Caylee watched with interest as JB walked across the room to Eleanor.
"Ellie Bancroft," he said, just staring down at her face. "As beautiful as ever. You live here in this big house on an island all by yourself?"
"Chloe is staying with me for now," she said, gesturing to the young woman who was watching them with interest. "She's finishing her studies at the university. And of course Tito will be moving in soon. But if you're asking what I think you are, my husband Bradford passed away several years ago."
"I'm sorry," JB said, but in Caylee's opinion he didn't look sorry at all.
"I lost my wife some years ago as well. My second wife."
"Well, I didn't think you stayed single all those years since Noreen died." A tender look came over her face. "She was one of the kindest, most amazing people I've ever known." Then her look sharpened. "Heard you married Alice Chamberlain."
Caylee almost gasped, the expression on Eleanor's face was so accusatory. Alice passed away a few years after Caylee's mother had married into JB's family, so she didn't really remember her well, other than a kind of a sweet grandmotherly type who had doted on Jack.
"You got married!" JB said, his comeback sounding just as accusatory as the look on Eleanor's face.
"What, you thought I'd just wait around pining after you for years? I made my feelings clear."
"It was too soon," JB protested. "I was still grieving Noreen. I was afraid if I made a move on you then, I'd end up hurting you just because I wasn't ready."
"So are you ready now?" Eleanor asked, and this time Caylee did gasp. She looked over at Tito, who had this dazed expression on his face that pretty much matched the one Jack was wearing.
"Damn right," JB said. Then he closed the gap between them, pulled Eleanor to him, and kissed her.
Eleanor was up on her toes, her body pressed to JB's, her arms moving around him to hold him tightly. This, Caylee realized, was one hell of a kiss. It actually made her think about how much she wanted to get Tito alone.
When they broke apart they continued to look into each others' eyes.
"You were so young," JB said, lifting his hand to trace the side of her face.
Eleanor gave a short laugh. "Well I'm sure not young anymore."
Then she seemed to become conscious of her surroundings again, and so did JB.
He took a slight step back, then said in a gruff voice. "What are you all standing around gawking at? Let's eat!"
* * *
The whole story came out over lunch. Eleanor's aunt and uncle had a house on Sag Harbor when she was growing up, and she used to spend summers there.
"Used to follow me around like a little pest," JB said.
"I had a mad crush on him," Eleanor explained with a laugh. "Oh course, he was five years older and wanted nothing to do with me."
Caylee imagined the two of them sitting on the same dock - or an earlier version of it - staring out at the same water, where many years later Jack and Bailey had fallen in love as children.
"Five years is a lot when you're teenagers," JB said. "I didn't see you that way."
"Good thing," Caylee commented. "If you had, when you were 18 and she was 13, you might have been arrested."
"I wasn't there as much when I was in college," JB said. "I had other things to do with my summers than spend them with my family in Sag Harbor. I don't think I came back for more than an occasional weekend until after I graduated and started work at my father's investment firm. That's where I met Noreen."
"Noreen was so kind to me," Eleanor said. "I remember meeting her the first time that summer you brought her to Sag Harbor. I was 16 and seeing you again when you were 21 - all manly and grown up - just brought that crush rushing back in. She let me tag along when the two of you were sailing, put up with all the swoony looks I must have been sending your way."
Eleanor looked at JB and smiled. "I wanted to hate her but I just couldn't."
"She was a very special person," JB said, then glanced over guiltily at Jack. "I don't mean that to take away at all from your grandmother. Alice was special too. I was blessed to have had both of them in my life."
Then he looked back at Eleanor. "The timing was just never right for us. You would have been 20 or 21 when Noreen died. I'll always be grateful for how you helped me through that time."
"I was so in love with you. And feeling guilty about it because I was also grieving Noreen. I just wanted to take your pain away."
"You can't base a relationship on sorrow and loss," Maria said, and Caylee was surprised to see that Maria had tears in her eyes.
JB nodded. "All I could feel back then was my own pain. "I wasn't ready to accept love again, or give it. Not for a long time after that."
"I shouldn't have told you how I felt," Eleanor said. "I'm sorry for that, Jonny."
"Don't be. Knowing how you felt about me still - even though I didn't want to act on it at that time - helped me see that there might somewhere in the future still be a life for me after Noreen."
"I went back to college," Eleanor explained to the group, "and Jonny and I kept in touch for awhile, but live just goes on. Our letters - people still wrote actual letters and put them in the mail back then - became fewer and less often, but I could tell you were putting your life back together."
"And I could tell," JB said, "that you were moving on with yours." He leaned back in his chair, seemed to be reflecting. "I almost made a trip to see you when you were in grad school. I'd started to have a different kind of feelings for you, and was wondering if it might not be too late."
Eleanor looked up from where she'd been putting more fruit on her plate. "Really? Why didn't you?"
"Alice mentioned she'd heard you'd met someone. Another grad student. At that time, I was still just looking at Alice as a friend. She was the only one in our social circle, you know, who had accepted Noreen. The only one who hadn't looked down on her, treated her with those subtle snubs I was too dense to recognize when it was happening. Because I'd naively thought everyone would see Noreen that same way I did. That we were living in the dawn of a new age where social class didn't matter."
"Well," Eleanor said, "I guess I can't be angry at Alice, although I question her motives since apparently she was in love with you too. She told you the truth. I'd started dated Brad in grad school, and we had clicked." She had a pensive look on her face. "I honestly don't know what would have happened if you'd shown up to see me then. Maybe it was already too late."
"Things have a way of turning out for the best," JB said, looking around the table. "Look at the result of the decisions you and I made, Ellie. If we'd taken another path - together - Jack and Tito and Maria would never have been born."
* * *
After lunch, Eleanor brought out two key lime pies that she had baked herself.
"She's teaching me how to bake," Chloe said, and she cut them into generous slices.
"Baking is a lost art," Eleanor said. "I don't mind having sandwiches catered, but I enjoy baking my own pies and cakes."
Caylee grinned at Tito. "You're going to get fat living here."
"I'll have to think of some physical activities to burn off the calories," he said, and made her blush. Because she didn't think he was referring to the gym.
After a second round of coffee, Chloe stood up and said she needed to head out to her study group at the university, and everyone else took that as their cue to leave.
"This was very nice," Maria said, as they all walked toward the door. "Thank you . . . Eleanor."
"I'm so glad you came. I do hope you'll be back again."
Maria leaned in, seemingly on impulse, and kissed Eleanor's cheek. "I was wrong about you," she said. "I should have listened to Tito." She paused, then added. "Next time I'll bring the baby to meet you."
"I would love that," Eleanor said.
As they all walked outside, JB held back, his arm casually around Eleanor's waist.
"I'm going to stay here a little longer and just get an Uber back," he said to Jack and Bailey. "Ellie and I have a lot of catching up to do."
She smiled up at him, then directed her gaze at Jack. "Don't wait up," she said.
"Um, okay, fine," Jack said. "But if you want me to pick you up, Granddad, just text me."
"I think I can manage to get home on my own," JB said.
Jack and Bailey got into their car and drove away, while Tito, Caylee, Ritchie and Maria got into Ritchie's car. JB and Eleanor waved at them, then went back inside, shutting the door behind them.
"Well," Ritchie said. "That was interesting."
"I'm sure they do have a lot of catching up to do," Tito commented as they drove out of the driveway, and Caylee snorted.
"What?" Tito said, looking over at her in the back seat.
"Catching up?" Caylee said, raising her eyebrows.
"Yes," Tito said, obviously confused.
"What do you want to bet they're already in bed?"
Maria turned around from the front seat, her face shocked. "I can't believe you just said that!"
"They're . . . they're 75 and 80 years old!" Tito sputtered.
"Get real," Caylee said, laughing. "Have any of you seen Mick Jagger on stage recently? He's what, 80 now? Do you actually think there's a cut-off age for sexy?"
"I just . . . I can't even think about this," Tito said, and Maria nodded in agreement. "That's my - our - grandmother."
"Okay," Caylee said, still grinning. "You want to think they went back inside for another cup of coffee out by the pool, that's fine with me."
"Don't wait up," Ritchie said, quoting Eleanor, and started to chuckle.
If they all wanted to be shocked, Caylee thought, that was fine. Personally, she was thrilled to see JB having some romance and excitement in his life. She had a sudden image of sharing the condo with him, and coming home to find that JB had hung a tie on his bedroom door knob to signal he had an overnight guest.
Silly, she thought. They'd just text each other.
Because she was certainly planning on having an overnight guest herself from time to time, and didn't intend to let having a roommate stop her from having Tito over. Maybe they could double date, she thought, and couldn't suppress her grin.
"Stop it," Tito said. "Whatever you are thinking right now, just stop it."
Caylee raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I was thinking about you. And Bimini."
"In that case," Tito said, "be my guest."
Author's Note: What do you think of JB and Eleanor's reunion?
Next chapter is sailing to Bimini! What's in store for Tito and Caylee when they are finally alone?