Diana Olmstead began a toast. Every year she did the same, and usually they had a moment of silence before the meal, and sometimes after. She had her glass lifted and was talking now about her granddaughter, how she was raising monarch butterflies for a school project. Ana listened. How it was related to all of them—the pupae, the cocoon, the chrysalis—she wasn’t sure. But it was five years now, Diana Olmstead reminded them, and like the caterpillar, all things change. Had it been that long? Ana marveled, holding the stem of her wineglass, for sometimes it felt as if Russell had left her the day before, or a week before, that he’d just stepped out the door for a quart of milk and would be back soon. But other times it seemed that decades had passed, that he was another life she once lived, long ago. Back then, five years ago, she thought she’d never eat again, never have a moment of happiness, never be able not to think about him. Yet here she was now, sitting at a table with the others, holding her glass in the air.

She leaned back and gazed at Claartija at the opposite end of the table. How radiant the girl looked, Ana thought, in her green dress and silver earrings. How different from the first time on the island. Her hair had grown long and brown; her arms tanned, and the brow ring was gone. She was mouthing something to the boy beside her, and Ana felt a certain wistfulness. For what exactly: Youth? The boyfriend? For Claartija herself? Ana remembered herself at that age, the boyfriends, her father. Claartija had grown so much in five years, and look what she’d turned into!

Diana Olmstead finished her toast. The sun dropped behind the bluff, and the room fell into shadow. They all clinked glasses and drank. Kevin stood and passed around small plates of goose confit. Pars took his dish and lifted his head to Kevin.

What if I want my goose without feet? he asked.

Kevin looked confused a moment; then Pars held a napkin to his mouth.

Ana groaned. Kevin shook his head.

But the feet are the best part, Kevin replied.