they’d told him there were a number of potential clients on the island, ones who hoped that Sutton Real Estate could handle the sales of their properties. Josh had said, “That’ll be a lot of island hopping! I can sail you over whenever you want. Make myself useful.”
Josh was too good for this world.
Ryan drove them to the ferry and parked downstairs. On the drive, Jackie explained to Ryan that she’d met again with the business adviser Sandy Tomkins, who’d expressed mild happiness at the number of homes they’d sold since Ryan’s arrival. “You’re doing better,” she’d said. “Kudos to you and your son.”
“But she still thinks we should sell the house,” Jackie said, getting out of the car and slamming the door behind her. “I need a cup of coffee.”
At this news, Ryan was quiet. They went upstairs to the little coffee shop with its thick windows and view of the thrashing ocean, where they ordered tea and watched the world breeze past. Ryan opted for a scone, too. Jackie guessed he was nervous. He’d always been a bit of a nervous eater like she was. She’d had two slices of toast that morning rather than her typical one.
“We can’t sell the house,” Ryan said, speaking into his tea.
“We won’t,” she told him. But there was an air of disbelief around what she said.
When they reached Martha’s Vineyard, Ryan drove them off the ferry and into whipping winds and violent rains. Jackie clutched her knees, wanting to tell her son to slow down. But he was already going ten or so miles under the speed limit, his hands at ten and two.
“Maybe we should pull over?” she cried. “Until it’s over?”
But when Ryan pulled out of the harbor and onto the backroads of Edgartown, Jackie breathed a sigh of relief. The weather wasn’t quite so chaotic here. Ryan turned down the frantic windshield wipers and directed them to a little lunch place not far from where two of their ex-clients now lived—in the houses they’d opted for instead of the ones on Nantucket. On Martha’s Vineyard, no one knew them. They could ask questions. They could get the lay of the land.
They could learn more about Sarah Strong.
Jackie knew the plan was half-baked at best. But as they sat at a little red-and-white-checkered table and ordered brunch, she couldn’t help but feel giddy. In the past six weeks, she and Ryan had spent more time together than they had since he’d moved out. She was getting to know and appreciate him as the man he’d become.
The man he’d turned into was sensational—funny and kind and intelligent.
Far too good for Trisha , Dana might have said. But Jackie was fighting those instincts.
When the server came with coffee, omelets, and biscuits the size of both of their fists combined, Ryan said, “This looks excellent, Gina.” Gina was what was written on the server’s name tag.
Gina, who was maybe thirty-five, said, “It’s the best brunch on the island.” She leaned a little closer, maybe because she thought Ryan was handsome, and added, “Tons of celebrities and rich people come in here. Once, I got a one-hundred-dollar tip on a five-dollar order.”
Jackie and Ryan gave her a bug-eyed smile.
“Which celebrities?” Ryan asked.
Gina thought she had them wrapped around her finger. Nobody else was in the diner except for a guy nursing a cup of coffee, and she had time to kill, so she pressed on, telling them about Nicole Kidman and Anthony Hopkins and the woman in Thelma and Louise .
“Susan Sarandon?” Jackie asked.
“No,” Gina said, shaking her head.
“Geena Davis?”
“No,” Gina said.
Jackie wanted to laugh. What other woman was in Thelma and Louise ? But she didn’t want to belittle Gina, so she raised her shoulders. “I haven’t seen it in years.”
“We’re thinking about buying a house around here,” Ryan said. “My wife and I are eager to get out of Boston, and my mom is going to come live with us. We hope.”
“They just want a live-in babysitter,” Jackie said. “But I’m more than willing. You know how grandparents are.”
Gina laughed. “I’d be lost without my mom. I have two kids at home.”
“You get it,” Jackie said.
Ryan sipped his coffee and looked thoughtful. “Do you have any real estate agent recommendations? Maybe we’ll meet with one later today.”
Gina looked surprised to have been asked something like that. “You’re in luck,” she said. “I’m related to one. Well, sort of. My ex is related to one. He’s the father of my kids, so.”
“What’s the real estate agent’s name?” Ryan asked.
“Quinn,” Gina said.
Jackie’s heartbeat slowed. She’d half expected Gina to say Sarah Strong and lead them directly to the source.
“Do you have a way we could talk to Quinn?” he asked.
Gina pulled her phone from her apron and showed him Quinn’s phone number. “You can give her a call and say Gina put you in contact. I’ve never asked, but maybe she’ll even give you a discount or something.”
Gina sounded far more sure of herself than Jackie suspected she should be. If Quinn was a valid real estate agent, she didn’t just hand out discounts willy-nilly.
Ryan and Jackie fell all over themselves, thanking Gina for the phone number.
After that, Ryan asked Gina offhandedly if she’d met any of the clients who’d recently purchased homes in the area—people he said were friends of his.
“But they didn’t work with your relative Quinn,” Ryan said. “They worked with a real estate agent named Sarah Strong. Does that name ring a bell?”
Gina chewed on the inside of her cheek and thought for a moment. “Sarah Strong. Yeah. I think I’ve heard of her?”
Suddenly, a few bells at the door alerted the arrival of what looked to be three new tables. Apparently, it was time for the lunch rush.
Gina said, “Maybe you should call Quinn and ask her about Sarah?”
Ryan thanked Gina, and she hustled away to grab menus and greet everyone. Ryan made eye contact over the table and said, “If Sarah is selling all these houses, maybe Quinn dislikes her as much as we do?”
“It’s certainly possible,” Jackie said, taking a bite of bacon. It was crispy and greasy and delicious. Her butter melted in an ooze on her biscuit.
“It’s a lead, at least,” Ryan said.
Jackie was feeling more and more ridiculous. “It’s a lead!”
Who did they think they were? Sherlock Holmes and Watson?
But everything changed after they called Quinn. They were parked outside the diner, watching the rain fall and listening to the phone ring. Quinn didn’t answer, so they left a voicemail asking her to call them back. Jackie took a breath and suggested they drive by some of the houses they’d lost clients to. Ryan started the engine and took them around, past iconic mansions that would surely hold some of the most luxurious parties of summertime 2025. Meanwhile, Jackie wasn’t sure if she would ever find a way to retire.
“Why don’t we go to Sarah Strong’s real estate office and ask her directly?” Ryan suggested.
Jackie’s heart pumped. “Why would we give ourselves away like that?”
“We don’t have anything else to lose,” Ryan said.
Jackie sat and wrung her hands on her lap. Ryan mapped the route on his phone and drove them through the pattering rain to Sarah Strong’s office in Oak Bluffs, where a sign out front advertised her as the top-selling real estate agent on Martha’s Vineyard. The office didn’t have a parking lot, and Ryan spent a little while searching for a spot.
Suddenly, Ryan gasped and pressed his foot hard against the brake.
“What is it?” Jackie cried.
Ryan stuttered. “Sorry. I thought I saw something.”
“What did you think you saw?”
Ryan shook his head and pressed the gas again. “I don’t know. A squirrel, I guess. I’m sorry.”
Jackie continued to look at Ryan. She wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t believe him.
But why would he lie?
Ryan found a spot down the road next to a big oak tree and cut the engine. His face was white.
“Ryan, what did you see?” Jackie asked.
Ryan shook his head and fixed a smile on his face. “Nothing. Let’s go talk to Sarah.”
They got out of the car and locked it. Jackie pulled her hood over her head and glanced from side to side. She felt as though they were being watched. They hurried down the sidewalk. They’d parked farther away than Jackie had thought.
Suddenly, Ryan called out. It took Jackie a minute to realize what he was saying.
“Trisha! Trisha, hey!”
Jackie stopped short and gaped at Ryan from beneath her hood. “Trisha?”
Jackie followed Ryan’s gaze across the street to find none other than her daughter-in-law peering back at them from beneath a rain hood of her own. Trisha was pale as snow. She raised a hand in greeting and tried to smile.
Suddenly, the heavens opened up, and it started to pour.