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“Bitter Sweet Symphony. The Verve. 1997.” Tommy snapped his fingers excitedly before he cranked the volume on his truck radio. The ‘90s tune roared through the speakers as Lola laughed, her stomach tightening as memories coursed through her.
“You’re good at this,” Lola said with a crooked grin. “I’m not used to such a worthy opponent.”
“You want an expert on ‘80s and ‘90s music? You’re looking at him,” Tommy replied as he turned his thumb toward his chest. “When I hit eighteen, I skipped town to sail full-time, usually sleeping in ports across the Atlantic with only a radio to keep my company.” Tommy then imitated a radio announcer’s voice as he said, “This is 104.1 WWUS, your one-stop shop for all the hits here in the Florida Keys. Or, this is 93.5 – The Island! We play all the best tracks here in Savannah, Georgia. Or, my favorite, 100.3, Classic Rock straight out of Bar Harbor, Maine.”
She turned to look at him, a wide smile plastered on her face. “How many radio jingles do you have memorized?”
“You don’t want to know,” Tommy told her. “But you can tell the true strength of a nomad by the number of radio stations he has memorized.”
“Is that an ancient nomadic proverb?” Lola teased.
They’d left the rose-colored house in East Boston twenty minutes before and now sped toward Woods Hole, where they’d take the mid-afternoon ferry back to Oak Bluffs and join the Sheridan clan for New Year’s Eve. Tommy and Lola rejoined hands in the center of the truck as The Verve’s transcendent tune continued.
They sang joyfully together— Lola at forty and Tommy at forty-six, yet both remembering their vibrant teenage selves:
“Cause it’s a bittersweet symphony, that’s life.
Tryna make ends meet. You’re a slave to the money.”
“I wish I could have known you in the ‘90s,” Lola said thoughtfully as the song continued.
“I was no good for anyone,” Tommy told her. “Angry at the world. Angry at myself. Eager to run away from any situation, if only because standing still made me think about how much I didn’t like myself...”
Lola’s throat tightened. Since she and Tommy had gotten together, Tommy had spent more time on Martha’s Vineyard than any other location, something that had surprised them both. Even still, he’d been off on sailing expeditions more times than Lola had genuinely liked, even flirting with hurricane season in a way that seemed nearly suicidal. Every time Tommy had darkened their cabin door once more, Lola had sighed with relief, with gratefulness. She wasn’t the sort of woman to ask him to stay; he wasn’t the sort of man to listen to that kind of talk, anyway.
Lola clapped with excitement during the next song as Tommy stuttered, trying to guess the title and artist.
“Okay, it’s obviously called ‘Damn! I Wish I Was Your Lover,’” Tommy began, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Lola joked. “She only says it like eighteen thousand times throughout the song. If you really want to impress me, tell me the singer’s name.”
“Ugh,” Tommy groaned. “I don’t know.”
Lola laughed vibrantly, tossing her head back. “The master has fallen!”
Tommy grabbed her hand again, brought her palm to his lips, and kissed the soft skin of her hand delicately. Lola was so surprised at the beautiful gesture that she stopped laughing abruptly, even as Sophie B. Hawkins continued to sing the beautiful, heart-wrenching song.
“What was that for?” Lola asked softly.
Tommy adjusted their hands again between the two front seats and shrugged. “Just felt like it.”
“Were you overwhelmed by the emotion of Sophie B. Hawkins’ beautiful lyrics?”
“That’s right! Sophie B. Hawkins,” Tommy said, disgruntled. “I knew it.”
“Clearly, you didn’t,” Lola returned. “Point goes to me.”
After Tommy parked the truck in the belly of the ferry, the two lovebirds leaped out and headed for the deck, where they peered through the sharp wind and sipped piping-hot coffee from the coffee cart. Ordinarily, they might have stayed below deck, shielded from the wind, but there was something about the last day of the year, something that demanded that you stand out in it and experience every last minute of sun. Captain Joshua greeted Lola and Tommy warmly, shaking their hands and wishing them a happy new year.
“Good to see you around these parts so late in the year, Tommy. You’re normally off on some beach by October or November, letting the rest of us here freeze to death,” Joshua joked. He then gave Lola a warm smile and added, “You’ve really confused him, haven’t you?”
“Now listen here,” Tommy returned, keeping his tone humorous. “Nobody’s confused me about anything. How much longer till we reach the Bahamas again? This boat goes directly there, doesn’t it?”
“Sure thing,” Joshua smiled, clapping Tommy on the shoulder and winking at Lola. “We’ll be sipping Pina Coladas as the new year comes in.”
Tommy drove them off the ferry and headed for their cabin in the woods, which they’d taken over after Scott Frampton’s brother, Chuck, had been convicted of theft and sent to prison a year and a half before. Since then, Lola and Tommy had made their cabin a cozy home, with a wood-burning fire, beautiful big-leafed plants that caught the sunlight just-so, large paintings that Lola had collected from vintage shops, and plenty of toys and supplies for Max, Lola’s ten-month-old grandson. Tommy had taken to Max like a funny uncle, sitting on all fours with him in the living room and playing with him or lifting him up to show him little twittering birds outside the window. Once, Audrey had referred to Tommy as “Grandpa Tommy,” and Tommy had stiffened, looking shocked. Lola had asked Audrey privately not to call Tommy that again.
After the first snowfall, Tommy had shoveled a path through the glistening white, all the way from the driveway to the front door. Lola grabbed her suitcase and strolled up toward the door, where she collected the mail they’d missed over the previous few days from the mailbox and then headed inside. Once there, she put the kettle on the stovetop and checked her phone, which showed three missed calls: one from Audrey, one from Christine, and one from Susan.
Tommy entered and stomped off the snow from his boots before removing them and making his way into the kitchen in just his wool socks. He knelt to kiss Lola on the forehead before he grabbed himself a light beer from the fridge. Lola loved the ease they had with one another, now. She’d never had such beautiful synchronicity with a man. In fact, after all her chaotic relationships with men, she would have never imagined such a thing was possible.
Tommy sat at the kitchen table while Lola called her daughter back.
“Hi, Mom!” Audrey’s voice was like a song. “Are you back on the Vineyard?”
“Just walked in the door,” Lola told her. “Sorry I was so MIA the past couple of days. It was a whirlwind.”
“I’m sure it was.” In the background, little Max squealed and then burst into laughter. “Sorry about that. Great-Grandpa Wes is trying to feed Max, and it’s turning into comedy hour. Meanwhile, Susan and Christine are setting up everything for the party tonight. You’re still coming, aren’t you?”
“We wouldn’t miss it,” Lola assured her.
“Good.” Audrey breathed a sigh of relief, then added, “Noah will probably stop by.”
Lola lifted her eyebrows as a sharp wedge of curiosity pulled through her. “Is that so?”
“I hope it’s not too big of a deal,” Audrey said hurriedly. “The last thing I want is to distract everyone with my drama.”
“There’s no distracting,” Lola returned. “We really like Noah. And you know what the Sheridan family wants more than anything, right?”
“More grandchildren?”
Lola laughed outright. How was it that Audrey could still surprise her with her quick wit? Shouldn’t Lola have been used to it by then?
“No. We just want you to be happy,” Lola replied.
Audrey had broken things off with her Vineyard-based boyfriend around Thanksgiving time when her life at Penn State had been crumbling around her. Now, with her life back on the Vineyard full-time, Audrey seemed to see no reason not to listen to her heart again.
Lola ended the call and then sat with Tommy for a little while, watching as a light snow filtered past the glossy windows outside. Both were wordless, and Tommy seemed lost in thought about his mother, the funeral events, and the work still yet to be done.
“You really don’t have to come tonight,” Lola told him finally. She could feel the deepening bruise of his heart.
“I want to be with you,” Tommy told her softly, his eyes finding hers again.
“Even if being with me tonight means being with my loud and overwhelming family?”
“I love your loud and overwhelming family,” Tommy told her, his smile widening. “You know that. It keeps my mind from wandering.”
Around six, Tommy drove them back to the large cabin along the waterline, located next to the original Sheridan House. Scott had purchased the house and refurbished it prior to his and Susan’s marriage. Now, Scott, Susan, and Scott’s teenage son, Kellan, lived there, with a host of others streaming in and out, depending on the needs of the greater Sheridan clan. During Christine’s bedrest, for example, she’d taken up frequent residence; when their Aunt Willa had appeared out of the blue the previous month, she’d moved into Susan’s guest bedroom and become another beautiful and nuanced member of the family, slowly coming into her own as her psychosis faded and memories of her husband’s tragic death returned.
“We’re expanding. Becoming a cult,” Audrey had said after Scott had revealed his plans for the big house.
“At least we’re well-fed,” Christine had joked in return.
Much of the Sheridan and Montgomery family had already gathered at Susan’s place to celebrate. The house edged toward “enormous,” and the party operated on two floors before spilling out onto the enclosed porch, which offered a glorious view of the Vineyard Sound beyond. Lola and Tommy smiled joyously at the group of revelers— Lola’s cousins, including the newlyweds, Andy and Beth and Beth’s young son, Will, plus Kelli, Charlotte, Charlotte’s boyfriend, the photojournalist, Everett, and her daughter, Rachel. Aunt Kerry stood in the corner with a large mug of hot mulled wine and greeted Lola and Tommy with a slurred, “Happy New Year to the beautiful couple!”
Susan sped through the crowd, her motions quick as a deer and her smile proof she was the perfect hostess. She wrapped Lola in a big-sister hug and then grabbed her and Tommy’s coats. Tommy accepted a beer from Scott, who walked out of the kitchen with news of scores from a recent sporting event. Lola followed Susan into the next room to find Audrey, Max, Christine and her new baby, Mia, seated a bit away from the fireplace. Max lurked on all fours, licking his lips hungrily, his ocean-blue eyes catching the light of the fire as it flickered.
“He wants to stand up and walk so bad,” Audrey said, laughing as she stood to greet her mother with a hug.
“His little chunky legs won’t let him,” Christine returned. “Meanwhile, Mia is just content to watch all these strangers walking around her.”
Indeed, the tiniest Sheridan lay in Christine’s arms as her blue eyes darted left to right, watching as though she didn’t dare trust anything about the world yet.
“She’ll be down for a nap in another half-hour,” Christine told Lola as Lola perched alongside them, greeting Mia warmly. “She just wanted to stay up to say hi to Aunt Lola.”
“Hello, little Mia,” Lola whispered, taking Mia’s little foot in hers. “Are you ready for a brand new year?”
“She’s only a week old,” Christine said with a funny laugh. “She’s hardly gotten used to this year yet.” Christine’s eyes then drew up toward the doorway, where Scott and Tommy were still in heavy sports talk. She lowered her voice to ask, “How is he doing?”
“He’s okay. He has good and bad moments,” Lola murmured. “I wasn’t sure what to expect, but he’s getting through.”
“I’m surprised he came,” Christine offered, her eyebrows creeping toward her forehead.
The hours inched toward the New Year. Lola made herself a plate of cheesy potatoes, a favorite of hers since childhood. She then dove into the gossip and laughter, listening to Rachel, Gail, and Abby’s tales from high school. Stories about Audrey’s newfound journalistic success and the new updates on Kelli’s rebuild of the Aquinnah Cliffside Overlook Hotel. Every half-hour or so, Lola and Tommy checked in with one another, with Lola frequently saying, “If you want to get out of here, just say the word.” Each time, Tommy shook his head no.
Noah arrived to find Audrey at around ten. He lifted Audrey and whirled her around so that her feet extended out behind her, nearly reaching the Christmas tree in the corner. Susan’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head at the sight, but she managed not to scream at Audrey. Crisis averted. Susan left the room in a flash to restock the cracker and cheese plate as Audrey continued to ogle Noah, her eyes filled with love and admiration.
Audrey wasn’t the only one with a beau on New Year’s Eve. Amanda, too, was privy to a surprise guest. Sam was hard at work at the Sunrise Cove Inn that night, and the two of them planned to have a celebration all their own on a night when Sam didn’t have to manage the front desk. Still, during a slow moment at the Inn, Sam left Natalie at the front desk and whisked over to Susan’s to give Amanda a pre-New Year’s kiss. When Amanda returned to their little pow-wow near the fireplace, her cheeks burned red with a mix of embarrassment and passion. It had been nearly a year since her ex-fiancé had left her at the altar. Perhaps none of those sour memories remained.
“Everyone! It’s nearly time!” Susan hollered excitedly at 11:57 p.m., demanding that the Sheridan and Montgomery families gather in the large living room with the fireplace to count down with the large grandfather clock and toast champagne. The women of the house had poured enough champagne glasses for everyone, plus sparkling grape juice for the kids and teenagers. They passed out the glasses as quickly as they could, as organized as flight attendants.
Tommy approached Lola with his champagne flute, his eyes not wavering and serious. Lola tried on a smile, but it fell from her face on impact. Around them, her family members spoke excitedly, teasing one another or gazing into one another’s eyes, expectant for the big kiss at midnight. Lola wouldn’t have been surprised if Tommy gave her only a peck on the cheek. After all, he wasn’t necessarily the “showing his feelings” type of guy, and they had just returned from his mother’s funeral.
“Ten. Nine. Eight...” The countdown began. Tommy’s gritty voice beside Lola’s gave her something powerful to hang onto. Tommy grabbed her hand and slipped his fingers through hers. Lola wanted to tease him, to ask him if he’d ever imagined he would want a New Year’s Eve kiss, especially from the same woman two years in a row.
But just before the kiss, Tommy stepped in front of her, locked eyes with her, and then fell to one knee. Lola’s heart dropped into her stomach. Around her, the Sheridan and Montgomery couples had come together, kissing and hugging and hollering out in celebration. All the while, Lola placed her hands on her cheeks in disbelief as Tommy’s large, stoic eyes studied her. Through the chaos, he reached into his pocket and drew out a tiny black velvet box.
“Oh my God!” Audrey cried as she turned to find Tommy on one knee in front of her mother.
Slowly, everyone caught wind of what Tommy was about to do. They hushed up and watched as he popped open the velvet box to reveal an antique diamond ring, one that evoked beauty and timelessness all at once. Lola had never envisioned that anyone would ask her to marry him. She’d never had the fantasies, never imagined the ring or the scenario or what he might say.
“Lola Sheridan,” Tommy said then. “Will you make me the happiest man on earth? Will you marry me?”