Isabella said, “You really need to eat something, Mom.”
Felicity nodded furiously.
Shannon opened the pizza boxes on the coffee table. Her eyes flitted to the hallway, down which their father lay in a bed in a vegetative state. In a vegetative state. This was something Arietta needed to get used to thinking and saying aloud.
“Let’s eat first,” Shannon said firmly. She meant,“Let’s eat before we see him for the first time.”
Arietta took a big bite of cheesy pizza. She was overwhelmed by the grease and fat. Her brain immediately sped up, and she blinked around at her daughters, as though she’d just fullyrealized they were there. “Oh, my darlings,” she said. “I missed you so.”
After Arietta choked down an entire slice of pizza, she led them down the hall to their father. She couldn’t bring herself to look at their faces as they sat with him, looking at him and trying to talk with him. It was awful to hear how happy they were trying to sound and how much they were faking it. Shannon told him about her recent laboratory experiments, Felicity told him about her dreams of pursuing his work in the financial sector, and Isabelle told him about a painting she was showing in a gallery near the university campus. Fred didn’t seem to know his daughters were there.
When they couldn’t talk to him a moment more, they got up and followed Arietta back to the living room, where they sat wrapped in blankets. Arietta didn’t know what to say. On the one hand, she was grateful not to carry this experience alone any longer. On the other hand, she wished she could have hidden this from her daughters forever.
“I want you to remember how he was.” She sighed.
“We do.” Felicity nodded.
“Maybe he’ll…” Isabelle threw her hands up. “I mean, what are the doctors saying? About recovery? What’s the timeline?”
Arietta didn’t want to tell her youngest the truth. She lowered her gaze, hoping that was answer enough.Then she surprised herself when she said, “We can’t stay in this house.”
“You mean,” Shannon said, “you want to maybe find a place for Dad to live?”
Arietta shot Shannon a dark look. “Your father is staying with me, obviously. I’m going to take care of him.”
“Of course,” Shannon said. “I didn’t understand at first.” She shifted her gaze to Felicity and Isabelle, who seemed confused.
“I want to leave Boston,” Arietta said. “I can’t be in the city a second longer. I can’t be in this house. It’s too full of…everything.” And this was true. This was the house where they’d raised their daughters. That was the kitchen where Arietta had cooked for Fred. This was the sofa where they’d watched a thousand movies. That was the doorway where they’d kissed hello and goodbye countless times.
“Where do you want to go?” Shannon asked.
“Nantucket,” Arietta said. “At least for the spring and summer. Maybe autumn, too. That big, old house has plenty of space, and your father was always happiest there.”
Nantucket, the island where Arietta and Fred met and fell in love.
Nantucket, where Arietta would nurse her beloved husband during the final years of his life.
“You’d be all alone on Nantucket,” Shannon said quietly.
“I’m alone here,” Arietta pointed out.
Shannon, Isabelle, and Felicity exchanged panicked looks.
“You have friends here,” Shannon said.
“No. We had friends here,” Arietta said. “But they haven’t been by to see Fred. They’re scared of him. I don’t want him to feel how scared of him they are.”
Arietta knew she was talking nonsense. She knew that Fred couldn’t feel anything.
But she had to believe there was still something going on up there. Otherwise, she might go crazy.
“It’s beautiful there this time of year,” Felicity said finally.
“We can help you pack up your things,” Isabelle offered.
“I’ll hire someone to do that,” Arietta said. “I need you three to focus on your own lives. I need you to concentrate on your college careers and your futures. It’s what your father wants, and it’s what I want. Okay?”
Their three daughters nodded urgently. Shannon looked like she wanted to argue, but she didn’t know how.