Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
K at dreaded having lunch with her mother. It was hard enough to deal with the changes in her life, but to grapple with her choices while her mother scrutinized her every decision made her tense.
She’d come to Captiva to escape stress, but she couldn’t ignore the truth. No matter how far she traveled, she couldn’t run from her problems. A painful recognition upon waking the next morning.
The loss of her marriage hurt, even though it was a loss of her own making. It suddenly dawned on her that if she went through with the divorce, she would live the rest of her life without Nolan…something she hadn’t thought through completely.
She got out of bed and put on her bathrobe. She walked to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. It surprised her that although she hadn’t been crying, her face looked tired.
So much for starting over. I look worse than I did two days ago.
There were several hours before lunch with her mother, which meant she could sneak in a few hours of sun on the beach. A swim in the Gulf waters and deep breaths of salt air would do wonders for her body, not to mention her outlook.
“Knock, knock,” Maggie called out as she peeked around the door’s corner. “Are you up?”
Kat came out of the bathroom and met Maggie at the door. “Yes, come in. Good morning.”
“How did you sleep?” Maggie asked.
“Probably better than I deserve. With everything I’ve got running around in my brain, I’m surprised I could sleep as well as I did. I think falling asleep to the waves hitting the beach did the trick.”
Maggie laughed. “It always does. So, how about coming up to the main house? I’ve got breakfast on the dining room table for the guests, but you and I can eat in the kitchen. Paolo has already gone to Sanibellia.”
“Sanibellia? What’s that?”
“Oh, that’s his business. He…well, we own a garden nursery on Sanibel Island. He does a lot of work here, but he runs the nursery with several others who work for him. He goes there most days, but honestly, his employees can run the place without him.”
“Sounds lovely. I’d like to see it while I’m here. In the meantime, do you mind if I just have coffee? I’d like to get to the beach this morning and spend a few hours there before we have lunch with Mom.”
“Of course. My friend Chelsea wants to meet you too. She comes by almost every morning for coffee and scones.”
“Scones? You made scones? I remember those. I’ll take one to the beach with my coffee if that’s okay with you.”
“Absolutely. Look, Chelsea will be here any minute. Why don’t you come up and meet her, get your coffee and scones, and then head to the beach?”
“Sounds great. I need to gather my things, but I’ll be up shortly.”
“Great. Oh, and in the bathroom closet, there are beach towels, suntan lotion, and extra beach bags if you need them. I’ll see you in a bit.”
As soon as Maggie shut the door behind her, Kat took a deep breath and said a few affirmations of positivity.
You are worthy. You are brave. You deserve to be happy.
She then went back to the bathroom mirror, looked at herself and said, “You can do this.”
“I think I’ve met your sister twice. Once, years ago when she and her family came to Andover for a visit. Then again at Daniel’s funeral,” Chelsea said.
“Oh, right. I guess I forgot that.”
“How’s she doing?”
Maggie shrugged. “As well as can be expected, I guess. I think she’s not one-hundred percent sure of her decision to leave Nolan. I could be wrong, but it feels like she’s struggling with it.”
Chelsea filled her coffee cup, “I have no doubt. It’s not an easy thing to give up on a marriage.”
Just then, Kat came into the kitchen wearing a beach cover-up, flip-flops, a large hat and sunglasses. “Good morning, everyone.”
“Nice to see you again, Kat,” Chelsea said.
“I’m making a new pot of coffee, Mrs. Chandler, it will be ready in a few minutes,” Iris said.
“Have a seat,” Maggie said as Chelsea joined them at the table.
“Looks like I’ve come at the right time. This weather is perfect,” Kat said.
“I hate to boast, but it’s like this most of the time,” Maggie added.
“Another reason for me to move here,” Kat announced.
Chelsea and Maggie sipped their coffee and made no response to that comment.
“Would you care for a scone, or would you prefer eggs and bacon? I can make you an omelet if you’d prefer,” Iris said.
Kat shook her head. “Good heavens, that’s a lot of food this early. I honestly prefer just a cup of coffee and maybe one scone.” She tapped her belly. “I’ve got to get in better shape if I’m going to wear swimsuits all the time.”
When the coffee was ready, Iris filled Kat’s insulated to-go mug, and put two scones in a container for the beach.
“Thank you, Iris. This is perfect,” Kat said. She got up from the table and slung her bag over her shoulder. “Well, I’ll be down at the beach soaking up the sun. I have my cellphone with me, so text when you think I should start back to the cottage. What time is lunch?”
“One-o’clock. We’re eating at Mom’s place. They have a few nice restaurants on their property. I’m not sure which one she wants to go to, but we have to pick her up anyway. There’s usually a lot of traffic midday getting off the island, so I expect we’ll leave here at twelve-thirty.”
Kat nodded and forced a polite smile. “I’m sure it will be lovely. I’ll be ready. Nice to see you again, Chelsea. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other now that I’m moving down here.”
Chelsea nodded. “Have fun at the beach.”
Kat turned and stepped out onto the back porch, and instinctively knew that Maggie and her best friend, Chelsea, would be talking about her long before she reached the beach.
Linda St. James, owner of the island’s weekly newspaper, marched into the kitchen at the Key Lime Garden Inn, and put her hands on her hips.
“Good morning, Maggie…Chelsea. I’ve got a bone to pick with you two.”
“Good morning, Linda. It’s early, can’t you come back later today to pick that bone?” Maggie said.
Chelsea chuckled. “What’s got you riled up this fine morning?”
“You both promised me that we’d start a book club on the island, and I haven’t heard one word about it ever since. Donna Marchand and Lois Canner just came into my place asking when this club was getting started and where the first meeting would be. Well, obviously, the first one should be at my place, which is what I told her. What do the two of you say about it?”
Maggie shook her head. “Oh, no, no, no. I told you specifically that Chelsea and I had once been part of a book club years ago. I never said we’d start another one. Where in the world did you get such an idea?”
Linda looked like she’d been punched in the face. “What? Of course you did. I specifically remember when we had the bonfire. All us women were there and we talked about how much fun it would be. I remember you and Chelsea talking about your old book club, and then your mother said it was a great idea. Chelsea and your mother said it would be fun. Even your mother said she’d join.”
Maggie looked at Chelsea, who wouldn’t make eye contact with her. She then looked back at Linda and tried to calm the situation. “As it happens, I’ll be having lunch with my mother today. I’ll talk with her about it and get back to you. How does that sound?”
Linda seemed pleased with this new development. “Fine. Just don’t put me off again. I expect to hear about this by the end of day tomorrow.” She then looked at Chelsea. “It’s not like I don’t see you every day lately now that your artwork is hanging in Jacqui’s gallery. The least you could do is stop in and say hello.”
With that, Linda stormed out of the kitchen and out the back door.
Frowning, Maggie turned to Chelsea. “What were you thinking? You know how I feel about book clubs. Heck, you said you felt the same way. Remember how we all quit the club and formed the lunch-bunch group? Please tell me you’re not going to put me through this all over again.”
“Oh, you know how Linda is. Everything is blown way out of proportion. We don’t have to have a book club, although it might be fun to have one on the island, especially if we include people from Sanibel. It could be a combined Captiva/Sanibel thing. Not only that, if the first meeting is at Linda’s place, just think how many people will come into the gallery and see my work. It could be a good thing…maybe.”
Maggie rolled her eyes and changed the subject. “Never mind about Linda. What’s happening with your dinner at Sebastian and Isabelle’s? Isn’t that tonight?”
Chelsea smiled and sat back in her chair. “It is, and I’m a nervous wreck. I mean, I’m looking forward to it, but I’m still nervous. I don’t know what it is about this dinner. I’ve been on dates before, but there is something that’s got me excited and terrified all at the same time.”
“Maybe it’s because the dinner is at your old boyfriend’s place?”
Chelsea shook her head. “No, it has nothing to do with Sebastian, that I know. It’s almost as if I already know this guy is going to be important. Most likely it’s because of my change in attitude after our talk the other day. Maybe I’m putting a lot more importance on it than I should, but I’m ready to open myself up to the possibility of falling in love again.”
Maggie smiled. “If you want my opinion, I think the anxiety is worth it if that’s the case. I’m so excited for you, honey. This is a big night. I’ll be thinking about you all night.”
“Thanks. I’ll be thinking about you at lunch. Sounds like you’ve got your hands full with both your mother and Kat. What in the world made you decide to add your mother into the mix? Don’t you have enough drama with your sister?”
“It wasn’t my idea. Mom wanted to go to lunch yesterday and I couldn’t, then she asked if today would work. I couldn’t put her off twice without her being suspicious. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it might be a good thing. Kat doesn’t always listen to me or take my advice.”
“You mean she takes your mother’s?”
“You’ll laugh at this, but eventually, yes, she does. She balks at first, just as I do, but Kat tends to follow our mother’s advice faster than I do. Then again, I might be more stubborn than Kat.”
Chelsea spit out her coffee, and then wiped her blouse. “Sorry, I thought I heard you admit you are stubborn.”
Maggie punched Chelsea’s arm. “Oh yeah? Well, it takes one to know one.”