Wellesley Wives (New England Trilogy) (52 page)

Lily looked up at Rosie as her tears made their way down her cheeks, but she made no attempt to wipe them away. “Seriously? You think you should have listened to me? The biggest fool in the world?”

Rosie wiped her tears away.

“Believe me, Lily, you’re not the only one who’s learning as you go.”

“Are you and Marcus okay?”

Rosie pulled her arm back and hugged herself. “I really don’t know. We came real close to breaking up, but we’re going to give it another go—with help. We’re going to do counseling.” Then she looked at Lily. “You know, I wasn’t with anyone else in Mexico. I couldn’t do it. I want you to know that. I need to know you still have faith in me and know that I’m not a tramp.” She couldn’t hold back the tears then.

“Hey.” Lily put her finger on Rosie’s lips. “I hear you and I respect you no matter what. You’re so strong, Rosie. I’ve always admired you. I’m pathetic. Look at my catastrophic life choices.”

“Don’t beat yourself up so much. You’re the one who called me in here for this talk. That was very brave of you, and it was the right thing to do. And about your love life—you weren’t alone. Jack can be very persuasive, and it does take two to tango.”

“You think?”

“And you’re young.”

“I’m not that much younger than you. Oh, Rosie, how do you keep it all together?”

“Uh, hello?” She pointed to herself. “You call this ‘together?’ I nearly lost my marriage in the last week.”

“Speaking of losing things, I have another confession to make. I nearly lost your daughter. I’m such a klutz. She was with me one minute and gone the next. We were in Toys“R”Us and she just disappeared, but I have to admit, I was on a stupid conference call at the time. The metal doors even came down. It was a full-scale emergency.” She was terrified as she retold the story but Rosie just held her hands.

“Lily, it’s okay. Natasha is here and she’s fine. She’s done that to me, too, when I was texting a friend. She’s a little hellion in that place. If I’d known you were going there, I would have warned you. Whose suggestion was it to go to Toys“R”Us?”

“Hers,” Lily said. “She told me we could get a booster seat there.”

“She played you!” Rosie laughed.

“I’m sorry.”

“Lily, you have nothing to apologize for. I have every faith in you. I always have, even when we argued. Do you think I would have left Natasha with you if I had any doubts? You’re an amazing person and some day you will make a terrific wife and mother.”

Lily cried harder and hugged Rosie.

“Thank you, I think I was just jealous of everything you have.”

Rosie pulled back and laughed through her tears. “Me? You’re the pretty, skinny sister with the high-flying job.” Then she wiped at Lily’s face. “Well, normally you’re the pretty one. With all that mascara running down your face, you’re not at your best right now,” she said and winked.

Lily found a Kleenex in her pocket. She wiped her face and blew her nose. Then she looked from the well-used tissue to her sister. “Guess I should have offered it to you first, huh?”

Rosie gave her a gentle shoulder shove. “Give it to me. We’re made from the same DNA anyway.”

“Rosie you have that big house and your gorgeous husband, and don’t get me started on Natasha. I could steal her, I love her so much. I’ve always been envious of you!”

Rosie kissed Lily’s nose. “We’re quite a pair. I love you, Lily.”

“I love you, too.”

By mid-morning Rosie was giving Matilda a ride to see some friends, while Natasha traveled home in her dad’s car. When she brought up the offer to move in with them permanently, Matilda had cried, and it took a few moments for Rosie to figure out they were tears of relief and joy.

“I knew Popsy would have to leave Cliff Road, and I was so worried that I would have no work. I am too old to go to a new family. But you, Rosie, I know you so well. Natasha is a very good girl, but you must have another baby soon.” Rosie laughed. If Matilda only knew how they’d almost become a single-parent family.

“One day at a time, Tilly. One day at a time.”

“You know you can stay here as long as you like,” Popsy said to convince Lily, but she shook her head.

“I need to get home. I want to blitz the house; really clean it.”

“Are you trying to exorcise Jack?” Popsy asked.

Lily laughed. “A little of that, but you wouldn’t believe how sticky the place gets with a little kid into everything.”

“Are you okay, Lily?”

“Oh, Mom, I feel so guilty. I’ve just been such a selfish little idiot.”

“You know, your father was never angry with you about Jack.”

“What? How can you say that? You know he was furious.”

“Oh, he was furious, but not with you. He told me that day in the hospital . . . the day he died. I was so angry with you, but he was very adamant that Jack was the grown-up and you were just a kid. Those were his words. He forecasted that you would break up. He was very wise, your dad.”

Popsy came over and held Lily’s shoulders firmly. Then she looked her in the eyes.

“I see Sandra had the full showdown with you yesterday, too.” She stroked her daughter’s cheek and red eye.

“Nothing I didn’t deserve,” Lily said.

“Okay, enough,” Popsy said with considerable force as she gripped Lily’s shoulders. “Are you going to spend the rest of your life feeling sorry for yourself, or are you going to get up and on with your life? These years are going to be your most exciting and dynamic. You can’t go around acting all maudlin. I want you to shape up and ship out. Chin high, chest out, tummy in, and get back in the game.”

“Uh, okay.” She laughed. “Wow, what got into you?”

Popsy released her grip. “Ireland.”

“It really helped you, didn’t it? Getting away, I mean.”

“Yes, I would highly recommend traveling. It gives you a better perspective.” This she said with great assertiveness, but then she got a little playful and said, “You also get to meet new people.”

Lily said, “Mom, is there something you need to tell me? Somebody in particular back in Ireland?”

“Don’t worry. It’s nothing scandalous, but there was this one guy.” She stopped and tried to find the right words.

“Tell me,” Lily insisted, linking her arm through Popsy’s.

“He’s just a friend, but he’s the first person I’ve met—well, this is going to sound stupid, but he’s the first friend I’ve made since your dad died, so he’s just mine.”

“I get that.”

“He’s a widower, too, so he knows what I’m going through, and that means a lot to me. It’s not romantic or anything, but it’s nice to have a friend who gets me.”

“Is he cute?”

“Lily, I just said it’s not romantic. He’s just a friend.”

“It’s not romantic
yet
, but maybe some time in the future . . .”

“He’s three thousand miles away, so it’s totally impractical, but we can e-mail each other, and he phones.”

“Has he called you since you got home? You just landed.”

Popsy looked guilty. “Eh, yes. He wanted to be sure that I got home okay, after the volcano, you see.”

“Of course.” Lily laughed. “He would have to check that you were all right after the volcano. This guy’s sharp,” she teased. “Did you have a nice talk?”

“I missed his call. The point is, I loved your father more than anything in the world, but he’s gone, and I have to continue living. So do you, pet. No guilt, no looking back. Do you hear me?”

Lily kissed her on the cheek. “I hear you, really I do. In fact, listening to you talk about getting up and on has convinced me to make a call when I get home.”

“To Jack?”

“No! Matt. Now, don’t get excited. Like you said, he’s just a friend.”

Chapter 39 

Skydiving in Spring

“You’re leaving me, aren’t you?” Popsy asked one morning when she and Sandra were opening the mail together. It had become a daily custom. Sandra and Popsy were at the big old pine table with two strong espressos and an Oreo each.

    Sandra smiled. “Sven wants me to come back. He’s getting impatient, and I really like him.”

“We’ve been back home what? Two months? And you’re missing him more each day. You have to go, Sandra,” Popsy said. “I mean it. You have to. You owe it to yourself.” She squeezed Sandra’s hand.

“On our last night in Banagher, he took me out to that little porch at the front of The Boathouse. I remember thinking when we first arrived that it wasn’t very pretty because it had no view to speak of, but that night it was so beautiful with the sun slipping behind the dark-brown fields. He told me he was already sure that he wanted to be with me and now I think—no, I know—I really want to be with him, too. I need to go back there, Popsy. I can’t stop thinking about him.”

Popsy smiled. “I know. I see it on your face when you’re on the phone together.” Then she sat back. “Sandra Richter. It has an interesting ring to it. Hey, wait a minute, is that Richter as in Richter scale, what they use to measure earthquakes?”

“Yep, and boy, did the earth move.”

“Sandra, you are shameless!”

“I asked him about it. Richter is the German word for judge.”

“Well, he’s certainly a terrific judge of characters if he’s fallen for you. You’re my best friend.”

“And you’re mine. Will we be okay so far apart? Will you be all right living alone?”

“You know I will. I knew you’d be flying the coop soon. I even said to Lily that it might be just me moving into her apartment in two weeks.”

Sandra looked anxious. “I worry about you, especially with Lily going to Hong Kong.”

“Don’t. She’s as unsure about working with Matt as you are about living with Sven. If it doesn’t work out for her, she’ll be back in Boston in a heartbeat, and she and I can live together. If she does stay out there with Matt, I’ll still have Rosie and her family nearby. They seem to be getting through whatever it is that hit them.”

“That’s a relief. I think they’re a lovely couple,” Sandra said.

“And Marcus is my biggest fan since I gave him Peter’s old Ferrari.”

“That was very generous of you and it makes no sense to leave it in the garage getting rusty,” Sandra agreed.

“Same goes for me. I’ll be very busy while you’re gone. I’m thrilled about taking up that job offer from Karen at The Flower Pot. I’ve discovered I like to work, and you know I love flowers. If I ever get the nerve, I’m going to open my own shop and call it ‘Poppy Power.’ ”

Sandra looked around Popsy’s kitchen. “You have a lifetime’s collection of things here. What will you do with all of this stuff?”

“Everything will be sold or given to charity except the items the girls might want. I don’t need any of it anymore. I have everything I need in here.” She tapped her heart. “The only thing I really care about is this table and Rosie has asked for it, so I can visit it at her house in Weston. It’s not going too far.”

Popsy opened her first envelope.

“As soon as I’ve moved into Lily’s place, I’ll hand the keys of this dear old house over to the attorneys. After what we’ve been through, I think it will be a relief to part with it.”

Sandra nodded and opened an envelope. “You know, I found it easier after I left the penthouse. I felt like the ax that had been hanging over me was suddenly gone, and don’t get me started on Jack moving in when we were in Ireland. If I never see that jerk again, it will be too soon.” She pulled something out of an envelope and held it up. “Oh, look! DSW is having a fifty-percent-off shoe sale today. We could go there when we finish.”

Popsy smiled and nodded. Legal-looking deeds were in her envelope. She read the cover page. “This is from Jack,” she said. “These deeds were in the safe in the office.” She kept reading. “My God, it’s the deeds to Natasha’s apartment in town. Peter must have bought it for cash.”

“Hey, you could live there for the next fifteen years. She won’t need it for a while yet. Have you seen it? What’s it like?”

“Yes, I picked it out myself about five years ago. It’s lovely. I remember all three of us going to look at them just as they were being revamped. It’s not far from Lily’s apartment either, which is kind of nice. I think it’s being rented out now and the income is going into a trust fund for Natasha.” She pulled out more papers. “Sandra, there’s a second set of deeds here. Jack bought one for cash, too, and he’s signed it over to you. Looks like you’re getting something from the old dog after all.”

Sandra snatched the letter and read. “About time,” she whispered. “You know, I’ve been so busy trying not to think about what I was going to do, that I never imagined he would pull a rabbit out of the hat like this.”

Popsy squeezed Sandra’s hand. “You must rent it out and still go to Ireland. Are there tenants in it?”

Sandra went back to scanning the letter. “Yes, he’s depositing the proceeds into my personal account. You’re right. Looks like Jack is going to support me after all,” Sandra said. “This is amazing, Popsy. It means I’ll be able to pay you back the life insurance money you gave me.”

Popsy ignored that and opened another letter. “This is the account I requested from the Ferrari dealership. Looks like I don’t owe them a thing. The repair work from Peter’s bump was paid for with the car’s insurance, and Peter really had paid for it in full on my birthday. Today is a good post day, Sandra.”

“It sure is,” Sandra said, and took another envelope and opened it. “We’re invited to the opening of a new hair place downtown.”

“Shred it.” Popsy laughed. “Have you ever tried those home hair dye kits?”

“No, but there’s a first time for everything.”

Popsy opened her third letter. “Hey, this is a twenty-dollar coupon for DSW. We’re so going to buy shoes this afternoon.”

Sandra’s phone beeped, indicating a new text, and she jumped on it fast to see who it was. The smile was a thousand kilowatts bright.

“Anybody interesting?” Popsy teased. She already knew.

Sandra smiled coyly. “Maybe.”

“Go for it—tell him.”

Sandra looked concerned. “Am I moving too fast? What if I’m making a stupid mistake?”

“If it’s a mistake, you can come back and live with me in Lily’s flat, or Natasha’s, or even your own. But what if he’s right for you? You’ve already told me he’d broken up with his wife because she was a career doctor and kept putting off having children because of her work. Sven is determined to give this a go, and he wants a baby as much as you do. You owe it to both of you to move on this one.”