“She likes tea, Mom, sweetened.” Lucas stared pointedly at his mom, giving Kate a moment’s gratification. He was actually taking up for her. Strangely, the notion lifted her spirits.

He took her hand, and Kate followed him through the foyer and up the stairs. The banister was thick and swirled at the end. “Why are we going upstairs?” Kate asked halfway up the flight.

He made the turn at the landing and continued. “We eat on the widow’s walk.”

A mental picture of the two-story house formed. Kate vaguely remembered a large widow’s walk on the top, an historical feature of many Nantucket homes dating back to the whaling days.

Her legs wobbled, not from exertion, and her fingers tightened on the banister. “You eat on the roof?”

They reached the second floor and he took another flight of stairs, this one narrow and steep. Their feet thudded on the hollow wooden steps.

“It’s tradition.”

Tradition. That explained it all. He could have mentioned that little detail earlier. Didn’t he know she was—

The dark stairwell opened to bright blue sky. And vast views of the island. High, vast views. Kate stepped to the side, keeping to the brick chimney chase.

Jamie and Brody greeted them from a round table, set for six, and centered on the square wooden platform. A spindled railing encompassed the perch. Lucas pulled out a chair for her on the other side of the table.

“I think I’ll sit over here if you don’t mind.” Kate smiled at Lucas’s sister. “By Jamie.” As if that was her sole reason.

Lucas sat beside her. “Good idea. This is where the view’s at.”

For the first time, Kate looked outward. Her only thought had been keeping the solid brick of the chimney at her back, but now that she looked up, all she saw was open sky and the ocean spread out far below, disappearing into the horizon. She put her hands on the table and twisted the rings on her finger.

“Can I see?” Jamie asked, gesturing toward her wedding set. Okay, not a set exactly since Bryan had purchased one and Lucas the other. Luckily they were both white gold.

Jamie touched the emerald-cut diamond with her index finger. “Pretty. I didn’t know Luc had such good taste.”

“Or that he would part with that kind of cash,” Brody said.

Kate and Lucas traded a look. “She’s worth it,” Lucas said.

“I read all your columns,” Jamie said. “I can’t believe you married Luc.”

Lucas’s chair creaked as he shifted. “Thanks a heap, sis.” He tugged at his sister’s high ponytail.

“You know what I mean,” Jamie said.