Epilogue
“What do you hear from Lily?” Grammy asked.
It was Labor Day, and they were all gathered for dinner at the assisted living—Claire, Cody, Maddie in her high chair, Marsha, and Warren.
Their server had just brought drinks over and set Grammy’s Manhattan in front of her.
The rest of them had red wine, and per Grammy’s suggestion, everyone except Warren ordered the special chicken marsala. He went with baked cod.
“She’s good. She’s loving Berklee and Boston so far. And she especially loves that Teddy is there.”
“They’re still going strong after two years.
That’s cute. You never know, sometimes your first love lasts,” Grammy said.
She glanced at Claire’s engagement ring, which Cody had given her after they’d been officially dating for a year.
That was almost a year ago, and they hadn’t set a date yet.
Neither was in a hurry, and both agreed that once their house was finally completed, they’d probably just go down to town hall and have a simple ceremony.
Cody was in the process of selling his house, and they were going to pay for the new one together.
Both of them wanted a fresh start. Claire loved the ring that Cody had picked out.
It was almost two carats and in his grandmother’s vintage platinum setting, and Claire just thought it was so beautiful. She still found herself staring at it.
“And sometimes true love comes later,” Grammy added.
Marsha and Warren exchanged glances, and he leaned over and kissed her briefly. They weren’t engaged, but they were very happily living together now, and Claire was thrilled for them.
Maddie’s high chair was set next to Claire, and Claire kept her busy with oyster crackers, crayons and paper, and a few toys. When she got bored, Cody picked her up and walked her around the restaurant for a few minutes so Claire could enjoy her meal in peace.
When their food was delivered, everyone dug in, and Grammy entertained the table, as she usually did.
“Claire, did you ever hear anything further from Ellis? Is Lily talking to him at all?”
“I haven’t talked to him since before the divorce.
But he keeps in touch with Lily. She’s still not happy with him, but I think she’s a little friendlier and said she might go visit them one weekend.
That’s a big step for her. I think she worries that she’ll be disloyal to me if she repairs her relationship with him.
But I told her I want her to be happy, and she should try to have some kind of relationship with her father.
It will be less stressful than avoiding him, I imagine. ”
No one had dessert except for Grammy, and as usual, everyone took at least one bite of her cheesecake.
Later, after they walked Grammy to her apartment and said goodbye to Marsha and Warren, Cody drove home to Claire and Maddie’s rental house.
He had moved in that weekend, after Lily left for college.
Claire had wanted to wait until Lily was out of the house and settled at school before Cody moved in, and he understood.
He’d been spending time with both of them and had even volunteered to watch Maddie while Claire went to book club.
She’d been nervous but had told him to call or text her for anything.
He’d texted her several times, but it was always to send her selfies of him playing with Maddie. They’d had a great time.
The weather was still warm, so they brought Maddie onto the screened-in porch with a few of her toys and settled on the sofa to watch the sunset.
Maddie kept busy running around the room with her favorite ice cream toys, and whenever she slowed down, Claire and Cody joined in and played with her.
When she started rubbing her eyes a little before seven, Claire knew she was ready for bed.
While she got Maddie into her jammies, Cody made a pot of hot water and brought Claire a cup of her favorite herbal vanilla tea.
Claire took a sip of the warm tea and then snuggled against Cody. He wrapped his arm around her, pulled her close, and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.
She sighed, feeling content and happy. She never imagined starting over with a baby and a divorce at her age.
A new relationship had seemed like a far-off dream, but sometimes dreams were possible and friendship turned to love.
The kind of love she felt with Cody was so different from what she’d had with Ellis.
This was simple and true, and she trusted it completely.
“You’re quiet,” Cody said softly.
She smiled before leaning in to give him a quick kiss. “I was just thinking how lucky I am to have found you and to find love again.”
“I feel pretty lucky too.” Cody smiled, and she watched as his dimples popped and tiny laugh lines appeared around his eyes and mouth. It was something that she would never tire of seeing. She sighed happily and kissed him again.
Thank you for reading!
Read on for more from Pamela Kelley in THE NANTUCKET RESTAURANT.