by Nancy Thayer
They were silent for a few moments, and then Jane inhaled deeply. “I talked to Scott about children and he’s being a real shit. We got into a terrible fight—in a restaurant, so I didn’t shout or throw things. It’s true, when we married we agreed we wouldn’t have children. But I’ve changed my mind. And Scott won’t even think about it. Honestly, he is so anal, so meticulous, so set in routine—”
“Pot, kettle,” Felicity said.
“All right, I am, too. I admit it. But you can’t do the kind of work we do without being fussy and exacting.”
“Okay, let’s think about this. Would you stop working if you had a baby?”
“Of course, for a while. Then maybe I’d work part-time. It means we won’t have as much money, but truthfully? We’re not paupers.”
“Not to get into details, and please don’t tell me how much money you make or I’m afraid I’d either kill you or drown myself right now, but could you live on only Scott’s salary?”
“Not in New York. Not the way we want to live. Believe me, I’ve thought about this. Plus, I’m not sure I want to work only part-time. I am sure I don’t want to stop working. I love what I do and I’m good at it. But when I see you holding little Luke after his bath, he smells so sweet, he’s just lovely, and Alice, well, she’s a pistol! Clever and beautiful. And I think, I want one of those.”
As they turned back toward the house, Felicity wrapped one arm around Jane and hugged her. She was almost ready to burst into tears at the thought of her brilliant, super-smart, hard-shelled sister expressing such sweet emotions about Felicity’s children. Swallowing hard, she said, “But you know, Jane, it isn’t always like that. It’s never getting a good night’s sleep and worrying constantly and dealing with more vomit than you saw even at college frat parties.”
Jane burst out laughing. “Thanks for that image, Felicity! And please don’t say all this to Scott, not that he’ll ever talk to you or anyone about it. Okay, that’s what’s going on with me. It’s not going to be solved soon, if ever, but it helps to talk about it. Now, what’s your problem?”
“It’s Ingrid,” Felicity confided gloomily. “Noah’s secretary, assistant, whatever she’s called. Noah didn’t come here this weekend because the office was giving Ingrid a birthday party. I know she’s important for keeping his work on schedule, but she’s so possessive of Noah. Half the time, when I phone Noah, Ingrid answers and tells me he’s too busy to talk, she’ll take a message. I want to say, I’ll give you a message, bitch.”
“How old is she?”
“I’m not sure. Somewhere in her twenties, I guess.”
“So, young. Is she pretty?”
Felicity shrugged. “I’m way prettier. But yeah, I guess she’s okay-looking.” She abruptly halted in the sand. “Do you think Noah’s having an affair with her?”
“How could I know? You should talk to him about it. But also, you should google ‘office wife.’ That’s become a real phenomenon. Actually, it probably has always been a problem. I’ve heard about it for years. The office wife knows all the daily details and trials and successes the man goes through with work. She shares all the in-jokes the wife doesn’t even know about. She makes life easier for the man at work. Think about it. When he comes in for the day, she hands him his coffee, notices his new haircut, and says she’ll deal with the call to the unhappy lawyer. Or whatever. She protects him. She makes a sweet, comfy nest for her boss. That’s her job.”
They began walking again. Felicity said, “I see. And when Noah comes home to me, he’s got two noisy children, a leaking bathroom pipe, and a pile of household bills. But how can I change that? Noah wanted children as much as I did. He even wants more.”
“I don’t know. Maybe you should get a sitter and go on a date at least once a week.”
“Yeah, we used to do that…good idea, Jane.”
“And maybe you should hire cleaning help, once a week, so you’re not so overwhelmed with housework. Maybe you could get out and treat yourself to a massage once a week, or a mani-pedi.”
Felicity laughed. “I like the idea about cleaning help, but trust me, I’m not going to be in the market for a mani-pedi for a few more years. I’m lucky to find time to wash my hair.” Spontaneously, she took her sister’s hand. “I feel so much better after talking to you, Jane. I feel less gloomy about it all.”
“Me, too. And all this helps, too.” She gestured toward the ocean, the waves catching flashes of light from the setting sun.
fifteen
Sunday morning Patrick and Scott drove to the Downyflake and Cumberland Farms, returning with bags of doughnuts and cinnamon rolls and newspapers and magazines. Felicity and Poppy settled their children at the table with orange juice and pastries, then allowed them to play outside in the sprinkler while the adults sat on the deck, sipping coffee and reading. Poppy and Felicity were showing one another the newest styles in fashion and snorting with laughter, while Alison sipped her coffee and smiled at the sight of her daughter and David’s becoming friends.
And then, bloodcurdling shrieks came from the yard.
“MOMMY!” Luke screamed.
All the adults rushed down the steps to find the four children in a tug-of-war over a large, deflated ride-on rubber whale.
“It’s mine!” Luke screamed.
“No, it’s mine!” Hunter yelled.
“Our daddy got it for us last year when we came here,” Daphne bellowed.
“But you never even noticed it,” Alice shrieked. “It was stuck under the steps and if Luke hadn’t crawled under to get it, you wouldn’t even know it was there.”
“I saw it!” Luke cried. “I did! I crawled under the steps! I got it out!”
“Children, children!” Alison tried to get between the two boys. “Calm down. We can sort this out, we can make this fair for everyone.”
“How are you going to do that?” Poppy snapped, hands on her hips.
“They could share,” Alison suggested. “They could take turns.”
“NO! It’s my whale!” Hunter yelled, and with one final tug, he wrenched the long black rubber mass from Luke’s hands.
Luke tried to get hold of it again. Hunter raised his arms and slammed Luke in the face with the whale.
“Ow!” Luke screamed, falling to the ground.
“Oh, my God,” Felicity cried. “Luke’s bleeding!” She knelt over her son. “Sweetie, let Mommy look at your forehead.”
“No way can he be bleeding,” Poppy said officiously. “That thing is only a piece of rubber.”
“But it has two hard plastic tubes for blowing in the air,” Patrick told her quietly. “I think one of the tubes made the wound.”
Poppy shot daggers at her husband. “It’s hardly a wound.”
Jane took a moment to check out her husband’s reaction to the quarrel. Scott had backed away from the group and stood watching with amazement, as if he’d never seen children fight before.
Alison took charge. “Felicity, take Luke and wash his cut. We’ve got ointment and Band-Aids in the downstairs bathroom. Patrick, would you please take the whale and fold it up again and return it to its home under the porch?”
“But it’s mine,” Hunter protested, bursting into tears.
“Hunter should apologize to Luke for hitting him,” Jane said.
“He didn’t mean to,” Poppy argued. “He pulled it away and it was simply physics that caused the object to fly back. Hunter wasn’t aiming at Luke.”
“No one gets the whale right now,” Alison pronounced sternly. “It’s time the children went down to the beach for a swim.”
Poppy glared at Alison.
Alison glared right back at her future daughter-in-law. “We should have one last swim. In a few hours we have to shower and pack and catch planes back to the real world.”
Patrick agreed. “She’s r
ight. Come on, Daphne, Hunter. I’ll race you to the water.”
Poppy stood frowning.
Hunter dropped the whale and ran off, whooping. Luke gave the whale a long, covetous look. He saw his mother’s face, and his grandmother’s face, and his little shoulders sagged and he stayed away from the whale.
Felicity was proud of her son. “Come on,” she said, taking his hand. “We’ll look at your cut and then I’ll swim with you. You, too, Alice.”
Jane started to head for the water. She stopped, turning to her husband. “Aren’t you coming in? For one last swim?”
“No, thanks,” Scott said. “I’m going to shower and start packing.”
“I’ll go down with you, Jane,” Alison said. “I could use a nice cooling dip right now.”
* * *
—
As they flew back to New York, Jane and Scott didn’t talk. Scott wore his earphones whenever he flew, with his phone set to the latest news or a podcast. He wore his earphones in the taxi to their apartment, too.
That was fine with Jane. She knew Scott’s habits well. She had plenty of habits of her own and was uncomfortable breaking them. So she unpacked both their suitcases, started a load of laundry, and set her laptop on the kitchen table so she could check her email. She ordered in Thai from their favorite place and put together a small salad. She opened a bottle of pinot grigio. They would eat at six o’clock tonight, because Scott always watched 60 Minutes, which came on at seven.
When the food delivery arrived, Scott said, “Smells wonderful.”
So that was promising. Scott was in a good mood and eating would make him feel more relaxed. She kept his wineglass topped up.
As they ate, they idly discussed the latest news. When they were finished, she took a deep breath, said a little prayer, and approached the children topic with her husband.
“Did you enjoy Nantucket?” she asked.
Scott shrugged. “Lying on the beach is not my idea of fun. You know that. But it was great to see your mother again, and Patrick seems likes a good guy. I don’t know how he can stand being married to Poppy. She’s such a ballbuster.”
“What? No! She’s just hormonal.” She started to add: Because she’s pregnant. She bit her tongue.
“And Patrick’s naturally laid-back. He’s all about sports. He can name the stats on any of the Patriots or Red Sox for the past five years. I like him.”
Encouraged by this, Jane said, “I know. And Daphne and Hunter are darling, aren’t they?”
“Darling? God, no. They’re little monsters.”
Jane blinked. “Oh, I wouldn’t say—”
“Well, I would. I saw Hunter aim that whale at Luke. That’s bratty and mean. And neither one of his parents disciplined him.”
Jane tried to explain. “It’s hard when so many family members are around. They probably didn’t want to embarrass Hunter by chastising him in front of everyone. Plus, Luke likes to tussle with Hunter. It makes him feel like a big boy.”
“Well, I hope it put the idea of children for us out of your head. I don’t have the patience for that kind of thing. And neither do you.”
“Oh, but, Scott, didn’t you love watching them when they were sweet and not fighting? And that was most of the time. Daphne and Alice were so cute playing together down on the beach, making sand houses and people out of rocks.”
Scott stared at Jane. “Sometimes I feel like I don’t know who you are.”
In defeat, Jane said, “I’m going to take a shower and go to bed.”
* * *
—
Noah had said he didn’t have time to drive down to Hyannis to pick up Felicity and the kids at the ferry. Alison had shown Felicity how she and her children could get home without the expense of flying to Boston—and it was quite an expense. Alice and Luke were up for an adventure, so they took the fast ferry to Hyannis, the bus to Boston, the T to Belmont, and a taxi to their house. Luke was goggle-eyed every moment of the trip, loving all the different vehicles and their sounds and vibrations. Alice read a book.
Felicity relaxed, replaying the weekend. The walk on the beach with Jane had been the high point of this trip. It had been a long time since she’d felt so close to her sister. Really, had she ever been so close to Jane? Growing up, they had never confided in each other. Jane had been almost unapproachable, busy with her own friends and her ambitions. Felicity had been thrilled to be drum majorette and queen of the senior prom, and yet all the time she’d been aware that Jane had been almost amused by such glories. And Felicity had been guilty, too, consumed with being the prettiest, the most popular, the little queen bee of her own school hive. Jane’s academic achievements were boring.
When Felicity married Noah and the children came along, Jane had been super generous, sending engraved sterling silver toothbrush cups to celebrate their births and wonderful, expensive birthday and Christmas gifts. Felicity had dutifully sent pictures of the kids, assuming they’d be of little interest to Jane, but now Felicity began to think that those photographs and the informal photos she emailed Jane might have inspired Jane to want children of her own. This weekend, Jane, perfect elegant Jane, seemed to enjoy Felicity’s imperfect (but adorable) children. In turn, Felicity had provided a good sounding board for Jane and her desire to have babies of her own.
They were closer than they had ever been before. Could it be that in growing up they had cast off some of their own jealousies and small-mindedness? It was as if the years had worn away their defenses, insecurities, and differences, and now they were softer, open to the possibilities of a true friendship. Felicity smiled to herself. Sometimes the workings of the world astonished her.
* * *
—
The taxi stopped in front of their house. She paid the driver, who lifted out the luggage, and followed her children as they ran to the house. A car she didn’t recognize, a red convertible, was parked across the street, and Felicity idly wondered who in the world was visiting her neighbor, an older, and rather eccentric, woman.
She opened her door. The children flew inside, screaming, “Daddy Daddy Daddy!” They always greeted their father with amazed adulation, as if he’d just beamed down from Mars.
Felicity set her duffel on the hall floor and stepped into her living room.
Noah was on the sofa. Ingrid was seated next to him.
Felicity’s heart thumped so hard her entire body jerked.
In the five seconds it took her children to throw themselves at their father, Felicity noted first, that Noah and Ingrid were not touching. They weren’t quite close enough to touch. Second, piles of paper towered on the coffee table, and they each had a Sharpie in hand. Third, Noah was wearing his reading glasses, which indicated that he was working.
“You’re home early,” Noah remarked from behind the tangle of his children’s enthusiastic embraces.
“We had an adventure!” Luke told his father. “We went on the bus! We went on the T!”
In his excitement, Luke kicked Ingrid on the leg. Ingrid flinched but said nothing. Also, she didn’t move away. She sat there, smiling at Felicity.
“Children, settle down,” Felicity ordered. “Poor Daddy can’t breathe.” As Alice and Luke climbed off Noah, Felicity approached him and leaned down to kiss his mouth. “Hello, darling.”
Noah was surprised enough to smile. Luke and Alice made gagging noises. While Noah was recovering, Felicity smoothly said, “Luke, Alice, let’s have some manners, please. Say hello to Daddy’s assistant, Ingrid. You’ve met Ingrid before.”
“Hello, Ingrid,” Alice and Luke chimed together.
“Hello, Luke, Alice,” Ingrid responded. “Did you have fun on the island?”
Luke screamed a long “Yes!” while Alice reported, “It was excellent.” Picking up her father’s hand, she said, “We missed you, Daddy. Promise you’ll come next tim
e!”
“Promise promise promise!” Luke echoed, jumping up and down.
“We’ll see.”
Felicity picked up her wriggling son. “So sorry, Ingrid, about the interruption. I can tell you and Noah are working. Kids, come on, we’ve got to unpack your bags and put stuff in the laundry.” No one is as cool as I am, Felicity told herself, leading her children from the room.
Of course she was shocked, jealous, furious to find Ingrid sitting on the sofa with Noah on a Sunday afternoon! Angry energy boiled up inside her and she wanted to strangle them both. She wanted to scream and hit something. But she was going to control herself. The best thing she could do was to act as if it didn’t matter a bit to her that Ingrid had come to the house on a weekend when she, Felicity, Noah’s wife, was away.
But oh, it mattered.
* * *
—
David was in Terminal C, waiting for Alison when her plane arrived from Nantucket.
“How was it?” he asked, after he kissed her thoroughly.
“Like Masterpiece Theatre occasionally interrupted by Shrek,” Alison told him, laughing.
They walked to the short-term parking garage, found David’s Lexus, and for a few moments they embraced and kissed like a pair of teenagers. Then they settled in for the drive.
Alison put her hand on David’s thigh. “I missed you.”
“I missed you. Tell me everything.”
Alison paused, gathering her thoughts. “Scott was a pleasant surprise. He helped with the shopping and the cooking. The children had fun together, most of the time, though we did have a couple of meltdowns. I’ll tell you about those later. How was your weekend? Did you accomplish what you were planning?”
“I did. I caught up on work. And I saw my lawyer and changed my will.”
Alison blinked. “Oh? Want to talk about it?”
“Why not.” David deftly steered through the lane changes. “It’s simple. As it was before, the company and its assets will be divided between Poppy and Ethan. My own personal money, including whatever proceeds come from the sale of my Boston apartment, goes solely to you. The Nantucket house is divided among Poppy, Ethan, and you.”