Page 72 of The Summer Club

“Well, then.” It is time for the family talk.

Before Charley can offer his assistance, Cora rises. She holds out a hand. “Let me help you.”

Tish accepts it. Charley scoots aside and allows his wife to help his mother out to the living room.

As Tish passes by, she locks eyes with her son. The look on his face is why she has come. No matter how this family meeting goes, she has done right.

Cora

This summer vacation had not gone as planned. If anything, she could call it a disaster. Certainly no one would argue that. But there was a wedding to be performed. And a family to hold together. And, most pressing, a rehearsal dinner that Cora was responsible for. Good Lord, what had she been thinking when she agreed to that?

All morning the doorbell rang. First, the event rental company. Their tall, white box truck backed unceremoniously into the seashell driveway and began unloading tables, chairs, and tenting supplies. Cora and Charley stood aside, watching as their backyard patio was magically transformed. A sailcloth tent went up, its pennant flag flapping smartly in the ocean breeze. If that weren’t enough, round wooden tables were rolled in and dressed in creamy linens. Followed by gold Chiavari chairs. Silver pitchers of blue hydrangeas. Strings of globe lights. Cora stood beneath the tent in awe as her backyard was turned into a coastal wonderland. She was just about to run inside to fetch them when Sydney and James wandered out, both sleepy-eyed but smiling.

“Good morning, James! Did you get any sleep?” He’d arrived late the night before to much fanfare. Despite his late arrival and long week at work, she couldn’t believe the two had slept through the hubbub of the backyard setup.

“I sleep like a baby every time I’m here. Must be that salt air.” He planted a kiss on Cora’s cheek.

“Oh, Mom. Can you believe it?” Sydney stepped under the tent mouth ajar, taking it all in.

Cora could not believe it. Her baby was getting married. The weekend weather looked perfect. And everyone was speaking. “You’re going to be a beautiful bride,” she said, wrapping an arm around her youngest. To James, “You’re a lucky young man.”

James swept a boyish flop of hair out of his eyes and grinned. “Don’t I know it.” James was a full foot taller than Sydney and sandy-haired and blue-eyed, just like her. They looked like two peas from the same pod, in their matching pinstriped pajama pants Sydney had bought earlier that week for the honeymoon. Even with all that was going on, James only had eyes for Sydney. The way he looked at her as she fluttered about the tent gave Cora heart. The two were so natural together, so give and take; in all the ways Cora had wished she could have been with Charley when they were that age.

Still, James’s arrival had been a bit of a worry, to Cora. After all, he was to be the new co-owner of Riptide. A transaction Cora still had so many questions and concerns about. Would Sydney keep the house in only her name once married? Wasn’t that the sensible thing to do, to protect a family treasure? Riptide had already been transferred unhappily within the family and, although Cora wanted to believe James’s and Sydney’s love would last forever (as much as she could tell it would), she was too seasoned to make suppositions. Anything could happen.

And then there were the other two: Andi and Hugh. Sydney being singled out as Riptide’s sole proprietor was hard enough for the siblings to stomach. And now, here was handsome James, striding through the front door with his gregarious smile and collared shirt looking ready to take on the world. Would they also see him as taking over Riptide? The thought of an outsider laying claim to the family cottage was another blow altogether. Cora feared it might stir the pot that had only recently been reduced from full boil to simmer. And if anyone was going to make a stink, it would be Hugh.

Sure enough, last night when James put his bags down in the doorway just in time to catch Sydney as she launched herself into his arms, Hugh couldn’t help himself. “Welcome!” he’d said, offering James his usual fist bump. Then, “Though I suppose that sounds silly, as the place is now yours.”

The whole living room had fallen silent, Andi throwing a stern look that her twin blatantly ignored. But to James’s credit, he did not take the bait. With an arm around his bride, he addressed them all with a smile. “It’s good to be here. I can’t tell you all how sorry I am that I got stuck at work this week and couldn’t come sooner to help out.” Then, he’d turned to Cora. “But I’m here now. What can I do to help?” And the subject had been changed as swiftly as the table linens Sydney would later realize were the wrong shade of ivory. Thankfully, there was simply too much to do to argue.

“So what is the plan?” Charley had asked, later that night in bed. After a quick toast to welcome James, they’d slipped away upstairs, leaving the younger set to round out the celebrations. Cora was exhausted, and so relieved when Charley joined her beneath the covers, wrapping his arm around her soft middle. “If we’re going to say anything at all, the window is closing. Before we know it, they’ll be off on their honeymoon.”

Cora knew what he meant. The ownership of Riptide was not going to change. All they could do now was inquire with Sydney about keeping the title in her name. The fact was, marriage changed things when it came to material things and, as Cora knew only too well, material things changed people. Oh, she did not want to talk business with Sydney the weekend of her wedding. But what choice did they have?

She turned over to face Charley. “We can only ask. We may not like the answer, but at least we’ll have asked.”

“Want to do it together or want me to?”

Cora had another idea. “May I?” It was a big ask. Riptide’s history was Charley’s, not hers. “I know Sydney is our daughter, but I can’t help but feel it was my situation that led us all here.”

Charley shook his head. “Cora. Stop, please.”

“No, Charley. You’ve taken care of me and the kids, all these years. Let me try to take care of this one thing. Please?”

Charley stared at her in the dim light, then pressed his lips to hers. It was decided.

The morning of the rehearsal dinner, Cora had paced the kitchen floor. There was a quiet pause, after the rental trucks had gone and before the caterers arrived. Andi, Hugh, and Martin had driven down to Hyannis to pick up Molly, who was just returning on the ferry from her Vineyard trip. James and Sydney had taken a leisurely breakfast and gone for a walk on the beach after. Cora tried to busy herself as she awaited their return. She fretted about the kitchen, tidying things that were already tidy and checking to-do lists that were either already done or it was too late to do anything about now. Finally, the screen door squeaked open.

“How was your walk?” she asked.

“Really nice,” Sydney said. She was beaming. “I just pray this weather holds.”

“It will.” James went to the coffeepot and Cora hopped out of his way a little too abruptly. “Would you like a cup?” he asked her.

Her nerves were frayed. “Oh, gosh, I’m plenty caffeinated already.” She turned to Sydney. “Honey, I was hoping we could talk a minute.”

Sydney’s nose wrinkled. “Sure, but I’ve got to check in with the bridesmaids. Everyone’s arriving at different times and I just learned that the hotel made a mistake on one of the bookings.” She pulled out her phone. “And I haven’t heard from the caterer about the rehearsal dinner gazpacho. Have you?”