Nantucket, page 26
They all looked up, waiting.
He smiled, his eyes sparkling. “I don’t know if you noticed that Em is looking a little rounder,” he said, reaching for her hand, “but that’s because we . . . are . . . expecting!”
“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Tracey exclaimed.
Aidan frowned. “Expecting what?” he asked.
Olivia giggled, elbowing him. “A baby, silly!”
“Oh,” he said in surprise.
Em looked at him. “You’re going to be an uncle!”
“I am?!” Aidan said in surprise.
She nodded and then Levi smiled at Liam. “And you are going to be a grandfather.”
Liam pressed his lips together, his eyes glistening, and shook his head. “I guess life can change in a heartbeat.”
COOP’S SOUL-WARMING CHILI
Ingredients
1 tablespoon canola or olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 pinch cayenne
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
3 medium tomatoes, chopped, or 2 (10-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 (15-ounce) can dark red kidney beans, rinsed
1 (15-ounce) can navy beans, rinsed
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed
1 small can mild green chopped chilies
2 cups water or chicken broth
½ teaspoon ground pepper
Directions
Heat oil in large pot; add onion and cook until lightly browned; remove onion and set aside; add beef or turkey to pan and cook until browned. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, and cayenne to taste and stir constantly until fragrant—thirty seconds to a minute. Stir in canned tomatoes, beans (rinsed), green chilies, water or chicken broth, and pepper. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for two hours. Or, after the onion and meat have been browned, transfer to a Crock-Pot, add other ingredients, and cook on low for four hours.
Serve with shredded cheddar, sour cream, and corn bread or crusty rolls.
SALLY’S LASAGNA
Ingredients
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
¾ pound lean ground beef
½ cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 (6-ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (6.5-ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
½ cup water
2 tablespoons white sugar
1½ teaspoons dried basil leaves
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
12 lasagna noodles
15 ounces ricotta cheese
1 egg
½ teaspoon salt
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
Cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper to taste, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for an hour, stirring occasionally.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 minutes. (Sometimes I just soak the noodles in a pan of warm water while I’m getting the other ingredients ready!) Drain and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, and remaining parsley.
Preheat oven to 350°F (190°C).
To assemble lasagna, spread of the meat sauce in the bottom of a 9 × 13-inch baking dish. Arrange four noodles over the sauce (three the long way; one across the end). On top of the noodles, spread of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top the ricotta with of the shredded mozzarella and sprinkle with of the Parmesan. Repeat the layering two more times, ending with mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover tightly with foil that has been sprayed with a cooking spray or lightly wiped with oil to prevent sticking.
Bake in preheated oven for fifty minutes.
A READING GROUP GUIDE
NANTUCKET
Nan Rossiter
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The suggested questions that follow
are included to enhance your group’s
reading of Nantucket.
Discussion Questions
1. Liam has lost more than his share of loved ones. How has this affected him? What is his life like?
2. The book is simply titled Nantucket. Is there a metaphor in this?
3. Describe Liam’s relationship with Cooper. How does their relationship change over the years? In what ways are they similar? How do they each adjust to fatherhood?
4. Liam and Cadie share an intense, intimate relationship at a young age. If they had been allowed to see each other, do you think their relationship would have lasted?
5. Should Cadie have tried harder to get in touch with Liam? Are her reasons justified?
6. When a loved one is terminally ill, waiting for the end is heartbreaking. Levi tells Emma he “just wants it to be over,” but at the same time he feels selfish because it will only be over when his mother dies. How does each character deal with Cadie’s impending death? Do you think assisted death should be legal in terminally ill cases?
7. In the story, Liam considers how life can change in a heartbeat. In a heartbeat usually means “in a short time.” In Liam’s case in a heartbeat has more than one meaning. Explain.
8. Discuss the irony of Cadie’s ultimate triumph over her father.
9. In real life, sorrow and joy often walk hand in hand. In what ways is this reflected in the story?
10. Do you think Liam and Tracey end up together?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nan Parson Rossiter was born in Mount Vernon, New York; some of her earliest memories include riding a green Stingray bike—complete with banana seat and sissy bar—to the Pelham Library, which at the time was a tiny, cavelike space tucked beneath Hutchinson Elementary School. It was from the shelves of this library that Nan first discovered the magic of books. Some of her favorite characters included Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Pippi Longstocking, Laura Ingalls, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and Harriet the Spy.
When she was in the seventh grade, Nan moved with her parents to Barkhamsted, Connecticut. She graduated from Northwestern Regional 7 High School and went on to the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 1986 with a degree in illustration. After freelancing for several years, she began writing and illustrating books for children, including Rugby & Rosie, winner of Nebraska’s Golden Sower Award, and most recently, The Fo’c’sle: Henry Beston’s Outermost House. In 2011, Nan published her first novel, The Gin & Chowder Club; she is also the author of Words Get in the Way, More Than You Know, Under a Summer Sky, and a short Christmas story in the anthology, Making Spirits Bright.
Nan lives in rural Connecticut with her husband, their two handsome sons, and a black Lab named Finnegan. When she’s not working, she enjoys hiking with her family or curling up with a good book.
Don’t miss these heartwarming stories
by Nan Rossiter
THE GIN & CHOWDER CLUB
The friendship between the Coleman and Shepherd families is as old and comfortable as the neighboring houses they occupy each summer on Cape Cod. Samuel and Sarah Coleman love those warm months by the water; the evenings spent on their porch, enjoying gin and tonics, good conversation, and homemade clam chowder. Here they’ve watched their sons, Isaac and Asa, grow into fine young men, and watched, too, as Nate Shepherd, aching with grief at the loss of his first wife, finally found love again with the much younger Noelle.
But beyond the surface of these idyllic gatherings, the growing attraction between Noelle and handsome, college-bound Asa threatens to upend everything. In spite of her guilt and misgivings, Noelle is drawn into a reckless secret affair with far-reaching consequences. And over the course of one bittersweet, unforgettable summer, Asa will learn more than he ever expected about love—the joys and heartache it awakens in us, the lengths we’ll go to keep it, and the countless ways it can change our lives forever. . . .
WORDS GET IN THE WAY
The modest ranch house where Callie Wyeth grew up looks just as she remembers it—right down to the well-worn sheets in the linen closet. But in the years since Callie lived here, almost everything else has changed. Her father, once indomitable, is in poor health. And Callie is a single mother with a beautiful little boy, Henry, who has just been diagnosed with autism.
Returning to this quiet New Hampshire community seems the best thing to do, for both her father’s and her son’s sakes. Even if it means facing Linden Finch, the one she loved and left for reasons she’s sure he’ll never forgive. Linden is stunned that Callie is back—and that she has a son. Yet in the warm, funny relationship that develops between Henry and Linden’s menagerie of rescued farm animals, Callie begins to find hope. Not just that her son might break through the wall of silence separating him from the world, but that she, too, can make a new start amid the places and people who have never left her heart....
MORE THAN YOU KNOW
Losing her father on the night she was born could have torn Beryl Graham’s family apart. Instead, it knitted them together. Under their mother’s steady guidance, Beryl and her older sisters, Isak and Rumer, shared a childhood filled with happiness. But now Mia Graham has passed away after battling Alzheimer’s, and her three daughters return to their New Hampshire home to say good-bye.
Swept up in memories and funeral preparations, the sisters catch up on each other’s lives. Rumer and Isak have both known recent heartache, while Beryl has given up hope of marriage. But surprising revelations abound, especially when they uncover Mia’s handwritten memoir. In it are secrets they never guessed at—clandestine romance, passionate dreams, joy, and guilt. And as Beryl, Rumer, and Isak face a future without her, they realize it’s never too late to heed a mother’s lessons—about taking chances, keeping faith, and loving in spite of the risks....
UNDER A SUMMER SKY
The old Cape Cod house that Laney Coleman shares with her minister husband, Noah, and their five boys is usually brimming with cheerful chaos. There’s nothing fancy about the ancient kitchen or the wooden floors scuffed by the constant parade of activity and the clicking claws of their two Labrador retrievers. It’s a place to savor the sea breeze wafting through the windows, or sip coffee on the porch before another hectic day begins. This summer, life promises to be even busier than usual, because Noah’s younger brother, Micah, wants to hold his upcoming wedding on their property.
Though thrilled that Micah has found happiness after past heartache, Laney is apprehensive about having her home turned upside down. She has other concerns, too—her youngest son is being bullied at school, and Noah’s father is not the robust patriarch he once was, in mind or body. As the bride and groom’s large, close-knit families gather, there will be joyful celebration but also unexpected sorrows and revelations, and a chance to store up a lifetime of memories during the fleeting, precious days of summer. . . .
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2015 by Nan Rossiter
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN: 978-1-6177-3650-6
First Kensington Electronic Edition: September 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1-61773-650-6
ISBN-10: 1-61773-650-3
Nan Rossiter, Nantucket
