“But she left her house to another woman with insane taste,” Jennifer pointed out. “She knew you were the one.”
The tour continued: through the back kitchen, where a chef from Boston had been hired to take over and cook up exquisite, nightly meals, alongside staff members that had yet to be hired. Olivia spoke about this with anxiety, but her sisters piped up and said, “Everything in due time! You still have a few weeks!”
She then led them through a back staircase, which circled up and up, onto the second and third floors of suites and smaller bedrooms.
“Obviously, I’ve set aside a suite for all of us tonight,” she said as she reached into her purse and drew out ornate, antique keys for each of them. Each key weighed something like half a pound, it felt like. They seemed important, heavy with history.
“This place is really something, Olivia,” Jennifer said somberly. “Everything from the wallpaper you chose to the long rugs and the paintings. It’s stunning.”
“It has such personality,” Mila affirmed. “But you haven’t allowed the place to lose its sense of history. Its sense of time.”
Olivia’s eyes welled with tears. “I hope you aren’t just saying that. But if you are, please, don’t tell me! It’s been so much work!”
The girls laughed as they traced back down to the grand room, where a maître d’ awaited them with two bottles of Italian wine and appetizers of slices of expensive-seeming cheese, olives and freshly baked bread. As it was now summertime, the fireplace remained off, but already Camilla could imagine the general coziness of the place in the autumn and winter months.
When it was time for dinner, Olivia led them into the dining hall, where they sat at the far end of one of the long tables and ate one of the most remarkable meals of Camilla’s life. It was a typical French meal, according to the chef, with boeuf bourguignon, soupe a l’ognin, salade Nicoise, and a chocolate soufflé for dessert.
“I can’t believe this meal,” Amelia said as her eyes popped from her head. “I seriously don’t know what to say.”
“We were thinking of serving this as the first meal on opening night. Do you think it’s passable?”
“Passable? Are you kidding me?” Jennifer laughed as she smeared a bit of sauce from the side of Amelia’s cheek with her napkin. “I think no matter where you come from or who you are, that meal is passable. I would ask for more, but I literally don’t think my body can fit anything else.”
Deep into the night, the five of them swapped stories and talked about their hopes and dreams, just as they always had and always would. Camilla was overwhelmed with their warmth, their generosity, and their love.
“Derek actually mentioned the M word to me the other day....” Jennifer splayed her hand over her eyes as she said it.
All the other girls gasped.
“You’re kidding?” Mila breathed.
“I know. It’s crazy. I feel like my divorce to Joel just finalized, and I know he’s still reeling a bit from his wife’s death. So I told him no way. Not yet. But it’s crazy how this second chance at life and love comes along and sweeps us off our feet without notice. I don’t even know if I deserve it. But I welcome it with open arms.”
After a few minutes more, Camilla confessed, “Jonathon has been over twice this week.”
“Oh my god!” the girls cried in unison.
“What does he want?” Mila asked.
“He... well,” Camilla tried and failed to suppress her grin. “He doesn’t think I took good enough care of the garden or the flowers or the bushes.”
The girls gaped at her.
“Jonathon is coming over to do yardwork for the house he purposefully left behind?” Amelia asked, sounding doubtful.
Camilla hadn’t totally outlined everything with the lawsuit with Susan Sheridan, nor with what she had recently learned about the secretary and his non-affair. She tried to wrap up all the details in one go, but it led to numerous questions.
“Are you kidding me? You’ve been keeping all this from us?” Olivia cried.
“Not on purpose,” Camilla replied. “It’s just been a busy time. And I didn’t know how to say all this over text.”
“Do you think you still, you know?” Mila shrugged as she lifted her wine glass.
“What?”
“Still love him,” Jennifer said as she leaned over the table.
“Yeah. Do you?” Olivia’s eyes sparkled with the light from the candles.
Camilla spread her hands over the table. “I mean, it doesn’t just go away. Does it?”
Mila shook her head ominously. “No.”
“It never really does,” Jennifer affirmed.
“And if you can hold onto it, hold onto it,” Olivia said as she furrowed her brow. “With Tyler, I knew it was over. There wasn’t a chance in the world. Maybe we were never suited for each other. But you and Jonathon always were. You were best friends.”
Camilla’s lower lip quivered slightly. “That last year was so hard on us. We hardly spoke or hardly even touched each other. And then, he just up and left and all this news about us losing all this money came out and then, Amelia told me that maybe he’d been cheating... It’s been a lot to take in. I’m surprised I haven’t had a nervous breakdown yet.”
“That’s understandable,” Jennifer said. She reached across the table and clutched Camilla’s hand. “But I can see it in your eyes. You believe him, about the investment company. You don’t believe he would ever hurt you. And you still love him.”
“Those, my friend, are perfect building blocks to start again,” Mila said.
Hours later, Olivia showed the girls to their suites. Each had two beds, their own bathrooms with ornate claw tubs, and even fireplaces. It was a chilly night, and Camilla flicked her fireplace on, removed her dress, washed her face, smeared lotion across her cheeks, and then sat in her robe as she watched the flames flicker. She felt incredibly introspective but also incredibly happy. She felt on the edge of the rest of her life. She had to be strong enough to leap forward.
She checked her phone and found that Jonathon had texted her a few hours before, probably right before he’d gone to sleep.
JONATHON: Hope you’re enjoying that boutique hotel.
JONATHON: Pretty lucky, the kinds of friends you were basically born into, huh? The whole island is jealous of the love you five have for each other.
JONATHON: I would say, you know, tell them I said hi. But I have no idea what their opinion of me is these days.
JONATHON: Guess I just wanted you to know that I was thinking about you.
JONATHON: Goodnight. Sleep well. Or don’t sleep at all and party all night. I know you have it in you, Camilla Jenkins Franklin.
Chapter Twenty
The following evening, Camilla arrived at the hospital a bit early for her shift, as she had agreed to fill in for the head nurse. She stood over the calendar and spotted Brett Oliphant’s name all over again, and her heart sank into her belly. Her mind felt hardened against him; she had no plans to be jerked around. Even still, it annoyed her, just knowing she might have to see his horrendous face as he walked past her in the hallway.
“How are you doing?” One of the nurses breezed past her en route to another room. “You’re in early.”
“Going to be a long shift,” Camilla replied with a smile. “No two ways about it.”
At around eight at night, Susan Sheridan texted Camilla with news that rocked her to the core.
SUSAN SHERIDAN: I’ve contacted Casper Jennings a handful of times, and I’ve issued an order to the police to make sure he remains on the island to await more questioning.
SUSAN SHERIDAN: But I’ve just received word that he left the island!
SUSAN SHERIDAN: The CCTV footage shows him driving quickly out of Woods Hole, but there’s no way to say what happened to him after he left Falmouth.
Panic shot through Camilla. She hustled out of the hospital hallway and into the break room, where she pressed her ear hard to allow f
ull concentration in her other as she called Susan Sheridan’s cell. Out in the hallway, a stretcher whizzed past as several nurses scrambled alongside. It was a wild night; there was an element of chaos in the air. Apparently, Casper Jennings had also added to that chaos.
“Hey! This is crazy.” Camilla’s voice broke.
“I know. I’ve been on the phone with the police,” Susan returned. “There’s certainly a lot more to the case than I thought. I’ve had people flee before, but this is one of those ritzy Martha’s Vineyard types, you know?”
“Speeding off in his expensive car, wearing his Italian shoes,” Camilla affirmed with a laugh. “I know them well.”
“Anyway. I’ll let you know if we track him down.”
Camilla’s heart pumped. “If you don’t find him, do you think it’ll be difficult to put the case together?”
Susan paused for a long time. The silence was deafening, powerful.
“I’m not one hundred percent sure,” Susan finally told her. “It’ll be difficult if he slips away for good, but when that time comes, we’ll deal with it.”
At that moment, Brett Oliphant appeared in the doorway to the break room. His cocky grin fell off his face in a flash as his eyes found Camilla’s. He glanced at the vending machine, clearly where he was headed, but then deemed the mission unnecessary. He disappeared down the hallway in a flash.
“Have you spoken at all with Casper Jenning’s good friend?” Camilla asked then. “The doctor I told you about. Brett Oliphant. Maybe he knows about Casper’s various apartments and houses out here on the east coast. Maybe he knows where he might have fled.”
“Right. That’s next on my list,” Susan said.
THE FOLLOWING MORNING, as the light drifted up from the eastern horizon, Camilla clocked out from her shift. Throughout the previous fourteen-some hours, she, the other nurses, Brett, and the other doctors on staff had worked tirelessly. Her legs ached and her arms felt like jelly.
But when she stepped into the soft sunlight of the June morning, she saw something beautiful: two police officers spoke with Brett there on the sidewalk, just a few feet from his sports car. He furrowed his brow, and his voice was boisterous and volatile.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re thinking, but there’s no way I’m going to the station with you right now. I just worked a twelve-hour shift. I guess you cops don’t understand what that means, do you?”
Camilla lifted her eyebrows. The cops certainly weren’t going to take kindly to being spoken to like that. One of them barked that it was better that Brett complied, “for his sake,” while another stepped around him, placed his hand on his back, and pressed him into the back of the police car.
Camilla’s heartbeat sped up. She rushed to the edge of the sidewalk and caught Brett’s face as the cop car sped off for the station. They locked eyes. Camilla had never seen a more frightened man in her life. Brett’s face told her everything she needed to know, that he knew why he was being taken in. And he had information that he didn’t want to share.
Before Camilla knew what she’d done, she had Jonathon on the line. Her feet lifted from the sidewalk as she jumped up and down.
“Jonathon! Oh my gosh. I just can’t take it.”
“I know. It’s awful that he escaped the island. I haven’t been able to sleep.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be a problem,” Camilla returned.
“What are you talking about?”
Camilla chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully, then said, “I’ll explain in person if you want. Do you have any plans for breakfast?”
Fifteen minutes later, Camilla and Jonathon sat across from one another at the Edgartown Diner, a place they’d frequented as teenagers and then on occasion over the years. They’d put Andrea’s little baby carrier on one side of the booth and spoke in whispers, praying that she wouldn’t wake before they finished their coffees and their egg sandwiches.
Now, they were forty-one years old with the start of crow’s feet at the corner of their eyes.
But Camilla’s heart felt just as light as it had twenty years before. For the first time in months, she felt hope.
Mandy approached the side of the table. Her belly protruded just the slightest bit over her jeans, and she beamed at them as she procured a little notepad.
“Camilla! I haven’t seen you in a while. I guess since Andrea’s birthday?”
Camilla smiled back. The days of summer always seemed an infinite number of hours; days sometimes felt like years. Andrea’s birthday hadn’t been so long ago, yet they had all lived lifetimes since then.
“How are you feeling?” Camilla asked.
“Not bad, actually,” Mandy replied. “Although, Aunt Amelia has me on this crazy diet. She seems to think the baby wants nutrients, which is crazy.” She gave a crooked smile. “Anyway, can I get you two started with something? I have to confess. We don’t have much in the way of nutrients here.”
Jonathon and Camilla ordered a plate of blueberry pancakes to share, as was their old tradition, along with cups of coffee, egg sandwiches, and a plate of bacon. Mandy’s eyes grew larger as she scribbled their order down on her notepad. Camilla half-expected her to remind them that they didn’t exactly have teenage metabolisms any longer.
“Oh. And one more thing,” Camilla said mischievously. “Mimosas. Right, Jon?”
Jonathon nodded excitedly. “Absolutely.”
Mandy arrived back with their coffees and mimosas a few minutes later. Jonathon lifted his sparkling orange drink and arched an eyebrow. “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what you said you wanted to explain in person?”
Camilla’s grin widened as she clinked her glass with Jonathon’s. “Suffice it to say, Casper Jennings might have told a bit too much to the wrong person. And I just happened to work with him.”
Jonathon’s eyes widened. “That’s good luck, isn’t it?”
“Couldn’t we use a bit of good luck after so long? Anyway. I’m just waiting for another call from Susan. I just hope they get what they need.”
Jonathon and Camilla fell into easy banter after that. Just before their egg sandwiches and bacon arrived, Jonathon rushed up to the jukebox to play an old track from Supertramp, which they’d both loved back in high school. “Even back then, it was an oldie, remember?” Jonathon said as he slid back into his booth. “Now, I mean, do you think kids even hear stuff like this anymore?” He stretched his arms out on either side and acknowledged the others in the diner. “I guess this is my music education for the residents of Martha’s Vineyard.”
“Now you sound like our parents. Telling everyone else they don’t know good music.” Camilla tossed her head back mid-laughter. “How arrogant of you.”
“But you know I’m right,” Jonathon teased.
“Oh, sure. You’re always right.” Camilla rolled her eyes, not unkindly, as she lifted her gooey, cheesy, delightful egg sandwich and took another sinful bite.
They ordered another round of mimosas and then another. Jonathon pointed out that they might not be able to drive and Camilla just tossed her hand to and fro and said, “Who cares? I’m off for the next four days. I just want to feel good again. I want to feel free. We’ll walk or call a cab.”
In the silence that followed, Jonathon reached across the table with his good hand and gripped hers. It was a sincere moment of intimacy. Almost immediately, tears sprung to Camilla’s eyes.
She hadn’t been touched so gently, so lovingly, in quite some time.
It was almost too much.
At that moment, her phone began to vibrate. It made the fork on top of the platter of bacon shake and clank against the plate below.
“Susan! Hi.” Camilla kept her other hand latched to Jonathon’s. “Any news?”
“Actually, yes.” Susan sounded breathless. “They questioned that doctor of yours. And listen, I’m wonderfully surprised because it didn’t take long for the doctor to give up his friend.”
Camilla scoffed.
“That’s not shocking.” Even though things had played out in her favor, she still couldn’t believe the selfishness of this guy.
“Anyway. The cops are headed to his private estate now. Apparently, according to your doctor guy, Casper plans to take a private jet and leave the east coast, so time is of the essence. Phew! I mean, what a morning, huh?”
Camilla laughed as tears rolled from her eyes. “You don’t even know.”
After she hung up, she explained a bit more of the situation to Jonathon. They finished off their drinks and then paid Mandy for their massive feast, adding a huge tip to the bill. Mandy beamed at them as they left. “You guys be safe out there. You drank more than college students before noon.”
Out in the sunlight, Jonathon wrapped his arm around Camilla as the two of them walked down the boardwalk. Out in the distance, sailboats fled with the wind; their sails flapped wildly and caught the sunlight. The Edgartown lighthouse stood, proud and regal, a source of history, a previous safe keeper of Vineyard sailors.
“Do you think we’ll actually get it all back?” Camilla asked as she leaned against the fence along the boardwalk and gazed into Jonathon’s eyes. “Do you think Andrea can actually go back to school? And we can give her the wedding she always dreamed of?”
Jonathon squeezed his eyes shut. “God, I hope so. I think about it every morning when I wake up and every night as I fall asleep — if I manage to sleep at all. I just want everything to be all right. Actually, I want everything to be better than all right. Better than before.”
Camilla splayed her hand across his cheek. Her heart surged and threatened to jump out of her ribcage and float toward the clouds above.
“I think we can manage it,” she whispered.
Chapter Twenty-One
Grey light filtered through the bedroom blinds. Camilla’s eyes tried to focus as a hangover descended over her skull. She could feel her blood pumping through her veins, rocketing past her eardrums. Her skin felt dry and dehydrated, and she imagined that if she stood up, she might collapse in a heap all over again.
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