“You’re here!” she called.
“Mother,” Alicia said, “you haven’t been using the sunblock I gave you. Look at that brown spot on your face! It’s bigger than ever.”
“It’s lovely to see you, too,” Gram responded, ignoring her daughter’s remark and hugging her.
Ari stood back, watching them.
Ari’s mother was slender and attractive, with her brown hair frosted monthly to keep streaks of blond brightening her face. Her mother worried a great deal about her looks. She went to an exercise class three times a week. She ran three times a week, and had convinced her husband to build a home gym in the basement with a treadmill and weights and a television on the wall just like the one Gram had installed in her Nantucket basement.
Ari’s mother wore one of her Nantucket-appropriate dresses of small green and pink checks complete with a pink silk scarf and a handsome and expensive Nantucket lightship basket hanging over her arm, Queen Elizabeth–style. Gram wore white slacks—a sure sign of summer—and a long denim shirt with the sleeves rolled up. The top two buttons were undone so everyone could see the colorful beaded necklace Ari had made for her in fourth grade. Gram’s style was looser, freer, and even though she weighed more than Alicia, she was more attractive. Alicia’s goal seemed to be flat, front and back.
Ari’s father wore khakis and a navy blue crew neck sweater. Ari wore white jeans and a black cashmere sweater. The first week of June in Nantucket could be cold.
Ari had to admit it. All in all, they were an attractive family. Her mother deserved some gratitude for making all those home-cooked meals with lots of carefully sourced veggies and lean meat and never very much sugar. Ari reminded herself to thank her, if she ever found a moment in her life when she wasn’t mad at her.
They filed into the house, through the large hall, and into the long living room with the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean.
A man was standing by the windows. He turned to greet them all. “You’re here at last!”
Ari saw her mother’s shoulders tense up.
“Hi, Uncle Cliff,” Ari called, and walked the length of the room to kiss his cheek. He was square-jawed and ruggedly handsome, with his thick dark hair and muscular frame. He played squash, indoor tennis, and basketball all winter when he wasn’t down in Florida boating and swimming. He had a smooth tan and a flashing white smile. Ari was sure he’d had his teeth professionally whitened.
Uncle Cliff gave Ari a one-armed hug. He strode across the room to kiss his sister on the cheek, and whispered something in her ear. Alicia gave her brother a grateful smile, and Ari knew at once that Uncle Cliff had not yet revealed the offer for the house.
So for a while, they could all be in a good mood.
Maybe not for long, though.
“I’ll bring in our luggage,” Ari’s father said. “Hello, Cliff. Good to see you.”
Uncle Cliff shook hands with Ari’s father. “Good to see you. I’ll help with the luggage.” As he picked up his sister’s Louis Vuitton suitcase, he pretended he could scarcely get it off the ground. He said, “I see you’re traveling light, as always.”
Ari’s mother retorted, “I never know what the weather will be on this island.”
Ari’s father snorted out an ironic noise. Cliff grinned.
Eleanor moved into the group. “Come sit down on the patio. It’s still slightly cool, but I’ve made coffee. You all know where the Scotch and vodka are.”
Ari’s father and Uncle Cliff bumped into the house with the luggage. The family bustled about, wandering off to use the bathroom, pouring coffee or drinks. Alicia returning to the living room to lift a cashmere throw from the sofa and wrap it around her shoulders. “Still a bit cold,” she said with a smile to the others. Finally, they were all seated on the white wicker furniture around the patio table.
“It’s gorgeous here, Gram,” Ari said. “Today the ocean is almost a mirror.”
“So your crossing was good, then?” Eleanor asked.
“A bit bumpy,” Alicia said. She was leaning forward, pouring just a smidgen of milk into her coffee. “Really, I don’t know how you tolerate it, the entire trouble of getting to Nantucket. Being at the boat early or missing it, dealing with the racket of other people’s dogs and screaming babies and teenage boys with their donkey laughter.”
To Ari’s surprise, Eleanor didn’t answer right away. She stirred her own cup of coffee, staring out at the ocean, thinking.
“You know what,” Eleanor said abruptly, but calmly, “let’s get right to the point of this visit, okay?”
Ari’s mother drew back, as if insulted. “Mother, it’s your birthday party. You invited us. Oh, dear, have you forgotten you invited us?” She put her hand to her throat, shocked, worried. Pretending.
Ari looked down at her hands. Her mother and grandmother often participated in these squabbles. It didn’t disconcert Ari. She had plenty of similar squabbles with her mother, and had decided it was a mother-daughter tendency. When the silence continued, Ari glared at Uncle Cliff. It was so like him to hang back during difficult moments, even if he was the cause. Ari had heard her mother and uncle arguing about their mother.
“Mother loves you more than she loves me,” Alicia had complained, “but I’m the one who has given her a grandchild! I’m the one who visits the most often, so that Mother knows she’s not alone in the world.”
“Mothers always love their sons more than their daughters,” Uncle Cliff had answered lightly. “It’s a male-female thing. In the genes.”
Now Eleanor replied, her voice gentle, “Of course I haven’t forgotten, darling. I’m not quite senile yet. I’ve made reservations for us tonight at Le Languedoc.” She sipped her coffee. “But I’m guessing there’s another reason for the visit. It’s seldom I get to have all of you at once.”
Ari glared at her uncle, mentally urging him to
