Chapter 17
While Lily was at breakfast with Ellis and Rebecca, Claire sat at the kitchen island, drinking black coffee and researching real estate listings. Marsha sat nearby nibbling on buttered sourdough toast while she held a pencil over the Sunday paper’s crossword puzzle.
“It just doesn’t make sense,” Claire said out loud.
Marsha looked up and waited for her to go on.
“I looked up the address Lily gave me. All of Fifth Avenue is expensive but especially the Upper East Side by the Met. She said there will be a room for her, so it’s at least a two-bedroom, possibly three. I just don’t see how he could afford that or be approved for a mortgage.”
“Didn’t you say Lily mentioned something about owner financing?”
Claire frowned. “Yes, but that seemed odd too. There’s a long approval process for those units, and even with owner financing, he’d still need board approval and money in the bank. I think. I’ve always heard it’s hard to qualify.”
“Men like Ellis always land on their feet. Maybe there’s no board approval needed in this building, or possibly the owner giving him financing can pull strings to make it happen,” Marsha suggested.
“Maybe. Ellis always did seem to have the magic touch with anything financial. Until recently.”
“You could always call him and ask about it. Or better yet, have Sloane handle it. She’ll know what to do.”
“Good idea. I’ll call her tomorrow.”
“If Ellis’s income has increased, his settlement with you should be adjusted as well. You haven’t agreed on anything yet, have you?”
“No, not yet. Sloane actually has a meeting scheduled with his attorney later this week. We’re getting closer to ironing out an agreement. It’s not much though, since he lost everything.”
“Yeah. That is odd, isn’t it? Ellis always seemed so smart about money. It’s almost hard to imagine that he took that big a risk and lost everything.”
“I know. It’s the first time that I’m aware of that he made that big a mistake. But maybe he just got cocky. I can see that.”
“True,” her mother agreed.
Claire gazed out the window at the ocean.
The waves were bigger than usual. A storm was predicted for later that night, and the sky was overcast. She loved watching the ocean during a storm.
The fierce wind and water crashing against the rocks were strangely beautiful to experience.
Her thoughts swirled in a similar turmoil, as something didn’t feel right about Ellis’s new living situation.
Maybe she was overreacting though. Sloane would know if this meant anything and what to do about it.
“I invited Warren to dinner tonight. I thought I’d make a meat loaf and mashed potatoes. Feels like it might be a comfort food sort of night.”
Claire’s stomach rumbled. She hadn’t had her mother’s meat loaf in years. “That sounds really good.” She was suddenly hungry and got up and made herself a toasted onion bagel with cream cheese.
“Oh, and I saw the weather report yesterday about the storm later. It might be a big one, they say. So I stopped into Stop and Shop yesterday afternoon and stocked up on milk, eggs, and bread. Everyone else had the same idea. The shelves were half-empty, and it was only two.”
Claire smiled. “Is it a New England thing? I’ve always thought it was funny that people stock up on those things for a one-day storm.”
“I’m not sure. But if the power goes out for more than a day, it’s good to have supplies on hand. Oh, I got peanut butter too, and more ice cream. We’re going through it fast lately.”
Claire laughed. “I’m the culprit there. The baby seems to require a bowl of ice cream every day.”
“Babies do that. So what’s on your agenda for today?”
“I’m heading into the shop at eleven and will probably stay until around four or maybe five. I’ll play it by ear depending how busy it is. My box of costume jewelry came yesterday afternoon. While you were at dinner, I organized it and will put it all out today. I’m curious to see how it goes.”
“Well, if it’s even half as nice as the gold bracelets, I think it will do just fine.”
Warren arrived at six sharp, kissed Marsha hello, and then handed her a bottle of Austin Hope Cabernet and a vase of pink, purple, and white wildflowers that she suspected he’d gathered himself.
He loved gardening and grew a variety of plants and flowers on his property.
He looked so handsome in a chocolate-brown tweed vest and crisp white shirt.
She handed him an opener for the wine while she found wineglasses and poured sparkling cider for Claire and Lily.
Warren handed her a glass of wine, and she took a sip before setting it on the table.
They all gathered in the dining room, which was adjacent to the living room and had the same ocean views. The sky was much darker now, and the wind had picked up.
“Looks like we’re in for a good one,” Warren said as he picked up his fork.
“Mom, this is just as good as I remember,” Claire said after she took her first bite.
Marsha was glad to hear it. The meat loaf with mushroom gravy was one of her favorites too, and she made an extra big batch of whipped potatoes, as they went so well with the gravy. She served it with roasted zucchini and broccoli.
She took a sip of the wine. Warren had introduced it to her a while back and said it was his “special occasion” wine. She was glad that he’d brought it, as it was really delicious.
Warren was a good conversationalist and had Claire and Lily laughing as he told funny stories about living on the island.
Marsha looked around the table, and her heart felt full.
As much as she’d been looking forward to having Warren move in, she loved having the girls here.
It was special to be able to spend so much time with both of them.
She’d always looked forward to the summers, when they both spent several months with her.
Without that, she wouldn’t get to see either of them often.
She knew it was hard for Claire, but she seemed to be handling everything as well as possible.
Having Ellis on the island with his young girlfriend couldn’t have been easy.
When they looked out the window and Marsha saw them in that fancy white car, she’d felt such a rush of anger on Claire’s behalf.
How could he toss aside his family so easily?
Claire had told her they’d grown apart, but still it was just careless to move forward with an affair without at least trying to fix the marriage first. But Marsha also knew Ellis was a weak man, and it was likely just easier to test the waters first. She didn’t know for sure, but it wouldn’t surprise her if he’d done it before.
Once was enough though. Marsha was so relieved that Claire had ended it quickly instead of trying to work on things.
How could you possibly trust someone after a betrayal like that?
From what she’d heard from so many friends over the years, the first time someone cheated was the hardest. Once that door was open and they got away with it, it was just too tempting to resist again. Especially if they were forgiven.
“Mom, can you pass the potatoes?” Claire’s voice snapped Marsha out of her thoughts.
“Sure, here you go.” Marsha took a second helping and then handed them to Claire.
After everyone finished and they’d been relaxing in the living room for a bit, Marsha asked if anyone was ready for ice cream.
Claire laughed. “Of course.”
Marsha got out the vanilla ice cream and bottles of hot fudge and caramel sauce.
They enjoyed their dessert while listening to the howling winds outside.
The lights flickered a few times, and Marsha was sure they were going to lose power.
She’d put flashlights and big pillar candles on the counter earlier, just in case.
But the power stayed on. Lily suggested they play cards, and Warren taught her and Claire how to play pitch. It was a fun game, and they played for a few hours. Warren kept score, and Lily was the big winner.
By nine, Claire was yawning. “I’m so sorry. I think I need to head to bed. Good night, all.”
“I’m going to go read in bed for a while,” Lily said.
Once they were gone, the room felt quiet.
Marsha put the cards away, and Warren added a splash of wine to their glasses.
They moved back to the living room and snuggled together on the sofa, watching a suspense movie on Netflix.
In Marsha’s view, it was a perfect night.
Especially when Warren agreed to stay over.
“It’s definitely too rainy out there. Doesn’t make sense for me to drive in that,” he said with a wink. He lived just a few miles down the road, and it would have been an easy drive. But neither of them wanted him to go.
“I think it’s just fine for you to stay over now,” she said.