“Thanks. I’ll figure something out. But please let me know if I can do anything for you. Obviously, I’m not great at running errands right now. But I feel fine and can find a way to get anywhere if you need anything. Okay?”
“Thank you, Maddie. That’s very kind.”
Maddie rang off before the conversation went further. As for her doctor’s appointment, she knew that Lisa would be working, that Brandon and Jeremy were gone, and that Joe . . . well, she hadn’t spoken with him since Saturday. And once again, she hated to feel needy.
So instead of calling Joe, Maddie went to her Uber app, which she didn’t need often but was glad Rafe had installed it. She scheduled the driver to come early enough so she’d make it to the hospital in time for lunch.
* * *
Walking into the hospital wearing Evelyn’s gift of the white skirt and pale blue top, Maddie was happy she’d also tucked the denim jacket in her cross-body bag—the hospital was up the hill from the harbor, and she’d learned that, despite the summer-sunny sky, a chilly breeze often rippled off the water.
Engaging her crutches with growing confidence, she walked into the waiting room. It was an unlikely adventure for her, to be on her own in a strange place and going to see a doctor she’d seen only once.
Her first stop was the café. It was noisy and busy with appetizing aromas. Maddie was used to eating in the dining hall at the college, where everyone and everything was familiar, including the food. This was different. Her intuition told her this would be fun.
She opted for baked cod, corn on the cob, salad greens, and a cup of tea; instead of dessert, she chose clam chowder.FRESH CLAMS TODAY, a sign read.
At this rate, she wouldn’t need dinner.
A kitchen helper offered to carry her food to a table. Maddie wondered if everyone on the island was innately kind. Maybe it was from the salt air.
Once settled, she began with the chowder. She stopped from turning to the people at the table behind her to ask if they’d tried it and tell them she thought it was good. But to them, it was probably commonplace, the way shepherd’s pie was in the Green Hills dining hall.
While eating, she eavesdropped on the voices around her, on snippets of whispers and laughter. Then she realized someone was standing at her table.
She looked up. And blinked.
“Hi, Maddie.” It was Francine, the dark-haired girl with the soulful eyes who lived on Chappaquiddick and had come to the cottage with her kids and Rex looking for Nancy. She was holding a tray with a sandwich and a soda.
“Francine!” Maddie said. “I never thought I’d see someone I know here. Join me? Please?”
The young woman thanked her, smiled, and sat.
“Do you have an appointment today, too?” Maddie asked.
“No,” she said with a sly grin. “I went to Vineyard Haven to pick up a few things for the Inn. I like to sneak off Chappy when my husband, Jonas, can watch the kids. I don’t get much time on my own. Anyway, I’m hungry. Between Bella and Reggie, I’ve been to the hospital lots of times. And I like the café food, so today I thought, why not?”
“Why not, indeed.”
Looking around, Francine asked, “You’re alone, too?”
“I am. My follow-up appointment is at one o’clock; I can’t drive with this silly cast on, so I took a cab. I didn’t want to bother anyone.”
What followed was a nice conversation, the back-and-forth banter of two people getting to know each other over lunch. Francine revealed that she’d come to the island when Bella was a baby, which was when she was given one of Nancy’s baskets. Then she told her about the Vineyard Inn, and how she wound up part of its mismatched family, which included Rex as one of their loveable patriarchs.
Maddie enjoyed the stories—they almost made her feel as if she, too, belonged. She responded with a brief synopsis of her life, leaving out the part about being half Wampanoag so she wouldn’t be tempted to explain the rest. She’d save that for a later date, after her anger with her father had cooled. So she told Francine about Rafe and that she was a college professor and pleasantly divorced; she told about her summers on the island long ago, and how she remembered she’d loved it. Though she figured she was about two decades older than Francine, Maddie learned they had something important in common: their mothers had died before either one of them had been ready. Not that she supposed most people ever were.
By the time they finished their meals, Maddie was almost late for her appointment.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, “but I have to go. It’s been great seeing you.” She grabbed her crutches and tried to stand gracefully, which didn’t work very well.
Francine quickly stood and helped her with the crutches. “One day soon you must come to Chappy and see the Inn. And our little island.”
“Sounds tempting.”
Then Francine gave her a crooked smile. “In the meantime, since I have nowhere to be right now, I’ll walk with you. And I’ll tell you a good reason you might want to get to know my gang.”
They left the café and went into the corridor that led to the physicians’ offices.
