Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
March 2025 - Nantucket Island
J ackie and Ryan were at the little Mexican restaurant three blocks away from Sutton Real Estate, having margaritas in celebration of what Jackie said was “the best month Sutton Real Estate has had in six years.” Jackie dunked chips in salsa and listed off all the ways she appreciated Ryan’s help since his arrival: the social media, the increased number of clients, and the boost in sales. “Everyone’s suddenly excited to get a house on Nantucket again!” she cried. “They’re coming out of the woodwork.”
Ryan’s smile was slightly somber, and it worried Jackie. Ever since his move back to Nantucket, it was as though his face was filled with shadows. Maybe Trisha was giving him a hard time at home. Perhaps she was telling him it was a mistake they’d moved back.
Ryan looked down at the salsa and said, “I can’t help but think something is going on behind the scenes that we don’t understand.”
Jackie’s heart sank. That’s exactly what I was thinking! she wanted to say although her ideas revolved around Ryan and Trisha rather than Sutton Real Estate.
“Remember how you said all those previous clients dropped you spontaneously, opting instead for properties on Martha’s Vineyard?” Ryan asked.
Jackie furrowed her brow. “Of course.”
“It happened again the other day,” Ryan said. “I was in contract negotiations with a couple from Los Angeles. They told me they wanted to spend their summers out east. I showed them a house they really liked, and we got along great. We even had dinner together at the Sutton Estate. Out of the blue, they dropped me. I didn’t think much of it. But I did some digging to learn they bought a property on Martha’s Vineyard instead. During their viewings, they didn’t mention the Vineyard to me once. It was just Nantucket, Nantucket, Nantucket.”
Jackie broke a chip in half. She was so grateful her son was in on this with her.
“Any chance you found out who their real estate agent was?” she asked.
“I have a name,” Ryan said. “Sarah Strong.”
“Huh. Doesn’t ring a bell,” Jackie said.
“I can’t figure out how or why she swoops in like that,” Ryan added. “I’m going to keep digging.”
“In the meantime, we have to focus on the positives,” Jackie said.
“Yes. But if we don’t get to the bottom of that—a dramatic hole in our profits—we will still have to sell the Sutton Estate,” Ryan maintained. “Trisha, the kids, and I don’t need such a massive house. And I want you to be able to retire within two years. Tops.”
Jackie’s heartbeat slowed. “But it’s home,” she said simply. It was where the Suttons were meant to be.
It would break her heart if another family moved in.
“I know that,” Ryan said. “I’m going to do everything in my power to keep it.”
But he sounded resigned. Had he given up?
“Summer’s around the corner,” Ryan said. “Sales will pick up even more, probably.”
Jackie and Ryan finished their basket of chips and salsa and margaritas and paid up at the counter.
“We can walk, right?” Jackie asked.
“I’d love to walk,” Ryan affirmed.
Together, they stepped into a strangely balmy late afternoon and headed east toward Nantucket Elementary. At the corner, Jackie studied Ryan’s face, hoping to read his mind. But now that he was a man—a man who’d had a decade of life experiences in Chicago—she found it all the more difficult.
“I can’t wait for tonight,” she told him finally. “I’ve been talking everyone’s ear off about it.”
Ryan smiled nervously and raised a hand. “There’s Dad.”
Jackie followed his gaze to the parking lot in front of the elementary school, where Josh got out of his car and unzipped his coat. “This weather, huh?” he called back.
Jackie hurried over to hug and kiss her husband.
“The kids ready for the gig of a lifetime?” Josh asked.
Ryan laughed. “They haven’t stopped performing the songs back at home. I know all of them by heart.”
Tonight was the annual elementary music pageant. Although Rudy and Willa had only been attending Nantucket Elementary for a month, they’d easily slipped into the fold and learned their choir songs and dance moves. Unsurprisingly to Jackie, the elementary school teacher was a celebrated musician, and the joy and know-how she brought to the music program invigorated the students. Even Willa, who Ryan had said had had difficulties in music classes in Chicago, showed real promise. She’d recently asked Ryan about learning to play the piano—the one that sat unused in the Sutton Estate.
This had pleased Jackie to no end. “Your grandmother would be dizzy with joy.”
Ryan didn’t know what to say about his grandmother, so he hadn’t answered.
Now, Josh, Jackie, and Ryan entered the elementary school auditorium and searched for Trisha and Gavin. They were seated up front, Gavin with his headphones on and Trisha burrowed in her phone. It looked to Jackie as though Trisha’s cheeks were more sunken in than they’d been a few weeks ago. She didn’t bother to smile, but she did get up to hug both Josh and Jackie, which Jackie appreciated. After all, she’d invited people to attend the performance. A few of her friends were a few rows away. She couldn’t be seen not hugging Trisha. Everyone already knew how strained it was.
But Jackie was bent on rewriting history. She was bent on telling people just how lovely her daughter-in-law was. She wasn’t sure her friends believed her yet. But life was long. Maybe in a year or two, Trisha would join Ryan and Jackie for post-work margaritas. Perhaps they’d share dinner recipes. Maybe they’d be in cahoots.
Anything was possible. Right?
Barb, one of Jackie’s friends, stood and waved. “Can’t wait to see your beautiful grandkids, Jackie!”
Jackie blushed. “I’m over the moon!”
Jackie sat down, feeling Trisha’s eyes upon her. Why was she so judgmental? Didn’t she understand what it was like for Jackie, getting to spend real time with her grandchildren for the first time?
Of course, Jackie would be remiss not to admit that Willa could be difficult. Jackie had read a few dozen blogs about autism, especially how it exhibited itself in girls, but even after all that reading, handling Willa during one of her episodes was something different. Trisha knew how to handle her best, which made Jackie feel jealous and inefficient.
Rudy and Gavin were dream children. They reminded her of Ryan.
On Jackie’s darker days, she thought Willa reminded her of Trisha and Trisha alone.
The elementary school music program began at seven o’clock with the entire school—grades kindergarten through sixth grade. They sang the Massachusetts state song followed by “God Bless America.” With so many voices mixing, it was difficult to hear just how off-key so many of them were. Jackie, Trisha, Ryan, and Josh gave standing ovations after, and Jackie tried her hardest to make herself seen by both Rudy and Willa. But soon, they were ushered off stage so that the rest of the smaller performances could take place.
Rudy’s class went third. Small for his age, Rudy stood in the front row and shook his hips with the others, singing an Elvis song that made everyone in the audience laugh.
At the end of the song, Jackie turned to make eye contact with a friend of hers and mouthed, “That’s one of mine! The little, cute one!”
Her friend raised her thumb and smiled. “He’s adorable!” she mouthed back.
Not long after that, Willa’s class came to the stage to sing “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac. As they began, Jackie was reminded of her wedding day, when she and her father danced to “Landslide,” and her mother made it known that she didn’t approve. Her eyes filled with tears.
But halfway through the song, something happened, and Willa panicked. Maybe it was the heat of the lights or the hundreds of eyes looking up at her. But it seemed as though she needed to get off stage immediately. She heaved herself from the small bleachers and stumbled toward the edge of the stage. A few of the kids stopped singing to laugh at her. There were gasps in the audience. Jackie couldn’t breathe.
Already, Trisha had heaved herself on stage and taken her daughter by the hand. Bent over and talking quietly, she led her off the stage, ready to make things right again. Ryan hurried out of the audience to meet them backstage. The song continued as though nothing had happened. But when it was over, Jackie put her face in her hands. She realized she was mortified. She hated herself for that.
She hated her next thought. Why can’t she be normal?
Oh, what was wrong with Jackie? Was she just as cruel as her own mother?
After the production, Jackie and Josh hung around in the foyer with Gavin, waiting for Ryan, Trisha, Rudy, and Willa to come out. Gavin looked vaguely bored, but Josh soon roused him with a conversation about baseball, leaving Jackie to her own devices. Everything was easy for Josh, especially bonding with those he loved. A few of Jackie’s friends came over to congratulate her, but in their eyes, Jackie could see their pity for her and her “broken” granddaughter, and she wished she hadn’t invited them.
“We’ll catch up this week, right?” a friend said before she disappeared into the March winds.
“Sure thing,” Jackie lied.
Very soon, Trisha came out, holding Willa’s hand. Her eyes were steely.
“Hi, honey!” Jackie said to Willa, her voice overly bright. “You were wonderful.”
Trisha gave Jackie a look that meant she didn’t believe her. Not for a second.
Willa kicked out her foot. “Can we go home?”
“Why don’t we pick up ice cream on the way?” Jackie suggested.
Ryan and Rudy came up behind Trisha and Willa. Rudy looked about five minutes away from falling asleep.
“Why don’t you guys head to the car?” Trisha suggested to her children, her eyes still focused on Jackie.
“What about ice cream?” Gavin asked.
“We’ll talk about it,” Trisha said.
Ryan hung back for a second, then followed his children outside. He took Willa’s hand and bent down to tell her a joke that made her throw her head back and say, “Stop, Daaaaad.”
Josh hung somewhere between, looking at Jackie and Trisha with fear in his eyes.
Trisha stepped closer to Jackie. “I want to make myself clear.”
Jackie couldn’t breathe.
“I know you, Jackie. I’ve known you for years. And I know what Willa did tonight embarrassed you to no end,” Trisha said.
Jackie’s voice wavered. “It did not. I love her.”
“You don’t really know her yet,” Trisha reminded her.
“That isn’t my fault.”
Trisha hesitated as though she hadn’t expected that response. “Don’t invite your friends around if you don’t want Willa to embarrass you.”
Jackie tried to stand up for herself. “I want to spend time with them. I want to encourage them.”
“Kids can feel what you’re feeling,” Trisha said. “They’re just as empathetic as we are.”
Jackie filled her lungs. She felt on the verge of tears.
As Trisha walked away, tracing the path that her children had taken, Joel stepped up to hug Jackie. He kissed her hair.
Under Jackie’s breath, she said, “She’s right, Josh. She’s right.”
Josh shook his head. “You love those kids.”
“But I was embarrassed.”
“It’s a learning curve,” he reminded her. “We’re all figuring this out as we go along.”