It was clear from the early letters that Greta wanted to be a haven for Stella, though she never exactly explained why. There was no mention of Sally McGee, which mystified Candice tono end. Where was Stella’s little sister? Why had any of this transpired?
The second week of July, two things happened.
Sarah called to ask Candice point-blank if she and her father were getting divorced. Candice hadn’t found a way to grapple with the language of divorce, and she sat dumbly on the beach before saying simply, “We are.” If Nathan got angry with her for being honest, she wouldn’t care.
Sarah cried quietly, then told Candice she was happy for her. “I love you, Mom,” she said. “And I miss you. I wish I had stayed on the Vineyard a little bit longer. But…”
“But the film,” Candice remembered.
Sarah updated her mother on the film's goings-on, then had to get off the phone to attend a rehearsal. Candice expected Nathan to call her and yell at her for affirming what Sarah knew, but he never did. Their correspondence was limited to text, relaying information as they prepared for the divorce.
The second thing that happened was that Candice decided to go to Nashville, Tennessee. She told her siblings about her plan over dinner and fully expected them to tell her it was crazy. But both Lindsey and Henry were now fully invested in the story of Stella and Greta. Although Henry couldn’t come to Tennessee because of a work thing, Lindsey decided to clear her schedule and come along. Candice didn’t ask what needed to be cleared from Lindsey’s schedule. She seemed busy with nothing save for social hangouts with other islanders.
The day Candice and Lindsey packed up the car and headed out was also the day Gwen sent the construction crew to begin the redesign of the Harbor House. Henry cut them off at the door, saying he was still in the middle of contesting the will. “You don’t have a right to be here,” he told them.
Rather than stick around and deal with this mess, Candice and Lindsey got in the car and sped to the ferry. Lindsey hadplotted a course from the Vineyard to Nashville, a route that would take nineteen hours and two full driving days. When Henry suggested they fly to Nashville instead, Lindsey and Candice scolded him.
“That’s no fun,” Lindsey had said.
Now, they were on the road. Candice had recorded Stella and Sally McGee’s album onto her phone, and she played it now from the speakers, loving the crackle of their mother’s voice as they sped down the highway. Lindsey threw her head back, laughing, and said, “This is the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me. I swear.”
“I don’t know what’s weirder,” Candice said. “Mom’s mysterious past or the fact that you and I are going on a road trip together on purpose.”
Lindsey cackled. “Mom would be shocked.”
Candice considered Sally, the missing McGee sister. They’d googled both her and Stella extensively and found no information, which was part of the reason they were going to Nashville. “Wouldn’t it be great if Sally was still there?” Candice dared to say.
“She could fill in so many missing gaps,” Lindsey agreed.
But Candice didn’t want to talk about it too much. She didn’t want to get her hopes up.
Instead, their conversation shifted to their mother and father and all they still didn’t know.
“When Dad died, I didn’t talk to Mom for six months,” Lindsey confessed.
Candice was surprised, although she knew how close Lindsey and Ben Winthrop had been.
“It hurt too much,” Lindsey said. “Dad was my best friend and my confidant, and suddenly, when I called home, all I got was Mom, and Mom was so distant and so cold. She didn’t know how to connect with me. With any of us, I guess.”
Candice knew what her sister meant. “It only got worse when Dad died,” she said. “She didn’t know how to fake it anymore. And Dad made her really happy, I think.”
“She stopped knowing how to be happy,” Lindsey agreed.
Candice grimaced, thinking about herself, about who she would be now that she wasn’t going to be a wife anymore. Since she’d confessed to Frank that she was getting divorced, she hadn’t seen him once. But it wasn’t like she’d expected him to chase her, now that she was available. She hadn’t expected anything from him. She’d simply wanted to tell him the truth.
When Candiceand Lindsey reached Nashville, it was ninety-five degrees and sticky with humidity. They crawled out of their air-conditioned car and checked into their hotel rooms. Rather than go into her own room, Lindsey followed Candice into hers, and they lay on their backs in the air-conditioning, drinking ice-cold water to regain their strength. The drive through the mountains had been glorious and soul-affirming, but it really felt as though they’d traveled an incredible distance. Candice couldn’t believe that years and years ago, Greta Vanberg had traveled the same roads. She’d come to Nashville to meet some guy—and she’d met Stella McGee instead.
When they regained their energy, Candice and Lindsey got dressed for the night, grabbed salads at a little restaurant near a few honky-tonk country bars, then went to see some music. The country had changed a great deal since Sally and Stella had cut their album, but the energy remained the same: heartbreaking lyrics alongside twangy, gorgeous melodies.
After drinking a half glass of wine at the first honky-tonk place, Lindsey popped up and grabbed Candice’s hand. “Dancewith me!” she cried, so they hurried into the middle and danced, Lindsey taking the “men” role. They cackled happily. At some point, a guy approached them, asking to take over, but they said no and asked for a picture instead.
In the photograph, Lindsey and Candice looked more like sisters than ever. Their smiles were enormous and pretty. Almost immediately, Lindsey posted the photograph to her social media, then exclaimed, “Frank already liked it!”
Candice felt her heart rattle. “Already?”
Lindsey showed her phone, and Candice suddenly grew so nervous she had to sit down. She laughed at herself, then ordered another glass of wine. “Sorry,” she said. “I don’t know what came over me.”
Lindsey waved her hand. “We’re not here to dance, anyway. We’re here to research.”
