The Summer Place will hit shelves in May 2022.
The queen of summer is back!
Ari, twice-divorced and currently single, had become a regular Friday-night guest at the Danhausers' table.
Jennifer Weiner.Credit: Andrea Cipriani-Mecchi
He needs a home-cooked meal"), and had finally prevailed.
Gabe and Ruby had been together for just six weeks before NYU shut down and sent everyone home.
Sarah finished the blessing over the wine and the bread.
‘The Summer Place,’ by Jennifer Weiner.Atria Books
“Gabe and I have some news,” she said.
Sarah felt a freezing sensation spread from her heart to her belly.
“What’s that, honey?”
Sarah asked, even though the heavy, frozen feeling inside her chest told her that she already knew.
“Gabe and I are getting married!”
Her expression was exultant, her pale cheeks were flushed.
His dark hair looked a little unruly, his deep-set dark-brown eyes seemed sleepy.
Not that Gabe wasn’t a good guy.
He was well-mannered and considerate, supremely easygoing.
He never got angry, and he almost always looked pleased.
Or maybe he just looked stoned.
“Way to go, man!”
said Ari, extending his hand across the table so Gabe could high-five him.
“Up top!”
he said to Ruby, who grinned and slapped his palm.
“Can we be in the wedding?”
“We can be best men!”
“We’ve got an even better job for you guys,” said Ruby.
“We’re going to get married in July, on the Cape.
I already asked Grandma, and she says it’s fine.
She knows it’s my favorite time of year there .
Sarah blurted, then gulped at her wine.
Ruby had always been a determined, headstrong girl.
Even worse: Ruby had told Sarah’s mother before she’d told Sarah herself.
Sarah’s face got hot.
She’d noticed Ruby right away.
“Miss Sarah, do you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend?”
“Not at the moment,” Sarah had said.
“My dad makes excellent grilled-cheese sandwiches,” Ruby said.
“I think you should come to our house and let him make you one.”
Sarah had been charmed .
He read reviews and began following classical-music blogs.
When she’d asked if he’d ever taken lessons, he’d shaken his head.
“Two years of recorder.
But I love it.
And someone has to be the audience, right?”
“We can’t all be soloists.”
She loved the way Eli noticed what she liked, the way that he took care of her.
Best of all was his devotion to Ruby.
She’d been right, for the most part.
Eli had been a wonderful husband, even if Ruby had been a handful early on.
Sarah persevered through the resentment and nastiness, the tantrums and tears.
Annette’s creative pursuits came first, her romantic partners came second.
Her only child might not have even made the list.
And now Ruby was getting married!
“Just family and our closest friends.
There’s not a lot of planning that we need to do.
So there’s really no reason to wait.”
“What about your dress?”
You’ll need a caterer .
and invitations can take weeks.
Maybe she could convince Ruby that there were actual, practical reasons why this plan would never work.
Sarah cast her mind back to her own big day.
Late at night, after their rehearsal dinner, she and Eli had gone down to the beach.
