âWhat can I get you?â
âIâll have the fish BLT,â she says. âExtra mayo. Side of coleslaw. And a coffee frappe. Please.â
Kevin scribbles the order down. Where is Ava? Heâs so flustered by Norahâs presence that he can barely do the math. Itâs only two fifteen, which is right in the middle of Genevieveâs nap time, so thereâs no chance Isabelle will show up and see Kevin talking to Norah. But still.
âHowâs your family?â Norah asks.
âThatâll be twenty-one dollars and sixty cents,â Kevin says.
Norah pulls out her wallet and makes a show of flipping through a wad of cash. Hundreds and hundreds of dollars, it seems. So the drug-dealing part is probably true.
âHey, Kev, Iâll take over here.â Ava is back, thank God! She squeezes his arm. âHello, Norah.â
âAva,â Norah says. âI was just asking after your family. Everyone good?â
âGood,â Ava confirms. She takes twenty-five dollars from Norah and gives her change, which Norah stuffs into the tip jar.
âThatâll be eight to ten minutes,â Ava says.
âHowâs Jennifer?â Norah asks.
Kevin freezes.
âJennifer?â Ava says.
âNorah,â Kevin says. âCome on, weâre busy.â
Norah shrugs. âI was just wondering,â she says.
Â
AVA
N athaniel has been away on Block Island since July 5, and quite frankly, Ava is too busy with her new job at Quinnsâ on the Beach to miss him too much. And she certainly doesnât wish sheâd gone with him. Block Island is one-tenth the size of Nantucket; it wouldnât have provided Ava with the stimulation she requires. If things with her family ever settle down to where Ava feels like she can leave Nantucket, she will go someplace bigger, not smaller. She was right to let Nathaniel go. She had had the worldâs shortest engagement.
When Scott got back from Tuscany, he called Ava almost immediately. âWhen can I see you?â
Apparently, a week in Tuscany with Roxanne hadnât been as romantic as Ava had feared.
âI was sick of her before the plane landed in Florence,â Scott said. âIt was a very long week. I missed you like crazy. Did you miss me?â
âNathaniel proposed to me on the
Endeavor,
â Ava said.
Silence from Scott, which Ava savored.
âWhat did you say?â Scott asked.
âI said yes,â Ava said.
Silence from Scott. The silence was deliciousâlike vanilla ice cream with hot caramel sauce, like the feel of silk sheets on her skin, like the first ocean swim of the year.
âSo youâre getting married?â Scott said. âReally?â
âNo,â Ava said. âHe asked me to move to Block Island with him because he accepted a long-term job there. I said no. We broke up.â
âWow,â Scott said. âFor a second there, I thought Iâd lost you forever.â
Is Ava any closer to solving her quandary? Yes, much. She and Scott see each other nearly every night, although Ava is aware that when Scott isnât with her, heâs with Roxanne. Roxanne is fragile, Scott says. And especially lately. He canât break it off completely; heâs afraid of what sheâll do.
Ava rolls her eyes.
She has created her finest playlist yet: a new 1980s mixââModern Love,â by Bowie, âTainted Love,â âLife in a Northern Town.â She and Kevin dance and sing into imaginary microphones as they feed the masses. Men at Work, Wham!, Loverboy. Itâs a good day, a very good day.
Itâs made even better when Ava sees Shelby in line with her baby, Xavier, strapped to her chest in a BabyBjörn. Shelby gives Ava wide eyes and she mouths something, but Ava is bopping around to Cyndi Lauper and canât make out what Shelby is saying. When itâs her turn to order, Shelby says, âI have to talk to
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