Davis nods at her guitar case. “I bet it’d be worth a fortune on eBay,” he jokes, and his wife, Mary, gives him a whack across the chest. He doubles over in mock pain. “I was kidding.”
Mary is tall and slender, with dark brown skin and a pixie cut that makes her eyes look huge. Right now, they’re fixed on Greta. “We all know it’s worth a lot more in your hands,” she says, and there’s something protective in her gaze. Right from the start, Mary and Helen had been instant friends. Davis used to joke that they should call the little garden path between their houses the black hole, since the moment one of them crossed over for a visit—a bottle of wine in hand, always—they were as good as lost. At least for a few hours.
Now Greta can almost feel Mary’s determination to look out for her. It’s comforting, like her mom is still here in spirit.
“You know what you should do?” Eleanor Bloom says in her faint Irish accent, looking all lit up at the thought. She’s wearing a designer raincoat, and her long silvery hair is perfect, as always, even in spite of the dampness. “You should play a little show at sea. It would be brilliant to see you perform.”
“I don’t know…” Greta says, though of course she does know: there’s no way she’s playing on a cruise ship. Not ever, if she’s being honest, but especially not now.
“I saw there’s a variety show on the last night,” Eleanor continues, undeterred. “Anyone can sign up. I’m sure they’d be absolutely gobsmacked to have a real professional turn up there.”
“All the performers are professionals, honey,” her husband, Todd, says in his usual mild-mannered way. Other than his wife, Todd’s main passion is birds; he spends his weekends out in the marshes looking for egrets and other waterfowl. Once a year, his birding club takes a trip to some far-flung place that he views only through a pair of binoculars, but he’s never been to Alaska before, and a field guide to the state’s birds has been tucked under his arm all morning, already full of dog-eared pages. “They get pretty good people on these ships,” he tells Eleanor. “Comedians, magicians, Broadway dancers.”
“But not rock stars,” Eleanor points out. “Not people like Greta James.”
She says this last part like Greta isn’t standing right there beside her, smiling politely, like she’s talking about someone else entirely: Greta James the guitarist, the indie singer-songwriter with a cult following, as opposed to Greta James, daughter of Conrad and Helen, who learned to play guitar in the open garage beside the shelves of tools, with only Asher’s gerbils—banished from the house because of the smell—as an audience, and who now feels like a kid again as she waits to start this bizarre sort of family vacation, a poor replacement for the most important member of the group.
Across the way, she spots a man heading toward the end of another line. In a sea of older couples and young families, he sticks out. He has a trim beard and a square jaw and he’s wearing glasses that are either incredibly nerdy or incredibly hip; it’s hard to tell which. When she notices that he’s carrying an old-fashioned typewriter—cradled under one arm like a football—she wants to roll her eyes. But then she sees him clock her guitar case, and there’s nothing to do but exchange slightly sheepish smiles before he disappears into the crowd.
“Just think about it,” Eleanor is saying, and Greta turns back to her.
“Thanks, but—”
“This is small potatoes for her these days,” her dad says, arching an eyebrow. He doesn’t say it like it’s a compliment.
There’s a brief silence, and then Eleanor—trying not to sound deflated—says, “I suppose you’re right. It was only a thought.”
“Not at all,” Greta says, shaking her head. “I just…I don’t get a lot of time off, so…”
What she doesn’t say—what none of them say—is that all she’s had is time off lately.
Mary fixes Greta with an admiring look. “I remember you practicing away in that garage all those nights—”
Davis lets out a booming laugh. “You were god-awful, kid. But you were certainly determined. Gotta give you that.”
“That’s just it,” Eleanor says, turning back to Conrad. “How many people actually grow up to do the thing they dreamed of when they were young? You must be so proud.”
Conrad’s eyes drift over to meet Greta’s, and they stare at each other for a long moment. Eventually, he nods.