“You can’t give me space,” Ava says.

“You need it,” Scott says. He kisses her gently on the lips, and it feels exactly like a kiss good-bye.

Ava watches Scott stride out of the church. She wonders how she could have so thoroughly dismantled her relationship over the course of one short weekend.

She takes a deep breath and reacquaints herself with her purse and her wrap. Now, everyone else has left the church and will be on their way to the Sea Grille for lunch, leaving Ava stranded. Certainly the rest of her family assumed she was getting a ride to the restaurant with Scott. She’ll have to walk all the way back to the inn and get her own car.

When she steps out of the church into the glare of the bright, cold day, she sees Nathaniel on the sidewalk waiting for her.

She shakes her head. This isn’t happening! For two and a half years, she couldn’t get the guy to pay attention to her—now, he won’t leave her alone! Now, he has effectively ravaged the great thing Ava had going with Scott. Scott must have seen Nathaniel when he left the church. Possibly, Scott thought Ava had asked Nathaniel to linger after the service.

She says, “Honestly? You can’t stay away? You can’t leave me alone? Scott just basically broke up with me—because of you! Because he thinks I’m ‘confused’ and ‘need space’! And you know what? I am confused!” She’s on the verge of tears. Her Christmas Stroll weekend is ruined. Nothing turned out the way it was supposed to. Her caroling party was a disaster, the Festival of Trees a catastrophe, and now here she is, godmother to the most precious baby girl in all the world and she’s about to weep on the front steps of the church.

“Ava,” Nathaniel says, “I’m not giving up. I’m not going away. I love you.”

He loves her.

She’s going to have to make a decision.

Nathaniel says, “What are you doing right now? Do you want to go for a ride up the beach? Do you want to go to my house and watch the Patriots? I’ll make my white chicken chili.”

“I’m going to lunch with my family,” Ava says. “They all left without me.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Nathaniel asks. “Or can I give you a ride?”

“No thank you,” Ava says. “I’m going alone.”

MARGARET

Margaret and Drake ride from the church to the Sea Grille with Mitzi and Kelley. As soon as Margaret is ensconced in the backseat, she whips out her phone.

Somehow, Kelley sees her. “Always working, Margaret.”

Margaret is so tense, she nearly snaps at him. This used to be Kelley’s refrain with her throughout the entirety of their marriage, which ended twenty years ago—so why does Margaret still have to listen to it? Margaret is only “working” because it involves Kelley’s son!

“That’s right,” she murmurs.

Mitzi swats Kelley on the arm. “She has a very important job.”

“I know, I know,” Kelley says.

Margaret can feel Drake’s gaze on her.

There are no texts, no calls, no emails. And no new headlines on the CBS website.

Slowly, Margaret shakes her head.

KEVIN

From the instant he walks into the Sea Grille for lunch, he can tell it’s going to be a disappointment. Or maybe he’s just tired. Isabelle is fretting because the baby is having a meltdown.

Kevin says, “She was a perfect angel at church. That’s the important thing.”

Isabelle says, “She needs her nap, Kevin. She did not sleep well last night.” There is an accusatory tone to Isabelle’s voice, and Kevin almost takes the bait. He almost says, And whose fault is that? Who took the baby to sleep in an unfamiliar room at a strange hotel? But he holds his tongue. He has apologized for his conversation with Norah Vale; he has reassured Isabelle that Norah is rien, nothing, while Isabelle is tout, everything. They have kissed and made up. He doesn’t want to revisit the topic.

He says, “We’ll put her down for a nap right after lunch.”

Isabelle nods, tight-lipped. They carry Genevieve, who is now screaming bloody murder, into the restaurant.

Kelley and Mitzi are already at the table. When Kevin said earlier that Kelley looked awful, he meant it. His father’s skin is gray; he looks like a pencil drawing of his usual self, and his hands shake as he brings a glass of ice water to his lips. Next to Kelley, Mitzi is smiling, but skeletal; she has lost a lot of weight over the past year.

Both Kelley and Mitzi swivel in their chairs as soon as they hear the baby. Kevin wouldn’t be surprised if the whole island can hear the baby. Genevieve is howling so loudly, her car seat vibrates. Her tiny mouth is wide open and Kevin can see clear down her throat.

Mitzi stands up. “Oh, poor little thing. Can I hold her?”

Kevin feels Isabelle stiffen next to him. The rest of the family has rolled along pretty easily with Mitzi’s apparent return to the homestead, but Isabelle remains nonplussed. Mitzi is back? she asked incredulously on Saturday night, before they all went out. She is forgiven? She had asked Kevin who made breakfast in her absence, and when Kevin said, “Mitzi did,” Isabelle emitted a high-pitched, very unhappy Ha!

Reluctantly, Isabelle hands the baby over to Mitzi. Mitzi says, “Oh, sweetheart, peanut, look at you. You are such a darling, yummy baby, just like your Uncle Bart used to be.”

Somehow Genevieve stops crying for a second. She studies the unfamiliar face and voice of the woman who is now holding her. Then, she starts crying again—louder now, if that’s even possible.

Kelley says, “I’ll hold her.”

Mitzi says, “I thought she’d like me. Babies usually like me.”

“It has nothing to do with like or not like,” Kevin says. “She’s tired.”

“She needs a nap,” Isabelle says.

Kevin really wants to get this lunch moving along, but to do so, he needs the rest of his family. Where is everyone?

Margaret and Drake enter next. Margaret makes a beeline for the table with her scarf covering most of her face, her sunglasses on, and her head bent, but still a murmur rolls through the restaurant like a wave. Margaret Quinn.

Margaret reaches for the baby. “Come to Mimi.”

Kelley takes the baby from Mitzi and hands her to Margaret. The baby howls.

Mitzi says, “She won’t stop crying for Margaret either.”

Margaret seems to take this as a challenge. She flips Genevieve into the “football hold.” Genevieve is facing the ground while Margaret’s arms support her lengthwise. “This used to work with Kevin,” she says.

Still, Genevieve screams. Kevin takes a seat at the head of the table; he feels like the ruler of a revolting nation. Isabelle sits next to Kevin, even though Kevin can tell all she wants to do is grab Genevieve and take her back to the inn for a nap.

Why did they ever think this lunch would be a good idea?

He flags a waiter. “Can you bring us some bread, please?” he asks. “And I’d love a beer.”

“Glass of chardonnay,” Mitzi says.

“Make that two,” Margaret says. She looks at Kevin. “Should I take her outside?”

“It’s too cold outside, Mom,” Kevin says. He turns to face the door. He needs Ava, Jennifer, and the boys to show up, pronto!

“Here,” Drake says, “let me hold her.”

Margaret hands Genevieve to Drake. This is getting absurd, Kevin thinks. It’s a game of Hot Potato. The only person who hasn’t held the baby is their waiter. But Genevieve calms down in Drake’s arms; he’s rubbing the base of her scalp with two fingers.

“The baby whisperer,” Margaret says.

Drake operates on babies; he probably has more experience with infants than all of the rest of them put together. Once Genevieve is sucking in raggedy breaths, Drake lowers her into Isabelle’s arms.

Ahhhhhh. Everyone at the table visibly relaxes.

Margaret says, “I don’t want to distract from my granddaughter’s big day, but I have an announcement to make. I’ll tell you and then you can forget about it for a while.”

“Nice setup,” Kevin says. “What is it?”

“Drake and I are getting married.”