“We were kids, Mother,” Tabitha says. “We were sheltered seventeen-year-old girls.”

“I suppose your father would have been far more appealing,” Eleanor says. “Billy Frost was as charming as the devil himself. Women of all ages loved him. And you two girls… well, you both adored him blindly. You always fought to be the one he carried around on his shoulders. Both of you Daddy’s girls, through and through. Just like Flossie and me.” She turns to Ainsley. “Be warned, darling, you come from a long line of strong, disagreeable women!”

Tabitha says, “Harper asked a valid question, Mother. When did you and Daddy have these chats about us? You never called him, and when he came to Nantucket, you refused to see him.”

Eleanor wipes her eyes and laughs. “That shows how little you pay attention. Billy came over every night of his stay, after you were asleep.”

“He did?” Tabitha says. “And you… what?”

“What do you think?” Eleanor says. “Like I told you, I loved Billy Frost with all my heart. I was never able to resist him. Nor was he able to resist me, I suppose.” A smile crosses her face, and she sits up a little straighter in her chair. “I would like you girls to give each other a hug, a real hug. And then I’d like you both to clean up this mess I’ve made.”

Ainsley knows her mother and aunt are nearly forty, too old to be ordered around, but they comply with Eleanor’s wishes. Harper holds out her arms and, incredibly, Ainsley watches her mother take a step toward her. Soon they’re embracing. It’s surreal to see two people so alike clinging to each other that way. Ainsley imagines them four decades earlier, floating side by side in the womb. They have been together since the moment of conception. It’s a miraculous thing, when she thinks about it.

When they separate, Tabitha bends down to pick up the shards of glass, and Harper cups her hand to accept them. Ainsley, figuring she’d better not just sit around like a lap dog, hurries into the kitchen for a sponge and a towel. She tries to imagine herself explaining what transpired here today to Caylee. My grandmother took responsibility for my brother’s premature birth… my mother and aunt played a game with rocks, paper, and scissors that determined their futures… my grandmother confessed that she had been secretly rendezvousing with my grandfather for all these years, even though they’re both really old.

She sees Caylee’s smile.

And why not? Despite the drama, when Ainsley bends to mop up the sticky mess of rum and tonic she feels… good. It’ll probably only last a couple of minutes, but for now she’s going to enjoy being part of a happy family. Or if not a happy family, then at least a family without any secrets.

No sooner has Ainsley formulated this thought than Harper clears her throat.

“I’m pregnant,” she says.

TABITHA

This summer, she and Harper have agreed on very little, but they both agree—once they are out of Seamless and back in the carriage house—that it’s time for Harper to return to the Vineyard for good. Tabitha will go back with her, but only for a day or two. She needs to pack up her things and settle up with the subcontractors. She needs to write up a punch list of things for Harper to take care of before they put Billy’s house on the market.

“So you’re both going to the Vineyard?” Ainsley says. “You’re going together?”

“In Harper’s car,” Tabitha says. “And I’m bringing our car back.” She feels heinously guilty leaving her daughter again, but she has to tie up loose ends.

Franklin, she thinks. She will try to find Franklin to say good-bye. She owes him that. She owes herself that.

Eleanor isn’t happy that Tabitha and Harper are leaving, but she has Flossie for one more day, and she has Ainsley. Besides, she was the one who orchestrated the reunion. She really has no right to complain.

As the ferry pulls into Oak Bluffs, Harper and Tabitha sit side by side in the front seat of Harper’s Bronco, and Fish is asleep in the back.

“Are you nervous?” Tabitha asks her sister. She told Harper that she had gone to see Reed. She admitted that it had been her plan to pull a secret twister and seduce the doctor under false pretenses, but she hadn’t been able to go through with it. She also told Harper how in love Reed had seemed—with the person he believed to be Harper. She then gave Harper the address.

You need to go see him, she said. Especially now.

“Nervous doesn’t begin to cover it,” Harper says. “How about you?”

“Why would I be nervous?” Tabitha asks.

Harper shrugs. A little while later, she says, “Was it real between you and Franklin? I mean, it happened really fast.”

“Harper,” Tabitha says. “It was real.”

They don’t say much on the ride to the house. Tabitha has been gone less than a full day, but she’s relieved to be back on the same island as Franklin. She wants so badly to believe that he’ll come to his senses and live his life for himself.

She and Harper walk in the back door of Billy’s house into the kitchen. Tad is on his hands and knees in front of the refrigerator. He’s putting in the last of the new floorboards. When he looks up, his eyes dart back and forth between the twins.

“Whoa,” he says.

“Hi, Tad,” Harper says. “Freaked out by the twin thing?”

Tabitha doesn’t care if he is or isn’t. “Is Franklin here?” she asks. “Have you seen him?”

Tad gets to his feet and wipes his hands off on his Carhartts. “He was here earlier today, actually.”

Tabitha’s heart feels like a bird smacking against a window. “He was?”

“He was. He asked for you. I told him you left.”

“You told him… did you tell him where I went?”

“I didn’t know where you went,” Tad says. “You bolted out of here without a word. He could see, obviously, that you’d left your car behind.”

“So then what happened?”

“Then he left,” Tad says.

“How long ago was that?” Tabitha asks.

“Hours ago,” Tad says. “And no, he didn’t tell me where he was going or when he’d be back.” He turns his attention to Harper. “How have you been?” he asks.

“I wouldn’t know where to begin,” Harper says.

HARPER

She has a harder time leaving Nantucket than she thought she would. It doesn’t take her long to pack, and with one hour in town, she’s able to say her good-byes. At the boutique she hugged Meghan and gave baby David Wayne a kiss on the forehead.

Then she held out her arms to Caylee. “Thank you,” she whispered. “You saved the store.”

“Don’t be dramatic,” Caylee said.

“Tabitha was angry when she found out you were working at the store,” Harper said. “But even she can’t argue with a five-hundred-percent increase in sales.”

“Is she going to let me stay?” Caylee asked.

“Absolutely,” Harper said. “I bet you’ll even grow to like her.”

“You think?” Caylee said.

“But not as much as you like me, of course,” Harper said.

Harper walked up Main Street to the offices of Striker & McClain. The receptionist, Bonnie, narrowed her eyes at Harper.

“Which one are you?” she asked.

“Harper,” Harper said.

“I only ask because I heard Tabitha is coming back,” Bonnie said.

Wow, Harper thought. Nantucket gossip moves even faster than Vineyard gossip. That must be because it has a shorter distance to travel… and less traffic to deal with.

“That’s right,” Harper said.

At that moment, Ramsay appeared to save her.

“If you’re leaving, then I assume your sister is coming back,” Ramsay said.

“She is,” Harper said. She considered informing Ramsay that Tabitha had fallen in love over on the other island, but she bit her tongue. For all she knew, Tabitha was planning to get back together with Ramsay—and wouldn’t it be just like Harper to ruin that, too? Harper gave Ramsay a hug. “The Vineyard is only eleven miles away, you know. You’re welcome anytime.”