Chapter 26 #2
“Well, I thought we’d start with brunch.
There’s a great new place around the corner that Rebecca and I love.
Then we could go to the Met for a while.
I read that there’s a new exhibit that might be interesting to explore.
We could take a walk around Central Park and then grab a slice or two of pizza before you head home. Sound good?”
“Sure.” It did sound fun. But Lily didn’t want to seem too excited. She didn’t want to send the message that she thought what her father had done was okay.
But they did have a fun day. The brunch place was great, and Lily had an amazing waffle topped with fresh strawberries and chocolate sauce.
The museum was pretty cool too. Some of it was boring, but some was pretty incredible.
And some of the art gave her ideas for lyrics, so she was excited to play with that once she got to the airport and had some time to kill.
Ellis drove her to the airport and pulled up to the curb. He jumped out and got her bag out of the back seat, then pulled her in for a hug.
“Thanks so much for coming. It means a lot to me.” He paused then added, “No matter what happens, Lily, know that I love you and I will provide for you. I always intended to do that, and I will.”
She found that somewhat confusing but nodded and smiled. “Love you too, Dad. Talk to you soon.”
She headed into the airport, went through security, then opened her notebook while she waited for her flight to be called.
“So I guess Dad thought the weekend went well,” Lily said.
“He just sent me this text and this picture. He didn’t mention a thing about this to me, and he sure didn’t ask for my blessing.
I think it’s kind of a jerk move that he waited until I left.
” She held up her phone, and Claire gasped at the image of a beaming Ellis and Rebecca with a massive rock on her finger.
Lily, Claire, Marsha, and Grammy had just been seated at the assisted living and ordered a round of drinks.
“They’re engaged already?” Claire’s mother sounded disgusted.
“Can you get engaged before you are actually divorced?” Grammy wondered.
“Yes, you can. He can’t marry her until our divorce is final. Maybe this means they will be more cooperative. I’m guessing he may want to marry her before the baby comes?” Claire said.
Rebecca was due around the same time as Claire, and the engagement wasn’t that surprising now that she thought about it.
Rebecca’s father probably wanted to see his daughter married sooner rather than later.
Still, it was a shock to see the image of the ring and Ellis looking so happy about it with his ridiculously young fiancée.
It immediately dampened the mood for Claire, but she took a deep breath and tried not to think about it.
Once they put their dinner orders in, Lily told them all about her visit.
Claire was especially interested to hear about the new apartment, and like Lily, she was somewhat surprised that Ellis had kept the car.
That was intriguing. And the more Lily told them about the apartment, the more Claire’s radar went off.
Ellis had seemingly not altered his level of spending.
If they were as broke as he claimed, where was the money coming from?
Marsha caught Claire’s eye. “Maybe you should check in with Sloane this week?” Claire could tell she had similar thoughts.
Lily looked confused. “What’s going on?”
Claire didn’t want to get Lily alarmed unnecessarily though. “Nothing honey. Divorces just take ages. Doesn’t hurt to check in now and then on progress.”
“Right. So we did go to this cool brunch place…”
Claire tuned out as Lily told them about the restaurant. Her mind was spinning. She’d been watching for the property records to be updated for the address that Lily had given her, and she wanted to ask Sloane about that too, as she’d finally seen a change registered, but it was confusing.
Normally, mortgage amounts were listed on property records.
Yet there was no amount registered. On the deed, there was just a trust listed with a name that Claire didn’t recognize.
She guessed that it belonged to the former owner and maybe owner-financed properties didn’t list the amounts the way a bank or mortgage company would.
Sloane would know. Claire found it odd. If it wasn’t actually owner-financed as Ellis had claimed, then it would mean he paid cash, which didn’t seem possible.
“So, Lily, tell us what else is new in your world. Are you looking forward to starting your junior year?” Grammy asked.
Lily’s face lit up. “Yes! I’ve had such an amazing summer. Kenzie and I have had a blast working at the Juice Bar, and Teddy and I are working on a few new songs. We just got our first payment yesterday!” She told them all about how they’d been paid for the music they uploaded online.
Grammy was fascinated by it. “Isn’t that something?
To think you can make music at home and then upload it, and people can listen and buy it.
I have a very talented great-granddaughter.
” Grammy smiled, then added, “Your Teddy is going into his senior year, I think? Will he start thinking about where to go to college soon?”
Lily nodded. “He’s already decided to apply to Berklee College of Music, which is his first choice, as it’s right in Boston. And there’s a school in Nashville too that he’s looking at. But that would be a backup.”
“Your mother says you’ve been a big help in the shop this summer. I bet she’ll miss that once school starts,” Grammy said. “Though it will just be a few months later, and the baby will be here. Lots to look forward to in this family.”
“I will miss having Lily’s help,” Claire said. “Though she still might help out on Saturdays. If it slows down after Labor Day weekend, I might close on Sunday and Monday. We’ll see how it goes.”
“It might be too much for you by then,” her mother agreed. “It usually does slow almost immediately once September comes. But there can still be a good flow of tourists until mid-October. Then it just dies out until that first weekend in December.”
“I’ve thought about that too. Depending how I’m feeling, I might want to reopen for the Christmas Stroll weekend,” Claire said.
Marsha looked doubtful. “See if you are up to it… It sounds good now, but it might be the last thing you’ll have energy for,” Marsha said.
“Or she might welcome the change, especially if it’s just for one weekend,” Grammy said.
Claire agreed with her but also recognized that her mother could be right too, and she might be too tired and overwhelmed to do it.
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” she said.
“I am grateful to have the winter to hibernate from the shop and just enjoy being a new mom. I want to see if I can do more with the website over the winter. Maybe not right away, as I will need the break. But after a bit, it might be fun to try and get that going.”
“How has the summer been for you?” Grammy asked.
Claire smiled. “Better than expected in some ways. While I’ve only sold two or three bags each month, they are expensive, and most of them have been mine. Once I run out of bags, that will drop some, but sales have steadily increased on all the smaller items as I keep testing out new products.”
“What are your biggest sellers?” her mother asked.
“Definitely the gold bracelets and the tote bags with our logo on them. The logo has the word Nantucket, and anything that says Nantucket seems to sell decently for us. I’m going to test adding one sweatshirt style this fall.
A corded crew style that I haven’t seen anywhere else on the island and in a nice dark navy.
People keep asking for sweatshirts, and I always direct them to the other shops in town, but I was thinking maybe I could offer something too? ”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Grammy said.
“I do too,” her mother agreed.
“We could all model for you if you want to show all ages wearing them. You might move those well on your site,” Grammy suggested.
Claire was impressed with the idea. “I love that. When they come in, which should be soon, maybe we’ll take some pictures here?”
“If you do, all the women here will want one,” Grammy promised.
Claire laughed. “That is a good thing.”