Summer Island: A Novel

Both Ruby and Nora are shocked to see Caroline on the porch. While Ruby rushes to embrace her sister, Nora hangs back, feeling excluded. Nora notes that Caroline looks extremely put together, but also very sad. Caroline reveals that she left her children with her mother-in-law for the night.

Caroline asks Nora if she would like to see pictures of her grandchildren, and pulls out two photo albums. When Caroline opens the albums, pictures from her wedding appear first. This leads Nora to remember how sad and excluded she’d been at Caroline’s wedding. She wonders who had taken on the mother role for Caroline that day. They look at pictures of Caroline’s honeymoon, and Nora notes how happy Caroline and her husband look. Caroline begins to cry and says they were. They look at pictures of Caroline after she had her eldest daughter, which leads Nora to wonder who had helped Caroline cope with motherhood. This leads her to cry, and she apologizes to Caroline. Caroline admits that the day she gave birth was the day she missed Nora the most. The two women hug, and Ruby goes to make them margaritas.

Once they drink a little, Ruby convinces Caroline to dance with her.