“Think of loving a pet,” Mimi continued. “No, think of loving a celebrity. Um, let me see. Willow, think of loving Justin Timberlake.”
“Wait, what?” Willow interrupted. “I don’t love Justin Timberlake.”
“Meghan Trainor,” Darcy quickly suggested.
“Fine, then,” Mimi said. “Think of loving Meghan Trainor. When you think of her, or of what’s his name, that muscular man that starred in In the Heart of the Sea—”
“Chris Hemsworth!” Willow almost shouted.
“Good. When you think of Meghan and Chris, you’re happy. You’re filled with such joy at their existence, it makes life almost magical. But if you had to be responsible for their health and safety, for what they eat every day and when their dentist appointments are and if you read in a newspaper or online that someone thinks Meghan or Chris is stupid or ugly or lame”—Mimi’s eyebrows rose in triumph as she thought to use the word lame—“you’d be sad and angry that someone said something mean, and you’d be exhausted from buying their food and cooking their meals and driving them to dentist appointments. But you’re not responsible. You can love without protecting. If you ignore a skein of yarn or drop it on the floor or even step on it, it’s not going to get its feelings hurt.”
Willow pulled on her lower lip. “So you mean you can’t love anyone without getting hurt.”
“Not quite that,” Mimi corrected. “More like you can’t love anyone without the possibility of getting hurt, and not by the person you love but by, let’s call it, circumstance.”
“But what if you get in a terrible fight? What if you’ve done something wrong?” Willow asked.
“All parents fight,” Susan said. “And no one’s perfect. No one. When you love someone, you have to accept their faults.”
“Not completely true,” Darcy argued. “You can walk away from some of their faults, especially if that includes dealing heroin.”
“Well, that’s a little extreme,” Susan said. “I mean, to bring it right back to the personal level, I’m not unaware of what a prick Otto can seem like. Excuse my language, Willow. I know he doesn’t know how to play with his sons. But I know how his parents brought him up, and I know a lot of intimate stuff about him that other people don’t know. So I love him, as they say, warts and all.”
“Thank heaven!” Mimi clapped her hands together. “I’m so glad to know that, Susan. Still,” she continued, setting her piercing gaze on Susan, “people can change. Not by, let’s say, a mile or even a yard. But by an inch.”
“How—” Willow began.
Mimi interrupted her. “My dears, I do believe the vodka has mellowed me right into a mind slump. I need to close my eyes and take a nap.” A cough shook her frail body. She put her hand to her mouth. “Excuse me.”
Willow, Susan, and Darcy stood.
“I’m sorry if we tired you,” Susan said. She leaned over and kissed Mimi’s forehead.
“Me, too,” Willow echoed, also kissing Mimi’s forehead.
“You’re wonderful,” Darcy told Mimi. She kissed Mimi’s forehead.
Mimi sank back, her eyes closed, and her body sagged into the embrace of her pillows. The three guests quietly saw themselves out, into the sunny late afternoon.
Darcy hugged Willow and whispered, “Feel better about your parents now?”
“Yeah, I guess I kind of do,” Willow replied. “I’ve got a lot to think about.”
“Call me if you need a referee,” Darcy joked.
Willow snorted. “See you later,” she called, heading down the narrow path next to Darcy’s hedge.
Darcy and Susan waved.
“She’s a nice girl,” Susan said. “She’s got a good head on her shoulders.”
Darcy nodded. “She’ll need it.”
“True. You don’t think of having that kind of conversation on a beach day,” Susan said. Leaning over, she kissed Darcy’s cheek. “We’re all going to be fine, Darcy.”
Darcy nodded, but she wasn’t sure that Susan was right.
21
Sunday, Darcy didn’t go to the beach. Jordan pleaded with Darcy to come, even if Nash was there, even if Nash wouldn’t speak to Darcy. The beach wasn’t only Nash’s, Jordan insisted, and the group were Darcy’s friends as much as Nash’s. But Darcy was in an introspective, sulky kind of mood. She wanted to be alone. She wanted to let her feelings about all her neighbors sort of stew in the back of her mind, because, really, that was all she could do. She couldn’t expect Mimi and Willow and Susan never to leave the island. She couldn’t solve everyone’s problems—she couldn’t even solve her own problems! She had made an effort with Nash, and he had rebuffed her. She wasn’t going to embarrass herself, if he didn’t want to forgive her, at least to hear her out….