The Island House by Nancy Thayer

Author:Nancy Thayer
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2016-05-30T16:00:00+00:00

The day of Susanna’s birthday party was sunny, bright, and warm, with only the gentlest of breezes stirring the air. Courtney followed Robin everywhere, helping her with the thousand details needed to make the evening perfect. The caterers took over the kitchen. The tent rental company had raised the poles supporting the white sailcloth tent and laid the hardwood floors yesterday. Today they set up the tables and chairs and laid out the starched white tablecloths. The florist arrived with centerpieces. The bartenders lugged in barrels of ice and cases of wine and champagne. Courtney helped Robin set out the place cards Robin had so painstakingly handwritten. Dr. V hid in his study. Susanna’s friends took her out to lunch and kept her out as long as possible. The children—biological and summer—took time to go down to the beach to swim and tan.

The glitches were minor. With so many people taking showers, the hot water ran out. One of Susanna’s friends discovered the dress she’d brought had a tear along one seam. Susanna, ever handy, mended it. A married couple, longtime friends of the older Vickereys, had RSVP’d that they were coming, but phoned at the last minute, sending their regrets because of a family situation. Courtney helped Robin rearrange the place cards. Upstairs, as they dressed for the party, Pearl slipped into such a brazenly seductive skin-tight orange dress that Iris burst into tears.

“You can’t come to my mother’s party looking like a whore!” Iris shouted.

Everyone on the second floor heard. Robin and Courtney, in Robin’s room getting dressed, froze, listening with every cell of their bodies to see whether they’d have to intervene.

“Fine,” Pearl said. “It would be a waste, anyway. This party’s going to be full of old people.”

“Sometimes I hate you, Pearl,” Iris said.

Pearl laughed with her smoky low voice. “Yes, sweetie, but sometimes you love me.”

She changed into a barely respectable lavender sheath. Iris, Robin, and Courtney wore bright summery dresses, and Susanna wore her mother’s pearl choker with a lime green silk dress she and Robin had gone to New York to buy. The guys wore blazers with white shirts and ties, even Dr. V, who grumbled about the discomfort.

A knock at the door. James opened it. “Sonya! Richard! Come in!”

The party started, the bartenders got busy, and Robin and Courtney edged around the room, discreetly snapping photos on their phones. Not quite one hundred people crowded into the house and out onto the patio, and by dinner time, they’d enjoyed a drink or two and were a very happy bunch.

Robin, who had made the seating arrangements, had placed James next to Courtney at a round table. Jolly, rotund Jacob sat on Courtney’s left, and Pearl was on the other side of James. Callum Findlay and Robin made the last pair. It was a good mix, full of jokes and laughter. While they enjoyed the entrée—marinated swordfish grilled to perfection—the conversation was general, but as they waited for their plates to be removed and the birthday cake to be carried in and the toasts to take place, Courtney glanced at James.

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