Girls of Summer

by Nancy Thayer

  For a lingering moment, they stood looking at each other so intensely, so intently, that Juliet thought Ryder was going to take her in his arms, carry her into her mother’s house, and ravish her. Yes, ravish. That was the message in his eyes.

  “Yeah,” Ryder said, as if she’d asked a question. “We have to go. We have a reservation.”

  Seated in his Range Rover, they rode out to the Chanticleer, one of the priciest and most fabled restaurants on the island. They talked idly about current news, the weather, their days, but the air between them was languorous, heavy with unspoken words.

  The maître d’ greeted Ryder by name. “Good evening, Mr. Hastings, we have your table ready. Please follow me.”

  Juliet was aware of the glances of other diners. No one she knew was seated at any of the other tables, but she would bet one of her high school chums was working in the kitchen.

  The maître d’ pulled out her chair for her. A waiter came over and Ryder went through the complicated discussion of whether to start with wine or a cocktail.

  Juliet asked for a martini.

  The room was handsome, the tables set far enough away from one another that no one would worry about being overheard. Nantucket had many fine restaurants, but this one was known worldwide.

  “Why did you bring me here?” Juliet asked archly.

  Ryder looked puzzled. “So we could have dinner.”

  “Stop it. You’re a complicated man. I already know you’re wealthy, so there’s got to be some other reason than impressing me.”

  Ryder waggled his eyebrows theatrically. “So you’re already impressed with me?”

  “How could I not be? Electric car? Saving the oceans?”

  “I’m no saint, believe me. And I brought you here because the food is good. I like the atmosphere.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Juliet saw the waiter approaching with their drinks on a tray. She waited until he’d set their drinks down. She took a sip of her bracingly cold martini.

  Tilting her head, smiling a Mona Lisa smile, Juliet said, “I think you should be impressed with me.”

  “Oh, I am,” Ryder answered, leaning forward to put his hand over hers.

  She pulled her hand away. “Not that way. Well, not only that way. I spent several hours at the Ocean Matters office yesterday. Beth asked me to help build a website. This is my field of expertise. I know what I’m doing and I work fast.”

  “Is it up yet?”

  Juliet laughed, a throaty laugh full of confidence. “It can take weeks, even months, to build a website. I’ve got a good start, and when I get home tonight, I’ll go back to work on it.”

  “Not exactly how I saw this evening ending,” Ryder said.

  She ignored him. “I can work all night, if necessary. I can super-focus. Beth gave me a general idea of how it should look, the background an azure ocean with sea creatures and a menu that includes the mission statement, the names of board members, and an easy link to become members and receive the newsletter. Also, an ocean album page where people can scroll through gorgeous underwater shots.” She settled back in her chair, smiling triumphantly.

  “Good Lord,” Ryder said. “I could kiss you. Well, I want to kiss you anyway, but this is great news.”

  “We’re only in the beginning phase. I mean Beth is. I’m obviously helping out on a freelance basis.”

  “Tell me how you know Beth.”

  “Because we grew up on the island, of course.” The martini was performing wonders with her mind, conjuring up marvelous memories of life on the island, summer parties, school dances. “I’m two years older than she is, but my brother, Theo, hung out with her sometimes, and with Atticus.” That name made her heart drop like an anchor. For a moment, she was caught on the sorrow of his death. She took a small sip of her martini, steadying herself.

  Ryder said, “It must have been magical, growing up on this island.”

  Juliet paused to gather her thoughts. “It’s wonderful and terrible,” she replied. “I mean, the ocean, the beaches, the history, and so on are fun when you’re a kid. When you’re a teenager, it’s different and not in a good way. You know we have no chain businesses here. No McDonald’s, Starbucks, no malls, no place to hang out. The winters are long and dark and there’s no place to go unless you ice skate. We do have a rink. We start feeling…isolated…and some of us go off-island for college, some can’t deal with the hugeness of the real world, and come home.” She shook her head. “Could I sound more depressing?”

  “You’re not depressing. You’re honest. That’s what I wanted.”

  “I should probably extol the beauty of the island, the golden beaches, the profound connection with the ocean, and there’s that, too, of course. It’s not possible not to feel that connection even when it’s unpleasant. I mean, getting to and from our hometown relies on what the ocean’s doing. Gale force wind? No boats running, no planes flying, not that we could afford the airfare. Some of the major football games are off-island but half the passengers toss their chowder on the way because of high seas, and when you try to return, boats are canceled.”

  “Frustrating.”

  “And don’t mention Moby-Dick!” Juliet faked choking herself. “That’s like the school’s bible. If I have to read another word about the anatomy of a whale…”

  “Time changes things,” Ryder said. “A century ago, Nantucketers hunted whales. Now, we protect them.”

  “Things don’t always change for the better. For example, Ezra Noble. He’s been making his living all his life, fishing these waters. Restaurants buy from him, and if you get to the dock on time, he’ll sell to individual customers. Now his boat is disgraceful. Ezra can’t afford to paint it or overhaul the engine. He can barely afford the docking fee. He’s old. He doesn’t have a pension. In the past few years, as the seal population has exploded, there are fewer fish for Ezra to catch. Ezra has a daughter with cystic fibrosis. He’s got a lot of family here, siblings, aunts and uncles, and they all do what they can. He can’t leave this island. It’s been his family’s home for generations. But he may not be able to afford to stay.”

  Ryder said, “You’re very passionate about this island, aren’t you?”

  Please don’t say passionate, Juliet thought. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted him to kiss her.

  Reining herself in, she said, “I really should order. After this martini, I may be passionate, but one more sip and I’ll be under the table.”

  “I’d like to see that,” Ryder joked, nodding at the waiter.

  After they ordered oysters as starters and salmon as an entrée, Ryder said, “So we have something in common. We like seafood.”

  “I grew up eating fresh oysters I found myself at the Jetties or out at Coskata,” Juliet told him. “The hard part is opening the shell.” She looked down at her hand. “I cut myself more than once.”

  “I like to go out sport fishing with friends and bring back a nice big tuna,” Ryder said. “Of course now that I’ve met Sylvia Earle, I worry every time I eat fish, because so much of the population of tuna has been diminished by overfishing.”

  “Please, no guilt talk while I’m enjoying these oysters,” Juliet said, as they were set before them.

  For a while they focused on holding the oysters by the hinge end, sipping in the liquid, and chewing the sweet fish thoroughly to release the variety of delicate flavors. As they ate their salmon, Ryder told Juliet more about his work.

  “I’m flying to China for a week later this summer,” he said.

  “China? Why?”

  “Because about three-fourths of the human beings on this planet who will be affected by rising waters live in China. Shanghai, Beijing. Cities along the Yangtze River Basin. The Chinese are reacting quickly. They’re far ahead of the United States. They’ve developed something called the ‘sponge city initiative.’�
��”

  Juliet was mesmerized as Ryder spoke. He was brilliant, she decided, listening to him pour out facts and numbers in a dramatic and emotionally engaging way. His eyes flashed, his cheeks flushed, and she could feel the electric attraction sparking between them.

  The waiter approached to take their plates. They both declined dessert. If they were alone, Juliet thought she would climb right over the table and into Ryder’s lap. He was everything, all of it, masculine and tender and gorgeous and smart.

  “Have you ever been to China?” Ryder asked.

  “I’ve never really been anywhere,” Juliet told him. “Well, Boston, D.C., New York a few times.” Memories of her mother talking about Florence or Paris and memories of Juliet’s father leaving them somehow intertwined, leaving Juliet in a melancholy mood whenever she thought about Europe. “I think I’d like to see China, though. I know so little about it.”

  Ryder paid the bill. They walked out to his car and stood next to it in the shadowy light of the picture-perfect island street, so quiet on this summer night, so peaceful.

  Ryder said, “I want to kiss you.”

  She took a deep breath. “I’d like that.”

  He leaned over, cupped her face in both hands, and brought his mouth to hers. It was as if she was weak with thirst and his mouth and breath were water.

  Ryder said, “You.”

  To Juliet’s surprise, Ryder pulled away. “You are a problem. No, we are a problem. We don’t seem to have ‘idle’ in our relationship. It’s either off or zero to sixty in two point five seconds. That’s electric supercar acceleration, by the way.” Before Juliet could reply, he continued, “I have to go to Miami tomorrow for a conference. You should know I’m always traveling, giving talks like the one I gave at the Nantucket Atheneum, or joining expeditions tagging great whites, or meeting with companies to discuss how they can change over from plastic to paper. All this before I go to China.”

  “What are you saying?” Juliet asked. “Or, what do you mean? That we can’t…have a relationship because you’re so busy?”

  “No, I don’t mean that. But I want to be honest. I’m a maniac about this cause. It’s my first priority in life. I want to make a difference in the world, and I feel very strongly that never before has the world needed someone to make a difference. Right now, Ocean Matters is what I’m about, pretty much twenty-four-seven.”

  “So you don’t have time for a little pleasure?”

  His eyes burned into hers. “Do you think that’s what we’ve got between us? A little pleasure?”

  “I don’t know,” Juliet answered honestly. “You’re the one who started this.” She laughed at her own words. “Well, that sounded childish.”

  Ryder took her hand and walked with her along the sidewalk toward the ’Sconset chapel. The summer trees hung lush with leaves, and laughter drifted from nearby houses.

  The heat of the day had diminished, and a slender breeze drifted past, cooling Juliet’s neck.

  “You see,” Ryder began, “a girl like you—”

  “A woman like me,” Juliet said.

  “Okay, a woman like you…well, I’ve never met a woman like you. You’re beautiful and sexy. And you’re smart and ambitious.”

  “I’m ambitious?”

  “Oh, yes, I think you’re deeply ambitious. You went to MIT, for God’s sake. You’re not satisfied working for Kazaam. You want something more important.”

  Ryder stopped walking and turned Juliet to face him.

  “I think the two of us could do some amazing work for this old world of ours. Our knowledge and abilities weave together, and from the moment I saw you I knew I wanted to be with you. To touch you. To kiss you. To see you. To see you every day. To take you to bed every night.”

  Juliet put her hands on Ryder’s face, lightly, and it was like making a discovery, like opening a door, or feeling warmth after cold, or seeing a new planet. “I’d like that, too.”

  Ryder gathered her close to him and kissed her deeply. They remained in each other’s arms, breathing, learning this new sensation.

  Juliet broke away. “You’d better take me home. I want to get back to work on the website.”

  Ryder grinned down at her. “You are perfect.”

  “Just wait until you see what I can do,” Juliet told him.

  twenty-one

  Summer was officially here, with its heat and tourists and climbing dawn roses and convertibles bouncing over the cobblestones. Lisa lingered in bed for a moment, watching the play of sunlight through her curtains. She smiled, thinking of Mack. This summer was unlike any other.

  Finally she rose, showered, and dressed. Theo was undoubtedly sleeping, and Juliet was either sleeping or tapping away as if possessed on the website she was building for Ocean Matters. Lisa wondered whether Juliet was working so hard to impress Ryder, who was away for a few days, but decided that for Juliet, working was her favorite kind of playing.

  She left the house before Tom and Dave came, carrying her coffee as she hurried to her shop. She had two hours before she opened, but Gretchen, her summer help, had arrived last night and Lisa wanted some quiet time to discuss Gretchen’s winter and organize themselves for the season.

  She unlocked her front door and entered her shop. Everything looked tidy, enticing. She’d discovered a new fragrance by TokyoMilk called “Honey & the Moon,” which had an original scent, spicy, not sweet, and she sprayed it around the shop lightly. It woke up her senses, and her customers noticed it, too. Later, when the shop opened, she’d play upbeat music, the kind that put people in a good mood, but for now, she wanted silence.

  Someone tapped on the front door. Lisa went to open it and welcome Gretchen back. Gretchen was twenty-two, free-spirited, and energetic. She ran and did lots of yoga and she believed in living in the now. Gretchen hugged Lisa and immediately scanned the clothes on the racks.

  “So!” Gretchen said. “What’s going to be our big seller this summer?”

  Lisa smiled. “You are a breath of fresh air!”

  They set to work, unpacking new merchandise, arranging the jewelry in its glass case.

  Lisa’s phone buzzed. Mack. “I have to take this,” she told Gretchen and went into the bathroom for privacy.

  “Could you come home for lunch?” Mack asked. “Because we’re working here and I’ve got something I want to talk to you about. We can sit out in the sun for a while.”

  “What do you want to talk about?” Lisa asked.

  “I’d rather not say now,” Mack answered.

  “Oooh, a mystery,” Lisa said.

  “It’s not that big a deal, it’s just…I need your judgment on this.”

  “I’ll be there at one,” Lisa told him, and clicked off. She felt unsettled and oddly annoyed. She had to brace herself emotionally. If Mack wanted to break off with her, it would be kinder to do it now, before it got serious, although Lisa had been serious from the moment she and Mack kissed.

  It was fortunate that the shop was busy that morning. Lisa kept her attention back to the store, the clothes, the jewelry, the easy chatter about summer. At a quarter to one, Lisa left the shop to Gretchen’s experienced care and walked home. Her heart was racing, and not because she was walking fast. She lifted her chin, preparing herself for a blow.

  The house was quiet. Mack’s truck was gone, and Tom and Dave with it. Theo and Juliet didn’t seem to be around, although knowing Theo, he was still in bed, asleep.

  “Hey.” Mack was in paint-stained canvas pants and a white tee, and the cotton of his shirt was stuck to his back with sweat. Lisa’s senses went bananas at the sight, at Mack, his big hands wiping a tool before setting it in his toolbox.

  “Hey,” Lisa replied with a forced smile.

  “I picked up sandwiches at Fast Forward. Want a beer?”

  “Um, no, I think I’
ll just get some ice water.”

  They took a tray of food out to Lisa’s backyard. At the end of the garden, she had, over many years, trained a wisteria plant to grow over a wooden gazebo so that the long lavender clusters of flowers formed a shady canopy. A small table and two chairs sat waiting. Lisa and Mack settled themselves, and Lisa kept her hands in her lap, not touching her food, signaling to Mack she wanted the announcement now.

  “So here’s my question,” Mack said. “What would you think if I asked Theo to work for me?”

  “Theo?” It was taking a moment for Lisa’s nerves to unscramble.

  “Yes. He’s damned strong, not surprising given how athletic he was in high school. He’s adept with his hands. He’s easygoing, pleasant to work with. The guys like him. And to tell the truth, now that summer’s here, the work’s piling up on me.” Mack held up his hand. “Your house comes first, of course. Tom and Dave are the best men I’ve got and we’ll stay here till the work is finished. But it would go faster if Theo joined us.”

  “But, he doesn’t know how to do anything,” Lisa said.

  “Maybe not, but he’s a fast learner. Plus, he could do a lot of the pickup and delivery service, driving out to the lumberyard, that sort of thing. It would be a great time saver for me.”

  “Does he want to work for you?”

  “I think he does. He’s been hanging around, helping Dave and Tom with basic stuff. I didn’t want to ask him without talking to you first.”

  “Well, then, of course. I mean, why would I have any objection? Plus, he is an adult. I’m not in charge of him anymore.”

  “I wasn’t thinking about him. I was thinking about you. You and me.”

  “Oh, right. Was Beth upset the other night when she came home?”

  “Not upset. Curious. We talked about it, and I told her you and I are friends.”

  Lisa looked at Mack. His tanned arms bulged with muscles, and his nose was turning red from the sun. His hair, darkened by the winter, was developing white blond streaks, and his eyes were sea-green, clear and bright. She wanted to crawl over the table and sit in his lap and kiss him.