“You’re not going to see her, then?”
I looked up sharply. “Sam’s wife? She’s still alive?”
“If you can call it that,” Donna said. “She’s ninety-five and in a home. Alzheimer’s. Terrible.”
My grandmother shook her head. “No. The last time I went, she got extremely agitated. Apparently she still remembers the funeral.”
The last time she went? I thought. Everything she said on this trip was more bizarre than the last. I had never heard her spew such venom as she did about Sam’s wife, but she still went to visit her?
“It’s because the lobster is so fresh,” Joe said, bringing me back to the food. Donna and my grandmother were still discussing the sins of Louise. “They probably caught it this morning.”
“Makes sense.” I took another bite. “And I’m guessing you’re only taking me to the good spots.”
“That too.”
“When do we go to your mom’s restaurant?”
“Whenever you want.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever had Portuguese food.”
“Then we’ll go.”
My grandmother and Donna had gone quiet. I looked over to see them watching us like a tennis match.
I rolled my eyes at Joe and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”
“What did you say?” Grandma asked.
I pursed my lips. “I said, ‘I’m sorry.’”
“What are you sorry for?”
“You.”
Her eyebrows rose again. “Joe, darling, my granddaughter seems to think I’m imposing. Am I?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Well, darn. I hoped I was.” I could feel the color rising in my cheeks. “Jenna, I told you that you needed to be more interesting.” She turned back to Donna. “Speaking of interesting, did I tell you my Lily is engaged?”
“No! To that groomsman?”
“The one from the bog, yes.”
I puffed out my cheeks, then exhaled. “Does Massachusetts have the death penalty?” I asked Joe quietly.
“No,” he said, grinning.
“Excellent. A jury would totally believe that she fell into the ocean on her own. Especially with all that Xanax in her system.”
He laughed.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
December 1950
Hereford, Massachusetts
Evelyn pulled the cigarette out of Tony’s mouth and took a long drag. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “What happened to the girl who didn’t smoke?”
“She went to college.” Evelyn took one more pull before putting it back between his lips as they lay together in an upstairs room in the cottage. If they piled enough blankets on and stayed close to each other, they barely noticed the cold anymore.
“And whose cigarettes are you smoking?”
“My own.”
He shook his head. “Liar.”
“Excuse me?” She sat up, feeling slightly guilty. She wasn’t lying exactly—just not telling the whole truth either. Her first—and many of the subsequent smokes until she bought a couple of packs of her own—had been Fred’s.
“I know you, Evelyn Bergman. You’re bumming them off people just to see what you can get away with.” She laughed and settled back into the crook of his arm.
“So what if I am?”
“So nothing. I trust you.”
She plucked the cigarette from his lips and stubbed it out in the coffee can they used as an ashtray to take the evidence with them, then climbed on top of him and kissed him fiercely. She had a month at home before the second semester began and she intended to make the most of every moment. Even if those moments were stolen, sneaking away from her family to meet him at the cottage.
When the sky began to darken, they dressed to leave. Evelyn couldn’t miss Shabbat dinner without a solid excuse, and Tony worked the night shift all week.
“Wait,” he said, his voice catching as she walked toward her father’s car after kissing him goodbye.
Evelyn turned, her head tilted curiously.
“I—I have something for you.” He reached into his pocket. “It isn’t much. And it’s not—I’m not asking yet. But—” He opened the box in his hand, where a small diamond shone against a gold band. Evelyn’s eyes widened. “I’ll get you a bigger one. I promise you that. I’ll save every penny. But I wanted you to have . . . something.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck in a crushing hug. When she finally released him, she held out her left hand. “Put it on me.”