Rosemary sat on the beach at Walker’s, watching the sunset. It was peaceful where he lived, especially when he and Reese were both at work. She’d been doing most of the cooking and cleaning, as a form of rent, since she’d moved in almost a week before. It kept her busy and made her feel as though she wasn’t such a burden. But she was sensitive to the fact that her oldest son probably missed his privacy, especially because he’d started seeing Marlow again. Thank goodness. At least her mistake hadn’t cost Walker the woman he loved, as she’d first assumed.
Marlow had been to the house a few times since the truth came out and always treated her well. Rosemary was impressed by her kindness, considering what Marlow had learned, and it made Rosemary happy that the two of them were together. She loved watching how they interacted with each other these days. But they spent more of their time at Seaclusion than they did here, even though, with Aida and Claire around, they didn’t have a lot of privacy there, either.
Eager to see if she’d heard from any of the families with whom she’d interviewed the past few days, she checked her phone. She’d spent the week looking for a new job and had applied for a housekeeper position here on the island, as well as two nanny positions in Miami. The job she was most excited about hadn’t been advertised, however. Reese happened to mention to his boss at the club that she was no longer with Eileen Madsen, and Mrs. McGowen—Lindsey—had called her right away to say she was looking for someone to help out at her place. Rosemary had met with her yesterday and was hoping Lindsey would soon contact her with an offer.
She hadn’t received anything yet, though. It was probably too soon to expect a response, but she was getting anxious. She preferred to be working, was tired of worrying about what she was going to do in the future.
With a sigh, she got up and started back to the house to make dinner. The wind had come up and was blowing her long cotton beach dress between her legs as she moved. She bent to raise the hem above her knees to make walking easier, and when she lifted her head, she saw a familiar figure coming toward her.
It wasn’t Reese or Walker; it was Rudy. She hadn’t heard from him since she’d told him about Tiller, and she hadn’t tried to contact him, either. She’d felt that what she’d done was too big a mistake to overcome, especially when they already had everything from the past working against them, so she was surprised to see him.
Stopping, she let him come to her. She had no idea why he was here and was almost afraid to find out. Losing him still hurt, but she was determined to accept the consequences of her long-ago mistake. As far as she was concerned, she’d gotten exactly what she deserved and didn’t have the right to hope for anything more.
He didn’t say a word once he reached her. He just stepped up and pulled her into his arms.
“What are you doing?” she asked as one hand came up to press her more tightly against him.
“I don’t care what you’ve done,” he said. “I don’t want to go on without you.”
Her arms ached to close around him, too. “You can’t mean that,” she said doubtfully.
“I do,” he insisted. “I’ve spent a whole week thinking about it, just to be sure, because I don’t want to make any more promises I can’t keep.”
She drew back to look up at him. “And what promise are you making me?”
“To be a better man, Rosey. Lord knows I’ve made my share of mistakes. I suppose if you can forgive me, I can forgive you.”
“Even for this?” she asked. “For Reese?”
Lines of consternation appeared on his forehead. “How can I blame you for turning to someone else during that time?” he asked sadly. “It was probably my fault. I wasn’t there for you like I should’ve been. I didn’t do my part.”
“Rudy—”
“Let’s not lose the chance to find happiness together at last,” he told her. “If we did...I think that would be our biggest mistake yet. What better time could there be for us to start over than now, when Eileen’s out of your life? I see that as a chance to put away the old and welcome something new.”
“You do?” she said, disbelieving.
“Absolutely.” He gave her a crooked smile. “Will you have me? As imperfect as I am and have always been? Can you forgive me for the past?”
Forgiveness. A second chance. Nothing sounded more welcome or freeing. She knew better than to expect any forgiveness from Eileen, but if she could have Rudy’s forgiveness, and Marlow’s and Reese’s and Walker’s, maybe, one day, she’d be able to forgive herself. “Of course.”
When he kissed her, she realized that what had attracted her to him in the first place was still there, regardless of everything else. She was grateful for that and all the good things he was in spite of his prior mistakes. “Thank you. Thank you for giving me exactly what I needed when I needed it most,” she murmured.
He caught her chin and held her gaze as he said, “It was my turn.”
Aida stretched, feeling warm and lazy under the hot sun as she lifted the wide-brimmed hat she’d used to cover her face and reached for her fruity drink with the tiny paper umbrella.
Marlow was spending some time with her mother, so Claire was the only one with her today. They’d been at their favorite public beach, lying side by side, all morning. “I love this song,” she said as “Shy Away” by Twenty One Pilots came over the speakers at the bar.
“Do you really think I should open my own clothing boutique in the fall?” Aida asked as she gazed up at the clear blue sky.
“You know how I feel about it,” Claire replied, her eyes closed as she continued to bask in the sun’s rays. “Your dreams don’t just come to you. You have to fight for them.”
The thought of owning her own boutique and how hard she’d work to make it great excited her like nothing else had in a long while—since she’d given up acting. “But it could so easily go wrong.”
Claire didn’t seem concerned. “Then you’ll pick yourself up, dust yourself off and try something else.”
She made it sound so easy. “What about you?” Aida asked. “Are you going to open another yoga studio?”
“I am.”
“You’re not scared? Even after everything you’ve lost?”
“Teaching yoga is what I really love to do. I’ll figure out a way.”
Aida brushed some sand off her leg before settling back on her towel. “How long will it take to save the money you need?”
Claire yawned before resting an arm over her eyes. “The price of commercial real estate has come down quite a bit since the pandemic hit. I might be able to find a good location sooner rather than later.”
“Are we talking months, or years?” Aida asked.
“That depends. When we were all hanging out last night, Reese offered to loan me a few thousand as seed money.”
Now Aida knew what Reese and Claire had been talking about so intently when they were having a barbecue at Walker’s. “That’s generous of him.”
“It is. He plans to buy a house here on Teach but told me he’ll be keeping his job—says he can’t imagine he’d enjoy doing anything else more.”
“And his family’s here, including Marlow now that she’s decided to stay and open a law practice on the island.”
“Exactly. He’ll still have an income besides his inheritance, and he insisted he doesn’t mind helping me. He said I could pay him back once I get up and running, a little at a time. So...it’s possible I could open a studio before Christmas.”
“How nice!”
“I’m sure he would help you, too, if you needed it,” Claire said.
“He knows I’ve got the money from the divorce. All I have to do is overcome my fear of failure.”
“Aida, you never know what you can do until you try.” Claire leaned up to reclaim her own drink and smiled as she watched the people nearby enjoying themselves. “It’s nice here, isn’t it?”
“Gorgeous. As idyllic as it is in this moment, it’s hard to believe we had to deal with a hurricane and a vengeful ex only ten days ago.”
A handful of children nearby started to squeal and chase each other around the castle they’d just constructed out of sand.
“We got lucky,” Claire said. “It was scary there for a minute. I sure hope we won’t get another storm like that one.”
“There may be a few more while we’re here. But hopefully they, too, will pass without any major damage.” There was no guarantee of that, of course. No one could predict the weather for the rest of the summer. But Aida chose to be positive. “How are you feeling about Dutton?” she asked.
“There are moments when I still miss being with him,” Claire replied. “You probably have those moments, too. But I know I made the right decision. I can see so many warning signs now that I kept justifying before.”
Walker had told them Dutton posted bail so he could make his flight home, but he’d have to return for a court date once he had one. “You haven’t heard from him?” Aida asked.
“No. I think he’s decided that we’re not worth what could happen if he doesn’t leave us alone.”
As far as Aida was concerned, that was one good thing to come out of the past week. Another was that she’d grown even closer to Claire. Their friendship had been forged in fire from the beginning, which made her feel it would stand the test of time. “I’m glad we didn’t let him tear us apart.”
Claire leaned up on one elbow and grinned at her. “So am I.”
Eileen had invited Rosemary over for lunch. She hadn’t seen her since she’d kicked her out of the house last month, but she’d arranged this meeting when Walker had finally come to get the rest of his mother’s belongings. He’d been shocked when she said she’d like Rosemary to pay her a visit, but Eileen had put a lot of thought into how to proceed, and she didn’t want him to feel he had to run interference between them. He and Marlow were spending a lot of time together, and they seemed so happy. She couldn’t do anything to ruin what was developing between them, least of all something she could fix by overcoming her baser instincts.
She had to admit she was nervous, though. There were moments when the hurt and betrayal she’d felt since learning of Tiller’s affair still made her hate Rosemary. But there were other moments when she missed the frequency of their contact and friendship. She would often read something in the news or see something online and want to show it to Rosemary so they could discuss it, only to remember that Rosemary now worked for the McGowens. She was gone and would never be coming back—at least, it would never be the same. And that made Eileen feel a different kind of loss. She supposed they’d been together for so long it would take some time to get used to having Rosemary gone.
The doorbell rang, and her new housekeeper—a young woman named Kristen, who’d moved into Rosemary’s old room—looked to her for the signal to answer the door.
“Go ahead and let her in,” Eileen said and braced for those first few moments, which were guaranteed to be uncomfortable.
“Hello. Mrs. Madsen is right this way,” she heard Kristen say and smiled. Kristen would never be another Rosemary, but she was sweet and, with time, they’d probably get used to each other.
Eileen, who’d refused to use a walker from the time she’d received her diagnosis, had broken down and purchased one a week ago, and she was finding it helpful. She used it to get up and move toward her former housekeeper.
“Eileen,” Rosemary said with a polite dip of her head. It was easy to tell she was self-conscious, maybe even a little wary. She held a huge bouquet of flowers, which she held out. “These are for you.”
They were pink and white peonies, Eileen’s favorite. Leaning forward to smell them, she closed her eyes as she breathed deeply. “They’re beautiful,” she murmured. “How thoughtful.”
“Shall I put them in water?” Rosemary asked.
Eileen was about to say Kristen could do that when she saw tears swimming in Rosemary’s eyes, and her throat instantly grew so tight she couldn’t speak. They stared at each other for several seconds and everything that needed to be said somehow passed between them without a word. Still, Rosemary sniffed and murmured, “I’m so sorry,” and Eileen reached out to pull her into an embrace.