Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
S carlet and Nathan hopped off the ferry in Nantucket Harbor. Scarlet watched as Nathan struggled to draw his massive backpack onto his shoulders. Once he’d gotten it up, he straightened his spine and winked as though it were nothing to him.
“We should get a taxi,” Scarlet said.
“You said you live right downtown!”
Scarlet winced. “Just looking at you makes my back hurt.”
“I promise. I’m fine.”
Scarlet led Nathan away from the docks, thick with sailboats and swarms of tourists with ice cream cones, through the teeming streets. Everything seemed in Technicolor. Tourists were over-tanned, and many of them bickered with each other about where to eat dinner or when to go back to the hotel.
“There’s so much stress involved in vacation,” Nathan muttered. “I remember that with my own family. It’s nice they don’t invite me anymore.”
Scarlet grimaced and led him up a back staircase to her little apartment. She flung the door open and led him inside. Once there, he shivered out of his backpack and rolled his shoulders back. “This is beautiful,” he said of the place.
It wasn’t much, but it was far nicer than the apartment Nathan had just abandoned in the Lower East Side. Big windows brought in soft yellow light, and white linen curtains flowed to the hardwood floor. A separate kitchen offered enough space for a little breakfast table, upon which Scarlet had put flowers that were now dried out but still pleasant. There were two bedrooms—a godsend, now that Nathan would be staying with her. Plus, there was a living room with a television and a big, soft couch.
When Nathan asked her what she paid for rent, his jaw dropped. “That’s so cheap.”
“It’s not Manhattan,” she reminded him.
Scarlet and Nathan splayed across the sofa for a few minutes with glasses of water. Nathan looked mesmerized, as though he still couldn’t believe he’d left the city.
Scarlet contemplated their next steps. She itched to get out to the beach where the other Reddit poster had said the conservative hippie girls sometimes met. The plan was to take the video camera and capture as much of that scene as they could. Maybe they could approach a few of the hippie-dressed girls who arrived later and ask them a few pointed questions.
But what if they ran off? What if they refused to talk?
I don’t know what I’m doing, Scarlet thought. But fake it till you make it, right?
Suddenly, a text came through on her phone. It was from her grandma Greta.
GRANDMA G: I heard a rumor you’re back in Nantucket. Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight?
“What’s up?” Nathan asked, stretching his arms over his head.
“My grandma invited me over for dinner tonight.”
Nathan arched his eyebrow. There was a beat of silence. “Isn’t your grandma Greta Copperfield?”
Scarlet laughed. “Have you always known that?”
“I looked into it after Bernard Copperfield’s book came out last year,” Nathan confessed. “I couldn’t believe it. I’ve known you for years and years, and I never knew you had these super-famous grandparents.”
“Well, I didn’t know them, either. But they’re incredible.” Scarlet took a breath. “Maybe we should go. Grandma’s cooking is insane. It’ll give us fuel for tonight.”
Nathan’s smile smeared off his face. “You want to film tonight already?”
“I want to try to find them, at least. No time like the present,” Scarlet said. “And I’m sure you want to get a headstart on finding your sister.”
Nathan bobbed his head. “To be honest, I’m having trouble getting it out of my head.”
Scarlet squared her jaw. “Maybe we can film the interview with just you when the sun sets later tonight. It’ll be good practice and get us in a better headspace for the project.”
“Good idea.”
Nathan and Scarlet showered quickly and changed into outfits better suited for an evening at The Copperfield House. Nathan had also read all about the artist residency and peppered Scarlet with questions on their walk over about how to apply.
“You have to have a project in mind,” Scarlet explained. “My grandparents only approve artists or filmmakers or writers or musicians who really speak to them. But for that reason, many of those same people are forever linked to The Copperfield House.”
Scarlet briefly explained the story of Aurora from last year, how she’d come to the residency and had a brief breakdown that had resulted in the Copperfields taking her to a hospital.
“But now, she’s basically like family,” Scarlet explained. “She ended up with a guy here in Nantucket, and she comes over to talk to Grandma about art and music and writing a few times a week. Grandma is very generous with her time. I don’t know how she does it. She juggles all the Copperfields and the new artists-in-residence, plus her own career.”
“And you already said she cooks for everyone!” Nathan added.
“She’s a better woman than me,” Scarlet said.
Nathan flashed her a funny smile. “It sounds like you take after her to me.”
Scarlet was delirious with joy to find her little brother on the beach outside The Copperfield House with a baseball bat and a ball. Their cousin Danny was in the mid-distance with a baseball mitt, and Danny’s sister Laura was a bit farther out, her dark hair flowing in the wind.
“We couldn’t get enough people for a full game, so we’re making it up as we go along,” James explained as Scarlet and Nathan got closer.
Before Scarlet could say anything else, James tossed the ball into the air and smacked it with his bat. It went far, but not overly so; just far enough for Laura to run after it and catch it in her glove. Laura screamed with joy and jumped up and down.
But Scarlet knew that James had meant for her to catch it. “You have killer aim, bro.”
James smiled that handsome Copperfield smile and turned his attention to Nathan.
“This is my brother, James,” Scarlet explained. “James, this is Nathan, a friend from the city.”
Nathan and James shook hands. Scarlet couldn’t help but think her brother looked terribly adult.
“We didn’t think you’d be back yet,” James said to Scarlet.
“Mom stayed,” Scarlet explained. “You know how she gets.”
James’s eyes widened. “Say no more.”
Suddenly, Ivy whipped out the back porch. She wore a black swimsuit and thin sunglasses that barely covered her eyes. Her black hair was glossy and all the way to her waist.
“You’re back?” Ivy hurried down the porch steps and side-hugged her sister and scrutinized Nathan.
“Mom stayed in the city,” Scarlet explained. “This is Nathan.”
“Ivy.” Ivy slid her hand into Nathan’s and frowned at him from behind her glasses. “Grandma’s about to serve dinner. Help me set the table?”
Scarlet and Nathan followed Ivy back inside to fetch plates. From the hall, they heard Aunt Alana, Aunt Julia, and Aunt Ella bickering in the kitchen. Scarlet couldn’t make out exactly what it was about, but she had a hunch Aunt Alana had caused the argument, and she was soon proven right.
“Just say I’m right and be done with it,” Aunt Alana said, then burst into giggles.
Aunt Alana appeared with a big pot of buttery brussels sprouts and nearly ran into Ivy, Scarlet, and Nathan. “Oh! Scarlet’s here, Mom!”
Alana whipped past, and Grandma Greta appeared a moment later to wrap Scarlet in a hug. Scarlet loved the way her grandmother smelled—always of whatever she’d recently been cooking, plus rosemary, thyme, and a hint of lavender.
“When your father said you were back, I knew I needed you here tonight,” Grandma Greta said, squeezing Scarlet’s shoulder. Her eyes then found Nathan. Her expression was difficult to read. “And who might this be?”
“This is Nathan, Grandma. He’s a filmmaker,” Scarlet said.
“Oh, good. We don’t accept non-artists around here,” Greta said, shaking Nathan’s hand.
“That’s the exact opposite of what my father said to me last Christmas,” Nathan joked.
Greta looked taken aback. “How awful! What would he prefer you were doing?”
“Finance,” Nathan said with an ironic laugh.
“Terrible. Just terrible.” Greta clucked her tongue and carried on to the back porch, where the big table was set up for all the Copperfields who’d been able to come for dinner.
Scarlet, Ivy, and Nathan followed her and positioned the plates, forks, and spoons. Greta called the rest of the family up, and Aunt Julia and Aunt Ella brought out the fish, fresh bread, and sweet potatoes.
Scarlet watched Nathan fill his plate, then caught her grandmother’s eyes on him. Greta was smiling.
“I bought that from the Nantucket fish market this morning at five thirty,” Greta told Nathan proudly.
“It looks divine,” Nathan said. “Scarlet was saying you were a woman who wore many hats.”
“It’s just more interesting that way,” Greta said, spooning herself a helping of sweet potatoes.
“Is Dad coming?” Scarlet asked Ivy, who sat beside her, looking glum.
Suddenly, Quentin’s voice echoed out across the porch. “Was someone looking for me?” There he was in all his glory: the powerful Quentin Copperfield, wearing a suit, his black hair gelled, his eyes alert. He touched Ivy and Scarlet on the head, shook Nathan’s hand briefly, and took a seat on the other side of Bernard.
“What a day,” Quentin said, tearing a slice of bread. “We were up to our ears in interviews with this woman who lives outside of Woods Hole. We could not get her to tell the truth. It was so slippery. One minute, she would start a story we could back up with facts, and the next, she was out in left field, making something up.”
Scarlet laughed. “How did you get her to tell the truth?”
“I don’t know if we did,” Quentin confessed. “But we got as close as we could.”
“I was telling your wife about this recently,” Greta said. “I don’t believe in the truth. It’s slippery. Maybe the woman you interviewed shares my belief.”
“I don’t think she thought about it that much,” Quentin said. “She just wanted to make it into a better story.”
“That’s a great reason to lie, don’t you think?” Grandma Greta said mischievously.
Nathan looked gleeful, as though he’d never heard an older woman promote lies before.
“How did it go at Ellis Island, Scarlet?” Greta asked then.
Scarlet swallowed a bite of lemony fish and considered how to explain what had happened. “Well, it didn’t exactly go to plan.”
Greta twisted to look at Quentin. “Did Catherine tell you that?”
“All Catherine told me was that she was hard at work,” Quentin said, both hands up. “You know how she is when she’s immersed in something. She doesn’t want to talk about it. I get it. I’m the same way.”
Greta turned to look at Scarlet again. “Go on.”
“We thought we found him,” Scarlet said. “It seemed easy. The only thing was, the Gionnocaro Fellini we found reached the United States in 1937 rather than 1942. But we figured maybe Mom’s family got the date wrong.”
Greta raised her eyebrows. It was clear she was captivated.
“But after that, Mom sent a picture of this 1937 Gionnocaro to her sister in Dubai. Aunt Sally said it was absolutely not him. It was the wrong Gionnocaro. So we went back to Ellis Island the next day to look for our Gionnocaro. But he wasn’t there.”
“Goodness,” Greta said. “What a mystery.”
“That’s when Mom plunged into research without me,” Scarlet said with a sad laugh. “Which was okay. I went to the movies and ran into an old friend.” She nudged Nathan with the tip of her elbow. A shiver ran down her spine.
“What did you see?” her father asked.
“ Rear Window ,” Scarlet said.
“A brilliant film. An absolute masterpiece,” Quentin said.
“We agreed on that,” Nathan affirmed.
Quentin smiled at Nathan in a way he never once had when Owen was around. Scarlet’s heart swelled. She knew everyone at the table thought she and Nathan were in the throes of an August romance. The reality was far darker.
“Well, you know how your mother gets,” Quentin said after a pause. “She gets obsessed. It’s part of the reason I fell in love with her.”
“You get obsessed, too,” Scarlet reminded her father.
“Maybe it’s the reason she fell in love with me, too,” Quentin said.
“To me, all that work you guys do reminds me too much of writing research papers,” Aunt Ella chimed in. “It reminds me of school.”
Scarlet laughed and listened as the rest of her family’s conversation consumed the table. Aunt Julia was “obsessed” with a new novel she was editing for the publishing house. Grandpa Bernard had just read an article about black holes that he would be thinking about for the rest of the day. Uncle Will had written three songs just that morning during a moment of either “inspiration or insanity.” Nathan was able to chime in, then, and talk about the band he’d joined last year that had performed covers of Frank Zappa songs for “audiences that weren’t ready for that yet.”
Uncle Will burst into laughter that brought tears to his eyes. “Who is this kid?” he asked Scarlet, waving his fork. “He’s hilarious.”
After dinner, Scarlet helped clear the table, then changed into her swimsuit and headed to the beach with Ivy, James, Nathan, Danny, and Laura. Immediately, Danny and Laura plunged into the water. Their laughter echoed.
Nathan pulled his shirt off to show a torso much more muscular than Scarlet had accounted for. When they’d first met again (just yesterday!), he’d said he’d gained weight from popcorn and snacks. It was unlikely.
“I’m going in!” he called, then ran off into the waves.
James joined, too. This left just Scarlet and Ivy on the sands in their swimsuits with the last of the orange August light on their shoulders. Ivy’s expression was contemplative. Not for the first time this summer, Scarlet wondered what was on her sister’s mind.
“How’s it going?” Scarlet asked, trying to sound casual. “You ready to head back to NYU in a couple of weeks?”
Ivy sniffed and looked at the sand. She dug a hole with her thumb. “I don’t know. To be honest, I really don’t want to go back.”
Scarlet hadn’t expected this. Ivy had always been a go-getter in the truest sense, far more than Scarlet. When Scarlet had dropped out of college, she’d thought, Ivy would never let this happen.
“It’s just a lot, you know?” Ivy said now of NYU. “It’s an endless barrage of madness. I feel like I don’t take a single breath from September to December.”
This tugged at Scarlet’s heartstrings. “Why haven’t you said this before?”
Ivy shrugged and still refused to look at Scarlet.
Scarlet remembered something. “I mean, there’s a different factor this year.”
Ivy still didn’t look up.
“You met someone,” Scarlet said tenderly. “I know you’re going to miss him.”
Ivy let her shoulders droop. It was proof Scarlet was right.
Scarlet touched Ivy’s shoulder. “Listen. I know it’s rough to be in love and go
to school and try to do everything at once.”
Ivy rolled her eyes.
“And I know you don’t want my advice,” Scarlet said with a soft laugh.
“I don’t,” Ivy said.
Scarlet removed her hand and started to dig her own hole in the sand. It was a distraction. “I’d love to meet this guy, you know.”
“Yeah. Maybe soon,” Ivy said.
“You want him all to yourself,” Scarlet teased. “I remember what that was like. When I first met Owen, I was so possessive of him. I don’t think we hung out with other friends for over a year. Stupidly, I thought one of my friends would try to steal him from me.” She laughed nervously. “Obviously, I was very wrong about him. But I think you know what I mean.”
“Maybe,” Ivy said.
Scarlet exhaled all the air from her lungs. For a little while, she studied Ivy’s profile—her soft cheeks and the sharp angle of her nose. How she loved this young woman! How she wanted to protect her!
We’re getting further and further away from each other, Scarlet thought. She knows how to protect herself.
From the water, Nathan waved his hand and grinned madly. Scarlet felt the edges of her icy heart melt.
What a strange few days, she thought. She had no idea what would happen next.