Family Reunion, Nancy Thayer [the kiss of deception read online .txt] 📗

eyes tightly closed, except for the few who peeked through their lashes.

“Now,” Eleanor said. “You may sit up for a moment and look at what you have.”

“What is it?” a child called out.

“It’s a quilt,” Eleanor told the group. “It’s like a very soft, light blanket. For when you don’t need covers to be warm, but you’d like to have something over you.”

“Me,” a little girl shouted. “I do! I have to have a sheet over me to go to sleep.”

Eleanor nodded at the girl. “Look at your quilts. You’ll see that in the very middle is a white square. After you have your rest, we’ll sit at the dining room table and use magic markers to make your initials on the quilt, so you’ll know it’s your very own.”

“Can we take them home?” a child asked.

“Not until the last day of Beach Camp,” Eleanor told them. “These will stay with Cal and you can use them every afternoon for your rest time.”

“Mine is pretty,” Sarita said.

“Mine is, too!” another girl called out.

“Mine is too short,” a boy yelled, lying flat on his back and pulling his quilt so that his toes peeked out.

“Then curl up like a snail,” Eleanor suggested.

All the children immediately curled up. After a few “hush” suggestions from Cal, the children were quiet. Some slept. One little girl held the quilt as she lay on her side, moving the fabric around so she could study each patch.

—

That Friday night, Eleanor went out to dinner with Ari and Cal. She didn’t want to go, because she was right in the middle of a mystery by Julia Spencer-Fleming, but she knew Cal was trying to thank her for her day with the children and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

Cal took them to Fifty-Six Union. Eleanor had to wear her hearing aids, as she did whenever she went out in a group, but she had calmed her hair down and combed it over her ears. She wore a peach-colored sundress that showed a triangle of wrinkled skin across her chest, but she was so hot during these summer days and nights, vanity didn’t matter.

Ari wore a sundress, too, in turquoise, which suited her perfectly. It had a low-plunging neckline that exposed just a bit of the white skin of her breasts against the dark tan she’d gotten over the summer. Her long dark hair was up in a high ponytail, and she wore dangling turquoise earrings. What a beauty she was, Eleanor thought.

Cal wore black trousers and a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Eleanor could imagine him behind a pulpit, blessing people, but she could also imagine him with an eye patch and a parrot on his shoulder. Or in a gypsy caravan, or on one of the long boats on the British canals like the one she just saw on Father Brown.

All through their very excellent meal, Eleanor focused on Cal and his family and Beach Camp. In fact, Eleanor realized when her butterscotch parfait arrived, they hadn’t really included Ari, and when they had, Ari was quiet, responding and laughing only when necessary. Eleanor knew she was troubled. Another week had passed. Another week when Ari’s parents were split up, spending time with other people. Another week for Ari’s baby to grow. Ari’s parents should know, Eleanor thought, with an increasing sense of urgency. They should know now. They should be given time to consider how they could help Ari, and their grandchild. Eleanor could understand Ari’s reluctance to talk to them. But Eleanor had no such reluctance.

“Gram? You have such a strange look on your face. What are you thinking?” Ari asked.

Eleanor rolled her eyes. “So sorry. I think it’s just getting a bit late for me.” It was only a quarter past ten, but she’d found she could play the old-age card whenever she wanted.

Cal called for the check. They walked out to the parking lot, where their two cars awaited. Ari had insisted that she drive Eleanor to and from her house. Cal helped Eleanor into the passenger seat of Ari’s Subaru and walked around to the driver’s side. Ari had already settled herself and was fastening her seatbelt.

“Thanks again, Cal, we had a wonderful time,” she said, waving.

Ari steered the car carefully from the parking lot and turned onto South Washington Street.

“Did you have a good time?” Ari asked her grandmother.

“I did. I like Cal a lot.” Eleanor saw her granddaughter’s face caught in a flash of lights. Ari looked pensive, even sad.

Eleanor asked, “Have you heard from Beck?”

“Yes. He’s texted several times. He’s busy at the clinic. He asks how I am. But he’s not coming down this weekend.”

“Ah.” Eleanor sat quietly for the rest of the ride, her mind churning with thoughts and possibilities. As Ari slowed the car to the twenty miles per hour required by ’Sconset, Eleanor asked, “Have you considered where you want to live once you have your baby? For that matter, where do you want to have your baby?”

“I think about it all the time,” Ari said.

“I think your parents should know,” Eleanor said slowly. “You’re three months along now. True, you’re not showing yet—”

“I’m looking a little chubby,” Ari said.

“Well, you’re going to look chubbier. You’ll be showing soon. Some of the summer people leave in a week to return home to get their children ready for school. Have you asked Cal how long camp lasts in the summer?”

“No. I haven’t even thought of that. I don’t know why, Gram, but I seem to be in a stupor. I haven’t even told my best friend. You’re the only one who knows. Well, you, Peter, and Beck.”

Eleanor said, very carefully, “You know you’re welcome to stay here as long as you want. But you need to discuss this with your parents. And you need to remember how different the island is in the winter. Have you decided whether you’ll take the courses you signed up for in childhood education? Because