C
HAPTER
61
“T
hey're here!” Elias called, pushing open the screen door.
Hearing his words, Chloe hurried to the kitchen with Zoe in her mouth and wiggled her way outside, bumping the door out of his hand and making it
bang
against the house.
“Nat, you really need to fix the door,” Piper called as she dried her hands on a dish towel. Remy and John were just climbing out of her car when an entire caravan pulled in after them. A collection of small people emerged shyly from the three out-of-state vehicles, and Chloeâwho was absolutely beside herselfâhurried over to welcome them, wiggling all around them and proudly showing off Zoe. “Hi, Aunt Piper,” Elliot said, giving his great-aunt a hug at the very same time he put his hand on Chloe's head. “Did Chloe get a
new
Zoe?!”
“She did,” Piper said, laughing, “and I can't believe you remember that, Elliot.”
“I remember,” he said, holding Chloe's head in his hands, “because last year, you wouldn't let her bring her old Zoe inside.”
“That was because she smelled.”
“I know,” Elliot said, laughing. “But now you have a new Zoe, don't you, girl?”
Chloe wiggled around him and then hurried off to say hello to Parker and Hunter and Maya and Mason and Cayden . . . and give a sniff to Logan's trailing blanket.
Nat and Piper and Elias shook hands and gave hugs to all the cousins and aunts and uncles. There were
oohs
and
aahs
over the new baby and exclamations concerning growth spurts. Sam looked up at Elias as they shook hands. “You definitely didn't get your height from the Quinn side of the family,” he said, laughing.
Elias laughed. “You might be surprised. I have to show you a picture I just found.”
Moments later, Birdie and David pulled in, and as soon as Chloe saw Bailey, she dropped Zoe like last week's news and hurried over to say hello. Seven-year-old Elliot watched the two dogs greeting each other, nose to nose, tails wagging, and then he picked up Zoe and brought her into the house so the stuffed dog wouldn't accidentally get left out in the rain again.
Everyone else gathered around David and Birdie, giving more hugs and asking David how he was feeling. “Oh, I'm just a little tired,” he answered, smiling, “but, really, much better.”
Finally, Sailor pulled in with her passenger and waved, and Nat turned to Piper. “Who's that?”
“That's Josiahâthe Realtor who found the cottage for her,” Piper said. “They went out a few times, but she said she decided she wasn't ready to jump into another relationship.” She paused. “I wonder what changed.”
Sailor lifted the cooler out of the back of her car and Josiah immediately stepped forward to take it from her. Sailor hesitated, shaking her head, but he insisted and then Sailor looked up and saw everyone watching them. “Hi!” she called, relinquishing the cooler and waving. She reached back into the car, piled the three six-packs of Naughty Nurse on top of the cooler, grabbed the two bottles of wine, and walked over with Josiah. “Everyone, this is Josiah,” she said. “And, Josiah”âshe motioned with her handâ“this is everyone!” She quickly went around the circle, introducing each family member while giving them each a hug, and Josiah set down the cooler and shook hands.
When she was finished, he smiled. “I hope you're all planning to wear name tags!”
David laughed. “I heartily agree!”
Nat reached for the six-packs while Elias picked up the cooler. “Okay to put these on ice?” Nat asked and Josiah nodded.
Elias turned to Sailor. “Cooler in the kitchen?”
She nodded and then looked at Piper. “Unless we're having snacks out here?”
“We have everything set up on the porch,” Piper said. “We were going to set the tables up in the yard but we didn't know if it might rain again, so we decided the porch was a better option. . . and easier on our old legs.”
John turned to Remy. “Do you want me to get the cake?”
“Oh yes!” she said, suddenly remembering. “
And
the ice creamâwhich is probably melting!”
“I'm sure the ice cream's fine,” he reassured. “It's in a cooler, too.”
“Oh, good! Otherwise we'd have soup.”
Birdie motioned for Hunter and Parker to follow her and then noticed Maya hugging her father's leg and beckoned her to come, too. Moments later, the two older girls, grinning from ear to ear, carried the salad bowls past everyone, and Maya followed, carrying a paper bag with dog treats in it. Bailey and Chloe sniffed the air and followed the girls insideâfrom where all the yummy smells were coming!
“I guess
they
know where to go,” David said, laughing. “Shall we follow?”
They started to walk toward the house, but when they heard more cars turning into the driveway, they stopped and Sailor smiled in surpriseâit was Merry and Sawyer, and their family, and in the second car were Thatcher and Elle!
“I thought you were going to Maine!” she cried.
“We wouldn't miss the Quinn family picnic, Mom,” Merry said, climbing out to give her a long hug. “Especially this year.”
“Hi, Mom,” Thatcher said, hugging her, too.
“Hi, Grandma,” Lily and Frances called, running around the car and jumping into her arms.
C
HAPTER
62
T
he afternoon drifted by lazily. The children raced around the yard, laughing and calling to one another, their happy voices filling the summer air. The men congregated around the grill, eating Sailor's dip and Remy's guacamole, talking about baseball, drinking beer, and watching Nat masterfully flip burgers. Finally, Nat dispatched Elias to find out how many people wanted cheese, and the women began uncovering salads and setting them on tables. They laughed as they worked, caught up on each other's news, and sipped wineâall except Eliza, who was nursing, and Birdie, who opted for sun tea insteadâa request that raised several sets of eyebrows.
“So, Mom,” Merry teased as they waited in the kitchen, “who's that cute guy out there?”
“Josiah?” Sailor asked casually. “He's just a friend. I ran into him at the package store on my way here, and since he didn't have anywhere to go this weekendâbecause of his divorceâI invited him.”
“He's divorced?” Merry pressed.
“Mm-hmm,” Sailor said, stirring the maple salad dressing she'd made.
“How'd you meet him?”
“He's the Realtor who found the cottage for me,” she said, tossing the salad. Then she looked up and eyed Birdie. “By the way, Alec asked me to tell you he misses you. He sent that bottle of malbec over, on the house,” she said, nodding to the unopened bottle of red wine on the counter.
“Alec?” Birdie asked quizzically.
“You know, the cute French guy who owns the package store.”
“Oh!” Birdie said, laughing as she uncovered her potato salad and sprinkled paprika on it. “Well, the next time you see him, tell him I miss
him,
too . . . and thank him for me.”
Payton smiled and looked at her mom. “Since we're on the topic of men . . . Mom? Do you have anything to share?”
“Me?” Remy shrugged, smiling. “I don't think so.”
“That's not what I heard,” Piper teased. “I heard you guys went out to dinner twice this week . . . and out to breakfast, too!”
“Who told you that?” Remy asked, sounding suspicious.
“Are you kidding?” Piper teased. “You are the talk of the town! It's not every day that Cape Cod's most eligible bachelor is seen in the company of the same woman several times in one week.”
“The real question,” Sailor said with a grin, “is, was there a good-bye between dinner and breakfast . . . or just, â
Hello, love
'?”
They all laughed and Remy shook her head, trying to suppress her smile.
“Did you go to your reunion?” Eliza asked.
“She did,” Payton said. “
And
Dr. Sanders went with her.”
“Noo!” Eliza exclaimed as Elle and Tess both smiled, listening intently as Eliza and Payton teased Remy.
“Yes,” Payton said, nodding.
“How come I never heard about this?” Eliza asked.
“Because you never call your poor mother to see how she's doing,” Remy said.
“In my defense, things have been a little hectic,” Eliza said. “You forget what it's like to have three little kidsâthree little
boys
under the age of three!”
“I haven't forgotten,” Remy said, “which is why I haven't called you. I never know if you're in the middle of something or if you have a little quiet time to yourself.”
“Somehow,” Payton said, “we've gotten off the subject . . . which was finding out how your weekend in Vermont with Dr. Sanders was . . . ?”
“It was nice,” Remy said.
“Nice?!” Payton said in an exasperated voice.
“That's all we got, too,” Sailor said, laughing. “Actually, we got â
fun
.' ”
Elias peered through the screen. “Who wants cheese on their burger?”
They all raised their hands and he frowned, counting. “C'mon in here, cuz,” Payton teased, “and tell us how the college boy is doing.”
“I don't think so,” Elias said, laughing. “There are way too many women in there!”
“Oh, c'mon,” his older cousin pressed. “At least tell us what you're up to this summer.”
Elias stepped into the kitchen, saw Loganâthe only other maleâon Eliza's lap, and smiled. “At least I'm not entirely alone!”
“So,” Payton said, “other than growing six inches, what have you been up to?”
Elias shrugged. “Not much.”
“He's been working on getting his pilot's license,” Piper interjected.
“Well, that's something,” Payton said. “How cool is that?”
“Pretty cool,” he said, smiling.
“Are you working?”
“Just helping out at the sanctuary.”
“Do you like it?”
“I do, but I don't know if it's what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
“Shouldn't you have that all figured out by your senior year of college?” Payton teased.
“Probably,” he said, grinning.
“By the way,” Piper said, looking around the kitchen. “If anybody is still around tomorrow, we're going to be releasing a female loggerhead.” She looked at Elias. “Did Dad say where?”
“Race Point.”
Tess smiled. “Elliot would
love
to see that!”
“Okay, so nine cheeseburgers,” Elias said, changing the subject. “I have to tell Dad.”
Ten minutes later, they all gathered on the porch around the bountiful and festively decorated tables, and from the smallest to the tallest, held hands while David cleared his throat. “Dear Lord, we have so much to be thankful for this year. I do especially,” he added softly, his voice filled with emotion. He felt Birdie squeeze his hand. “We are thankful to be together as a family, and for all these wonderful kids, especially our newest addition, Loganâlook at that, I remembered his nameâwhose smiles and laughter and light fill our world with hope. We are thankful for the delicious food we're about to gobble”âhe paused and listened to the kids giggleâ“and we're thankful for this great nation. Please keep us safe and bless us with continued health and happiness. Ah-men.”
“Amen!” they all chorused, clapping and cheering as the kids raced over to be first in line while the two dogs sniffed the table, wagging their tails hopefullyâit was time for food!
An hour later, as the bright orange sun sank below the horizon and the yard slipped into shadow, Piper turned on the strings of glittering white Christmas lights she'd hung along the porch. “Oh, how pretty!” Birdie said, sitting down across from her sisters. Remy and Sailor both nodded in agreement and leaned back in their chairs. Just then, all the kids came running up the stairs onto the porch. “Aunt Piper, Aunt Piper,” they called breathlessly. “Do you have any empty jars?”
“What in the world for?” she asked, looking at their flushed faces.
They pointed behind the house, and the sisters all turned and looked. The backyard was full of hundreds . . . if not thousands. . . of tiny yellow-green blinking lights.
“Fireflies!” five-year-old Maya explained matter-of-factly to Birdie. “We're gonna catch 'em.”
“You're gonna
catch 'em?
” Birdie said, laughing.
Little Maya nodded.
“Yes, we're going to make lanterns,” seven-year-old Elliot added.
“I think there might be some jars in the basement,” Piper said. “Stay here and I'll go look.” She disappeared into the house and came back a few minutes later with a dusty box of canning jars. The kids excitedly pulled open the top and reached in. “Be careful,” Piper said. “They're glass.”
They nodded as they gingerly lifted out the mason jars and fished around in the bottom of the box for lids and rings.
Elliot stood by waiting for the younger kids to get their jars and then knelt down to pick up the last one. He brushed off the dust and looked at the lid. “Hey, this one has a name on it,” he said, cleaning off the top with his finger so he could read it. “Easton,” he said, frowning. “Who's Easton?”
Piper looked at her sisters, and their eyes all glistened.
“Easton was our brother,” Birdie said.
“You
had
a brother?”
She nodded, and the voices around them grew quiet.
“What happened to him?”
Birdie swallowed. “He died,” she said.
“How old was he?”
“Seven . . . almost eight.”
“Just like me.”
She nodded.
Elliot traced the name on the lid. “How did he die?”
“In a drowning accident.”
“How?”
“Well, we were walking on the beach one night, looking for stones, and he saw one that he really likedâa heart stone. Do you know what that is?”
Elliot nodded. “It's a stone that looks like a valentine.”
Birdie nodded. “He saw a heart stone, but when he reached for it, it tumbled away . . . and then he pulled his hand out of mine so he could find it . . . but when he wasn't paying attention, a big wave came in and crashed over him.”
“That's awful,” Elliot said, reaching out to touch her worn, freckled hand. His eyes were solemn and sad. “He shouldn't have let go of your hand.”
Birdie squeezed his hand. “You're right . . . he shouldn't have.”
“Here's a picture of Easton,” Piper said, holding out the photo she'd found in the attic.
“Is that all of you?” Elliot asked in surprise, studying the picture.
Piper nodded.
“Wowâyou were all so . . . young!”
“Thank you,” Birdie said, laughing as Piper handed them each a framed copy of the old photo.
Remy looked at the picture and smiled wistfully. “Do you realize that Easton would've turned sixty this weekend?”
“That's right!” Sailor said. “I hadn't thought of that.”
Birdie nodded, her eyes glistening.
“I did,” Remy began, “and since we never got to celebrate Easton's birthday that year, I thought it would be nice to remember him by having his cake tonight . . . in honor of his sixtieth birthday.”
Piper smiled. “Is that why there's black raspberry ice cream in the freezer?”
Remy nodded.
“I can't believe he would be sixty,” Birdie murmured softly.
“What do you think he'd be like?” Remy mused.
“Oh, he'd be tall and handsome . . . probably an engineerâhe was always so curious and smart.”
“And full of life,” Sailor added. “He'd be the life of the party if he was here.”
Birdie nodded. “He would be. He would've made all of our lives . . . richer.”
Just then, Maya trundled up the stairs, followed by her cousins. “Look at my lantern!” she said, holding out her mason jar. Piper turned off the Christmas lights and the lantern blinked and glowed, illuminating the innocent faces. “It's beautiful,” Birdie said softly. “They're all beautiful,” she murmured, as the years of guilt and sorrow slipped away.