Chapter Twenty-Three
“I wonder if we’ll ever know the truth,” Kit said. “I’ve run out of things that might have caused the split, but I don’t know if I’ll ever know for certain.”
Mary Gail brought their dinners, and for a moment, conversation stopped. Finally, Beth said, “This pot pie is the best I’ve ever had, and Mom made a mean one. If this is an example of the food they serve here, I say forget about stocking up on groceries. I say we eat our meals here. All of them.”
“That’s pretty much what I’ve been doing,” Kit reminded her. “If you are still here on Wednesday, we’ll come back for the meat loaf. Linda makes a killer meat loaf, only available on Wednesdays, and you have to be here really early because it sells out fast.”
“Listen to you, sounding like a true Tolerance-ite.” Abby laughed. “But I can do early dinner. I love meat loaf.”
“Another thing Mom did exceptionally well,” Beth recalled. “Oh, and remember Dad’s crab cakes? And his weekend breakfast extravaganzas?”
Beth and Kit discussed memories of favorite family dinners while Abby and Elly traded tales of their cheating partners. Benny fed himself mac and cheese, which he apparently liked because his dinner was his one and only focus. When he dropped his fork, Kit bent down for it.
“I’m so happy that you’re here,” Kit told her sister as she gestured Mary Gail for a new fork for Benny. “I’ve missed you and felt badly about taking the time away while you were having problems at the café and you’re trying out that new medication and—”
“And nothing. You’re where you need to be, and I couldn’t be happier to be here with you.
And as far as the café is concerned—what problems?
I did finally come to an agreement with my former employee—she who will no longer be named—and she’s agreed to make restitution over a period of time, and in turn, I have asked that the charges be dropped. ”
Kit paused as Mary Gail delivered the fork with a wink, then resumed. “Do you think the DA will do that?”
“I do. I already spoke with them. If she misses a payment, I can refile. So that’s taken care of.
I hired a few new employees, Claire and Andrea—and I think they’ll both work out.
They’re both experienced.” Beth took a few more bites of her dinner and turned the conversation to her lack of wilderness-appropriate clothing, sparking a discussion on hiking shoes and denim jackets.
When they returned to the inn, Elly showed Abby and Beth to their rooms on the second floor while Kit moved the laundry from the washers to the dryers.
Elly hadn’t exaggerated. The inn’s laundry facilities were impressive.
When she went up to her room, Benny followed her, climbed onto her bed, and curled up in the middle of it.
When Abby came looking for him, she found him almost asleep.
“Leave him,” Kit whispered. “He’s fine there.”
“Are you sure? ’Cause Elly just went downstairs for a bottle of wine and some glasses. He can sleep in my room.”
“I’ll pass on wine, and I’m sure Aunt Beth will as well.”
“Oh, right. Her medications. But still you can—”
“Nope. Besides, I’m tired. It’s been a busy week, and I was up early today. Benny’s fine right where he is. Go have a glass of wine with Elly.”
“If you’re sure . . .”
“I’m positive.”
“Okay, thanks, Mom. But if he wakes up . . .”
“I’m pretty sure I’ll know what to do.”
“About what?” Beth came into Kit’s room.
“About Benny if he wakes up. I was telling Mom—”
“Abigail, go.” Kit pointed toward the door.
Abby gave a quick hug to her mother, then one to her aunt. “See you in a while.”
“Where’s she going?” Beth asked.
“To have a few minutes to relax and share a bottle of wine with Elly. I’d say they’re both due a little time to relax.”
“Oh, look at that little guy. Honestly, he’s the cutest. Little Benny.” Beth slowly lowered herself to the bed and stretched out close to Benny.
Kit studied her sister’s face. Despite Beth’s apparent willingness to sit up and talk for a while, fatigue was in every line of her face. Kit pulled a pillow out from under the covers and placed it under Beth’s head.
“Don’t make me too comfortable,” Beth whispered through a yawn. “I might not leave.”
“That would be okay. We shared a bed when we were kids, remember? At the lake, before Mom got us the bunk beds?”
“I do. You always hogged the covers.” Another yawn.
“Oh, pot, have you met kettle?” Kit teased, and Beth laughed softly.
Kit took the throw from the bottom of the bed and tucked it around Beth and Benny.
“Seriously, Kit. I’ll fall asleep,” Beth protested, but didn’t move. When Kit didn’t respond, Beth said, “Maybe just for a minute . . .”
Kit smiled and turned off the overhead light and turned on the light in the bathroom, then closed the door until just a sliver of light shone through.
She sat in what had become her favorite chair near the window, and for a moment, she watched the sleeping woman and the child on her bed.
Clearly both Beth and Benny were exhausted. They’d had a big day.
There was laughter from Abby’s room across the hall, tentative before it erupted into raucous shrieks. The two young women were hysterical over something one of them had said, and Kit could hear them both talking and laughing at the same time.
Good for you, Abby. You deserve to have fun, to have friends you can laugh with over a glass of wine.
Most of Abby’s friends in Pennsylvania had drifted away after she’d married Evan.
In retrospect, Kit couldn’t blame them. He judged everyone who wasn’t him—including Abby and her family.
Kit couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard Abby laugh with such abandon, and the sound of it was balm on the wounds Kit had been nursing these past few months.
Her daughter’s divorce and her—well, she thought, call it what it was beginning to feel like—estrangement from Russ.
Plus Beth’s illness and the drama at the camp—it was all starting to weigh her down.
But for this one good moment, all was well in her world.
With tears in her eyes, she watched Beth and Benny sleep, and when she heard her daughter laugh again, she savored the sound.
Gratitude flooded her senses for the fact that Beth had felt well enough to make the trip to Maine, that they had these few days to spend together when who knew what the future might bring?
She was grateful that Abby had been strong enough to walk away from a man who was not worthy of her, of her sweetness and her goodness, grateful that she’d found a friend she could laugh with.
There’d been so little happiness and light in Abby’s life lately.
Kit was even grateful for her own indecision—what to do about the camp?
What to do about Russ and her floundering marriage?
Indecision was a totally new experience for her, but she was welcoming it.
It meant that she had choices, that she held her future in her own hands, that she could weigh her options and chart the course of the rest of her life without apology.
Funny how I’ve always had goals. I always knew where I wanted to go and how to get there.
For the first time in a very long time, I’m not sure of myself and what I want, and even more surprising, I’m okay with that.
More than okay. For now, the peaceful sleep of my sister, the innocence of my grandson, the pure joy of my daughter’s laughter . . . is enough for me.
While it wasn’t one of their father’s breakfast extravaganzas, when they all gathered in the inn’s kitchen in the morning, somehow they managed to pull off a delicious meal.
Kit made waffles in the inn’s extra-large waffle maker, while Elly made a fruit sauce of frozen blueberries, strawberries, and peaches cooked down and thickened just a bit with a little cornstarch. There were no leftovers.
Kit and Abby went into the laundry room and removed everything from the dryer, then folded and packed up the now-clean sheets and blankets. When they came back into the kitchen, Beth was on FaceTime.
“Oh, wait, here’s your mom now.” Beth handed the phone to Kit. “Guess who.”
“Hello, son. What’s going on?”
“I was just checking in with Aunt Beth,” he said.
“Everything okay?”
“Everything is fine. I wanted her to know she could stay a little longer if she wanted to.”
Kit put the phone on speaker. “That’s entirely up to her. I love having her here.”
“Don’t you love having me here, too?” Abby faux-pouted.
“Hey, is that my lovely sister?” Ned asked.
Abby grabbed the phone. “Hello, Baker Boy. What’s new?”
“Wait, who was that?” Ned asked quickly.
Abby made a face. “Who was who?”
He lowered his voice as if forgetting he was on speaker. “The redhead. Next to Mom?”
“Oh, that’s Elly. She’s my new friend.” Abby linked an arm around Elly’s shoulders and said, “Say hello to my brother. His name is Ned.”
Elly waved and said, “Hello, Abby’s brother. And Kit’s son. And Beth’s nephew.”
“Elly’s family owns the inn we stayed in last night,” Abby told him. “She’s the funniest and funnest person I know.”
“I thought I was the funniest person you knew.” Ned tried to look hurt. “Oh, jeez, gotta go. The line for coffee’s getting out of control. I’ll talk to you all later.”
“So that was Ned.” Elly started clearing the table.
“Yeah.” Abby’s eyes narrowed, as if measuring Elly for . . . something. “You should meet him.”
“I suppose I will someday if you all come back. Though with your mom selling the camp, I don’t know why you would.”
“We’d come back to see you,” Kit assured her. “We’d come back to stay at the inn.”
“And go up to camp to swim and fish and—” Beth stopped in the middle of her sentence.
“How awkward would that be?” Abby muttered. “Our name on the door but someone else owning it.”
Kit watched them both but said nothing.
They all helped clean up the kitchen, and when it was time to head out to the camp, the bed linens all packed into Kit’s car, Abby hugged Elly.
“I think I want you to come back to Pennsylvania with me. You’re the friend I didn’t know I needed,” she said.
“Nah, makes more sense for you to move up here.” Elly hugged her back. “I still have to finish college and my mom isn’t about to let me out of my first-mate duties, which will be starting up as soon as the semester is over.”
“I’ll see you before we leave, I’m sure.” Abby loaded Benny into the car seat.
“Elly, thanks for the hospitality.” Kit hugged her as well. She wanted to say more, like, Thanks for befriending my kid, and for helping her find her laughter again, but she swallowed back the words and said simply, “I’ll definitely be seeing you. I’ll be around for a while longer.”
“Let me know if you need anything, or if for any reason you want to come back for a night or two.” Elly turned to Beth. “It was great to meet you. I hope I’ll see you again.”
“Of course you will.”
Abby got in behind the wheel of their rental car, while Beth climbed into the back and Kit sat in the front seat.
Kit waved goodbye to Elly, who stood in the parking lot and watched them drive away.