“My thoughts exactly, Daddy,” Mom chimed in, with a glee in her voice that only comes from D-daddy having a good day.
“But, Jean,” Ben started, innocence in his voice, “you handled the news so beautifully.”
“Oh, you weren’t thrilled?” Lauren teased.
“All I said,” Mom interjected, “was that we needed to have a wedding. I’m the mayor, for heaven’s sake. People expect things from me.”
That was the least of it. In reality, Mom had thrown a hissy fit like I’d never seen. The first words she said to my husband were,You gotmarried? You stole the privilege of having a wedding for my only daughter?
“A wedding is a golden opportunity to get ahead in the polls,” Martha said, laughing.
“And just think,” Lauren said, looking at Ben. “That special day led to this special day.” She pointed at Ben’s now completely black eye, and we all laughed.
Ben looked down at me. “I’d take a million black eyes if it meant getting to be with you forever.”
I smiled at him. “Well,” I said, “good memories aside, I think wherever you feel most comfortable is where you should be, Lovey.” I paused. “Where are you moving? Have you started looking for places yet?”
She waved her hand as if to say that this was a minor detail. “Well, there can’t be more than a place or two that’s even tolerable.” She took a sip of the tea in front of her on the table. “Speaking of,” Lovey said, “when are you two settling down and getting out of that RV?” Lovey shook her head. “It’s rather unseemly.”
I smiled at Ben. “Should we tell them?”
“Oh my God, you’re pregnant!” Louise exclaimed.
I could feel that cloud unwillingly pass over me, but I smiled it away when Mom said, a panic-stricken look on her face, “She had three rum punches yesterday afternoon. I should hope not.”
“No, no,” Ben said, wrapping his arm around me tighter, knowing I would be upset from the baby comment. “You want to tell them?”
I smiled halfheartedly and, bracing myself for the reaction, said, “We’re moving to Salisbury.”
“Salisbury is a lovely town,” Lovey said. But I could tell her mind was somewhere else.
•••
Lovey always says that some things are out of our hands and that, if we’re going to make it through this life, we’d do well to figure out what those things are.
“I think it’s very mature of you to be so grown-up about your grandmother getting rid of her house,” Ben said, as he crammed his shorts and T-shirt into my beach bag.
I shook my head. “It’s only on the outside because, inside, I’m an absolute wreck.” Then I shrugged, thinking of Lovey. “But, you know, there isn’t anything I can do to change it, so it’s probably best to just face it.”
Ben wrapped me in that warm, sweet-smelling hug that had become my life preserver the past few months. “It’s going to be okay, you know. It’s going to be hard, but, at the end of the day, this is what’s best for them. And we’re all going to have to get on board.”
I sighed. “I know.” I kissed him, leaned back and said, “So, speaking of getting on board, when are we moving to Salisbury?”
Ben grinned. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
I rolled my eyes. “Then I need to get out of here immediately. I have some tanning to do.”
I should have stayed pale. I should have suggested that we go ahead and leave the beach so we could get a head start on house hunting and unpacking.
On my way to the bathroom at the club that morning, I nearly turned around and walked the other direction when I saw Holden. But we were the only two people in the empty ballroom, so I couldn’t very well act like I hadn’t seen him. I ventured a wave and turned sharply to the right, like I was headed out to the terrace.
“Could we talk for a minute?” Holden called.
I looked around, as though he could possibly be talking to anyone else. I was going to say no. I was going to walk back out onto the beach where my family was telling old stories and attempting to skim board, wobbling and falling down like children learning to walk.
I was going to, that is, until Holden said, “Come on, Annabelle, I think you owe me.”
He was right. I called off a wedding three years in the making with a thirty-second phone call and zero explanation. I owed him.
