Family Reunion Nancy Thayer (summer reads .txt) 📖

“Let’s think,” Eleanor said. “Let’s head back to Madaket and have tacos and lemonade on the beach. Looking at the ocean can be very helpful in times like this.”

“How many times like this does a person have in her life?” Ari inquired.

“You’d be surprised,” Eleanor said, steering the car to Madaket.

In the summer, the sun stayed high in the sky, beaming down slanted rays that made the sea splash with violet and silver. They ate the tacos—Ari was amazed at how hungry she was—and sipped the tart lemonade. They tucked away the paper holding the crumbs of food so the gulls wouldn’t dive-bomb them for their own dinners. They walked side by side, a long way down the shore. Ari spotted colorful shells, picked them up, then flung them into the ocean.

Not until they about-faced to walk back to their spot did they speak.

Eleanor said, “Your father is a good man, Ari. Your mother is difficult. I know. She’s my child. She was the sweetest little girl when she was young. We adored each other. As she got into her teenage years, though, she began to be angered by me, by everything that I said or did. Somehow we grew apart. I know it’s normal for adolescents to disdain their parents, but usually when they’re older, they become friends again. That didn’t happen for us, although once you were born, we were closer.”

“What about Mom and Dad?”

“Your father and I always got along. But if you mean how they were…your father was in med school and always studying and then working at the hospital and then starting his private practice. His family was very formal, starchy, and oddly your mother adored them. Phillip’s mother, Emily, was the consummate do-gooder. She ran two or three volunteer organizations, and Alicia became involved.” Eleanor stopped walking and gazed out at the ocean.

“Alicia made no secret that she preferred Phillip’s mother to me. She became Emily’s lieutenant for her organizations. She copied Emily in small but significant ways. Alicia had never been a good student. She always seemed to be content to get by with her good looks. But after she married, she became so…organized. She bought a briefcase like the one Emily carried, with a daily diary and color-coded folders for her appointments. She imitated Emily’s manner of dressing. They both wore gold circle earrings, small, but heavy. Alicia began sitting with her legs together, angled to the side, like Kate Middleton.” Eleanor laughed. “Oh, dear, listen to me rambling on this way.”

“No, don’t stop, Gram,” Ari begged. “I love listening to you.”

“The thing is, Ari…” Eleanor cleared her throat and gave herself a moment to choose her words. “My daughter was so loving as a child. But as she grew up, especially after she married Phillip, she became cold to me. I’ve never figured out why. When Emily died a few years ago, Alicia was desolate.”

“I remember,” Ari said softly. “I was sorry Emily died, but the truth? I always thought she was cold. I never had fun with her like I do with you. It seems her only words to me were, like, ‘Sit straight,’ ‘Don’t play with your hair,’ ‘Your skirt is too short.’ ”

Eleanor chuckled. “She was a bit of a harridan.”

“She never wanted me to sit on her lap when I was little. It wrinkled her clothes. You always wanted to hold me.”

Eleanor paced a few steps in silence. Then, looking straight ahead, she said, “So maybe we should give your father a break.”

“I don’t understand,” Ari said, but in a way, she did. Her mother was not a natural hugger, toucher, kisser. Alicia was strict and fussy about how things looked. Still, Ari didn’t want to hear her grandmother criticize her own daughter, especially when Ari might make her own mother into a grandmother. It was too confusing. It made her head hurt. “Please can we not talk about my parents and sex.”

Eleanor said, “Of course.”

Gathering their picnic blanket and basket, they walked back to the car. It was tough going, walking through heavy sand up a dune. Eleanor was too winded to talk. They rode home absorbed in their own thoughts.

Once inside, with the picnic things cleaned and cleared away, Eleanor said, “I think we should call your mother and invite her down for the weekend.”

Ari groaned. “Mom will freak out. She’ll go mental.”

“Do you think we should do nothing, then? Keep it our secret? Perhaps ask your father?”

Ari shuddered. “I hate him. I never want to speak to him again.”

“Sometimes…” Eleanor paused, considering her words. “Sometimes it’s good to let things play out, and then, after a while, they just go away.”

“No. No! He’s cheating. That’s absolutely gruesome.” Ari burst into tears. She wiped them from her face, tossed her head, and said, “Okay, let’s. After all, my parents usually come for most weekends in the summer. They didn’t come last weekend.”

—

They flipped a coin to see who would make the call to Alicia.

Eleanor won.

“Hi, Mom!” Ari said cheerfully when her mother answered the phone they had set to speaker.

“Hi, Ari. Are you having a good time?”

“Yes, it’s all grand. I love the camp. The kids are adorable. Listen, Gram and I want you to come down and stay here for a girls’-only weekend. Maybe next weekend, if you’re free.”

Alicia was quiet for a long time. When she spoke, she nearly knocked Ari off her feet.

“Are you pregnant?”

“What? No! Don’t be ridiculous! You always come down on summer weekends. Gram and I just want to spend some time with you.”

“Why don’t you want Dad to come?”

Ari huffed. Every conversation with her mother turned into a battle. “Because it’s a girls’ weekend. I don’t see Dad wanting to stroll Main Street, trying on clothes with us.”

“No, something’s up. Tell me.”

Ari looked helplessly at her grandmother. Eleanor took the phone.

“Alicia, my dear, you are always so perceptive. We do want to talk with you about something, but not over the phone.” When Alicia didn’t answer