Chapter 2
Chapter Two
M andy Lawson was running late, and that was unacceptable.
She was never late. She had called ahead, told the women at the club she’d be there at a quarter past ten, and they told her not to worry.
But she couldn’t help it. Mandy was a worrier.
It was her Virgo nature; she craved organization and made to-do lists for everything.
And things generally went smoothly—except for today, when everything seemed to be out of sync.
They’d spent almost thirty minutes searching the entire house for her eleven-year-old daughter Brooke’s homework assignment, which was highly unusual, because Brooke never lost things.
She was a bit like her mother that way, conscientious and orderly—unlike her younger brother, Blake, who was more of a dreamer and prone to forgetfulness.
They found the assignment finally. It was already in Brooke’s backpack, neatly folded and tucked away deep in a side pocket.
“Oops, I forgot that I put it there as soon as I finished.”
“So you wouldn’t forget it,” Blake teased.
Mandy glanced at the clock, which seemed to be on fast-forward. “We have to go now. Grab your bags, and get in the car.”
It was a gorgeous sunny day on Nantucket.
As they walked to the car, she could see an incoming ferry in the distance.
Their home was right on the water, just a few minutes away from downtown Nantucket.
Mandy waved at a neighbor walking by with her dog, a golden retriever who kept stopping to sniff at the grass and sand at the side of the road.
That was one thing that was so Nantucket to her, the sand along the side of all the roads, reminding her that they were living on an island.
Twenty minutes later, Mandy pulled into the busy parking lot at the Nantucket New School.
The kids jumped out of the SUV, gave Mandy a quick kiss goodbye, and ran to join their friends who were already in line.
Mandy watched until they were all inside the building.
Both children loved it there, and Mandy liked everything about it, especially the fact that as a private school, the classes were smaller and they encouraged children to explore individual interests.
Before she drove off, Mandy checked her makeup in the mirror and added a swipe of pink lipstick.
She wanted to make sure she looked polished for the event.
She was in one of her favorite outfits—tailored, caramel-colored pants and a pale pink cashmere sweater that looked gorgeous with her vintage pearls.
She’d just had her hair touched up yesterday, so the bits of gray along her hairline were gone, and Tony had added deep golden highlights to her dark blond hair that made it shimmer.
It just touched her shoulders and gave the illusion of being all one length, but a few clever long layers gave it some shape and movement.
Her usual style was just tucked behind her ears, and on her, it worked beautifully, giving her a crisp, somewhat preppy look.
Or as her husband, Cory, teased her, it was “old money hair,” which he appreciated.
Mandy and Cory had started dating their sophomore year at Boston College, and except for one two-week period during senior year when Mandy was feeling ignored and broke up with him, they’d been together ever since.
They’d both been business majors, and immediately after graduation, each started working in Boston’s financial district.
Cory joined Brown Brothers Harriman as a junior investment analyst, and Mandy went to Fidelity Investments as a market research coordinator.
Mandy quickly fell in love with the marketing aspect of her job and moved into the communications group where she handled events and wrote copy for marketing materials.
After working for two years, Cory went back to school, to Harvard for his MBA.
Upon graduation, he had his pick of offers and decided to return to Brown Brothers Harriman, this time as a senior investment strategist, advising high-net-worth clients on where to put their money.
Cory had a plan. From the time he’d left to get his MBA, he knew he’d be heading back to BBH. They knew him there, and he was getting to know many of their top clients, building relationships that would one day pay off.
That day came five years later, when Cory and his college buddy, Patrick Harris, left to start their own hedge fund, as interest in alternative investments was skyrocketing.
Word quickly spread throughout the community about the hot new hedge fund led by two young financial wunderkinder.
Many of Cory’s former clients at BBH wanted to invest, and by offering access to Cory and Patrick’s hedge fund, BBH was able to satisfy their clients, make an additional profit, and allow Cory to quickly establish a solid customer base.
Which was exactly what he was counting on.
Patrick’s company did the same, and within a year, Cory and Patrick had over two billion dollars under management with year-end growth of thirty-three percent, which drastically increased demand and made them both millionaires many times over.
Running a hedge fund was a high risk, high reward business, and when things went well, it was one of the most lucrative niches in the world of finance.
After that first crazy year, Cory and Mandy built a gorgeous custom home on Nantucket.
It was originally just going to be a summer home, but Cory fell in love with the island, and Mandy was happy to be back in her hometown.
After one summer, Cory decided he could work just as easily from Nantucket, and they could serve their client base well by having an office downtown, as many of their clients also had second homes on the island.
Patrick ran the Boston office, and Cory had a small team on Nantucket and occasionally went to Boston for meetings.
Mandy became pregnant for the second time when the Nantucket house was finished, and they decided that it made sense for her to stop working and stay home. They didn’t need the money, and Mandy wanted to be there for her kids.
Besides, Cory thought it was better for his business if she wasn’t working.
Their image of the perfect family, with two beautiful blond children and a sunny, stay-at-home wife, was a great marketing tool.
Not that he needed it though. His business had exploded as everyone wanted a piece of the next big thing, and their hedge fund was consistently delivering huge returns.
For something to do, Mandy got involved with some local women’s groups and found a way to put her business skills to good use, organizing various charity events.
Today’s event was for the town library and was being held at the newer country club, the one that had a seven-figure initiation fee.
Cory and Patrick were among the charter members, as Patrick and his wife, Daisy, were on Nantucket often.
Daisy especially loved it on the island and often stayed for weeks at a time.
Though Mandy adored Patrick and had known him since their college days, she had never really warmed up to Daisy.
Patrick had met her at a party his friends had thrown to celebrate their first year in business, when the buzz about them was turning into a roar.
Daisy was from Charleston and was a true Southern belle, always perfectly made up and accessorized.
When she poured on the charm, men were dazzled.
Patrick proposed just a few months after they started dating, and they married less than a year later.
Mandy had tried countless times to reach out to Daisy, but for some reason, she always held her at arm’s length.
Daisy was always sweetly pleasant to her in public, but there was an underlying note of dislike that surfaced now and then.
Cory said that Mandy was being paranoid, that of course Daisy adored her.
He couldn’t imagine that she wouldn’t feel that way, but Mandy knew better.
Daisy was on this charity committee too and was the first person Mandy saw as she ran through the door.
“Nice of you to join us,” Daisy said sweetly, then turned back to continue tacking swirls of pink crepe paper to the wall.
“I called. Didn’t they tell you?” Mandy said, scanning the room. It looked like they were almost done decorating. The room looked wonderful and bright, with streamers of pink and white cascading in waves from the ceiling and along the walls.
“Did you? Maybe they did mention something. I’ve just been so busy that I must have missed it.” Daisy looked up at Mandy, waiting for a reaction to the dig. When she didn’t get one, she sighed and added, “They’re out back.”
Mandy hurried to the back of the restaurant where the other women on the committee were addressing place cards and looking over table settings. Her close friend Barbara looked up and smiled.
“See, no worries. We’re just about done here.”
“Thanks, you all did a great job with the decorating. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You did everything else. This event is going to be great.”
Mandy relaxed a bit and poured herself a cup of coffee, then sat down to review the agenda.
As the committee chair for this event, she really had done just about everything except the decorating.
She’d negotiated the contract with the club, chosen a caterer, ordered the food and the entertainment, and carefully chosen the guest list, creating a buzz that made this a must-attend event in their social set.
Hopefully the end result would be a cascade of generous checks.
To help loosen the purse strings, Mandy also came up with the idea of having an informal wine tasting, with several wines available on each table so people could taste them all and relax and enjoy.
The event went off beautifully. Everyone commented on how great the food was and what a clever idea to do the wine tasting.
And it did seem to put everyone into a good and generous mood.
The silent auction raised a record amount, and Mandy expected that for the next few weeks, large checks would be trickling in.
Everyone was thrilled with the results, except perhaps Daisy, who had hoped to chair the event and was clearly miffed that the committee had overwhelmingly wanted Mandy to run it.
“I still think it would have been better if we’d had this at that new restaurant downtown, Basil’s. The food there is top notch.”
Barbara shot a knowing glance at Mandy and then said, “Well, I haven’t heard any complaints. In fact, I’ve heard nothing but compliments, especially for the great job that Mandy did in putting this altogether.”
“Right. Well, I’m ready for a glass of wine.” Daisy made a beeline for the bar, which was nearly empty now that all the party attendees had finally left.
“Has she always been such a bitch?” Barbara asked Mandy once the rest of the group had followed Daisy to the bar. They were all ready to relax now that the event was over and everything had gone off smoothly.
“Pretty much. You’d think we’d be somewhat close, given that our husbands are always together.
Sometimes I almost sense a bit of competitiveness there or envy, but then I just shake it off because there’s no reason for it.
Cory’s right. I’m a little paranoid when it comes to Daisy. I just can’t figure her out.”
“I wouldn’t waste your energy trying. She’s not worth it. Come on. Let’s make our way to the bar. I’ve heard raves about one of the chardonnays we were serving, Cakebread. Sounds like my kind of dessert!”
Mandy’s cell phone rang as they reached the bar.
She told Barbara to order her a glass of whatever she was having.
She saw her caller ID on her phone flash and realized she had several missed calls, one of them a Nantucket number that she didn’t recognize.
She’d turned the ringer off so she wouldn’t be disturbed.
It was Jill calling, and that was odd, because she never called during the day.
“Hey, Jill, what’s up? Is everything all right?”
“It’s Grams. Nantucket Hospital just called to let me know she came into the ER from Dover Falls and is being sent to Boston, to Mass General. They suggested the family come as soon as possible.”
Mandy had never heard her older sister sound so scared and realized the hospital must have tried to reach her too.
“Are you flying in tonight? I can grab a flight and meet you at Logan.” Then they could grab a cab together to Mass General.
“I’m on my way now, flight leaves in an hour. Can you call Emma?”
“I will. I’ll ask her to meet us at Mass General.”