Sea Glass Summer (46 page)

‘When will they do it?'

‘She's set for surgery in,' Evan looked at his watch, ‘about an hour. We'll have lunch and go to the hospital.'

‘I want to be there.' Oliver took the glass of orange juice Sarah handed him as he sat down on the chair Evan had pulled out for him at the kitchen table. After taking a sip, he looked up at them. ‘I expect Elizabeth was running away because of what she had done and Gerard telling her she was going to prison.'

‘There's no question of that, it was caught in time.' Evan drew out a chair for Sarah. ‘The art dealer struck me and Aunt Alice as a decent type, even if he wasn't he wouldn't want to have his gallery involved in a scandal. He'll return the scrimshaws without delay and they'll go to the historical society.'

‘There are more in a barrel in the cellar. Brian and I found them last night. There's so much to tell you both.' It was easier to think about Elizabeth than Sonny. He, as well as Sarah and Evan, had to stay strong for Gwen. ‘Elizabeth could have driven away, but she didn't. She stopped to help. I hope she feels good about that.'

‘She should,' said Sarah. ‘It could prove to be an important turning point. I think it will.'

‘So do I.' Evan was plugging in the coffee pot. He then set about getting lunch to the table, reheating the watercress soup Sarah had made that morning and preparing ham and cheese sandwiches. None of them could have eaten dessert, but there was fruit – apples, oranges and bananas – to choose from. Oliver ate without appetite and knew it was the same for Sarah and Evan.

Twyla phoned as they were getting up from the table to say Gwen would be going down shortly for surgery. They left for the hospital five minutes later in Evan's car. As they neared the entrance he said: ‘I do hope Twyla isn't blaming herself for Sonny getting away from the house. It was one of those convergences of events. No fault on her part.'

‘She's sensible enough to know that.' Sarah was in the back seat with Oliver, holding his hand. ‘I'm worried that Gwen will be the one taking on guilt for keeping Sonny at home instead of putting him in a nursing home, but that would have killed him slowly.'

‘He had happy times this summer,' said Oliver. ‘I was there yesterday and Sonny played
The Swan
,
one of his and Gwen's all-time favorites on the piano. Looking back,' his throat tightened, ‘I think he was saying goodbye to her.'

‘She'll have a lot to hold onto.' Sarah squeezed his hand.

They were directed by the woman at the desk in the lobby to a waiting room where they found Twyla seated alone. None of them said very much. Silence drew them more closely together than conversation. It seemed like a long time later, but it wasn't, when the surgeon came to let them know all had gone well. Gwen was in the Recovery Room and comfortable. A nurse appeared and said Twyla could now go in and sit with the patient. Evan fetched coffee from the canteen for himself and Sarah and milk for Oliver. When Twyla reappeared she looked relieved, though worn from the fatigue of a sleepless night.

‘She's very groggy, goes in and out, mentioned Sonny in hazy snatches, but no awkward questions. I surely don't know how she'll take it when the time comes.'

Oliver hugged her tight, wanting to comfort her as she had him so many times. ‘It will be all right, Twyla. The four of us are here for her.'

‘I know, lamb baby, I know.' She raised her head. ‘I told her you were all waiting to see her and the nurse said I could take you in.'

They turned down a corridor, to a right, then a left. Twyla opened a door. It was the usual hospital room with the square of window and a television on the wall. Gwen lay on her back on a gray metal bed, strung around with tubes. Her eyes were closed. Twyla sat in the chair near the door as the other three stepped forward. Sarah and Evan stood behind Oliver so that it was his eyes Gwen looked into on rousing.

‘I was dreaming about Sonny,' she whispered. ‘He was lost . . . he's been lost for a long time now. I want him to be safe. Safe forever. He told me he saw pink clouds today.'

‘He did, Gwen.' Oliver took her hand, his love pouring out to her. ‘Sonny is safe at last. He's home.' Unnoticed, the door opened and a still dark-haired, elderly woman with her left wrist in a cast stepped into the room.

For Gwen all that was earthbound had receded. A look of utmost serenity touched her face. She was gazing upward. ‘I'm waving, Sonny. I'll always be waving.'

Gwen woke after a long sleep to find Rowena seated by her hospital bed. Perhaps because her eyes blurred with tears what she saw was her beautiful sister unchanged by time.

‘You came,' she whispered.

‘Finally. Gwen . . . dear Gwennie! I've been such a willful fool. All these wasted years.'

‘Finally is never too late. Not when it comes to sisters.' They sat and talked about Sonny as a child and a man, about John and then the late in life love who had come into Rowena's life, who had moved heaven and hell to get her from France to Maine in record time. Renewal . . . and so much else that had flourished over the past months.'

Sarah and Evan were married six weeks later at St Anne's Church. It was a simple wedding, with only those closest present. What mattered most was that Gwen was able to attend.

A couple of days later she walked with Sarah and Oliver along the beach below Bramble Cottage. She and Twyla would be leaving for France in the morning to visit Rowena and her gentleman friend for a few weeks. On their return Twyla was going to stay on with Gwen at the house on Ridge Farm Rise. They hoped to do some more traveling together in the future.

It was a cool morning; the sky was a clear, pale blue. Jumbo padded along with them; he would be staying at Bramble Cottage while Gwen and Twyla were away. Oliver had his new puppy on a leash. There was some toppling over and bursts of short rushes. He was another brindled bull mastiff, and Oliver had named him ‘Pocket' because, as he'd said, compared to Jumbo he would fit into one.

Grandpa's lawyer had everything set up for Sarah and Evan to take guardianship of Oliver. As Gerard promised, he had made no difficulties about this. He and Elizabeth had returned to New York. Perhaps they were now ready to stare down their demons and start over. Oliver hoped so.

The Cully Mansion was to be sold because very little of the money left in trust for its upkeep remained available. The Sea Glass Historical Society had expressed a strong interest in buying it. Nat would like that, thought Oliver, picking up Pocket who was ready to be carried, just as he would like his scrimshaws finally being displayed along with those of his brothers. Such unity in death triumphed over a near lifetime of estrangement. There was only one thing Oliver wanted from the Cully Mansion: the dresser with Nat's drawings on the back of the drawers. He already had the little silver clock with the poem on it. The lawyer had said there was no problem about that. It was already in his bedroom. Nat's dresser would go in the book room because Oliver's bedroom furniture had been brought over from Ferry Landing. Grandpa had decided to sell the house, and Aunt Nellie was going to buy it. That made Brian and his parents happy and Bri wouldn't miss out on coming over to Sea Glass, because he'd already had several sleepovers at Bramble Cottage.

Oliver was thinking about Grandpa that morning, so many wonderfully happy memories. Sonny's death, and Gwen's courageous acceptance of it, had brought a sense of peace that would help Oliver when the time came to say goodbye to the man who had given him the very best start in life.

Sarah's thoughts were also of Frank Andrews and Sonny. Of the troubles and sorrows that are part of every life. Those that came without warning in the suddenness of a violent storm, while others slipped in on a slow, sad tide. But always for those who searched there could be recovered a treasure trove of memories washed in on the tide – reminders that even that which is broken can achieve renewed beauty. Fragments of what was once whole, but still priceless to the heart and never to be displaced by new beginnings.

Oliver and Gwen stood with Sarah on the shoreline. Soon they and the dogs would return by way of the wood steps and across the back lawn to the house, where Evan would interrupt his writing to join them in the kitchen. And Dusk would wander in to make sure she got her full share of Oliver's attention. Sarah had no need to voice these thoughts to the other two. They reached out for each other's hands and held on to this moment.

Shining up from beneath the incoming waves was another small treasure returned from the sea. Their eyes met in recognition that these gems, buffered by all kinds of weather, when gathered into a collection, would reflect for always the sunshine of a sea glass summer.