Chapter 8
The money was quickly running out. Claire checked her bag of cash before heading to Stop & Shop to buy ingredients for the homemade hummus and toasted pita bread she planned to make for tonight’s book club meeting. Fortunately cans of garbanzo beans were cheap enough.
She needed to find a way to make money. She dreaded the possibility of running out and needing to ask her mother for a loan. Claire knew she’d happily give it to her, but the thought of it made her cringe. She didn’t want to impose on her mother any more than she already had.
She’d been on Nantucket for just over a month.
The time had flown by and dragged at the same time.
None of the editors she contacted had anything for her.
She’d been scouring the online job listings daily, but there was still nothing she was qualified for yet.
It was still too early for the seasonal shops and restaurants to need help.
Marsha had insisted that Claire take the car, and they’d fallen into a routine of Claire dropping Lily off at school, then stopping home for her mother and driving her to her office downtown.
Later that afternoon, she’d get Lily and, finally at the end of the day, pick up Marsha.
Claire liked having something to do, and it was nice to have the car to run errands.
Or to drive into town for twice-weekly knitting classes.
Marsha’s best friend, Carol, owned a yarn shop just off Main Street and held knitting classes for all levels.
When Carol had been over one night visiting, Claire had mentioned wanting to pick up knitting again, and Carol had insisted that Claire come to her shop.
She’d stopped by the next day to get some yarn and knitting needles, and Carol informed her that she’d signed Claire up for the beginner sessions that met on Wednesday and Friday mornings at eleven.
Before Claire could protest, Carol had added, “The classes are on me. I’m just thrilled that you’re here and interested in knitting. ”
Claire enjoyed the classes more than she’d expected to.
The eight women in the group were a mix of ages, from new moms in their mid-twenties to two women close to eighty who knew Claire’s grandmother.
Several were about Claire’s age and had children at the high school with Lily.
Everyone was friendly, and they chatted about their lives as they practiced their knitting.
Once they’d mastered the basics, they moved on to their individual projects.
Claire attempted a simple scarf first, which she finished in the second week. She moved on to a fisherman knit sweater after that, once she was confident that she could follow the pattern. She knew this project would take longer and was more complicated.
Each day that Claire attended class, she brought a different bag with her, depending on what she was wearing.
She dressed casually on Nantucket, mostly jeans and sweaters, but her brightly colored designer bags cheered her up.
She had so many of them sitting in her mother’s spare bedroom.
It seemed a shame not to use them. Today, she’d brought one of her personal favorites, a powder-blue Hermès mini Kelly bag.
It matched her cream-and-blue sweater, and it just made her happy.
Or at least it used to. The little bag was also the last birthday present that Ellis had given her, and it had crossed her mind more than once recently that it may have been a guilt gift.
Ellis didn’t usually give her such extravagant birthday gifts.
He saved that for Christmas, and on her birthday, they usually just went out to dinner and a Broadway show, and he’d give her something small, like a book she’d mentioned wanting to read.
He used to be good at listening and remembering things like that.
As much as she loved the bag, it was hard not to think of Ellis when she looked at it.
She finished making the hummus and added a generous swirl of Mike’s Hot Honey over the top.
That was her secret ingredient to making basic hummus absolutely delicious—the contrast of savory and sweet was so good.
She covered the bowl and put it in the refrigerator.
She’d toast the pita bread just before Rachel picked her up.
She headed out to get Lily, arrived a few minutes early, and waited in line for her to come out of the building.
Claire was glad that Lily seemed to be settling in well at the new school.
She’d come home her first day and told Claire that she had already made a friend.
Claire heard all about Kenzie and how pretty and popular she was.
And Lily talked a lot about Teddy, who was in her music class.
Claire had assumed Teddy was a girl at first and was then intrigued to learn a week later that one of Lily’s new best friends was a boy.
She’d asked if there was anything romantic there, and Lily had seemed surprised by the question.
She insisted they were just friends. Claire was just glad that she’d made friends so quickly and seemed to like the school.
She’d worried that it might be a more difficult adjustment and that Lily would be homesick for Manhattan and her friends there, but she never mentioned any of it at all.
It was almost like her life before Nantucket didn’t exist.
Lily climbed into the front seat, balancing a stack of books and her jacket, which she hadn’t bothered to put on. Now that it was early April, the weather was starting to warm up some. Though being New England, it was often freezing cold one day and springlike the next.
“Hi, honey, how was your day?” Claire asked as they pulled out of the lot and headed home.
“Good. There’s a dance coming up next weekend at the Nantucket Yacht Club. Can we go shopping this weekend for a dress? I don’t have anything to wear.”
A dance sounded fun. But dresses could be expensive. “How dressy?”
“Not like prom or anything like that. Not too fancy. Just something nice. I hate all my clothes,” she said dramatically.
Claire tried not to smile. “We can look around this weekend. There’s a good thrift shop at the church downtown.
I’ve found some really nice stuff there in the past.” Though it had been years since Claire had been there, she knew it was still there because her mother and Carol liked to stop in occasionally.
Lily made a face. “Used clothes? That’s kind of gross, isn’t it?”
“It’s all clean. Your grandmother regularly brags about the deals she’s gotten there. Some high-end stuff.”
Lily seemed unsure. “I guess it doesn’t hurt to look. I want to go to other shops too.”
Claire nodded. “Sure. We’ll look around, but we can’t go too crazy. I need to be careful with what we spend right now.”
Lily looked worried. “Are we totally broke?”
Claire forced a smile. “Not totally. We should be getting a little money soon from your dad.”
At the mention of her father, Lily frowned. “He wants to come here for a weekend. Maybe the weekend after next. I told him next weekend wasn’t good because of the dance. I also told him that I didn’t want him to bring her. But he’s insisting.”
“He’s bringing Rebecca?” Claire didn’t blame Lily for not wanting to see her.
“He said she’s never been to Nantucket and really wants to see it. And she wants to get to know me too. I told him that I don’t care about getting to know her. Is that mean of me?”
“I think your feelings are valid,” Claire said carefully. “I’d probably feel that way if I were in your shoes. Maybe you can work out a compromise and see if you can see your dad part of the time without her? Maybe she can go shopping while you two have lunch or something?”
Lily nodded. “Okay, I’ll suggest that. I still wish she wasn’t coming at all though.”
Later, after Claire had picked up Marsha at five, she quickly buttered and toasted the pita bread for the hummus and packed everything up just as Rachel pulled into the driveway. She pulled on her jacket, grabbed her blue Kelly bag and the food, and headed out.
They met at Jenna’s house this time, and Claire was impressed when they reached her driveway.
Jenna lived in a stunningly beautiful waterfront home.
The other women were just arriving, and they all walked in at about the same time.
Jenna greeted them at the door with hugs and instructions to head into the kitchen. Her eyes fell on Claire’s bag.
“That color is so pretty. I’ve been waiting ages to get a call for a mini Kelly.”
Claire knew you couldn’t just walk into a Hermès store and walk out with the bag you wanted.
They were so much in demand that there was a wait, and you had to establish a sales history before being offered one of the more popular bags, like the mini Kellys.
She’d been so impressed that Ellis had managed to pull it off for her birthday.
“Thank you.” Claire followed everyone into the kitchen, arranged her bowl of hummus and pita wedges on the platter she’d packed, and put it on the big marble kitchen island with the other food. “Your home is beautiful,” she said to Jenna.
“Thanks. We love it here. Harvey had it custom built ten years ago, and I don’t intend to ever move again.”
Claire could see why. The roomy chef’s kitchen had everything—with high-end appliances like the wood-paneled Sub-Zero refrigerator that matched the almond white cabinets. The island was massive, with eight stools along one side and two on the end. It was a great room for cooking and entertaining.
Once they all had a glass of wine and Claire had her club soda and cranberry juice, Jenna told everyone to help themselves to a plate of food and bring it into the living room.
Claire loaded up a plate with a little bit of everything—ham and cheese quiche, scallops wrapped in bacon, some of the hummus, vegetable spring rolls, and Caesar salad.