Chapter 25 Greta
Greta
“So, the extra good news is we can go ahead with the party and the wedding!” Lindy, standing at the kitchen counter, took
a sip of the wine she’d poured herself the instant she, Emma, and Eli had walked in from their day in Cranston.
Greta had waited up long past her usual bedtime for their arrival because Lindy had phoned from Kennebunkport and said David
had called her on her cell. He was fine; he was camping in northern Maine. They could call off the search, and Lindy would
phone the yellow cottage and let Kate and the others know right away, too. Greta had needed to know more.
“He’s really . . . okay?” Hailey said now, hands clutched under her chin.
“Yes!” Lindy’s eyes looked bright and a bit wild, but that was understandable, given everything.
“Seriously?” said Cody, excited. Beside him, Eli still seemed upset, and Emma had her arms folded and looked angry, which
was surprising. Then again, she and her friend, Reese, had had that fight last night, and everybody was exhausted. It was
strange that David had put them all through this, honestly. To go off camping on the day of his own birthday party, without
clearly communicating his plans?
“No more need to worry!” Lindy took another sip of wine. “We can all get some sleep tonight!”
Hailey exuberantly hugged Lindy, and with that, everybody started hugging each other, except for Emma, who stood apart, arms
still folded. Greta succumbed to a giant bear hug from Cody, even as she worried. The anniversary party. Now that they knew
David was fine, Lindy would want to throw the party as planned. But how could Greta put Tom through that? He had remembered her today—a relief and a joy after the pain of the middle of last night—but Saturday was a few days away, and
who knew how he would be by then . . .
“And tomorrow,” Lindy said, pulling back from Cody and peering around to address Hailey, “we really tackle that wedding! We’ve
got a lot to do!”
“Um, yeah!” Hailey said. “Fantastic!”
“Man, I’m starving!” Cody said, diving enthusiastically into the fridge, pulling out a box of last night’s pizza and digging
in.
“Lindy, about the anniversary party . . .” Greta managed to say, though she hated to break into this happy moment.
“That’s almost set!” Lindy picked up her wine again for another quick sip. It wasn’t like her to drink so much so quickly.
She must just be so relieved, Greta thought. “The food’s already paid for and confirmed for delivery. The cleaners are coming Friday, so we don’t even
have to worry about that.” She frowned. “I did not want to end up saddling you with cleaning for your own party, Mom.” Now
she gulped the wine, draining the glass.
“Well, that was very thoughtful, honey,” Greta managed. How was she ever going to tell Lindy they couldn’t have the party
when Lindy had been through so much?
And—though Lindy didn’t know it yet—it would be their last party at Innisfree. Ever. Other than the people who would be in
and out for Hailey’s wedding, but that wasn’t a party being held here.
Maybe Tom would be okay? It was just a few more days. He had seemed quite fresh this morning! As if calling Greta “Betsy”
in the night had been only a bad dream. Everyone had bad dreams. Didn’t they?