“I’m telling you now,” Arietta said.
Shannon was quiet. “You deserve it. Being a caretaker the past five months … I know it hasn’t been easy.”
“It was a privilege to be there for your father,” Arietta said gently. “But it’s time.”
Eventually, Dina came into the parking lot. Her cheeks were stained with tears. Arietta felt very sorry for this young woman. Her love for Fred was written all over her face.
“Thank you,” Dina sniffed. “I needed to say goodbye.”
“You can come visit him if you want to,” Arietta said.
Dina closed her eyes. “Thank you,” she said. “I’d like that.”
Arietta, Shannon, and Dina stood on the edge of the parking lot, their eyes closed against an autumnal breeze. Arietta prayed that Dina wouldn’t spend a lot of time apologizing for what she’d done. Arietta wasn’t sure if she could stand it. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to believe in it, either, for it was clear that Dina would believe in her love for Fred forever. It would be one of the foundations of her life.
26
Eight Years Later
Incredibly, the year was 2034. Arietta Harris woke up in her Nantucket home at the crack of dawn, as was her way, and rolled over to watch her husband, Jasper, sleeping. Buttercream light that spilled from the cracks in the drapes poured over his face. He was in his sixties now, but still terribly handsome, with gray-and-black hair that went in chaotic curls on the pillow. Arietta felt a wave of love for him. Their story had not been a simple one. But as they aged, the harsh turns of life began to smooth out in the retelling. They’d been married for six years now.
Arietta went to the kitchen, where she brewed a cup of coffee and immediately fielded a call from Tina, one of the Salt Sisters.
“You’re up early,” Arietta said, smiling.
“You know I can hardly sleep!” Tina cried.
Arietta knew how Tina could get, especially when it came to planning a complicated event. For the thousandth time, Arietta ran through the to-do list aloud, and Tina said, “Yes, I’ve done that. Yes, that too.”
Arietta could do nothing but slap her thigh and say, “I think we’re ready to roll. You’re going to make yourself sick from worrying this much.”
Tina’s voice was small. “I just want her to know how much we care about her.”
“I know. Me too,” Arietta said.
Later that afternoon, they were throwing a surprise party for Hilary Salt. It wasn’t her birthday, and it wasn’t her wedding or work anniversary. Rather, it was the thirtieth anniversary of the Salt Sisters’ founding.
The Salt Sisters had been instrumental in helping Arietta through the most difficult period of her life. Back then, she’d felt alone and strangled with grief. But all she’d had to do was look around at a table filled with other Salt Sisters to recognize that these women had been through similar heartaches. They knew the language of grief and were there for her.
They’d been there for her ever since.
After Tina got off the phone to take a shower and try to relax a bit before the party, Jasper came into the kitchen and kissed Arietta good morning.
“How did you sleep?” she asked, reaching for the coffee to pour him a mug.
“I had the craziest dream,” Jasper said. “You were there, but we were somewhere else. Japan, maybe? And you told me that someone was trying to kidnap you.”
It was typical of Jasper to tell Arietta the wildest dreams, most of which involved her. In his dream worlds, they’d been on countless adventures. They were always side by side.
Arietta couldn’t remember Fred ever having such an active imagination. In her first marriage, they’d never told one another their dreams.
A little after noon, Arietta said goodbye to Jasper and drove over to Hilary Salt’s place. Stella was waiting at the gate andlet her in with a funny wave. Hilary was coming back from visiting her daughter and grandchildren in Los Angeles. Hilary’s husband had agreed to let them have the house for the party that night. “I know you girls need your space,” he’d said.
Each of their romantic partners knew how nourishing and essential the Salt Sisters were for one another. They understood that their wives would have fallen apart long ago without them.
Most of the Salt Sisters were already on the veranda, setting up for the party. Although they’d added members through the years, there were no more than sixteen of them. Arietta was fifty-seven years old, but most of them were in their sixties or nearing seventy. Sweet Sylvie was the youngest at age fifty-one.
Arietta busied herself with making a stupendous cheese-and-meat platter. She sliced and diced and spread out olives that caught the sunlight of the gorgeous June afternoon. Ada and Nora passed by and plopped a few olives into their mouths. Gale appeared with an enormous cake, which she’d had made at a fabulous Nantucket bakery. Rose kept bursting into tears, shaking her head, and saying, “Thirty years? How is it possible?”