“Sam is coming.”
“I will behave, don’t worry.”
“Elena…”
“I said I will behave. I did not say I will not have opinions or thoughts to share with him.”
Lucia appeared from her room in a dress that was far too old for her because she was now seventeen, and that’s what seventeen-year-olds did. Her dark hair was down, and she was carrying a laptop.
“The slideshow is ready,” she announced.
“What slideshow?” Nina asked.
“The slideshow of the pact, all those photos from the year. I put it all to music.”
“What music?”
Lucia smiled.
“You’ll see.”
“Lucia—”
“You’ll see, Mom.”
They arrived in waves, Claire and Greg first, which didn’t surprise anybody because Claire was constitutionally incapable of being late. Greg had apparently decided in this new chapter of their marriage that showing up on time was his only option.
He was wearing a button-down shirt, not the College of Charleston T-shirt, but a real shirt with a collar. Claire hadn’t asked him to wear it. He had chosen it himself, as he had been choosing many small things lately, trying to pay attention.
He carried a cake, not a gift card, but a cake from the bakery on Bay Street that had reopened under new management. Claire had watched him go in that morning and come out carrying a box. She didn’t ask what was in it because Greg was really trying, and she wanted to let him try without trying to manage the outcome.
The cake was chocolate, Nina’s favorite, not Claire’s.
Greg had bought Nina’s favorite cake for Nina’s birthday party, which meant he had asked Claire what Nina liked, which meant he had paid attention to the answer.
And all of that meant more than the cake itself.
Claire found Nina in the kitchen and handed her the box.
“This is from Greg.”
Nina opened it and looked at the chocolate cake.
“Greg bought me a cake?”
“Greg bought you a cake.”
“Greg, who gave you the universal gift card, bought me a chocolate cake.”
“He’s a work in progress, what can I say?”
“Well, we’re all works in progress,” Nina said.
She put the cake on the counter next to Elena’s flan.
Harper and Jordan arrived next.
Jordan’s truck pulled into the crushed shell driveway, and Harper got out wearing linen instead of silk, which was an improvement so significant that Claire had texted Nina from across the yard.
