Chapter Seventeen
Darby pulled a dress out of her closet to change into for dinner with her mother and sisters at the fancy Italian restaurant. She didn’t have much time left to get ready after stopping at Heart’s Desire to make sure all was well there.
If she hurried, she’d have enough time to touch up her makeup and do something a little more elegant with her medium-brown hair. She didn’t want to be the boring black crow to the pretty songbirds of her mother, Colleen and Evaline. Even though she’d been pressed for time after the reading of the will and the subsequent refreshments part of the day, Darby wanted to be presentable for dinner.
Nate wasn’t home yet, and wouldn’t be until after she was gone. This was the story of their marriage of late.
They were like two ships passing in the night almost every single night. Between her obligations at the store and running the younger girls around, she rarely saw him these days.
At least Bella could help with that some, now that she had her driver’s license. The increasingly demanding role Nate had taken on as vice-chair of the town council also contributed to their ships in the night lifestyle.
They had very little time to devote to themselves as a couple. She hoped things would settle down soon and they could chat with each other like they used to.
Even as she had the thought, she knew it was a futile one. They never had time to spend together these days. Telling herself they would have more time for each other once this challenge was taken care of or that obligation was off their plates was a lie.
But it was a lie Darby told herself to keep up her cheerful attitude. She always tried to be upbeat, no matter now dire things looked.
Her daughters were on their own for the evening as far as supper went. Bella promised to feed the younger girls something if Darby left money for her. That meant fast food or pizza, but at least they wouldn’t starve.
Ava had class tonight, so would have packed herself something to eat if she didn’t plan to grab something from the college’s cafeteria or a vending machine.
Darby kissed the top of Talia’s head—at twelve, she was the only girl young enough to accept a kiss from her mom—called out her goodbyes to Bella and Sophie and left the house.
Darby should have tried to get her mother and sisters to try the new Mediterranean restaurant in town. It was healthier than the calorie-heavy menu at The Venetian of Valentine Key, and she’d heard the portions were generous for the prices.
She didn’t have to suggest it to know her mother likely would have pooh-poohed that idea right out of the gate. She didn’t like trying new things, especially new restaurants.
Kelly Lovelock Abbott preferred tradition. She had always liked doing the same thing without any variations. She was a firm believer in the philosophy of, “If that’s the way it’s always been done, there’s no need to change anything”—also known as the old, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude.
Maybe there was something to be said for tradition. A person could count on it. Mostly.
For as long as they’d been coming to the island, they’d been going to The Venetian of Valentine Key. As far as Kelly was concerned, it was a staple upscale Italian restaurant for a reason.
Every summer, Kelly’s three daughters would spend a week at Aunt Lily’s inn. And every summer, either when she was dropping them off or picking them up, Kelly would insist they go to The Venetian. Sometime during the week, their father might stop by for a day to see them. More often than not, he was too busy running Lovelock Enterprises.
But they always had fun with Aunt Lily. She was very entertaining.
Kelly, Colleen and Evaline were waiting in front of the inn when Darby pulled up in her beat-up minivan, the one that needed pretty much new everything but was held together with what was available. She might have been raised on the fringes of being a Philly debutant, as her mother had been, but she lived her life like someone who worked hard and made do.
Since her mother and sisters had used car services to get to Valentine Key from Miami, Darby was the only one with ready transportation, so it made sense for her to drive.
Kelly hoisted herself into the front passenger seat while Colleen and Evaline seated themselves in the middle row. Darby heard the distinct sound of chip bags crinkling as her sisters got settled and winced. While she was getting changed, she should have sent one of the girls to the van to clean out some of the junk that tended to pile up in the vehicle of a six-person family.
Shockingly, her mother didn’t say a word about the vehicle transporting them to dinner. Darby was relieved. Usually, Kelly was the kind of person to let everyone know her opinions as soon as she had them.
They chatted about inconsequential things during the short drive to The Venetian. On the other side of Valentine Key wasn’t exactly in the same category as on the other side of, say, Miami.
They were a few minutes late for their reservations and Darby knew it was because she was running behind. Kelly didn’t mention that either as the hostess led the four women through the elegantly decorated restaurant.
It was not as busy as Darby expected it to be. Only about half the tables were occupied. The air, filled as it was with the tantalizing smells of spices, tomatoes and the yeasty goodness of fresh bread, made her mouth water.
Darby couldn’t recall the last time she and Nate had been to The Venetian. For that matter, she couldn’t recall the last time they’d been out to any restaurant that had cloth tablecloths instead of a sheet of paper that the server scrawled their name on.
The women were soon seated around their favorite table, a corner booth with a view. Even though the sun was down and it was too dark to see outside, Darby decided it was nice and familiar.
Maybe tradition winning out this time was a good thing.
It didn’t take long before they’d ordered their drinks and appetizers and received the first part of their order. They waited until the drinks and some food was in front of them before any serious discussion started as to the real reason they were all gathered here tonight—the reading of Horatio’s will, the shock of all that had been revealed and the aftermath.
Their mother started the conversation, as expected. At least Darby expected her to. Neither was she surprised by what Kelly had to say.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you girls to come to Valentine Key permanently,” she said firmly to Colleen and Evaline. “I don’t believe you should abandon your lives to go chasing after some fool competition thing your father has cooked up. He was always chasing after the next business deal to be made, the next contract to be signed, and this is just his way of dragging you into that obsession. Besides, Valentine Key is a nice enough place for a short visit, but I can’t imagine living here full-time.”
Kelly made a pinched and disagreeable face as if it were truly terrible to live here in Valentine Key.
It was not.
Her mother had clearly forgotten that Darby lived here full-time with her family and had for twenty years.
Then again, Darby had moved here without the express permission of either of her parents. She’d been of age and she’d done what she wanted, because she had fallen in love with Nate Tyler, a local boy who had lived on Valentine Key his whole life.
Theirs had been a summer crush gone serious. Darby never regretted it.
Colleen gave their mother a fierce look, even though Kelly wasn’t paying attention, seemingly about to reprimand her for making a rude comment about Darby’s choice of residence.
Darby shook her head slightly at her elder sister. She didn’t want to cause a scene or a fight. She always liked to keep the peace among family members. Always. What she didn’t count on was having to keep Evaline from saying anything. The petite brunette was usually the quiet one of the bunch.
“For heaven’s sake, Mother, are you daft? Darby lives here full-time and she doesn’t hate it,” Evaline said, lowering her menu to speak and pin Kelly with her dark brown eyes. Darby took this jab as her little sister’s attempt to ensure Darby didn’t feel bad about where she lived. Still the soother of hurt feelings.
Without waiting for a question or comment from their mother, Evaline raised her menu back to eye-level and started reading it again. It was funny, because she acted like she didn’t know what she’d order for her main course. Darby knew and so did everyone else at the table.
Evaline always ordered the spaghetti with meatballs, without fail. Then again, with her robust and uncharacteristic verbal defense of Darby’s residence choices, perhaps Evaline was about to surprise them again with an entirely different order.
“Well, I obviously didn’t mean that as an insult to Darby,” their mother started to say, clearly wounded by Evaline’s tone.
“I know what you meant, mother,” Darby said. “Living on an island isn’t for everyone, but Valentine Key is a very nice place. Nate and I have been very happy living here all this time.”
That was mostly the truth. It certainly hadn’t been their plan when they got married, but they’d made do and learned to love the lives they’d ended up with.
At least she had and she hoped Nate felt the same way. She wouldn’t be able to confirm that immediately, since she wouldn’t actually speak to him until tomorrow morning or, more likely, tomorrow night. If she was lucky.
“I know you all think I’m still bitter about the divorce,” their mother said, her gray eyes cool. “And maybe I am a little bit. But it was inexcusable for your father to hold onto that painting for all these years. I knew he had it.”
Clearly, their mother had decided to drop her dismissal of Valentine Key as a good place to live and moved on to a brand-new topic. Or rather, the same old topic she brought up every single time the four of them got together.
On the bright side, Darby thought, at least the focus was off her life on Valentine Key.
As to the new topic of conversation, the three girls had always referred to it as the honeymoon painting story. They had heard it many, many, many times before, even though their mother acted like she was sharing previously unknown information every time she launched into the tale.
“I still remember that day in Lichtenstein when we walked by the exclusive art gallery in Vaduz and I saw it. It was an original sunset oil painting by R. Santiago. I knew I had to have it. Horatio purchased it for me that day as a honeymoon present. I put that painting up over the fireplace in the formal living room. Do you remember, girls?”
They did not remember, because Colleen and Darby had been babies when the painting was on the wall in the living room and Evaline hadn’t even been born. Not that it mattered. They’d all heard this story so many times before that they might as well have been there.
Darby wondered secretly if the painting had been so incredibly important to Kelly, why she didn’t take it with her when she left their father. Darby knew better than to ask. Because she knew why.
After the birth of each of her children, Kelly went on a mad redecorating spree of the house, top to bottom. It was her way of retaliating when Horatio was vocal in his disappointment over having yet another daughter, not a precious son. His wife showed her displeasure with a direct hit to his bank account.
Right after Darby was born, Kelly had moved the precious honeymoon painting to the attic. Apparently, it didn’t go with the new décor.
The waiter showed up right then to take their entrée orders and bring them a new round of drinks. Evaline stuck with the expected and ordered the spaghetti and meatballs. Their mother ordered the veal scaloppini, as she always did. Colleen ordered the lemon chicken, as per her usual.
If Darby was going to make a bold statement regarding her dinner choices at The Venetian of Valentine Key, now was the time. Though she wavered momentarily with indecision, she didn’t go rogue either. She ordered her usual chicken marsala.
She’d started ordering chicken marsala when she was sixteen after learning the Italian-American dish was made with wine. She’d felt very grown up and a little like a rebel for “breaking a rule” by ordering food with alcohol in it when she was under twenty-one. It was likely foolish, but chicken Marsala was very tasty. It had been her only order at The Venetian ever since. She had no regrets.
The entrées arrived and slowed further conversation on a tired old topic. As they ate, the three sisters commented in one way or another that they were looking forward to the challenge that was facing them.
Colleen was looking for the next thing to challenge her after selling her successful skincare business.
Darby wanted to change things up in her life and have something that was her own, instead of the hand-me-down business she and her husband and taken on by default from Nate’s parents.
Evaline didn’t say much, but seemed to have a positive attitude about moving to Valentine Key for the year required.
What pleased Darby the most was that they seemed to be on the same page about one very important thing. The three of them wanted to give it a go not so much because their father wanted them to; it was more about the sisterhood. It could be the seven of them working together for the greater good. At least that was their shared sentiment right after the reading of the will when she, Colleen and Evaline had been chatting as they waited for Victoria and Miles to join them.
Thinking about the interaction between those two still made Darby smile.
Meanwhile, their mother clearly did not understand their verve for this project. Even so, by the end of their dinner, she vowed to support them as best she could—from a distance.
Her backing would be coming from up north, as she was planning to head back to Philadelphia and her life there as soon as possible. She used the excuse that she didn’t like to leave Cliff on his own for too long. The truth was, it was more likely she wanted to get back to her friends and her routine.
Considering Kelly’s contrary nature, Darby thought that was for the best and knew her sisters felt the same way.