“I’ll have one,” Faith said, hoping that the alcohol would settle her nerves a little.
As soon as her mom handed her a glass, she took a giant swig. After that, she started feeling a little better. She tried to avoid the urge to stare at Jake, or, worse still, entertain thoughts of how she could get him into the nearest empty room, so she helped her mom in the kitchen. Before she’d even had half her glass of wine, Scott and Jake were busy drinking beers and talking about the upcoming football season. She was glad for that because it gave her a chance to collect herself.
“Well, I’m not getting any younger. We’d better cut this cake,” Nan said.
“You want to do it right away?” her mom giggled, motioning for Faith to join her at the table. Faith followed, stopping next to Jake. “You don’t want to wait?”
“Nope.” Nan walked over to the table. “I want to be able to enjoy this night with my family and new, but dear, friend,” she winked at Jake. “I don’t want to have to stop it all for the formality of blowing out that candle. I’m very thankful for all you’ve done to prepare for my birthday, but I want to sit down, have a good chat, look at my photos, and eat my cake.”
“Well, you’re the birthday girl,” her mom said, handing out paper hats.
“Put them on!” Isabella said as she stretched the string of hers under her chin, the hat sitting sideways on top of her head.
With a collective laugh, they all put their hats on. They were blue with multicolored balloons on them and floating across the front, they said, “Happy Birthday.” Her mom lit the candle with a match and started singing “Happy Birthday.”
The others all gathered around the table, singing to Nan. The sun was still bright and it poured through the windows like the champagne Faith had had too early in the morning on the way to Key West. As the song ended, they removed their hats but Isabella kept hers on. Faith looked at Jake and quickly looked away when she saw that he was looking at her. She didn’t want to look at him for fear that she’d give away all her feelings. She’d completely fallen for him, but not seeing him for a few days had made her trip to Key West with him more like a dream than reality.
As the candle flickered in front of her, Nan closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Faith wondered what her wish was. Was she wishing something for her family, or to see John again soon, or something special for herself? Somehow, Faith believed that whatever it was Nan had wished for, she’d get it. Nan was not one to sit around and wait. If her wish didn’t come to her, she’d certainly go and get it herself. Nan blew out her candle.
Her mom reached over and grabbed a green foil-wrapped present off the table and handed it to Nan. “This is from me,” she said. Nan sat down at the table and set it in her lap. With unsteady hands, she slipped her finger under the fold and tore open one end. Then, she pulled out the gift. It was a silver frame. “I want Jake or Scott to take a photo of us girls before we leave tonight. Then we can put it in the frame for you.”
“Thank you. It’s gorgeous.” Nan pulled the stand open on the backboard of the frame and set it on the table. She reached over and grabbed a blue gift with white polka dots and a white ribbon.
“That’s from me… And Isabella and Scott,” Casey said with a smile.
Nan grinned in return and opened the present. She held it up so everyone could see it. It was a figurine of an angel. Nan collected angels. She put them out on her mantle every Christmas.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, turning it around in her hands before setting it next to the frame.
As she reached for Faith’s silver present, Faith thought about the significance of it. In life, seconds became minutes and minutes became hours and so on, but they needed all of it together to make any sense. Nan had mentioned how, when she was older, Faith would look back on her life and the things that worried her now wouldn’t seem so big. They’d be like seconds on a clock, Faith thought to herself. Nan had opened the gift. She held up the crystal clock with silver hands that Faith had kept in her bag all week tied up with that white ribbon. The clock represented time—time Nan had spent over her ninety years making a life, and oh, what a life she’d made. Faith could only hope to have a life like Nan had lived, and maybe, if she was lucky, she’d find herself at a beach house at ninety surrounded by her family.
“This is perfect, Faith,” Nan said. “Thank you. It’ll go by my bedside.”
Her mom pulled out the cake server that she’d dutifully packed from home and brought with her, and began cutting the cake and serving it onto paper plates.
“I’d like to thank you all for making this the best birthday ever,” Nan said. “It has been a very long time since I’ve had such a perfect gift as this: everyone together. I am so thankful to have been witness to that.” Nan stood, walked over to Jake, and grabbed his bicep, looking up at him in a very odd way. She stood with him for a moment without speaking, looking every one of them in the eye. It was very dramatic, and Faith wondered what was going on. Faith could feel the confusion showing on her face despite her attempts to smooth it out. What was Nan going to say about Jake?
“What you all don’t know is that I have a present for all of you.” Nan waited, her face animated, her eyebrows pushed up and a grin on her face. Nan was clearly making this dramatic on purpose. What in the world would she have to give them that involved Jake? “I’ve been working for a long time with Jake Buchanan,” she said. “This cottage is not a rental. It’s mine. I own it.”
There was a collective gasp as they all looked at one another. In that moment, like a flash, Faith’s reality changed. She envisioned big, family vacations with everyone there. Isabella growing up, building sandcastles, a picnic table at the edge of the dunes just like it had been when they were kids. And memories. Lots and lots of memories. She felt the prickle of the news on her arms, and the sting of tears in her eyes.
“When the original cottage was destroyed, I sat on the land, not wanting to get rid of such a gorgeous piece of property. I never told anyone I still had it. I knew that I couldn’t take care of it, but I did know that you all could. If you don’t want it, I’ll sell it. Jake can help me do that. But if you do want it, it’s yours. I’m willing it to Martha, but under the condition that we all take care of it. It belongs to our family. You can’t leave it for her alone to take care of. Understood?” Nan looked back and forth between Casey and Faith. They agreed.
Everyone started talking at once, their questions and comments turning to laugher and giddy excitement. Faith caught Nan’s eye. She was clearly enjoying it all. This was as much a gift for her as it was a gift for her family. Nan loved having everyone together.
Faith leaned over to Jake and quietly whispered under the chatter, “You knew about this the whole time?”
“If I’d have told you, your nan would’ve killed me,” he laughed. And she laughed with him, knowing exactly what he meant.
“Now that the cat’s out of the bag, I can tell you that I got you a present,” Jake said, turning back toward the group and smiling at Nan. “It’s out on the porch. Can I help you walk out to see it?”
Nan nodded, grabbing Jake’s arm. The rest of the family followed, and they all collected on the porch facing the beach. Sitting on the floorboards was a brand new wooden bench swing and a pile of chain. It was very much like the porch swing at the old cottage. “I made it myself,” he said. “You’ll have to show me where you want me to hang it.”
For the second time, Faith felt the sting of tears, and she blinked to keep them at bay. Isabella would swing on that swing as she grew up, just like Faith had done. What an amazingly sweet gesture for Jake to have made that for the cottage. She remembered mentioning it to him over dinner, but she never would have expected that he’d have taken the time to build one for them. She wanted to put her arms around him and hug him.
Jake promised to hang it before he left, and, as everyone went back inside to escape the heat, Casey gently grabbed Faith’s arm to hold her back. It was clear that she had something to say, and when Nan noticed, being the last in, she shut the door behind her, leaving the two girls outside.
“I can’t believe this is ours,” Casey said, looking out at the beach. Faith stood beside her, the wonder of it settling in her throat. She was so happy to be able to call this beautiful place hers. But she knew there was something else Casey wanted to say; she could read her sister enough to tell, so she waited. “I’m so sorry,” Casey said, turning to her, her skin flushed with remorse. “I’m sorry I hurt you all those years ago. It has always weighed heavily on me, and so I didn’t push when you wanted to stay away because until now, I didn’t have the guts to say what I’m saying.”
