Chapter 40
When her divorce decree finally came through, Mandy met Jill and Emma at the Club Car for Friday night drinks a little after six.
It was Cory’s weekend with the children, so she didn’t have to rush home, and she was excited to be out with her sisters.
It was a rare night that they all were off and they had something to celebrate.
She stopped to admire the flower boxes below the windows of the Club Car before stepping inside.
It was a charming building, with its weathered wooden shingles, and it did look like a train car.
It was one of her favorite places on the island to go for a relaxing drink.
Once they were settled at the bar and had their cocktails of choice, chardonnay for Mandy and Emma and a dill pickle martini for Jill, Jill proposed a toast.
“Happy divorce day, Mandy!”
“Congratulations,” Emma added.
“Thanks so much.” It had been a bittersweet day.
They’d signed the final paperwork earlier that morning.
Mandy was relieved that it was over but also felt a trace of lingering sadness that the marriage had failed.
Her lawyer, Lindsay, had been incredible.
As she’d assured her, the settlement that Mandy had agreed to hadn’t changed, even after Cory and Patrick decided to split the company.
As far as the day-to-day went, it didn’t change things much as Patrick kept the Boston office and Cory the Nantucket one, and each kept his respective employees.
She and Cory had settled into a fairly amicable relationship.
They both wanted what was best for the kids, and that meant getting along as well as possible.
Mandy limited their communication to specifics about the kids, pickup, and drop-off coordination.
And it had taken a while, but Cory finally seemed to realize that it was truly over.
“How are you feeling about it?” Emma asked gently.
“I’m good now. I had a mini meltdown earlier after I talked to my lawyer. It just hit me that it was really over. But I snapped out of it and realized it’s a good thing. It just took me a while to get there.”
“That’s understandable,” Jill said.
“I have some news too.” Emma leaned in and smiled. “Paul and I are moving in together.”
“That’s awesome news! Your wedding will be next,” Jill said.
Mandy smiled. The planning for Jill’s wedding was done, and it was going to be impressive. She was flying the whole company in and putting them up at the Wauwinet, a gorgeous waterfront hotel that reminded Mandy of The Great Gatsby , with its sweeping grounds and croquet lawns.
Emma made a face. “Um, no. Neither one of us wants to get married anytime soon.” But then she added, “Okay, that’s not completely true.
Paul said he’d marry me anytime I’m ready.
But he’s been divorced for years. I told him I’m in no hurry, and I might never want to do that.
And he said as long as we’re living together, that’s fine by him. ”
“He adores you,” Mandy said.
“He is a keeper,” Emma agreed.
They ordered appetizers to share and, after a while, another round of cocktails. The Club Car was busy as usual, and they saw a number of familiar faces and chatted with people they knew as they came up to the bar to order drinks.
“Who is that guy who just walked in, end of the bar? He looks familiar. I think he comes into Mimi’s Place now and then,” Emma said.
Mandy followed her gaze and nodded. “That’s Matthew Flynn. He comes in for lunch sometimes. He’s a nice guy. He lost his wife to cancer a few years ago, and his kids are in college. He runs a boat business, sightseeing and deep-sea fishing.”
Jill looked at her carefully. “You know quite a bit about him. He sounds like a good candidate for you when you’re ready to start dating.”
Mandy laughed at the idea. “I chat with all the customers when they come in. He’s often by himself and sits at the bar, so we’ve gotten to talking a bit. I don’t think he’s interested in dating anyone, and I know for certain that I’m not ready yet.”
“He’s coming this way,” Emma said.
Mandy smiled and caught Matt’s eye as he approached them.
She noticed, not for the first time, that he was a handsome man.
She liked his sandy blond hair and his warm blue eyes.
He had been coming into Mimi’s Place more often lately, at least twice a week.
She always enjoyed chatting with him. He loved the food at Mimi’s Place.
His eyes lit up as he reached them, and he smiled.
“Hello, ladies. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the three of you in one place. Usually it’s one of you at a time, right?”
Mandy nodded. “Yes, this is a rare night off for us. Matt, I’m not sure if you’ve been introduced to my sisters. These are Jill and Emma.”
He shook both of their hands. “Nice to officially meet you.” He glanced at the three of them. “Is it a special occasion? Someone’s birthday maybe?” He seemed to pick up on the sense of celebration.
Jill grinned. “Yes, we’re celebrating that Mandy’s divorce is final today.”
Matt’s eyes grew wide, and he seemed to choose his words carefully. “That is a milestone. Congratulations.” He waved the bartender over. “Their next round is on me.”
“You got it.” The bartender went off to make their drinks.
“Thank you. You didn’t have to do that,” Mandy said.
“It’s my pleasure. I won’t keep you ladies though. Continue your celebration. I see my brother just came in, so I’m off to meet him. Have a great night.”
As soon as he was out of earshot, Jill leaned in and spoke softly. “He’s clearly interested in you, Mandy. Just an FYI…keep it in mind.”
Mandy laughed. “Okay, I’ll keep it in mind.
” A few minutes later, she brought up another topic that they needed to discuss.
She thought they were all on the same page but wanted to make sure.
“Our year is up soon. Do you know what you want to do about Mimi’s Place?
Do you want to keep it or sell it? Emma, do you know what Paul wants to do? ”
Emma nodded. “We discussed it when we decided to move in together. We both want to keep Mimi’s Place. If you want to sell, we’ll find a way to buy you out, and I’ll move into his place. If you both want to keep it too, then we’ll probably get a bigger place together.”
“I don’t want to sell,” Mandy said. “Mimi’s Place has saved my sanity this past year. I’ve wanted something else to focus on for so long, and I really love it there. I want to try to expand our wedding business.”
“I love Mimi’s Place too, and I’d like to keep it but stay involved as more of a silent partner, like Grams was.
My place is in Manhattan with Billy, though I really have loved being here this past year.
And we both want to try to make sure we get back here more often, maybe for a few weeks every summer as well as occasional weekends. ”
Mandy smiled. “I think we could work that out. I think we need to toast to Grams. She knew what she was doing when she left us Mimi’s Place—especially with that yearlong condition.
She always loved Paul, and I know she’d be thrilled that he and Emma are together again.
And we all needed to spend more time together. It went by so fast.”
“It really did. Her diary was an inspiration,” Emma added. Mandy had given the diary back to Emma and Jill, and they’d both read it.
“And Matt is in the same business that Grampy was,” Jill said. “Maybe it’s a sign.”
Mandy laughed. “Stop matchmaking. Let’s raise our glasses to Grams.”
“To Grams and to Mimi’s Place,” Emma said.
“Cheers!” Jill clinked her glass against the others.
“And to helping our dreams come true,” Mandy added.
Thank you for reading The Nantucket Restaurant!
I hope you enjoyed this story. This book was inspired by over ten years of working in restaurants on Cape Cod, especially The Riverway Lobster House, where my mother worked for over twenty years and my younger sister also worked (though we were never there at the same time.) When it was slow, we used to sip coffee and daydream about how we’d do things if we owned a restaurant.
I also learned so much about cooking by paying attention in restaurant kitchens.
I can still picture Richard, he was the broiler cook for close to thirty years, as he put each order of fish in a metal pie pan, dusted it with butter and a sprinkling of crumbs and seasoning and a bit of water in the bottom to keep it moist.
If you enjoyed this book, you might enjoy Christmas at the Nantucket Restaurant which follows the festivities of the famous Nantucket Christmas Stroll.