“This sunset over the water is the most vibrant, colorful thing I have ever seen,” said Lisa, looking out at the Chesapeake Bay from the screened porch.

“When a storm is coming in, the colors are really amazing,” said Eva. “The mix of all the reds and oranges at the horizon with the grays and purples in the sky—it makes me wish I had any artistic talent at all, to be able to paint it.”

Maggie walked in through the screen door, which thwapped closed behind her. The Black Walnut cabin at Sharps Island Inn, where Lisa and Ben were staying for the weekend, featured a screened porch with a view of the entire southernmost tip of Matthew’s Island. Maggie’s reddish curls were unrulier than usual from the wind. She held her camera in her hand. Dave, Ben, and Nathan were currently down at Harrison’s eating crabs and having a beer—a bachelor party, of sorts.

“These photos are going to be fantastic!” she declared. “I couldn’t stop taking them. All these hammocks—and the way the sun reflects and dances on the water!”

“And they’ll remind you of your bridal shower and Eva’s baby shower, too,” said Lisa.

“Yes, I will frame one for you,” said Maggie. “The place is fantastic—isn’t it nice we are all here for our wedding shower–baby shower weekend!”

“Thanks, Mags,” said Eva. “I really still can’t get my head around the fact that a few weeks ago I watched my one-time twin baby boys walk across a graduation stage, and now I’m having a baby. It seems surreal.”

“Well, if I am not mistaken,” said Maggie, “you were just damn thrilled they walked across it at all!”

“True story,” said Eva. “You wouldn’t believe the crap their father, Joe, and I had to go through with Ken Tracy at the high school to make that magic happen for our little lacrosse-team party boys. Summer classes, tutoring, the works. I also made them go to counseling for the drinking. After my dad’s drinking killed him, I don’t want to see them self-destruct before they even reach adulthood. The caps and gowns and diplomas in those photos last month were a pure miracle.”

“Listen, I know it had to be sad losing your mom not so long ago that she couldn’t be there for that, Eva, and with the baby coming… that she won’t be here for that too—I’ve been thinking of you,” said Maggie. “But we are here for you.”

“Thanks, Maggie,” said Eva. “That means a lot.”

“You know we are,” said Lisa, and she walked into the kitchen to grab the plate of cheese and crackers she’d made, and a bottle of wine, placing them on the screened porch table. Maggie poured glasses of wine for Lisa and herself, and Lisa brought Eva a glass of ice water.

“What are the boys doing in the fall?” Maggie asked.

“They’re staying right here on the Shore where I can watch them,” said Eva. “A year at Chesapeake Community College will be good for them, two if they need it, and then if they want to prove that they are ready to go away to college, that will be fine.”

“I’m sure they will do well,” said Lisa. “They have you for a mom! And you will be so close to them here on the shore. How is everything with your watermen lawsuit?”

“I had a lucky break in the case,” said Eva. “There is one judge in Baltimore County who is finally listening to me and isn’t in the state’s pocket. That’s been the real problem up until now. It’s all one big circle-jerk; the court system and the state are in bed together and nothing gets done. I basically had to go shopping all around Maryland until I could find a court that would hear the case and make a fair ruling. I think this judge will. She’s been around long enough to know all the players, but her family goes back in the watermen’s industry for four generations, too, so she’s not going to be bullied around by DNR. I’ve met with the fisheries union and the locals and everyone seems to be on board that maybe we can make it work this time and do some real good here.”

“That’s so great, Eva,” said Lisa. “Nathan must be really proud.”

“Yeah, he’s gotta be,” added Maggie. “You’ve worked really hard on this whole thing for a very long time now and put your whole heart and soul into it.”

“I have,” said Eva. “It wasn’t easy making the transition from a full-time court attorney to ‘lady of the island’ so having something to work on that is meaningful has made all the difference for me. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t have this to work on; I think I would have been a bit stir-crazy.”

“Well, he and the rest of those watermen are lucky to have you,” said Maggie. “How has he been about the pregnancy and everything?”

“Nathan is so wonderful,” said Eva, smiling at Maggie and Lisa, rocking gently in her vintage wooden rocking chair. The breeze was getting slightly stronger as the storm drew closer, but the panoramic view the women had of the sun setting over the Chesapeake was breathtaking. “He is going to be the best father to this baby.” She twisted the red sea glass and diamond ring on her finger.

Lisa noticed the ring. “What is that?” she asked.

“Oh my God, kiddo. What is that, indeed!” Maggie chimed in.

“It’s just a ring Nathan gave me,” said Eva, beaming. “Made from a piece of sea glass I found here on the island. Isn’t it pretty?”

“Gorgeous!” said Lisa. “I’ve never seen a ring made from sea glass before. Wow!”

“Stunning,” said Maggie. “And perfect for you. It’s a piece you found on the beach around here somewhere I’m guessing? So custom made and extra personal. And those look like diamonds.”

“Yes,” said Eva, smiling coyly.

Maggie looked at Lisa. There were a few questions no one had wanted to ask Eva. But if anyone was going to ask them, it would be Maggie.

“So, if you don’t mind my asking…” began Maggie.

Eva laughed.

“Oh, Christ, go ahead, Maggie,” said Eva. “We are the founding members of the Scarlet Letter Society! We have gone where no women dared tread, or whatever it said on all those invites you used to send. Fire away. There are no secrets here.”

“That ring isn’t a— er—Do you know… that is, does Nathan know…?” Maggie stammered a bit.

Eva laughed again. “You don’t really even know what you’re asking me, do you? So many questions, all running together in that curious head of yours. Let me help you. It’s not an engagement ring, it’s a… well, it was just a very lovely gift, that’s all. Nathan knows about the existence of Charles in my past. He does not know that there is a very slight chance that Charles could be the father. I have tried a number of times to begin that conversation, but I just haven’t had the heart to tell Nathan of that remote possibility. I bought one of those kits, those who’s-the-father DNA kits I didn’t even know existed, on Amazon.com, and there is a way for me to determine the paternity without Nathan even knowing that I’ve done it. I’ve contacted Charles in New York so that I can rule out whether he is the father. I really am quite certain Nathan is the father. In any case, I don’t have any remaining feelings for Charles and Nathan is going to be the one raising this baby so I don’t want to hurt him…”

There was a moment of awkward silence after Eva’s rushed, awkward speech. She sat back in her rocking chair, out of breath, looking a bit exasperated, her cheeks flushed with color.

“What did Charles have to say about that request for… information?” asked Maggie.

“I haven’t heard from him yet,” said Eva. “I would have gone to New York to talk to him about it in person, but I didn’t even know these DNA kits existed until—well, I thought it would be too emotional for me to show up in front him while...”

She motioned to her burgeoning belly.

“That makes perfect sense. What a scene that would have been! Are you and Nathan going to be moving in together?” asked Maggie. “If you don’t mind my asking.”

“He built the nursery,” said Eva. “It’s so beautiful. A handmade cradle and everything. He’s with me every day and he sleeps at my house every night. We have talked about him selling his house, yes. He really barely goes there anymore. It’s almost just a big closet now, so it seems silly to keep it. I think he just didn’t want me to feel any pressure to be committed…”

“But having the baby…” said Maggie.

“I know,” said Eva. “There’s a commitment for you, right? But he knew that with the divorce and everything, and now with having a baby, it wasn’t like I was going to want to be rushing down the aisle. So talking about formal living arrangements just seemed like one more major life change we didn’t need to deal with on top of the baby coming. He knows I like my space. We even talked about building a new house together after everything is more settled down. I think I’d like that.”

“I love that he respects your space,” said Lisa, sipping her wine and then pulling her blond hair into a ponytail. “Maybe that was the idea with the ring. Just to give you something so beautiful and meaningful, but not so obvious and pressuring as an engagement ring. Something that was a clear symbol of love and commitment, but not something that would make you feel rushed or forced into something like planning a wedding in a certain timeframe while you already had the baby’s birth to contend with. It really was beautifully thoughtful in that way.”

“Wow, thank you, Lisa, that’s a really lovely way to put it. So what about your love life, lady baker?” asked Eva. “Enough about me, geez! How’s everything with your happy little home?”

“Oh, gosh, Eva, everything’s really great,” said Lisa. “Ben makes me so happy and I love living in town. It’s nice having the weekend off from the bakery. I hope you ladies like the cakes I made for the shower tomorrow!”

“We like everything you make,” said Maggie. “So how’s Max?”

“He is just the best little guy,” said Lisa. “He invited me to his class for career day to talk about being a baker and they let me bring treats for the kids so I made these colorful chocolate-covered pretzels and they were really a hit.”

“Oh yeah,” said Eva. “My boys never wanted me to come for that. Who wants a boring corporate attorney at career day? But chocolate-covered pretzels? That’s a winner right there.”

“It was a little odd because I knew some of the other parents who were there knew I wasn’t his mom,” said Lisa. “I mean no one asked me about it. But you could tell...”

“Yeah, well, I bet some of the other parents also know his mom sorta skipped town so she isn’t exactly going to be showing up for career day anytime soon,” said Maggie. “And they’re not gonna say anything to your face about it. Of course they had to make you feel like shit though. These bitches prefer to talk about people behind their backs. Fucking Queefalopes.”

“Oh geez, here we go,” said Eva.

“Queefa-lope?” asked Lisa, genuinely mystified. “What is that?”

“Even I don’t know that one,” said Eva. “Thundercunt and Cuntasaurus Rex have been covered in previous editions of the ‘Maggie’s Massive Insult Dictionary,’ but this one doesn’t even have the ‘c’ word in it, so please enlighten us.”

“Oh, come on, you guys, I don’t make these words up, they’re real, I’m sure you can look them up on the Internet,” said Maggie. “We used to call people queefs all the time in high school in the eighties. You know what that is, right? It’s cunt fart, like that noise you make during sex?”

“OK, that is familiar now,” said Eva. “Haven’t heard that one in a while. Real trip down memory lane there, Maggie. Ever charming!”

“Yeah, well, a Queefalope is like the female queef animal—just some bitch who won’t say something to your face, like these idiot moms at Max’s school,” said Maggie. “So who gives a shit about them, Lisa. Max loves you, and Ben loves you, and that’s all that matters.”

“Agreed!” said Lisa. “If I see them again maybe I can sneeze loudly and say ‘Queefalope’ under my breath and then try not to start laughing!”

“There ya go,” said Maggie.

“Thanks for that! Isn’t this sunset stunning?” said Lisa. “But it’s unbelievable how quickly the weather changes around here.”

The women watched as the storm rolled in. The gray clouds crushed the orange at the horizon line. The winds whipped the bay toward the rocky shoreline, causing waves to splash up and onto the lawn. In the distance, thunder rolled and far across the Talbot River, the first lightning strikes began.

“The sunsets are pretty,” said Eva, “but I love the storms on the island just as much. There is something so powerful about their energy. When the storms come, everything else stops. They’re in charge.”

“Wow, that’s actually pretty cool,” said Maggie. “I like the fickle weather. I want to stay right here on this porch until it starts raining so hard that it’s blowing in on us. I love watching this sky. So, I have something pretty odd to share with you ladies.”

“What is it?” asked Eva.

“I got a letter from my mother,” said Maggie.

“Your mother?” said Lisa. “I know you’ve only mentioned her once or twice, ever…”

“Oh my God,” said Eva, “so she’s alive?”

“Yeah, well there’s a reason I haven’t mentioned her, Lisa,” said Maggie, “which is that she abandoned me when I was six years old. I didn’t even know her goddamn name until I got this letter. Couldn’t have even told you she was still alive, Eva.”

“Jesus, Maggie,” said Eva. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“Well, there isn’t much to say,” said Maggie. “I’ve been trying to decide what to do about it. I brought the letter down here to read to you girls and see what you think about it. You ready?”

Lisa and Eva nodded their heads as Maggie began to read.

 

Dear Maggie,

I know it is really shocking to get a letter from me now after all these years have past. My name is Susan and I am your mother. I’m 65 years old, and I am dying from ovarian cancer. I am writing this letter because I want to apologize to you for leaving you.

I had you when I was 15 years old. You were named for my Irish grandmother Margaret who I loved so much. My family was really poor and Catholic in Boston and I had hid my pregnancy from them. My oldest sister let me live with her for some time but then she had another child and so there wasn’t any more room. I tried to live on my own with you for a long time but I couldn’t pay the rent or heat anymore. I loved you so much and did the best I knew to take care of you when I worked waitressing at night.

I worried every shift I worked at that something would happen to you and I couldn’t pay a sitter. I couldn’t let you keep being cold anymore. A woman from my work told me if I let you stay in foster care, that I would be able to visit you, but they only let me come one time and then that family you were with moved away, and I didn’t even know where. I was 23 and didn’t have any money. I went to the office and wrote letters (there wasn’t any Internet then) but the foster system wouldn’t tell me where you moved to no matter what I did.

It took me a lot of years, and finally, until this age of my life and hiring private investigators, to find you. I later got married, but I never had another child. The thought of when I lost you was way too painful for me to ever even think about having another baby. My husband had a heart attack 7 years ago and died. I saved his life insurance money from the fire company for my retirement but I won’t be needing that now so I used part of it to find you.

I understand if you do not want to have anything to do with me. But I want you to know that I love you, I have always loved you, and that I am sorry. The investigators told me that you have two older daughters, and I can’t believe it but they are my granddaughters. If there is somehow a way you would consider visiting me, I would be so thankful. I am sorry to put all this on you. I just wanted you to know you were never forgotten.

I hope you can forgive me.

Sending you my love,

Your mother,

Susan

 

Maggie looked up from the letter and as soon as she lifted her face, the tears ran down her cheeks. Lisa immediately stood—it took Eva a moment longer in her third trimester of pregnancy to rise—and they walked over to Maggie’s rocking chair. Maggie stood, and the three friends embraced.

The rain had started to blow in. Maggie returned the letter to her back pocket, and the women gathered their snacks and drinks and went inside. There was a gas fireplace, and a cozy sofa where they could enjoy front-row seats to a picture-window view of the storm over the river, and to their right, the porch view over the bay: a surround-sound IMAX storm.

“I know you said you wanted to ask us about what to do,” said Eva. “But that is such a hugely personal choice. That had to be a shock when that showed up—bringing up such a major part of your past. I can’t even imagine how you must be feeling. When did you get the letter?”

“It just came the day before yesterday to my shop,” said Maggie. “I guess her ‘investigator’ must have found my address there in Keytown? Anyway I figured I’d just bring it down here and share it with you guys in person. I’ve been in tears off and on since I got it. And you both know I am not a big crier.”

“What have Dave and your girls said?” asked Lisa.

“It’s just such a shock to all of us,” said Maggie. “Obviously they support whatever I wanna do, I mean, throw it out, go see her, whatever. I don’t know how sick she is. Dying can be tomorrow or she just got diagnosed, I don’t know.”

“Did she leave a phone number?” asked Eva.

“No, it’s weird, she didn’t,” said Maggie. “We can just look it up though. I’m not just going to show up on her doorstep. She asks in the letter for me to visit her, but doesn’t say anything about calling. But Dave looked up the address and it’s a nursing care facility of some sort, so she must be pretty bad off.”

“Oh, wow,” said Lisa. “That had to be pretty shocking.”

“Yeah, I guess you have no way of knowing what kind of shape she is in, if that affects your decision either way,” said Eva. “I suppose you could call the facility and speak with a nurse and explain the situation and they might tell you what her physical condition is. And then, in theory, if there were visiting hours…”

“Yeah, well, I’m not ready to hop on a plane to Boston and show up with flowers in my hand after more than forty years and pop in like, ‘Hey, Mom! What’s new?’” said Maggie, as she sipped from her merlot. She ran a hand through her unruly mop of red curls, her face reddening. “I’m just gonna need to give it some thought for a little bit.”

“That is totally understandable,” said Lisa, sensing Maggie didn’t want to talk about the letter anymore. “My family is a mess. It’s why I never talk about them. I hadn’t seen my parents or my sister in years when my dad died of cancer. My entire childhood was spent taking care of my brother Tommy, who was in a wheelchair and severely mentally disabled. My parents always worked full time. A nurse came to the house part time for my brother’s medical needs, but no one ever talked to him, not even my sister, no one but me. It was like I was the only one who acknowledged he was even a person. When I left after high school for culinary school in DC, they took him to a full-time residential facility there. I had to go and be the one to tell my brother when Dad died, and he seemed upset but I don’t even really know, it’s hard to say whether he understood what I meant. I think he did. I did go to my father’s funeral, and I was sorry to see my mother and my sister so upset. But that was the last time I saw them, ten years ago. I still visit my brother once a week.”

“Lisa, you never talk about your brother,” said Eva. “Or any of them.”

“I know,” said Lisa. “It’s just that talking about him makes me think of how much I hate being so distanced from my family even though it’s for a reason. It’s why you didn’t hear me talk about my mother or my sister when Jim died, too. Dysfunctional family stuff just is what it is, and we can’t really change it and to me, talking about it just doesn’t really help anything.”

“I’m glad you shared it with us though,” said Maggie. “It sounds like you had a lot on your plate growing up.”

“Yeah, Lisa, I am really sorry you had to go through all that too. Well, since it’s the dysfunction junction hour, I’ll be really honest about something,” said Eva. “I had a sister too.”

“What?” said Maggie. “I have always thought you were an only child!”

“I’ve always said that,” said Eva. “But growing up I had a little sister, Janie. We used to hide in the closet together when Dad would be so drunk that he would hit Mom. It was so terrifying to be a child and be inside that closet. We would just run into the nearest closet, and this one night we were in the tiny living room closet together and Dad had come home from work drunk and he was just screaming at Mom about dinner not being ready or something stupid like that. I was about four and Janie was maybe two and a half. And he was hitting Mom right outside the closet door and Janie just said to me ‘Help Mommy’ and she ran out of the closet before I could stop her…”

Eva paused, taking in a deep breath.

“Man, I would do anything for a glass of wine right now,” said Eva. She fought back tears, continuing, “… She threw open the closet door, and it was so loud, the way it slammed the wall, and that asshole was right there and I don’t know whether it just scared him, that door slamming open like that, whether he meant to hurt her or he was just too drunk, but he slapped her backward and her head hit the trim on the door frame and she fell to the floor and she was unconscious. Mom screamed and I can still hear that scream today in my head. Mom picked us both up and ran out the door and she took me to the next door neighbor’s house in my pajamas. She took Janie to the hospital but Janie never came home. I didn’t go to her funeral because there wasn’t one and I was too little to know why but now I know. It’s because my drunk asshole of a father didn’t want anyone to know that he had killed his own daughter. And even worse than that, my mother didn’t want anyone to know that she was too much of a coward to have called the cops. He swore to my mother that he would kill me if she called the cops. They just kept telling people that she fell. That’s how I got to be an only child.”

“Oh, Eva,” said Lisa. “I can’t even comprehend having to live with those images in your head your whole life. I’m so sorry.”

“Holy shit, Eva, you never told me,” said Maggie. “But I can understand why. Those are some nasty demons. I’m really sorry, kid. Man, what a mess we all turned out to be, friends. But you know what? There aren’t any normal families anywhere but on TV.”

Eva wiped away her tears.

“You’re right. You know, it feels good to get that story out of my system,” said Eva. “I carried that around for a long time. Never been to therapy or anything like that. I was really worried I was drinking too much. I have Charles to thank for that actually. I didn’t want to end up like my dad. Walking on the beach on this island since my mother died, finding the peace that comes with sea glass hunting, I thought about it and realized I needed to get a little help, so I went to a few AA meetings at the church.”

“You did?” asked Maggie. “I have to say, Eva, I never thought of you as an alcoholic. I know you like your wine.”

“I don’t know about labels,” said Eva, “but I want to be healthy. I don’t want those demons, as you call them, and that’s just what they are—I don’t want those haunting me with the future of the new baby I have on the way. I feel guilty about the boys, like they deserved a better mom. I feel like maybe I am getting a second chance.”

“That sweet baby,” said Maggie. “So happy for you. It’s not true about the boys. They love you.”

“You know they do, Eva. And they graduated from high school, so you must have done something right! Have you picked out any baby names yet?” asked Lisa. “Or have you and Nathan found out if it’s a boy or girl?”

“No none of that,” said Eva. “Just hoping for an easy delivery and a healthy baby.”

“I hope that for you too,” said Maggie. “Looks like the boys are pulling up the driveway—hope they had a nice crab feast!”

“I’m sure they did, even though they may have had to move inside to eat some of them!” said Eva. “You can’t go wrong with crabs on a summer night on the island.”

“I saw the weather forecast is nicer for tomorrow night and the baby/bridal shower and fireworks!” said Lisa.

“That’s great,” said Maggie. “We can all get in the pool and watch the show. I’d love to get a photo of the fireworks reflecting over the bay. This place is going to be gorgeous for my wedding on Labor Day weekend—I already can’t wait to come back!”

“That’s one we will all want to frame,” said Eva. “Thanks for listening, friends. And Maggie, let us know what you decide about your mother.”

“I feel lucky to have friends like you,” said Lisa.

“I will let you know,” said Maggie, looking at Eva. She turned to Lisa. “And I feel lucky too.

“We all shared a lot tonight,” Maggie said then. “There was an old quote I heard once. Something about ‘she never knew the weight until she felt the freedom.’ Seems about right. So until tomorrow! We might not have close sisters in our families, but we have chosen each other as sisters. We could change our name: The Scarlet Letter Sisters.”

“Goodnight, sisters,” said Eva.

“Goodnight, sisters,” said Lisa.

“Goodnight, my sisters,” said Maggie.

 

 

The next day, Maggie and Eva would unwrap lovely bridal and baby shower gifts, and their friends and guests would enjoy the music and delicious cake, all pleased to celebrate the happy life events. But the sunset chat between the three best friends, such rare moments when women could spend time amongst one another sharing hopes and dreams and loss and support, without husbands or jobs or kids demanding their attention, it was this precious time at Sharps Island Inn that the women would treasure for years to come.