Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
March 2025 - Nantucket Island
A round eleven thirty on the evening of their spontaneous trip to Martha’s Vineyard, Jackie sat down and gave herself a talk.
Sell the Sutton Estate. Get rid of the dark past that haunts you and Ryan and Trisha. Make enough money to retire and help Ryan build the next era of his life.
It was all about survival now.
If Jackie had learned anything during their little trip to Martha’s Vineyard, it was this: whatever reason Sarah Strong had for taking their clients out from under them would remain unknown, probably forever.
Sure, Jackie and Ryan could keep selling and selling and selling houses. But if Sandy the financial planner, was right, they wouldn’t get near their projected goal for another few years. And if Sarah Strong continued to rip clients out from under them? They were doomed.
Jackie listed the Sutton Estate’s mansion and grounds for a staggering twenty million dollars. It was hard to believe that that much money was just sitting there. It was hard to believe that something as simple as selling it off would set Jackie and Josh up for life.
Of course, Jackie planned to talk to her brothers, Victor and Aaron. But because both of them were entrenched in their own private family dramas and very rarely, if ever, mentioned the Sutton Estate, Jackie guessed they would be overjoyed to learn they’d inherit multiple millions of dollars after the sale of that old place.
Jackie, being the only daughter of Dana and Jeremy, had always assumed it was her lot in life to be the only person who really cared about the Sutton Estate. Maybe that time of her life was over. Perhaps that was freeing, in a way.
Jackie published the advertisement for the Sutton Estate and leaned back in her computer chair, flipping through glossy photographs of the dining room, kitchen, beach, upstairs bedrooms, and the wraparound porch. Tears sprang to her eyes.
She suddenly burned with images of other families sitting around the back porch, watching the sunset. She imagined some other mom cooking at the stove. She was on her feet, breathless. Could she really do this?
What other option did she have?
Things happened quickly after that. By morning, she had two inquiries to see the place. By the following day, she had three more.
Ryan was too distracted at the office to notice that the Sutton Estate was on the market. He moved through the world like an angry, lumbering bear. But when Jackie had six viewings set for the Sutton Estate for the following week, she pulled him aside and told him, in a matter-of-fact tone, that she wanted to show the house and “see what happened.”
Ryan was pale and strange. He kept putting his hands into his pockets and pulling them out again. “If you think it’s right,” he said. “I’ll tell Trisha to be out of the house.”
Jackie nodded and lowered her gaze. This is it , she thought, speaking to her mother in her head. This is how I failed you, Mom .
All weekend, Jackie thought about her mother and father. She thought about the tremendous memories she had on the Sutton Estate. But more than that, she thought about how ridiculous it was that her mother had spent millions—literally millions—during the years after Jeremy’s death. She was reminded of the heinous way Dana had treated Trisha, simply because Trisha was from a family who didn’t have much. It turned Jackie’s stomach.
Why did I let Mom get in my head like that? Why did I give her so much power when I knew she was using her power all wrong?
Jackie knew it was almost impossible to fight the influence of your parents. She knew that was partially why Ryan was back on the island—ready to open his arms to his mother’s influence again.
He was lost.
But who wasn’t lost? Life was confusing. There were no right answers.
Jackie still couldn’t get her head around why they’d run into Trisha on Martha’s Vineyard. To Josh, she kept saying, “It was the strangest thing. She popped up out of nowhere.”
Josh just laughed. “I’m glad she’s exploring. She probably gets really bored, cooped up in that big house all day. And it sounds like the kids have had a really difficult go of it the past few years. She needs to have a good time.”
But ever since their trip to Martha’s Vineyard, Ryan had grown increasingly pale and nervous. It was almost as though he knew something. Calling Sarah Strong or even Quinn seemed off the table. Once on Ryan’s desktop, Jackie spotted a job advertisement for a marketing position in Boston. Was he already making plans to leave?
At least Boston wasn’t so far away.
At least she wouldn’t feel so guilty for selling the Sutton Estate. Ryan would be off, doing whatever he was meant to be doing. She and Josh would be fully retired and eager to travel. They could visit Ryan and Trisha and the kids often (provided Trisha still allowed them to be around the kids).
On Tuesday morning, Jackie met the first of five potential buyers at the Sutton Estate. As they went from room to room and talked about the “tremendous potential of the space,” Jackie fought perpetually to keep tears from falling.
“Look at that view,” Jackie said, pulling back the curtains. “The sunset is always splendorous. Year-round.”
The first couple had made their money in the world of technology and social media. They were in their late thirties and still wanted to start a family—a family they’d bring here to Nantucket in the summertime.
“I suppose there’s no real market to rent out to tourists in the winter? When we wouldn’t be here?” the woman in the couple asked, frowning, as though she were already calculating the money they’d lose if they had a summer-only place.
“There are numerous people who live here year-round,” Jackie said brightly. “It’s a wonderful community. I raised my children here. I was raised here in this very house. The few vacations we took always made me understand how magical it was to live year-round in a vacation destination. I couldn’t wait to come home.”
The couple glanced at one another, communicating in a language Jackie didn’t understand.
“What I mean is,” Jackie added, “you could live here if you wanted to. You wouldn’t have to leave it empty during the winter.”
They seemed unconvinced.
The next couple who came to look at the Sutton Estate was slightly older and had recently become empty nesters. Originally from the West Coast, they spoke slower and louder than Jackie was used to and seemed nervous about the island’s lack of mountains.
“We’re used to hiking,” the woman explained with a funny laugh. “But I’ve always longed to live an island life.”
Her husband was crotchety. “She’s got this dream to open a bed-and-breakfast,” he explained. “But I don’t know why we wouldn’t do it somewhere warm. A bed-and-breakfast on Nantucket can only really profit half the year, if that.”
The thought rang through Jackie’s mind for the rest of the day. The Sutton Estate as a bed-and-breakfast? Why hadn’t she thought of that? Suddenly, her mind was filled with images of Josh, greeting guests at a front desk he would build from scratch and put in the foyer; she imagined meeting people from all over the world and showing them Nantucket’s generous spirit. She imagined telling them just how important that Sutton Estate was for her and her family and sharing Dana Sutton’s family recipes. Her heart swelled.
Suddenly, she had no interest in showing the Sutton Estate to anyone else.
But right around the time the older couple with bed-and-breakfast dreams finished their tour, another couple pulled in—a man in his fifties and his slightly younger wife, who confessed she was three months pregnant and eager to find a forever home for her family. Right away, Jackie realized this couple was far more serious about the property than the others. Her palms were sweaty. Still, she acted out the part of a real estate agent, taking them from room to room and answering their questions. The pregnant wife was overcome with joy at every little detail.
“I can already see our baby taking his first steps through here,” she whispered. “I can already see myself getting old here.”
Jackie’s throat was tight, and her smile hurt her face. By the time the couple left for the day, she needed a drink so desperately that she called Josh and asked where he was. “I’m with Victor and Esme!” he said brightly. “We’re at the Sutton Book Club. Come by?”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Jackie said.
Jackie hurried out to her car just as Trisha pulled her secondhand Chevy into the driveway with all three kids aboard. Jackie paused, hoping to squeeze her grandchildren tightly before she left. Trisha parked beside her and didn’t even bother to smile. But Willa, Rudy, and Gavin burst from the car and hurried over to Jackie to say hello. Willa hugged her extra long, closing her eyes as though she felt Jackie was a sort of home. As though she felt tremendous comfort.
That brought tears to Jackie’s eyes, too.
“Willa had a rough day,” Trisha said as she got out of the car. Her eyes were rimmed with red.
“I left school early,” Willa said into Jackie’s stomach.
Jackie’s heart burst with sorrow. She realized that Trisha hadn’t been able to bring Jackie home—to the Sutton Estate—because Jackie had been showing it to strangers. They’d had to kill time elsewhere. Trisha probably resented Jackie the entire time, wishing she could take her daughter to a soft room and console her. Jackie kissed the top of Willa’s head and said, “Why don’t we bake cookies later this week? Maybe we can have a sleepover at my house?”
At first, she was petrified that she’d taken it too far. But Trisha’s face echoed with gratitude. Willa wasn’t always easy. Jackie imagined that a day off was often a godsend, even if Trisha would spend most of that time missing her daughter to death.
Soon, Willa, Gavin, and Rudy retreated inside, eager for snacks and television. Jackie wrung her hands and forced herself to look at Trisha. “I’m sorry about Willa. You should have been able to bring her back here.”
Trisha raised her shoulders. “It’s not our house. Not really.”
“But it is right now,” Jackie said. Her voice wavered. She considered bringing up her idea to open the house as a bed-and-breakfast, but she didn’t want to force Trisha into any kind of faux-friendly conversation.
Instead, Jackie said, “It was funny to run into you the other day.”
Trisha raised her eyebrow as though she didn’t know what Jackie was talking about.
“On the Vineyard,” Jackie finished.
“Right. Yes.” Trisha touched her hair as though she were suddenly nervous. “Maybe Ryan told you? I was researching a few little shops over there. I’m thinking about opening my own place.”
“That sounds really nice,” Jackie said, although she wasn’t sure she believed her. Then again, why else would Trisha be on Martha’s Vineyard?
“Well,” Trisha said, tilting her head toward the house. “I’d better make sure they don’t eat all the chocolate in the cupboard.”
“I’m sure they already have,” Jackie tried to joke. “See you later.”
Trisha raised a hand. “Just let us know when you need us out of the house. We’ll make do.”
Jackie felt sour and strange all the way to the Sutton Book Club. But when she entered the ornate downtown mansion, she inhaled smells of sage and roasted chicken and melted cheddar and baking bread. Upstairs, Rebecca was opening her restaurant for the night, and Esme was popping in and out of the kitchen, offering to help, only for Rebecca to shoo her out and say, “Sit down, Mom. You’ve been on your feet all day!”
Esme spotted Jackie and laughed at herself. “She’s up to her ears in stress and won’t let me help for a second.”
Jackie laughed and hurried over to hug her ex-sister-in-law. My brother’s girlfriend! she thought.
“How are you?” Jackie asked.
“The better question is, how are you?” Esme asked, looping her arm through Jackie’s and walking her over to the corner table, where Josh and Victor talked about politics in a way that made Josh throw up his hands.
Victor laughed and turned to look at Jackie. “How did the showing go?”
Over the weekend, Jackie had updated Victor and Aaron of her plans to sell the Sutton Estate, and they’d essentially said it was about time.
“I might have had a change of heart,” Jackie confessed, taking the chair next to Josh and squeezing his hand.
“You’re a sap,” Victor said.
“I always was,” Jackie agreed. “At first, I thought it was going to be fine, you know? A few couples came, and they seemed snooty and mean. And then this other couple came, and they were expecting a baby, and I just lost it. I started imagining their future and getting so jealous that they’d spend their days at the Sutton Estate.” She pressed her lips together. “Another couple gave me an idea.”
“Uh-oh,” Victor teased. “Josh, did you hear that? She’s got an idea.”
Josh squeezed her hand in return and said, “I’ll do whatever she says.”
Esme appeared with a bottle of wine and filled Jackie’s glass as Jackie delivered her plan of attack: The Sutton Bed-and-Breakfast.
“The place is huge enough to house both Ryan’s family and a bunch of guests,” Jackie said. “Or if Ryan and Trisha don’t want to go on living there, maybe Josh and I could take over? We could live and work at the bed-and-breakfast and meet travelers from all over the world. Heck, Ryan and Trisha could take over our place.”
Josh’s eyes glowed with excitement. “I could build new furniture. We could drive to antique sellers all over New England! We could give each room a theme. New paint jobs. Everything.”
“A theme! I like the sound of that,” Esme said.
Victor waved his hand. “I thought you wanted to sell! I thought you wanted to retire!”
Jackie lowered her gaze.
“Think of the beauty that exists for you after the sale,” Victor instructed. “Think of long afternoons of nothing to do. Think of zero stress. Think of spending more time with your grandchildren!”
“You’re not retired yet,” Esme pointed out to Victor.
“I’m basically retired,” Victor said. “All I do is lie around. When a decent idea comes to me, I write it in my notebook and put it in the book.”
“He is very lazy. That’s for sure,” Esme whispered to Jackie, smiling.
Victor pretended to swat her. “Goodness, Jackie. I’ve never seen you like this.”
You were gone for years , Jackie wanted to say. We were strangers.
Instead, she said, “The real estate agency has taken a hit the past few years.”
Victor’s eyes widened with surprise. As quickly as Jackie could, she outlined what had happened: the stolen clients, the poor business advice, the lack of funds, her inability to retire.
“Who is this real estate agent?” Victor asked. “Give me a name.”
“Do you know real estate agents in the area?” Jackie asked doubtfully.
Victor sighed and shook his head. “I guess not.”
“But Jackie, you’re always ready with a new idea, a new way forward,” Josh said lovingly. “If you decide not to sell the Sutton Estate, we’ll open the bed-and-breakfast. And if the bed-and-breakfast fails, we’ll figure something else out. We’re only in our sixties. We have time for a thousand-plus mistakes after this.”
“Ha,” Jackie said, trying to smile.
Esme decided to change the subject. “How is it going with the new set of grandkids?”
For a little while, Jackie and Josh gushed about Gavin, Willa, and Rudy. Josh spoke at length about Gavin’s mathematical mind, and Jackie talked about Willa’s ability to remember song lyrics after just one listen.
“The girl’s a whiz,” Josh agreed, tapping his temple.
“Who’s Trisha, anyway?” Victor asked, reaching for the bottle of wine to give himself a refill. “Is she from around here? Would I know her last name?”
Jackie’s stomach tied into knots. Victor hadn’t been around during the Trisha drama. He hadn’t been at the Sutton Estate on the day of the wedding.
“I can’t believe you don’t know,” Jackie said after a dramatic pause. “I figured somehow, some way, Mom would have found a way to call you and talk your ear off about it.”
Victor raised his eyebrows. Esme refused to look at any of them and focused on a corner of the room where a picture frame hung crookedly. Esme was probably thinking about her own loneliness during that era. She’d been a single mother with three daughters. How did she ever forgive Victor? Jackie wondered now.
“Trisha is a Reed,” Jackie said under her breath.
Victor’s face broke into an outrageous smile. “You’re kidding.”
Jackie laughed nervously and glanced around, hoping nobody was listening. But the only people at the restaurant were feasting and having their own conversations. They weren’t thinking about the Suttons at all.
“I can only imagine how awful Mom was,” Victor said. “I can only imagine the heinous things she said.”
“She wasn’t always the kindest person,” Esme said quietly.
“Before I left Nantucket, there was a story about the Reeds in the newspaper almost every morning,” Victor said. “They were always stealing from somebody, or stealing from each other, or finding new and inventive ways to take advantage of those around them. They were masters of manipulation.”
“Then again, so was Mom,” Jackie said, surprising herself.
Victor cackled with laughter and slapped his thigh. “It’s true. The Suttons were bad in one way; the Reeds were bad in another. But who’s to say who was better?”
“Dana would disown you if she heard you say that,” Esme said.
“I love my mother,” Victor said, his hand over his chest. “I love her despite her faults and despite her arrogance and despite the fact that she was, maybe, the cruelest woman I ever met. I love her despite the fact that she spent millions and millions of dollars and left us nothing but that house when she died. It’s like she wanted to prove a point.”
“Actually, that’s what impresses me the most about her,” Esme said with a wry laugh. “How did she manage to spend so much? I’d have to work really hard, I think.”
“She had years of practice,” Victor said.
“She even sold off all the boats and cars!” Josh added, smiling.
Jackie filled her lungs and laughed. They would always love their mother, but it felt good to speak truths about Dana Sutton. It felt like cleaning themselves out.
Jackie sighed. “Trisha will never forgive me for that time of her life. I can’t blame her.”
“I’m sure Trisha has her reasons,” Victor agreed.
“What ever happened to the Reeds?” Esme asked.
“Funnily enough, I was just talking to someone about them,” Victor said. “They were kicked off their property and left Nantucket. A few of them went to Boston. One of the brothers was arrested out west for car theft. But the majority of them went over to Martha’s Vineyard.”
“Not far,” Esme said.
Something strange tugged at the back of Jackie’s mind.
Was that why Trisha had been on Martha’s Vineyard? Was she visiting her family without telling Ryan? Was she hiding a reunion?
Or was she planning her escape?
What if she took the children with her? Jackie’s heartbeat quickened.
“But some of them are doing all right for themselves, I hear. They’re overcoming the world their parents built for them,” Victor said, raising his glass of wine. “There’s a restaurant or two over on Martha’s Vineyard owned by a Reed. And one of them married a Strong.”
Jackie’s heart stopped beating. “I’m sorry?”
Victor hesitated. “What? You must know the Strongs of Martha’s Vineyard. They were hotel people; they owned about three or four before they closed up shop. They had one son, Max Strong. He’s the one who married a Reed girl. I don’t know how the Strongs felt about him marrying a Reed, but I can’t imagine they were half as cruel as Mom was.”
Jackie gaped at her brother. “Is her name Sarah Strong?” She found it difficult to breathe.
Victor snapped his fingers. “Yes! Sarah Strong. Born Sarah Reed. Moving up through the ranks of the world. Much like our Trisha.”
Jackie thought she was going to throw up. She rifled through her purse to find her cell, then pulled up Sarah Strong’s real estate website, a site she’d visited at least fifty times in the past two weeks. She flashed Sarah’s photo at her brother, and Victor nodded.
“Yep! A Reed!”
Jackie couldn’t believe this. Had the Reeds crawled out of the dark past to destroy the Suttons’ future?
Worse, had Trisha been on Martha’s Vineyard to help Sarah Strong steal Ryan and Jackie’s clients?
It was difficult for Jackie to fathom.
Suddenly, Josh’s hand was on her shoulder. “Are you all right, honey?”
Jackie was all right. But she needed to talk to Ryan. Right away.