Chapter 28
Lily went straight to Teddy’s house when her mother gave her the news about what her father had done.
Now his strange comment to her as she left to fly home that day made sense.
It was like he sensed he was going to be caught and he was worried about Lily forgiving him.
He said he’d always make sure she was taken care of.
She felt furious just thinking about it.
He’d lied to her and her mother and tried to cheat them. All because of Rebecca.
Teddy was in his studio, and she filled him in on everything, and by the time she finished talking, she was so mad, she was steaming. Teddy handed her a cold bottle of water and a moment later a bag of popcorn he’d just opened. She pushed it away but took a swig of the water.
“It’s just so frustrating. I don’t ever want to see either of them again.”
Teddy nodded and grabbed a handful of popcorn. “It’s not really Rebecca’s fault though. I mean it’s more your dad.”
Lily sighed. “I know. But still she knew my dad was married, so I can blame her some for the cheating. But I don’t blame her for the money stuff—that was all on my dad. It’s just so disappointing. I thought he walked on water. At least I used to.”
“People are weird about money.”
“That’s what my mother said. She said it’s okay to be mad, but I might want to have a relationship with him at some point, and that’s okay too. I don’t have to decide that now.”
“That seems like good advice,” Teddy agreed.
“I just feel so bad for her. I mean she’s about to have his baby, and he’s getting ready to have another baby with Rebecca, and he tried to steal all our money. It’s just crazy.”
“It is,” Teddy agreed. A moment later, he grinned. “We could write a song about it?”
That intrigued Lily, and she felt a bit less sad. “That’s interesting. We haven’t really done an angry kind of song. It could be kind of fun.”
“So there’s this beat I’ve been playing with, more of a rock sound, that might be a possibility.
” He played it for her, and Lily felt goose bumps, and immediately a rush of an idea came to her, and she picked up a pen and started scribbling.
She showed the lyrics to Teddy, and he gave her the thumbs-up and played the beat again.
“We can work with this. Let’s write a song. ”
Claire didn’t say anything to anyone until Sloane told her that Ellis had agreed to all their demands, including full custody of both Lily and the new baby.
He’d apologized profusely, and three weeks later, they signed the divorce paperwork, and the agreed-on amount of money was wired.
It happened the Tuesday after the long October weekend.
Sloane finalized everything that morning and called Claire when all the paperwork was finalized.
Now it would be filed with the court, and in six weeks or so, she’d be divorced.
Claire hadn’t told anyone, not even Rachel, because it didn’t seem real, and she didn’t want to get her hopes up when the agreement might fall apart at the last minute.
It was such a large amount of money. And it represented security.
When she ended the call with Sloane, she felt a huge surge of relief.
She then put the Back in Thirty Minutes sign on her door, locked it, and made the call she’d put off but needed to make.
Ellis picked up on the first ring.
“Claire. How are you? I sent the money. Did it arrive?” He sounded nervous, defensive, maybe even regretful?
“It arrived. I won’t thank you though, because Lily and I deserved that money, Ellis. How could you try to cheat us? I stuck up for you. Sloane wanted to do that audit from the beginning, but I trusted you. Said you’d never do anything like that.”
Ellis sighed. “I’m sorry, Claire. I know I’m a shit. But I worked hard for that money. It was mine, and I didn’t want to give up half of it. It’s that simple. I still don’t think it’s fair, but I know I had to give you some of it. I know you’ll never forgive me. Do you think Lily will?”
Claire realized that in a way, Ellis had done her a favor.
As Grammy had said, “Everything happens for a reason.” Staying married to Ellis would have been such a mistake.
It would have been just a matter of time before he cheated again because he was a weak man.
Now she was free and could build a new life.
“I don’t know, Ellis. You don’t deserve her. But you can try to make it up to her. She’ll probably forgive you in time. It would be nice if you could have a relationship with her.”
“I’d like that. And what about the baby?” He’d agreed to allow Claire to have full custody, but they hadn’t worked out a visitation plan yet.
“I think visits should be limited to weekend trips and summer vacations here. We can revisit in a few years.”
“Okay, that’s fair enough. I really do wish you the best, Claire.”
“Thank you. Goodbye, Ellis.”
“Is everything okay? You’re as white as a ghost.” Cody stood in the doorway, watching her.
She’d just ended her call with Ellis. Both of their shops were dead.
Everyone seemed to have left the island after the long weekend.
Claire welcomed the quiet though. She took a deep breath, and then everything came out in a rush.
“He tried to cheat me, we caught him, and now we’re almost divorced.
” Her voice broke a bit. “I still can’t believe he did that to us.
” Her eyes suddenly filled with tears, and she found herself sobbing in a way she hadn’t done since she first left Ellis.
She laughed through her tears. “I’m sorry.
I’m not usually a crier like this. I think it’s the hormones. ”
Cody pulled her in for a hug. “Hormones or not, it’s still a shock and a big deal. But it’s over now.”
She leaned back and smiled. “You’re right. And now I can relax, finally.”
“Do you have plans tonight?” Cody asked.
“No, what did you have in mind?”
“I caught some striped bass yesterday and was going to cook it up tonight. Why don’t you come over for dinner? I do a really good job grilling that fish. You’re going to love it.”
She laughed. “You don’t have to sell it that hard. I’m in. I’ll bring dessert.”
Claire stopped at Stop & Shop on the way home and picked up a cheesecake with blueberry topping.
When she got home, she took advantage of the quiet house to rest on the living room sofa for a bit.
She closed her eyes and woke an hour later, in time to go pick up her mother.
When they returned home, Claire had a text message from Lily that she was at Teddy’s and had been invited to stay for dinner.
“Is it official yet?” her mother asked.
Claire smiled. “Yes. Sloane called this morning. It doesn’t seem real, but I am divorced now, and the money is in the bank.”
“Good. Warren is coming over for dinner. I was thinking of making roast chicken. Does that sound good?”
“It does. But Cody invited me over. He caught some fish and is going to cook it up.”
Marsha smiled. “Well, that sounds nice. Good to get out and celebrate this, I think.”
Claire told her mother how she’d dissolved in a puddle of tears after Sloane called.
Marsha came over and pulled her in for a hug. “That’s to be expected. It’s a big day with big emotions. And you have all those hormones. It’s a perfect emotional storm.”
Claire laughed. “It didn’t seem to scare Cody. He handled it well.”
Marsha just smiled, then went back to the kitchen to start dinner.
“So how are you doing with everything?” Teddy asked.
Lily sat behind the keyboard in Teddy’s studio. They’d been working on a new song, and Lily was quieter than usual. Nothing was coming for lyrics, and she just wasn’t feeling it. She wasn’t feeling much of anything other than sad.
“My dad keeps calling me and leaving messages. He’s apologized a million times, but I can’t just tell him it’s okay. You know? It’s so not okay what he did to us. His last message was to let me know that Rebecca had the baby. It’s a boy. They named him James.”
Teddy came over and pulled her in for a hug. He squeezed her tight, and she felt herself relax, finally. She’d felt like a big ball of tension lately.
“You should call him. Get it over with. Do you want to do it from here? I’ll hold your hand if that will help?”
Lily laughed. “It might actually. And you’re right. I’ve been dreading making the call. But it would be nice to get it over with.” She picked up her phone and clicked her father’s name. Teddy grabbed hold of her other hand and squeezed it tight.
The phone rang three times, and just as she thought it was going to go to voicemail, her father answered and sounded out of breath. “Lily, I’m sorry. I had left the phone downstairs. Thank you for calling. How are you?”
Lily hesitated, unsure how to answer. “How do you think I am?” she said flatly.
“Honey, I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you or your mother. I just lost sight of things, and I panicked, and, well, I made some bad choices. I wish I could take it all back. I love you so much, and I really want things to be good again with us. Is that possible?”
Lily’s heart hurt. She wanted that too, but she was so mad at him. “I don’t know, Dad. What you did was pretty bad. It will take time to get past it.”
“I understand. But it’s possible, maybe? You got my last message about James?”
“Yeah. I did. Congratulations. James is a cool name.”
“I can’t wait for you to meet him. Rebecca’s doing great. She says hello too.”
“So I should go, Dad. I just wanted to call you back.”
“Okay, honey. Maybe we can talk again soon? We’ll be coming to Nantucket this summer to see the new baby. You’re welcome to come here anytime to meet James and visit.”
“I don’t think I’m up for a trip to New York any time soon, Dad. Maybe this summer.” She offered that as a possibility. Hopefully by then, she wouldn’t feel as angry.
“Okay, okay. That’s good. Whatever you want. I love you, Lily.”
Lily sighed. “I love you too, Dad. Goodbye.”