“Is Billy coming here this weekend?” Mandy thought Jill had mentioned that he might be coming for a visit soon.
“He is. And after that, the next time I go to New York, we’re going to tell the office that we’re together.”
“Really? Are you sure about that?” Mandy thought it still seemed soon.
“It’s been almost six months now. We both think it’s time and I don’t think it’s going to be a shock to some people in the office.”
“Well, good then. You can celebrate with after-work drinks.”
Jill laughed. “I’m sure we will. I think they’ll be happy for us. We still work well together, so nothing is changing.”
Emma turned her attention to the two of them while Paul was deep in conversation with Gary and Jason.
“How are things going with your therapist? Are you still seeing her?” Emma asked.
Mandy nodded. “I really like her a lot. We meet every other week now. It’s good to have someone to talk things through.”
“You can always talk to us too,” Jill reminded her. “Have you made any decisions on what you want to do about Cory yet?”
Mandy bit her lip. Just thinking about it stressed her out. “I still keep hoping the whole situation will go away. Which I know is silly. I guess I’ve been avoiding doing anything. I know I probably need to at least talk to a lawyer soon and learn what my options are.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” Jill agreed.
“Do you know of anyone to call?” Emma asked.
“I do. There’s a woman who is the mother of one of the girls in Brooke’s class. She’s a divorce lawyer and I really like her. I was thinking I might talk to her at some point.”
“What about Cory?” Jill asked. “Is he still asking to come back?”
Mandy nodded. “Every time I talk to him about the kids. I think he thinks one of these times I’ll say yes if he just keeps asking.”
Jill said nothing, but the expression on her face said everything and Mandy laughed out loud. “I know, he’s a real piece of work.”
“I heard from my lawyer yesterday, and my divorce will be final next week. Seems strange,” Emma said.
“Really? That’s a good thing, though, right?” Mandy asked. Emma didn’t talk much about her divorce and Mandy had no idea it was that close to being finalized.
“I suppose. I wasn’t in any hurry to do it, but Peter was. He wants to marry Tom.”
“Jeez.” Jill shook her head.
“I’m sorry, Emma. It’s a lousy situation for you,” Mandy said.
Emma sighed. “It was. I think I’m almost over it now. It will actually be a relief that it’s going to be finalized. I can close that chapter of my life and move on.”
Mandy nodded. “That’s a good way to think about it.” She wished that she had the same kind of clarity with her own situation. She knew she needed to start the divorce process, but she was still resisting it, and was not quite ready to go there yet.
Jill squeezed her arm. “Don’t feel any pressure to do anything you aren’t ready to do yet. If you want to talk to a lawyer, great. If you want to wait, that’s fine too. Whenever you’re ready.”
Mandy smiled gratefully. “Thank you. I’m getting there. Slowly.”
She’d been putting all of her energy into the restaurant these past few months and it had helped to keep her mind off Cory and their marriage. But she knew that soon, she needed to figure out what she wanted.
Mandy finished her glass of wine, said goodbye to the others and headed home. The kids were with Cory, so the house was quiet and peaceful. She changed into her most comfy pajamas, grabbed a good book and curled up in bed to read for a while. After a few pages, she drifted off to sleep and slept late the next morning.
She woke to the sound of the front door opening and Brooke and Blake’s voices as they ran upstairs to find her. She looked at the clock. She’d slept in, but it was still early, not quite nine. Cory didn’t usually bring them home this early.
Brooke and Blake ran into her bedroom and jumped on her bed.
“I can’t believe you’re still in bed!” Brooke exclaimed.
“Lazybones!” Blake said and giggled.
Mandy smiled. “You’re right. I slept in. I worked hard last night. What are you guys doing home so early? Did Dad have to work?”
Brooke nodded. “He said he had to go into the office. Daisy was going in with him.”
Mandy felt a chill run through her. “Daisy? Was she meeting your dad at the office, you mean?”
“No, she stayed over last night too. They were up late laughing. Daisy works with Daddy.”
Mandy nodded. “That’s right, she does. Was Patrick there too?” Patrick and Daisy had their own house on Nantucket, so she was pretty sure the answer was no.
“Just Daisy,” Brooke said.
Mandy decided to change the subject. “So, what do you two want to do today? I was thinking maybe we could go for a bike ride along the trail and stop for pizza at Oath after?”
Blake jumped up. “Can we go right now?”
Mandy laughed. “No. But soon, buddy. Give me a little time to get up and get ready.”
Later on, after a fun day riding bikes with the kids, and after they’d had dinner and gone to bed, Mandy called Cory.
He answered on the first ring and sounded pleasantly surprised to hear from her.
“Hey, Mandy, what’s up?”
Mandy cut right to the chase.
“Are you having a ‘discreet’ affair with Daisy now, too?”
There was a long, uncomfortable silence. Finally, Cory sighed.
“The kids told you she stayed over.”
“They did. What are you thinking, Cory? Daisy, of all people? Your partner’s wife? What will you do if he finds out?”
“He’s not going to find out. It’s just a bit of fun. It’s not serious for either of us.”
“I don’t care what it is, I really don’t. If you want to be that stupid, that’s your business. But I think we need to set some ground rules. I assumed it went without saying, but I don’t want you to bring any of these women around the kids. For the one or two nights a week that you see them, have the focus be on just them. It’s not fair and too confusing for them. They don’t understand what you’re doing, Cory.”
“I don’t understand it, either. If you let me come back, it won’t be an issue.”
Mandy sighed in disbelief. He was like a broken record that never stopped playing.
“Cory, I’ve made a decision. I’m meeting with a lawyer this week. I think it’s time we start discussing divorce.”
“Are you sure about that? I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make this work.”
Mandy laughed bitterly. “You mean like go to counseling? You said you’d do that, but I’ve mentioned it twice now and you’ve brushed me off.”
“If I agree to go to counseling, will you change your mind?”
Would she?
“No. I think we’re past that now. I’ll have my lawyer get in touch once we meet and decide how to move forward.”
He sighed. “Okay. Whatever you want to do, Mandy. I’ll support it.”
“I appreciate that.” At least he wasn’t going to be difficult. Mandy suspected Cory still didn’t believe the divorce would actually happen. But knowing he’d been with Daisy was the final straw. It was just too much for her to get past.
When she hung up with Cory, she fished through her purse until she found Taylor Nickerson’s business card. She was the divorce lawyer that Mandy was going to call first thing in the morning.
Chapter 25
Jill was used to the twice-monthly trips to Manhattan now, though two weeks ago, Billy had come to see her for a change and they’d had a great weekend. He was falling in love with Nantucket, too, and they’d talked about spending more time together there, maybe a full week vacation at some point. Both of them rarely took time off for vacation, but they both agreed it was something they should do
more often.
She rolled over and looked at Billy, who was still sound asleep in her bed. They’d stayed at her place last night and stopped for pizza at a local restaurant on the way home. Jill was a little nervous that today was the day they were planning to tell the office that they were an item. Billy said he’d do most of the talking, which was fine with her. She was happy for it to be out in the open and she didn’t think anyone was going to mind. She hoped not anyway.
She jumped in the shower and by the time she was out, Billy was up and drinking coffee in the kitchen.
He gave her a kiss on his way into the bathroom. “My turn.”
Jill drove and they reached the office a little before eight. They were the first ones there, but within minutes the rest of the team began arriving. It was a typical Friday, busy and loud and as usual, the day flew by.
At four, Billy came into the bull pen, the large open office where all the recruiters sat in their cubicles. He walked into the middle of the room, holding a bottle of champagne and looked around expectantly. Everyone quickly understood that he wanted their attention. Once everyone was off the phone, Billy smiled and held up the champagne.
“We have an announcement and something to celebrate today. Jill and I wanted to let you know something. You all know we’ve been friends, best friends for many years?” He looked around the room as people nodded.
“Well a few months back, we decided that maybe we wanted to be more than friends and we started dating.” He grinned. “So, we wanted to let you know that we’re officially an item. What do you think of that?” There was a moment of silence and then a chorus of congratulations. Jill was relieved that they all seemed to be happy for them.
But Billy wasn’t done yet.
“There’s something else that I wanted to do, here, in front of all of you. This company that Jill and I started brought us together and it just seems appropriate to do this here, too.” Billy set the champagne down, took a few steps closer to Jill and shocked her by getting down on one knee and pulling a small black box from his pocket. He opened it and held up a huge, shimmering square-cut diamond ring.
“Jill, we’ve been friends for a long time, and then business partners, and there’s no one else I’d rather have as a partner in life and love. Will you marry me?”
“Of course I will!”
He slid the ring onto her trembling finger while the room erupted in cheers and clapping.
“Billy, I can’t believe this,” she whispered as he pulled her in for a kiss.
“Believe it. You’re it for me, Jill. I can’t believe it took us so long to figure this out. I don’t want to wait any longer.”
Jill smiled. She felt the exact same way. “You’re crazy, but I love that about you. I can’t wait to marry you, Billy.”
Chapter 26
“Your sister Jill is on the phone. She needs to talk to you and Mandy immediately. Says it’s an emergency.” Gary looked concerned as he handed the phone to Emma. Mandy was on her way back to the reservations desk and Emma waved her over.
“Jills on the phone for both of us.”
“Is everything okay?” Mandy looked worried.
“I don’t know. Gary said it’s an emergency.”
Emma held the receiver so they could both hear. “Jill, is something wrong?”
Jill laughed. “No, nothing is wrong.”
“What’s the emergency then?”
“Well, it’s not every day that your sister gets engaged.”
Emma almost dropped the phone while Mandy squealed. “Engaged! Tell us everything.”
Jill told them about Billy’s big announcement, which was followed by a completely unexpected proposal.
“You had no idea he was going to do that?” Emma asked.
“None. We’d vaguely talked about getting married someday, but I thought it was a long way off.”
“Are you ready for it now?” Mandy asked.
“I’m thrilled. Couldn’t be happier. And I think we want to have the wedding at Mimi’s Place, maybe in six months or so. Can you help me with that?”
Mandy smiled. “Of course. We’ll give you an amazing wedding.”
“Thanks. You guys are the best. I had to call you right away.”
“What are you doing now?” Emma asked.
“We’re heading out for after-work drinks with the whole office. Billy’s buying.”
“That sounds fun. Congratulations again,” Emma said.
She hung up the phone and looked at her sister. “Wow. That was unexpected.”
“Very, but it make sense. Those two have really been together a lot longer than most before getting engaged.”
“That’s true.” She looked up as Paul walked out of the kitchen and headed her way. “Thanks again for switching shifts with me.” Emma was planning to cook dinner for Paul, to celebrate his birthday.
“No problem. Cory has the kids this weekend, so I’d just be sitting home alone.” Mandy smiled when Paul reached them. “Happy birthday, Paul.”
“Thanks.” He turned to Emma. “I’ll see you in about an hour.”
Emma wanted to make Paul’s birthday special, as he’d done for hers. She knew she wasn’t anywhere near his level of skill when it came to cooking, but there was one thing she knew how to make really well. Swordfish was also Paul’s favorite fish, so she picked up two center cuts from Trattel’s seafood. When Paul came over, he watched with interest while she worked. She did it the way she’d learned in the restaurant on the Cape many years ago. Richard, the cranky broiler cook that had been there forever, had a magical touch with seafood and he walked her through his method.
Each piece of fish went into its own aluminum pie plate. She spread a thin layer of mayonnaise over the tops of the fish and then a dusting of seasoned breadcrumbs. The last step was to pour a quarter inch of water in the bottom of the pan to keep the fish moist. She slid the pans under the broiler and added a tin foil packet with asparagus she’d tossed with lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper. For a starch, she had another of Paul’s favorites in a saucepan on the stove, jasmine rice cooked in coconut milk.
Paul opened the bottle of pinot noir she’d picked up earlier at Bradford’s Liquors—it was a 2017 Charles Krug and a bit of a splurge, but the cashier raved about it and said it was a staff favorite. When she took her first sip, she had to agree. It was silky smooth and full of flavor. When everything was done, they brought their plates outside and ate on the patio. She and Jill had picked up some pretty deck furniture and when the weather was nice, Jill mostly worked outside and they usually ate there too.
The air was warm and there was a slight breeze. It was a perfect Nantucket night. Paul loved the swordfish.
“I might have to try this as a special. I like the water in the pie pan trick.”
When they finished, Emma cleared the plates and told Paul to stay where he was. She returned with the bottle of wine and a plate of dark chocolate covered strawberries, which she also knew Paul loved. He wasn’t much of a cake person.
She handed him a big gift bag too, with a bright red bow.
“What’s this?” He looked surprised and pleased as he took the bag and peeked inside. He couldn’t see anything though, because it was stuffed with colored tissue paper.
“Open it and see.” Emma topped off their glasses with a bit more wine and settled in her chair to watch him open his first gift. She hoped he liked it. She’d tried to think of something she knew he needed and wanted, but she worried a little that he might think her gift was too practical, not as exciting as a fancy sweater or something.
She knew she’d made the right decision though when he opened the box with the razor-sharp chef’s knife. It was a professional grade and she remembered he’d complained the last time she was at his place that his knives were pitiful and he really should get new ones.
“Em, this is awesome. Thank you.”
“I’m glad you like it. There’s something else in there… keep going.”
He
reached in and pulled out a box that held two sauté pans, both a pretty shade of blue-green.
“These look nice, too.”
“Have you heard of them? They’re called Green Pans and I saw them on Instagram. Someone was raving about how awesome they are and they’re non-stick too, so easy to clean.”
Paul smiled. “I love them, thank you.”
He stood and pulled her into his arms for a thank you hug. And then surprised her by lightly touching his lips to hers ever so briefly for a kiss.
“Now don’t freak out. I just wanted to thank you properly. Well, that’s not entirely true. I think you know I want more than that. But I know you’re not ready.”
But Emma had been thinking about her friendship with Paul a lot lately and after speaking with Jill earlier, she realized that maybe she didn’t need to wait any longer. Maybe she and Paul were sort of already there, just not officially dating.
So she surprised him by leaning in and kissing him back.
“Maybe it’s been long enough,” she said.
Chapter 27
Three months later
Mandy met Jill and Emma at the Club Car for Friday night drinks a little after six. Cory had the children, so she didn’t have to rush home and she was excited to be out with her sisters. It was a rare night that they all were off and they had something to celebrate.
Once they were settled at the bar and had their cocktails of choice, chardonnay for Mandy and Emma and a dill pickle martini for Jill, Jill proposed a toast.
“Happy Divorce day, Mandy!”
“Congratulations,” Emma added.
“Thanks you guys.” It was a bittersweet day. They’d signed the final divorce paperwork earlier that morning. Mandy was relieved that it was over, but also there was a lingering sadness at the same time. Her lawyer, Taylor, had been incredible. She’d worked out a settlement with Cory’s attorney that was more generous than Mandy had expected. And because both parties agreed, the process also went more quickly than she’d anticipated.
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