by Nancy Thayer
“Friends,” she said softly.
“I want more than that, I think that’s obvious. But it’s complicated, with all our children cluttering up our lives.”
Lisa laughed. “I should have called you about the ceiling when all three were living off-island.”
Their eyes met and held.
“I should have called you years ago,” Mack said and the hitch in his voice nearly melted Lisa into her chair. “But we got here and we’ve agreed we’ll go slow, and I think we can do that.”
“Yes, and summer goes fast,” Lisa said. “I mean, I’m so busy all I want to do at the end of the day is flop on my bed.”
“But maybe we can go to some of the galas,” Mack said.
“As a couple?” Lisa asked.
“Yes. As a couple. Let the world get used to us. Let us get used to us.”
Lisa nodded, thinking. “And at the summer galas, there will be so many off-island people that the year-rounders won’t see us in the crowd.”
“I want everyone to see us in a crowd,” Mack told her.
Again, the eye lock, and Lisa saw the desire in Mack’s eyes, and the affection. She was not ready to call it love.
“So,” Mack continued, “it’s okay if I ask Theo to join my crew?”
“It’s fine. It’s great.”
Mack peeled back the wrapping of his sandwich and began to eat. Lisa pretended to eat, but could take only small bites, because whenever she was near Mack like this, she could hardly swallow, hardly breathe. Maybe I’ll lose some weight this summer, she thought with a secret grin.
twenty-two
Marine Home Center was always crowded in the summer with plumbers, electricians, painters, and homeowners, so Beth felt slightly awkward as she zigzagged among them. Most of the workers wore coveralls or tees with sagging utility pants and work boots. Beth wore a pretty flowered sundress and wedged sandals. She felt like a ladybug creeping through a field of giant moles. All she wanted was Elmer’s Poster Tack, and she couldn’t find it among the nails, screwdrivers, duct tape, and batteries.
“Hey, Beth.”
Startled, Beth froze. Looking up, she saw Theo’s ridiculously gorgeous face. “Hi, Theo. What are you doing here?”
“Picking up some stuff for Mack. Your dad. What about you?”
“Oh, I’m an idiot. I want to put some posters up on the walls of our office, but I don’t want to use tacks or nails and ruin the walls. It’s a temporary loan and I don’t know how long we’ll be in there. So I’m looking for some Elmer’s Poster Tack, but I can’t find it, and I hate to bother a salesman when there are all these serious guys who need assistance, not that I’m even sure I could get a salesman’s attention.”
“You talk a lot,” Theo said.
Beth blinked. “Well, that was blunt.”
“Yes, and you’re so mistaken. Any guy would be happy to help you just so he could look at you.”
Beth was speechless.
“But you don’t have to ask a salesman. I know where the tack is. Come on.”
She followed him through the aisles until he stopped in front of a shelf of glues and tacks.
“Here,” he said, handing her a blister pack of wall putty sticks. “I think this will work.”
“My hero,” she joked as she took it.
“I’d like that,” Theo told her.
Beth was speechless again.
Theo grinned. He’d had this effect on girls many times in his life, but this time he wasn’t messing around. “Need anything else? Let’s go to the registers.”
Beth went first, wondering whether she should leave or wait for him, wondering if she could suggest meeting him for lunch or something. But they’d only met by accident, he was only being kind.
“Do you need a bag?” the cashier asked, looking at Beth’s one small item.
“No, thanks.” Beth took the tack and hurried away, not wanting to hold up the line of looming serious workmen. She knew some of them because of her father, but many of them came over from the Cape to work and others were summer workers.
“Hey, Beth,” Theo called. “Want me to come over and help you put up the posters?”
“Oh! Yes, that would be great.” Beth paused, watching Theo at the checkout counter.
“See you there,” Theo told her. He focused his charm at the cashier as she rang up his items. “Busy day, right?”
“Every day’s a busy day,” the woman in the green shirt told him. When she asked him if he wanted a bag, she gave him a smile.
Theo, Beth thought, with her own smile.
* * *
—
She had to drive around the block three times before she found a parking place close to the Ocean Matters office. As she walked along the brick sidewalk, she scanned Easy Street. Theo would have a hard time finding a parking place. She shouldn’t expect him to show up right away.
Inside the space, she unrolled the posters and decided where each should hang. She’d taken her photo of the men removing the plastic collar from the seal out to Poets Corner, where she had it blown up to poster size to go in the window. That would catch people’s attention.
She’d left the door open to the street, hoping people might come in and look around and ask about the organization. Theo arrived sooner than she’d expected.
“Did you find a parking space?” she asked.
“No. Just parked at home, gave Mack his stuff, and walked here. With all the traffic jams, walking’s faster than driving. Now. Let’s see what we’ve got.”
Theo held the posters up against the wall while Beth stood back to look.
“I like this arrangement,” she decided.
“Great. Do you have a bubble level?”
“A bubble level?”
Theo laughed. “How can you be your father’s daughter if you don’t know what a bubble level is?” Without waiting for a response, he said, “We can just eye it in.”
“I have a ruler,” Beth said meekly.
“That’s good. That will help.”
For the next hour, they moved around the room hanging the posters. Beth had ordered some generic but bright posters printed with whales or dolphins or fish and the words SAVE THE OCEANS. Once they were up, they hung the seal poster in the window and one of the bumper stickers she’d had made up saying OCEAN MATTERS. It was blue with brighter blue block print and a fish icon at the right end.
She had to stand almost in Theo’s arms to help hold and tack the posters. She could hear his breathing and smell his male aroma and often they brushed arms. Once his arm brushed her breast, but she could tell it was accidental. The air conditioner kept the room cool enough, but she felt dizzy, as if she was climbing at a high altitude. She’d done that once when her summer camp hiked to the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. This was a different kind of dizzy. She flashed on a vision of Theo pressing her gently against the wall. She wished he would.
When they’d finished, Theo said, “Looks good.”
“Do you think it’s hot in here?” Beth asked.
“Yeah, probably because you’re leaving the door open.”
“Oh, right. Well, I want it to look…hospitable.”
“But you don’t want to look like a place that has money to burn.”
“Good point.” Beth walked across the room and pulled the door shut.
“So,” Theo said, cocking his head. “Just think. Right now, your father is in my mother’s house. Does that make us related?”
“Oh, I hope not!” Beth spoke before she thought.
Theo’s smile vanished. “Right. See you later.”
“Theo, that’s not what I meant!” Beth ran to the door.
Theo was on the sidewalk. He looked back at her. “No problem,” he said.
Beth felt sick. They’d been
getting along so well, she’d felt the chemistry between them whirlpooling through her body. And she’d ruined it in one careless moment. Should she call him and explain?
A few minutes later, Juliet, cool as ice on this summer day, casually walked into the Ocean Matters office.
Beth tried to yank her thoughts into reality, at least a reality she could share with Juliet. Juliet was two years older, which had been a very big deal in high school, and Juliet was so innately cool. Theo was like an eager Lassie. Juliet was like a self-assured Siamese cat.
“Hey,” Beth said as calmly as she could. “How’s the website coming?”
“Almost done.” Juliet dumped her backpack on a table, unpacked her laptop, and opened it. She twirled a chair around to face Beth, and said dramatically, “I’ve been working my digits to the nub. What are you up to?”
Beth glanced down at her list. “I’ve built a master list of possible board members and we’re going to hold a gala fundraiser in early September. I’ve designed a logo to go on the website, our stationery, any publicity. I need to start an online appeal, but I’d like your input. I’ve friended nonprofits on the island that would be most like ours. Marine Mammal Alliance, the Shellfish Association, Nantucket Clean Team, Nantucket Island Safe Harbor for Animals, and so on. I also made lists of names, email addresses, mission statements.”
“You’ve done a lot.”
“I’d like your opinion, and I’ll need approval from Ryder for the mission statement.”
“Have you heard from Ryder?” Juliet asked, her eyes set on the computer screen.
“No. I don’t even know where he is.”
Juliet grinned wickedly. “Let’s google him.”
Ryder Hastings had what looked like hundreds of hits on Google. Beth leaned over Juliet’s shoulder while Juliet scrolled through the posts. Sometimes Ryder was at a fundraiser with a gorgeous woman at his side, but more often he was in the field—or in the water—in New Orleans or Miami or Venice, Italy, talking about rising seas.
“He’s kind of a workaholic,” Beth said.
“There are worse things,” Juliet responded.
Beth returned to her chair, working on her laptop.
Juliet asked casually, “Would you ever date him?”
Beth almost laughed, but she remembered that Juliet was Theo’s sister. She didn’t know how close Juliet and Theo were but she didn’t feel comfortable gushing about her feelings for Theo.
“I don’t know,” Beth answered vaguely. “He’s kind of old.”
Juliet stopped typing and swung around in her swivel chair to face Beth. “Do we have a hidden topic here?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” Juliet said with false patience, “you keep mentioning age. Like your father dating my mother. My mom’s ten years older than your dad. Does it bother you?”
Yes, it does, because how can I see your brother if his mother is dating my dad? Beth thought it, but was afraid to say it. Afraid Juliet would tell her that Theo had never been and would never be interested in her. Or that Juliet would go home and tease her brother about Beth liking him.
“Does it bother you?” Beth countered.
“I don’t know,” Juliet replied, and all at once she seemed vulnerable. “My father left my mother when we were kids. She was so lonely for a while. I used to hear her crying after she thought we kids were asleep. I’ve heard her talk to Rachel, her best friend, saying she was perfectly happy without a man in her life, and for years she has seemed perfectly happy to me. And now, your father…”
Beth kind of wanted to hug Juliet, who looked so worried, but even open as she was now, Beth was afraid Juliet would snap back to her cool, superior self if Beth even patted her shoulder.
“My father’s a good guy,” Beth said quietly.
“Yeah, I think he is,” Juliet said. “I like him a lot. I think it would be great if they were…a couple.”
Again, Beth’s mind cried out something she couldn’t speak aloud: But then what about me and Theo? Could we be a couple?
Instead, Beth said, “But the age difference. That could be a problem.”
Juliet rolled her eyes. “I know. Sometimes I think Mom’s an idiot, dating your dad. Sometimes I want to shake her.”
Beth said, “I don’t think your mom is an idiot. I think she’s beautiful and cool and smart. I just worry, for both of them.”
“God,” Juliet said. “Love.” She turned back to the computer then had a thought. “Beth. If your father married my mother, you and I would be stepsisters.”
“I’ve always wanted a sister,” Beth said. “That would be cool!”
“That would be awesome,” Juliet said. “I’ve always wanted a sister, too. I mean, Theo’s great, but he’s so male.”
“Yeah, but at least he’s a sibling.” Beth opened a notebook and began a list. She hardly knew what words she was writing. Her head was spinning. Could she be with Theo if his mother married her father? She couldn’t fit her mind around that. Plus, it was foolish of her even to imagine being with Theo. Well, maybe for one night or two, but no more. Theo was never a long-term relationship kind of guy. The attraction between them when they were hanging the posters was intense, but Theo was so sexy anyone would be attracted to him. Beth had to get real. She forced her mind to her work.
“I think what we’re doing here is important,” she said. She knew she sounded corny, but she’d gotten Juliet to stop talking about Theo.
“I agree,” Juliet said. “Give me a few minutes, and I’ll show you what our website looks like.”
“Oh, really? You work fast.”
“I probably belong on the far end of some personality spectrum,” Juliet joked.
Beth sank deeper into her chair and brought up her mission statement on the screen. She emailed it to Ryder and to Juliet. Then she took a deep breath, told herself to shake it off, and brought up the ocean album she’d created for the website. It had pictures of sea creatures swimming in blissful innocence with their babes by their sides, interspersed with photos of whales, seals, and dolphins choked with plastic. With each photo she’d attached a quote by someone significant: Herman Melville, of course, and also Jacques Cousteau, JFK, Wendy Schmidt, Shakespeare, E. E. Cummings, and Rachel Carson. She reviewed it and emailed it to Juliet.
“Okay,” Juliet said. “Here’s what I’ve got so far. Subject to change.”
Beth turned her chair around and scooted next to Juliet. “Oh, Juliet, this is gorgeous.”
The home page of the website was a luminescent splash of azure. The words Ocean Matters were at the top, in a dark blue, slightly curly font that Beth didn’t recognize but that fit the image perfectly.
“The mission statement,” Juliet said, moving the cursor to an image of what had to be the absolutely cutest baby seal in the universe. Beneath the little creature were the words, in indigo, Click here for mission statement.
“I love that,” Beth said, “but do we really need the words ‘click here’?”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t think we need them. People are fairly click-savvy now.”
“Okay, we’ll stick with ‘mission statement.’ Now let’s go to the members of the board of directors.” Juliet set the cursor over a glowing image of coral. “I wanted to use something native to Nantucket, so I tried a whale, then decided that someone was bound to be insulted by the very possibility that someone thought they were compared to a whale. Certainly couldn’t use a shark.”
“I like the coral. It’s a living thing, and this is fabulous.”
“Great. Now, your photo album. That’s fabulous, Beth. Eye-catching, and words to think about.”
Juliet moved the cursor to the words Photo Album over a pure white angel-wing shell, its raised radiating lines matching, the joined pair appearing delicate and almost unre
al.
“This is to sign up for the newsletter,” Juliet said, moving the cursor to a photo of seagulls flying over the water.
“That’s funny,” Beth said. “Seagulls are so insanely noisy.”
Finally, Juliet showed an icon of a group of mussels, their inner shells beautifully iridescent, above the words: Click here to become a member.
“Let’s leave ‘click here’ with this icon,” Beth suggested.
“Done,” Juliet said.
“This is amazing,” Beth said. “How did you accomplish so much so fast?”
“Eh,” Juliet joked, “I’m a genius. Also, I haven’t had much sleep.”
“Oh, you should go take a nap,” Beth said. “I have to start calling the people I know about becoming board members.”
“I don’t need a nap,” Juliet said. “Let me see your list of potential participants. I might be able to help.”
“Thanks, Juliet!” Beth scooted to her computer, found the list of possible supporters, and emailed it to Juliet.
The two women sat side by side, discussing each name, omitting some, adding others.
“You should be the one to call them,” Juliet said. “You’re better with people than I am.”
Beth started to disagree, to say she couldn’t possibly be better at anything than Juliet, but she gave it a moment’s thought and decided Juliet was right.
“If you think that’s the way to go,” Beth said, “that’s fine with me. I suppose you are a bit more introverted than I am.”
Juliet laughed. “That’s an understatement. Give me a computer and a difficult task and I’m in blissful isolation for hours, days. Theo got all the personality in our family.”
Beth smiled. “He is charismatic.”
“Oh, my God,” Juliet said. “You do like Theo!”
“I have always liked Theo.”
“I guess I never noticed because you were two years behind me in school.”
“You never noticed because Theo was always completely surrounded by a million other girls,” Beth said.
“Well, there was that. But I’ll tell you a secret, Beth. I think Theo likes you.”