The fast-ferry let out three, long, low blares as it approached the dock in Nantucket town. The ride had taken just under an hour to cross Nantucket Sound from Hyannis, Massachusetts. For the last few minutes of the ride, Lin stood aft on the open deck, the wind pummeling her long brown hair into a cloud that whipped all around her head. Her dog, a small light brown mixed breed with a darker patch of brown on his right eye, watched his owner through the glass window of the door from inside the passenger cabin.
Lin opened the door. She reached for her rolling suitcase and swung her small duffle bag over her shoulder. “Come on, Nick. Let’s go find Viv.”
The dog wagged his little stub of a tail and they joined the line of disembarking passengers. Walking down the stairs to the dock, Lin admired the bright blue of the sky. It was a perfect early June day, with warm temperatures and a light, comfortable breeze. Tourists strolled along the brick walkways browsing the shops and a crowd of people gathered on the sidewalk to greet relatives and friends as they descended from the gangplank.
A short, pretty young woman caught Lin’s eye. She waved with vigor from under a shade tree. Vivian Coffin and Lin were cousins who shared the same birthday and had just turned twenty-nine. Viv had lived on Nantucket all of her life except for her four years away at college and a summer spent in Europe traveling with a choral group. The girls were descended from two different lines of the Coffin family on their fathers’ sides, but their mothers had been sisters whose ancestors were from the Witchard family of Nantucket.
“Carolin!” Viv called to her cousin, her blue eyes shining. Lin preferred to be called “Lin” but sometimes Viv referred to her by her formal name.
Viv hurried forward. She carried a few extra pounds, had chin-length light brown hair flecked with gold. It was cut in layers around her face. Her perfect skin was complemented by rosy cheeks and a warm, lovely smile.
Lin wrapped her cousin in a big hug while Nicky danced around expecting attention.
Viv reached into her pocket and withdrew a dog biscuit. Nicky sat down and looked eagerly at Viv, but he politely waited for the treat. Viv bent to pat the dog. “How’s Tricky Nicky?” She scratched his head and handed him the biscuit.
Taking the duffel bag from her cousin, Viv slipped her arm through Lin’s. “I’m so glad you’re here. It’s going to be so much fun with you on the island.”
Walking with her cousin over the cobblestone streets of the quaint town made Lin’s heart swell with happiness and she could feel all of the stress of the past months slip from her shoulders and fall away. Well, almost all. The past six months had been the hardest time of her life, with the sudden death of her grandfather and the discovery that her long-time boyfriend had been cheating on her. The combination of events nearly broke her heart. Lin had been feeling alone and adrift and she hoped that moving to the island would be a new start.
“I went by the cottage again yesterday.” Viv had been keeping an eye on the cottage that Lin had inherited from her grandfather. “Everything looks good. I put some food in your refrigerator to tide you over until you get to the market. The truck is going okay, but it won’t last forever.” Off and on, over the past few months, Viv had been driving the old truck that had come with the cottage to keep it in running order. “I took it in for service. I think it will make it through the summer so you can use it for your gardening business, but you’ll have to replace it after that.”
Lin thanked Viv for all of her help. After inheriting the cottage, Lin saw an online ad advertising a gardening business for sale on Nantucket. She contacted the woman and they closed a deal. The work consisted mainly of driving around to client’s homes on the island and taking care of their gardens and window boxes in addition to some lawn mowing and trimming.
The girls stopped on the sidewalk in front of Viv’s bookstore and café, Viv’s Victus. Viv sold paperbacks, hardcovers, and audiobooks, and in the small café in the back corner of the store, she served beverages, soups, sandwiches, salads, and sweet treats. Most evenings in the summer, musical groups performed in the café and Viv’s band played there on Tuesday and Thursday nights.
“How’s business?” Lin asked.
“It’s okay. The off-season is slow, but we’re coming into the busiest few months of the year, so I’m optimistic.”
The cousins parted ways after arranging to meet for dinner later in the evening. Lin was eager to get to the cottage and unpack and Viv needed to return to work.
With his owner hurrying after him, Nicky led the way up Main Street along the brick sidewalks lined with shade trees. Lin loved the old houses and mansions that lined the street. In the late 1700s, the island had been home to sixty percent of the New England whaling fleet. Considered one the finest surviving examples of a late 18th- and early 19th century New England seaport, the entire island had been designated a National Historic district.
The dog turned left when he reached the memorial in the small traffic rotary.
“You remember the way?” Lin marveled at the dog’s memory. They hadn’t been on-island for over six months. She waited to see if Nicky would take the turn onto Vestry Road and she laughed out loud and shook her head in amazement when the dog sauntered along onto the correct side street.
The girl and dog passed small and medium sized homes sided with weathered silver-gray shingles. Many of the homes had crushed white shell driveways, flowers spilling from gardens and window boxes, and roses climbing over white picket fences.
As they approached their cottage, Lin let out a contented sigh. She had so many happy memories of the wonderful summers spent at the house with her grandfather. Nicky gave a bark and danced around the front stoop while the young woman pulled out the key, opened the door, and stepped into the little entryway of their new home.
Thanks, Grandpa. Tears of gratitude gathered in Lin’s eyes.
***
Nicky napped on the floor in the living room in a pool of sunshine while Lin biked to the market. The dog perked up when his owner returned and he watched her put away the groceries. The house was arranged in the shape of a “U” with a deck in the middle built between the three sides. A huge kitchen with a center island and an old wooden dining table took up most of the left section of the house. Off the kitchen, there was a laundry room and a full bath.
On the other side, Grandpa had built a master bedroom and bath and the center of the cottage housed a good-sized living room with huge windows and a door leading out to the deck. An unfinished second floor had space for additional bedrooms and a sitting area, but Lin had more than enough space in the first floor layout.
There was a small second bedroom next to the master that Lin planned to use as her office. Before coming to the island, she’d worked as a computer programmer for a small start-up company in Cambridge and, not wanting to lose such a talented employee, the business worked out an arrangement so that she could work part-time remotely from Nantucket.
Lin went around opening windows to let in fresh air. Bustling about the cottage, she put clothes away, dusted all the surfaces, and swept the wood floors in each of the rooms. She made her bed with pale blue linens that had navy blue anchors printed on the fabric. Taking two soft blankets from the closet, Lin folded them, placed one in a corner of the living room and the other on the floor near her bed. She looked at the dog. “You have these to sleep on until we can get to the store for proper dog beds.”