Chapters (47)
- Title Page
- Copyright Notice
- Dedication
- Epigraphs
- Prologue
- Part One
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- Part Two
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Newsletter Sign-up
Ann nodded. “Poppy would visit from college. When she went back to Madison, you’d would walk around saying ‘I want puppy, I want puppy.’ Everyone thought you wanted a dog.”
“That’s sweet,” Poppy said. “I didn’t know that.”
“No,” Ann said. “You didn’t.”
“But I did want a dog,” Noah said. “I mean I do. I’ve always wanted one.”
“You’ll be in college in a few years. I don’t want to be stuck with it.”
“God forbid you should be burdened with a dog or a house.” Noah looked at Poppy. “How about you get a dog? We can pick one out at the shelter. We could give it a real Wellfleet name, like Dune or Whydah.”
Poppy said, “It should have an oyster name, like Spat.” She put another piece in the puzzle. “Or Shucker.”
“Nobody’s getting a dog,” Ann said. She tried to force a spade-shaped piece into the corner. It didn’t fit, but it looked like it should. “Besides, Poppy, you won’t stick around.”
“How do you know what I will or won’t do?”
Ann began to feel some alarm; she never counted on Poppy really wanting to stay.
“I was thinking,” Poppy said. “We could rent out the house and live in the barn while people are here.”
“Nobody wants to rent this place,” Ann said. “It’s a disaster.”
“I’ve slept in worse places.”
“I’ll bet you have. Don’t worry about the house. You don’t want to be tied down. You know how many crossed-out entries I have for you in my address book?”
Poppy was quiet. She and Brad exchanged another knowing glance.
“I don’t know how you can live like this,” Ann said.
“What do you mean, ‘like this’?”
“You don’t even have any savings, do you? Not even an IRA?”
“So what?”
“You need some security.”
“You need to stop being so judgmental.” Poppy pushed her chair back and looked up at the ceiling.
“I’m being realistic. Tell me, what’s the longest you’ve spent in any one place? A year? Two?”
“Mom,” said Noah. “Don’t. Please just don’t. Poppy’s great the way she is.”
“I’ll stay,” Poppy said. “I’ve been working, you know.”
“Working?”
“I always work, Ann. Everywhere I go I have a job, sometimes two. My life isn’t totally free of responsibility. Sue me if I don’t want to waste my life in a cubicle in some corporate office.”
“I don’t just have myself to think of.”
“That’s a choice you made.”