Chapter 35
September settled into an uneasy rhythm.
Pop was back at Coastside, smaller somehow, eating pureed food and staring at nothing.
The siblings visited in rotation, but he rarely acknowledged them.
The inn hummed with late summer business, guests commenting on the beautiful weather, unaware that the Perkins family was holding its breath, waiting.
Kate stood in the kitchen on a Thursday morning, making her lists for the day when Dani burst in, glowing.
“Okay, I have news,” Dani announced, pouring herself coffee. “Ryan asked me to help him open a second restaurant. In Kennebunkport proper. He wants me as a partner.”
Kate set down her pen. “Business partner or...”
“Both. All of it. Everything.” Dani's smile was radiant. “We've been together six weeks, and I know that's fast, but Kate, it doesn't feel fast. It feels like we just paused for ten years and now we're continuing.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I needed to think about it. But I already know. I want this. The restaurant, the partnership, him. All of it.”
Kate stared at Dani. “What about the inn? What about the fact that you don’t have money for a business partnership? Don’t get me wrong, I like Ryan, but…”
“Katie, don’t spoil this for me,” Dani whispered.
“Spoil it? How can I spoil it? I just don’t want you to rush into anything. You’ve always had a habit of putting the cart before the horse. And you said it yourself, you always fall quickly for a guy and then when it falls apart, you’re surprised.”
Dani paced the room and then stopped and looked into Kate’s eyes. “Let me get this straight. You and Ben are finally a couple, and that makes you an expert on love?”
“Dani… I didn’t mean to suggest that you don’t love him. I just don’t want you to get hurt. You both live and work so close. Cape Porpoise and Kennebunkport might as well be the same town. What if it doesn’t work? What if the two of you have arguments? What if…”
“STOP!” Dani screamed. “You’re doing it again.
When are you going to get it through your thick head that I’m not you.
I’m not willing to go months and months of indecision like you did with Ben.
I love Ryan. I love the life we can build here together, and he feels the same.
Pop’s dying, Mom’s gone, Tom’s divorced.
Life happens, Katie, the good, the bad, all of it. It’s just life, and I want to live it.”
Her voice soft now, and barely a whisper, Kate said, “Mom would be happy. She always liked Ryan. She thought he was one of the good ones.”
Dani's eyes misted. “I wish I could tell her she was right.”
“Maybe she knows.”
They were quiet for a moment, then Dani asked, “Have you looked at those applications yet?”
Kate froze. “What applications?”
“The UNE ones. James saw them in your browser history when he was fixing the computer. Marine biology graduate program.”
“I was just looking.”
“Kate, you've been 'just looking' at that program for years. Maybe it's time to do more than look.” Dani paced again, “See, this is exactly what I’m talking about. What in the world are you waiting for? The dolphins and whales aren’t going to come to the front door and invite you to explore the ocean with them.”
Kate laughed. “I don’t explore dolphins and whales.”
Dani giggled. “Well, I’m just saying that whatever it is, don’t keep waiting for the right time. I promise you, the right time will never come if you keep this up.”
Before Kate could respond, Tom arrived with the morning mail and a grim expression.
“Coastside called. Pop's not eating. Even the pureed food. He's just... refusing.”
They all knew what that meant. The body's wisdom, knowing when to begin shutting down.
“How long?” Kate asked.
“The doctor said without nutrition... maybe a week, maybe two if he tries to hang on.”
Two weeks. October would bring its changing leaves and Pop's final autumn.
“Should we...” Dani started, then stopped. “Should we try to make him eat?”
“No,” Kate said firmly. “He's done. His body knows it even if his mind doesn't.”
They stood in the kitchen their mother had loved, processing this new timeline. Two weeks to say goodbye to a man who no longer knew them.
“I'm going to see him,” Kate said.
“Want company?” Tom asked.
“No. I need... I need to do this alone.”
At Coastside, Pop sat in his chair by the window, looking at nothing. He'd lost more weight, his clothes hanging loose, his wedding ring sliding on his finger. Kate sat beside him, took his cold hand.
“Hey Pop. It's Katie.”
Nothing. Not even a flicker.
“I've been thinking about ice fishing,” she said. “You taught me to read the ice, remember? To know when it was safe, when it was time to wait. I think... I think you're telling us the ice is too thin now. That it's time to let you go.”
His breathing was shallow but steady. Somewhere in that failing body, her father existed, or had existed, or the memory of him existed. She wasn't sure anymore where the person ended but the body continued.
“I found something,” she said quietly. “Something Mom left for me. Money for school. I know that you saved it for me, Pop. You and Mom saved it all these years and never told anyone. I just wanted to say thank you, to tell you how much it means to me. I know money was tight back then. She wanted me to have choices.” Kate squeezed his hand.
“I'm going to apply, Pop. The marine biology graduate program at UNE. I love the ocean, just like you and Mom.”
Still nothing, but she kept talking.
“Dani's in love with Ryan Caine. You remember Ryan? He's good to her. Tom's finding his way after the divorce. James is home for good. The inn's thriving. We're okay, Pop. We're all okay. You can go be with Mom if you’re ready.”
A tear slid down her cheek. “I know you're tired. I know you want to be with her. We'll be all right. I promise.”
She wiped her face and kissed his forehead. “I love you, Pop. Katie-girl loves you so much.”
She walked out of his room and didn’t turn back. She couldn’t be certain, but her words felt like their last goodbye.
That evening, she submitted her UNE application online. The deadline was in two days; she'd been carrying the completed application in her drafts for a week, afraid to hit send. But if Pop could let go, so could she. Or rather, she could grab on to something new.
Days blurred together. The inn stayed busy with leaf peepers arriving early.
Dani spent half her time at The Tuscan Table, planning the new restaurant with Ryan.
Tom threw himself into legal research about estate planning, preparing for the inevitable.
James kept everyone's computers running and the website updated with fall specials.
And every day, Pop ate less. First refusing the pureed food, then the Ensures, finally even water. His body knew what his mind couldn't say: enough.
On the last day of September, a Saturday, Kate was serving breakfast when the call came.
“Miss Perkins? You should come. All of you.”
They drove separately but arrived together, four siblings converging in the Coastside parking lot. Inside, the staff was gentle, respectful, leading them to Pop's room where he lay in bed now, too weak for the chair.
“He's actively dying,” the nurse said softly. “Hours, not days.”
They arranged themselves around the bed. Kate held one hand, Dani the other. Tom stood at his shoulder, James at the foot of the bed. Their father's breathing was labored but not distressed. His body was doing what bodies do, shutting down system by system, returning to the tide.
“Should we... talk to him?” Dani whispered.
“Yes,” the nurse said. “Hearing is the last sense to go.”
So they talked. Told stories. Remember when. Remember how. Remember the time. Four voices weaving around their father's fading breath, giving him a chorus of memories to carry him home.
“Red sky at night,” Tom said.
“Sailor's delight,” the others finished.
Pop's breathing slowed. Longer pauses between inhales. His children kept talking, kept holding on while letting go.
At 3:47 on the last afternoon of September, with seagulls flying by the window and his children around him, Daniel Perkins exhaled one last time and didn't inhale again.
The room fell silent except for quiet crying.
“He waited,” James said quietly. “Until we were all here.”
“He always had good timing,” Tom said through tears. “Knew how to read the tides.”
Kate called Gregory, the funeral director whom she’d been friends with since high school. They watched as strangers wrapped their father's body with practiced respect. Followed the gurney to the door but no farther. There were papers to sign, arrangements to make, a life to close out.
But first, they stood in the Coastside parking lot, four siblings holding each other as the sun set over the harbor, painting the sky red and gold.
“Sailor's delight,” Kate whispered.
“He would have loved this sunset,” Dani said.
They went back to the inn together, finding Marcy and Rosa and Ben waiting with food and sympathy and the kind of practical support that keeps you moving when you want to collapse. The inn guests were subdued, somehow sensing the grief that had settled over the house.
“We'll have to let the guests know,” Kate said. “People are here on vacation, they’ll offer condolences, but they shouldn’t have to have this impact their lives.”
“I’d close the inn if we weren’t fully booked,” Tom added.
“I’m exhausted,” Kate said. “If you all don’t mind, I’d like to go to bed. We can make all the arrangements we need tomorrow.”
Ben wrapped his arms around Kate. “Do you want me to stay?”
Kate shook her head. “No. Go home and get some sleep. We’ve got a lot to do in the coming days.”
“Night, everyone,” Ben said.
“Night, Ben. Thanks for being here,” Tom responded.
Kate went to her room and closed the door. Fully clothed, she climbed into her bed, pulled the soft comforter over her body, and wept.