Chapter 26
“We got our first payment!” Teddy said excitedly.
Lily looked up in surprise. They were in Teddy’s studio working on a new song for a few hours before Lily had a shift scooping ice cream.
It was already mid-August, and they’d be starting school in a few weeks.
The summer had flown by so fast and had been the best one that she could remember.
Teddy was her first real relationship, and they’d had such a fun summer.
“We did? How much?” She knew that Teddy had uploaded their songs, and every now and then, one of their videos went semi-viral and people said they loved their music.
Teddy checked their sales every week or so, and they had a small but steadily increasing number of downloads.
But she also knew it wasn’t a volume that was likely to amount to much.
“Just over a hundred dollars! There’s an initial delay, so we should start receiving payments more regularly now. I can Venmo your half.”
“That is so cool.” It seemed surreal that people were actually paying money for their music.
“We could celebrate. Go for a fancy dinner downtown?”
Lily liked that idea, but not the fancy part. “Or we could go to Millie’s for tacos and guacamole.”
Teddy laughed. “Or that.” A few minutes later, he brought up Lily’s upcoming trip to Manhattan. “How do you feel about it? How long will you be there for?”
Lily had been postponing a visit to her father all summer, and when he offered to come to Nantucket again, she said her work schedule was too difficult and she wouldn’t be able to see him if he did.
She was starting to miss him a little though and felt badly that she kept putting him off.
So she’d agreed to a quick trip, just for one night, flying in Saturday and back to Nantucket Sunday night.
“I’m dreading it, mostly because of her. I’m okay seeing my dad. I just wish she wasn’t going to be there. But it’s just for one night.”
“Good. You’ll be back before you know it. I can drop you off or pick you up from the airport or both,” he offered.
Lily thought for a minute. “Maybe I’ll have you drop me off.
My flight is at three, and that way my mother won’t have to leave the shop early.
She’ll pick me up Sunday night, and we’re having dinner with my grandmother and great-grandmother.
” She grinned. “I’m sure they will all want a full report. ”
“No doubt.”
Lily was relieved and a bit surprised when she arrived at LaGuardia Airport that her father was there to meet her alone. He gave her a big hug and seemed excited to see her.
“Rebecca is cooking dinner for us. She’s making something special, braised short ribs and macaroni and cheese. Two of your favorite things.”
Lily had assumed they’d probably go out to dinner somewhere, which she hadn’t been looking forward to.
Her father tended to like the fancy expensive restaurants that usually had nothing she wanted to eat on the menu.
So, assuming Rebecca wasn’t a terrible cook, eating at home sounded much better to her.
She could visit with them for a while and then retreat to her bedroom and text Teddy.
They took the quick shuttle to the parking lot where her father’s black BMW sedan was waiting.
Lily was a little surprised that he still kept the car, given how broke they supposedly were.
It seemed like an easy thing to give up, as most people who lived in Manhattan didn’t keep a car there.
Garage parking was super expensive, and her father rarely drove anywhere. It was easier to walk or take an Uber.
But Ellis had always loved his BMW. It was a top-of-the-line 7 Series and had all leather seats that were buttery soft. It was an impressive car, and Lily was grateful for it as they made their way to the Upper East Side.
It was strange being back in the city. Lily had expected that she might feel pangs of something, a longing to be back or something, when she saw the familiar area.
But she didn’t. She felt somewhat distanced and knew that she wasn’t likely to want to live in the city again.
Now that she’d experienced life in a small ocean town, it felt like a much better fit.
Though she also knew that she’d have to leave Nantucket when she went to college and probably after that if she really wanted to pursue a career in music.
But she’d cross that bridge when the time came.
Ellis turned onto Fifth Avenue, and Lily gazed out the window at Central Park and, up ahead, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As they were just about at the Met, her father turned into a parking garage.
“This is our building,” he said as he parked the car. They got out, and he grabbed Lily’s duffel bag. They took an elevator to the eleventh floor, and Lily was surprised that the door opened directly into the apartment.
“You have the whole floor?”
He grinned with a twinkle in his eye. “Sure do. Come on in, and I’ll give you the grand tour.”
He led the way into the kitchen, where Rebecca had her hair in a ponytail and a red apron on as she stirred a pot on the stove. Lily had to admit that it smelled good.
Rebecca put the spoon down and came and gave Lily an awkward hug. They made small talk for a moment before her father took her arm.
“I need to show Lily around.”
Lily gazed around the living room, with its tall ceilings and oversize windows that looked out over the park and the Met.
There were three bedrooms in total. One was set up as an office and one as a guest bedroom.
Her father led her into that room and set her bag on the bed.
It was a big room and beautifully decorated in shades of cream and deep blue.
There was an attached bathroom and two other bathrooms, one in the hall outside the living room and the other in the primary bedroom—which was massive and had a walk-in closet that her mother would have loved.
The thought made Lily sad, thinking about the tight unit they used to be.
“Are you happy with Rebecca?” she asked. But what she really meant was “Was it worth it?”
Her father nodded. “I am. We get along really well. And she’s doing great now. No more morning sickness. We just found out this week that we’re having a boy!”
Lily didn’t share his enthusiasm. “That’s great, Dad.”
“Does your mother know what she’s having?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No. She wants to be surprised. She said she doesn’t care what she has as long as the baby is healthy.”
“Of course,” her father said quickly. “That’s what we all want.”
Dinner with Rebecca wasn’t as awful as Lily had feared. And the food was good, really good actually.
“What do you think?” her father asked after she took her first few bites.
“It’s great.”
Rebecca beamed. “Thank you. It’s my first time making short ribs, so I was a little nervous.”
“Everything she makes is delicious,” her father said happily.
After dinner, Rebecca set out a platter of cannoli, which she’d bought at a nearby Italian bakery. Lily was full, but she could never resist a cannoli and guessed correctly that her father had told Rebecca to get them.
They moved into the living room and found a movie on Netflix, an action-suspense that looked good. Lily noticed that as usual, her father couldn’t just watch a movie. He was on his phone the whole time, probably checking emails. Rebecca caught her frown at her father’s phone and laughed.
“He’s always working. The amount of emails he gets is staggering.
I don’t know how he does it. But he loves his work.
” Rebecca was clearly crazy about Lily’s father.
So it was hard to completely dislike her.
Still, Lily didn’t like the situation that had led to this.
She felt fiercely protective of her mother, and part of her was still angry at what her father had done, to her mother and to their family.
She sighed. It was a mixed blessing though.
Because she was much happier on Nantucket.
And if her parents had stayed together and tried to work things out, then she never would have met Teddy.
And she might not have started writing music.
And she knew that was what she was meant to do.
She felt it in her bones in a weird way that was so sure.
It was a little scary but also exciting to take a chance on her dream career.
But she’d promised her mother that she would have a backup plan and would major in business as well as music so she’d have something to fall back on.
Plus, she figured it would be good to learn about business and marketing to help get the word out about her music.
Lily woke early the next day. She got up and padded to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
The apartment was quiet. Her father and Rebecca were still sleeping.
Lily took one of the leftover cannoli and the water and headed back to her bedroom.
She got out her notebook and journaled for a bit.
It helped her to document her days and sort out her feelings about everything.
Now it served as a warm-up to get the creative juices flowing.
After she jotted down an account of the prior day, she worked a bit on lyrics for a new song she and Teddy were playing around with.
She lost all track of time and sat at the small desk by the window until her neck felt stiff and she took a walk back to the kitchen for more water.
Her father and Rebecca were drinking coffee and sitting at the table. Her father had the morning paper in front of him. He still preferred to read a physical paper. Rebecca was scrolling social media on her iPad. They both looked up when she entered the room.
“Morning, honey. How’d you sleep?” he asked.
“Fine. What’s the plan for today?” She knew her father would have a plan, probably every minute accounted for until she had to go to the airport.