Page 52 of Summer Light on Nantucket
Blythe chuckled. “We only did it for you.” After a moment, she said, “Of course, Kate’s kids are your grandchildren, too.”
Celeste nodded. “Yes. But Chip is twenty-two and Melissa is twenty. They have their own lives, good, busy lives, off-island.”
“Kate must be so happy with how they’re turning out.”
Celeste agreed. “True.” After a moment’s silence, Celeste said, “But to your concern about me living alone. When I was younger, like your daughters, even like you, I only thought about how I looked to other people. Clothes, hairstyle, exercise outfits. Now I really care less about that—I do try to look, at the very least, not insane—but now I find I care more about lookingout.I don’t just mean I like watching people, because of course I do, and I enjoy celebrity news as much as anyone. But I prefer sitting with the world. Listening to the wind. Watching birds sing and squabble. The way the sun comes through my chandelier and makes dancing rainbows on the wall. Einstein said, ‘Either everything’s a miracle or nothing is a miracle.’ ” Celeste laughed lightly. “I probably sound senile to you.”
“No, Celeste, not at all!” Blythe put her hand on the older woman’s arm. “The other day I was thinking about Nantucket light. How it’s different from light anywhere else in the world.”
“Oh, yes. I agree.” Celeste took Blythe’s hand. “Tell me, what else have you been thinking about?” She peered at Blythe with a smile.
Blythe stared down at their two hands. Celeste’s skin was soft and spotted with brown age spots. Her knuckles were swollen from arthritis, but her nails were painted a pale pink, and she wore her heavy diamond engagement ring and wedding ring on one hand, and an opal surrounded by diamonds on the other.
Catching her gaze, Celeste said, “I know. The opal ring is stunning. Kate has insisted that she’ll inherit it, and she hints that she doesn’t want to wait until I die because I’m so obviously not ready to go yet. Most of my jewelry will go to you and your daughters and Kate’s daughter. I’m sure I have enough to go around.” She gently pulled her hand away from Blythe’s and held it up, turning it this way and that to watch the fire opal flash.
“I don’t wear my engagement ring and wedding ring anymore.” Blythe looked at her own hands, tanned and ringless.
Celeste chuckled. “Of course not. You’re divorced.” Celeste paused. “Now. I’m happy to hear that you have a new man in your life.”
Blythe froze, torn between telling Celeste about Aaden and fearing it was the wrong thing to do. “You mean Nick Roth?”
“Absolutely. I saw the sparks fly when you met him after dinner at the yacht club.”
Blythe relaxed. “Yes, Nick is a friend of Sandy’s husband. I’ve spent some time with him. He’s very nice, and he coaches soccer and teaches history at a high school near where my children go. I find him…very attractive.”
“Take some advice from an old woman. Go out with Nick Roth, if he’s interesting to you at all. You don’t have to be madly in love with the fellow. You can have fun. You can even have some pleasurable sex. When you’re my age, you’ll be glad for the memories.”
Blythe knew her face had gone red. She wanted to blurt out that she wasseeingboth NickandAaden. And it was so confusing, but also kind of fabulous. Two attractive men in her life?
Fun?
Pleasurable sex?
Really?
She didn’t know if she could actually have a relationship with a man. Ever since she held her first infant in her arms, she’d had a powerful fear caging all her thoughts. As a mother, she was responsible forthe health and welfare of her children, and she believed if she ignored that in order to please herself, she would set a chain of events in motion that would somehow hurt her children. She knew it was irrational, but she couldn’t shake the idea.
Celeste leaned forward. “While I’m so full of advice, I’ll share one more insight with you. You’ll discover when your children grow up and become adults that you will love them, but you might not like them.”
Blythe laughed. “Oh, Celeste, I’ve already disliked my children more times than I can remember. And they have certainly disliked me.”
Both women went silent when they heard Holly and Daphne enter the kitchen. Arguing.
“Holly, gerbils eatinsects.”
Holly sniffed. “You always know everything, butmygerbils are different. They are sea gerbils. Just look at my book, please?”
“Fine. But don’t get mad at me if I criticize it.”
The two girls stomped up the stairs, their voices trailing behind them.
“Oh dear,” Blythe said. “Do you think Holly feels inferior to Daphne?”
“Of course,” Celeste answered easily. “Daphne is older and whip smart. But Daphne is respecting Holly’s work by discussing it. And isn’t it a good thing for Daphne to have a younger sister who admires her?”
Before Blythe could answer, Teddy came through the house, yelling, “Mom! What’s for dinner?”
Blythe smiled. “He doesn’t even know if I’m in the house.”
