ChapterNine
The Edgartown Round-the-Island Race was set for that Saturday. It was a world-famous sailing race, drawing in some of the grandest names in the sailing world from all seven oceans. According to the paper strewn across the breakfast table at the Remington House, that year, Martha’s Vineyard was prepared for one thousand five hundred sailboats, which would draw in immense crowds of tourists. It was an essential weekend for the tourism industry on the island and, for Elsa and her children, a particularly nostalgic one. Aiden had been a remarkable sailor, often coming in the top three within the huge pack of boats. It was sometimes difficult to shove the memories aside to make space for new ones.
This year, Bruce Holland, Cole, and Henry all planned to participate in the race. Elsa, Janine, and Nancy had prepared the three of them a beautiful feast for the night before, lobster with fresh bread. The family had eaten around the porch table, where they often escaped in the wake of the robbery. It was sometimes depressing to sit in the large house, surrounded by emptiness. Of this, Nancy had said several times, “We really need to start filling in these gaps.” But none of them had gotten up the strength.
“You ready?” Nancy called from the foyer. “Carmella just pulled in.”
Elsa sipped the last of her morning coffee, grabbed her spring jacket, and fled toward the front door. Carmella’s car buzzed in the driveway. Upstairs, Janine walked around, grabbing her last essentials for the day ahead.
Once in the car, Janine handed Elsa some extra-grade suntan lotion as she splayed white cream across her cheeks.
“You don’t need to worry about Elsa,” Carmella joked as she drove toward the docks. “She’s probably already SPF 50-ed herself.”
Elsa grinned. “You know me too well, Carm.”
“And if you know me at all, you know I forgot all about sun cream,” Carmella joked.
“I got you covered, girl!” Janine called from the back seat.
Since Elsa, Carmella, and Nancy were seasoned islanders, they knew to drive to downtown Edgartown a good two hours before the race was set to start. Parking spots were still few and far between, forcing them to scour the streets for a full fifteen minutes before Carmella managed to tuck her car between two big pickups.
“Killer parallel parking skills, Carm,” Elsa quipped.
“A rare compliment from my big sister.” Carmella gave Elsa a crooked smile as she cut the engine. “I’ll have to write that one down in my diary.”
“You girls. Can’t you just get along for once?” Nancy teased.
The words were a subtle dig, harkening back to the very recent days when Carmella and Elsa hadn’t exactly been the best of friends. Now, with Carmella married with a baby on the way and Elsa with a brand-new boyfriend, both blossomed with the sort of happiness that allowed compassion, forgiveness, and empathy.
“Well, it’s one of the most iconic celebrations the island ever puts on,” Janine began as she stepped into the rays of late-June sunshine. “You know what that means?”
“She means it’s time for wine,” Carmella hissed inside the car, smearing white cream across her forehead, cheeks, nose, and upper arms.
Janine gestured toward a collection of food and beverage kiosks that lined the Edgartown boardwalk. “If you build it, they will come.”
“I didn’t know you liked baseball movies, Janine,” Elsa teased, remembering one of Aiden’s all-time favorites,Field of Dreams.
“Oh, don’t worry. I don’t. I just used to like falling asleep during Jack’s favorite movies, catching the endings, and repeating whatever silly lines I remembered to irritate him,” Janine said, speaking for the first time in quite a while about her late ex-husband.
Jack Potter had been the son of an oil tycoon, given Janine the world, and then had a very public affair with her best friend, Maxine. Since then, Jack had died, Maxine and Janine had mended their friendship, and Maxine had moved to the island. It was a truly strange yet beautiful story, one that seemed, to Elsa, “stranger than fiction.”
“Now that I’m with Henry, we only watch very artistic documentaries that take place in countries I’ve never heard of,” Janine continued as they headed toward the wine kiosk.
“Sounds heavy,” Carmella returned.
“Henry thinks all movies should broaden your mind,” Janine added as she sifted through her wallet for cash. “Jack thought that all movies should be about sports. What does Bruce like to watch, Elsa?”
“The other night, I caught him watching,My Cousin Vinny,” Elsa replied.
“So good! I love Marisa Tomei,” Nancy said.
“So, I take it that Bruce, your criminal lawyer boyfriend, also likes watching movies about lawyers?” Carmella teased.
“Sign me up,” Nancy said. “I would watchLaw and Orderfive hours a day if Alyssa didn’t tell me it was rotting my brain.”
The women chuckled.
“Speaking of Alyssa, where did our girls get off to?” Elsa asked Janine. “Mallory said they’d be here by now.”