Chapter 25
It was the beginning of September—four and a half months after Fred’s stroke.
Everything had changed. Maybe everything would continue to change from here on out.
Arietta was at a state-of-the-art care facility outside of Boston, with personal nurses and tremendous comforts, setting her husband, Fred, up for the rest of his days.
Hilary Salt had given Arietta the care home’s contact details, and things had moved quickly from there.
It was time for Arietta to move forward. Regardless of the love she still had for Fred. Regardless of all the promises she’d made. After urging from her daughters and from the Salt Sisters, she knew she was doing the right thing. She was choosing life—for herself.
As a woman in her fifties, now, she’d never been trained to think of herself before anyone else. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling.
After signing countless documents and meeting more than twenty personal nurses, Arietta wheeled Fred into his new room, where they sat in front of the window overlooking the park.
Arietta gazed at him with wonder. Was this really the end of their marriage?
Would she really not see him every day anymore?
Once upon a time, she’d imagined holding hands with him as she passed away.
She still wasn’t sure if she’d go through with a proper divorce. It felt messy to split up with him. She liked the idea of him still being her husband—the father of their girls.
Once upon a time, they’d had a beautiful marriage.
“I still love you, Fred,” she said. “I’ll always love you.” Tears spilled from her eyes.
Her phone buzzed. It was a message from Shannon.
SHANNON: We’re here. Are you ready for us?
Arietta got to her feet and checked her reflection in the mirror. This meeting had been a long time coming. As Shannon’s message suggested, Arietta wasn’t always sure if she was ready for it. But she’d agreed. She thought it might help everyone move on.
And—in all honesty—she was a little bit curious.
Shannon and Dina entered Fred’s room about twenty minutes later.
Their autumn semester had begun at Yale, and Arietta knew they were both frantic, working tirelessly and trying to prove themselves during their final year as grad students.
Although Arietta knew about Fred’s affair now, and although Arietta had tried to come to terms with it, when she first saw Dina, all she could think was, There she is, my daughter’s college roommate.
It was almost impossible to label this woman as the same one who’d tried to break up her marriage.
How was it possible that the eighteen-year-old they’d met six years ago—the one with braces and acne—had taken control of Fred’s heart?
But the look on Dina’s face when she saw Fred for the first time was all the proof Arietta needed.
Dina rushed to his side and bent down, taking his hand.
She was speechless. Arietta and Shannon watched them from a healthy distance, then wordlessly stepped out of Fred’s room and closed the door behind them. They wanted to give Dina some privacy.
Shannon and Arietta went out front and stood in the sunshine.
Arietta thought back to that evening when Shannon had returned from Yale and told Arietta everything—about Dina’s affair, about who had been blackmailing Arietta, and about Dina’s pledge to help them.
“But she wants to see Dad,” Shannon had said.
“She was never able to say goodbye, and it’s killing her. ”
“Too bad!” Arietta had said. She’d been staunchly against the idea at first. She’d been willing to let that heinous blackmailer keep his twenty grand if it meant keeping Fred to herself.
But over the weeks that followed, Arietta had reflected on the idea almost continually.
She’d thought about Fred, about the life he’d lived before his stroke, about the brilliance of his mind, and about the complications of his heart.
It was truly terrible that he’d cheated on her.
It was truly terrible that, during their marriage, she apparently hadn’t been able to trust him.
But was it so terrible that this young woman had loved him?
Now, Dina was twenty-four. When Dina had first fallen for Fred, she’d been twenty-two.
Arietta had been nineteen when she’d fallen for Fred.
People were naive at every stage of their lives.
People were allowed to hope for new eras.
They were allowed to dream of new loves.
It was impossible to say, but maybe, if Fred hadn’t had his stroke, Arietta and Fred would have gotten divorced.
Maybe Fred would have admitted that he was unhappy.
But that begged the question that sometimes weighed on Arietta’s mind.
Had Fred been so unhappy? She didn’t believe that, either.
Arietta thought Fred liked having a secret.
He liked feeling vital and fresh and alive.
“This is weird,” Shannon said now, hugging her mother close. The parking lot stank of an oil leak.
“It’s really weird,” Arietta echoed.
Jittery, they began walking through the parking lot and talking about their days. Arietta was desperate for information about Shannon’s new semester—and about her relationship with Russell, that adorable man who seemed to adore her.
“I never knew it could be so good,” Shannon said, her voice dreamy. “With Cole, everything was boring and normal and easy. But with Russell, we’re laughing all the time. We challenge each other. We’re dreaming about life after Yale.”
Arietta grinned.
“And you?” Shannon asked, nudging Arietta with her shoulder. “What’s going on with Jasper?”
Arietta closed her eyes and considered the previous few months.
It was true that it hadn’t been easy. Arietta’s grief had often been insurmountable.
Grieving Fred, and grieving their marriage, and grieving herself as a younger person had come together in a perfect storm, one that had plagued her terribly, sometimes more than others.
But through it all, Jasper had continued to call.
He’d continued to visit Nantucket, taking her on sailing adventures and out to dinner.
The Salt Sisters had been instrumental in pushing her to open herself up to him.
They’d told her, “Go where your heart tells you to go.” It sounded cheesy, but Arietta had been surprised to learn how right it felt.
“We’re going on vacation,” Arietta said. “He’s taking me for a sail from Nantucket to the Caribbean.”
“Mom!” Shannon cried out. “Why did you keep that a secret?”
“I’m telling you now,” Arietta said.
Shannon was quiet. “You deserve it. Being a caretaker the past five months … I know it hasn’t been easy.”
“It was a privilege to be there for your father,” Arietta said gently. “But it’s time.”
Eventually, Dina came into the parking lot. Her cheeks were stained with tears. Arietta felt very sorry for this young woman. Her love for Fred was written all over her face.
“Thank you,” Dina sniffed. “I needed to say goodbye.”
“You can come visit him if you want to,” Arietta said.
Dina closed her eyes. “Thank you,” she said. “I’d like that.”
Arietta, Shannon, and Dina stood on the edge of the parking lot, their eyes closed against an autumnal breeze.
Arietta prayed that Dina wouldn’t spend a lot of time apologizing for what she’d done.
Arietta wasn’t sure if she could stand it.
She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to believe in it, either, for it was clear that Dina would believe in her love for Fred forever.
It would be one of the foundations of her life.