Girls of Summer

by Nancy Thayer

  Beth was her normal cheerful self. She went over and kissed Mack’s cheek.

  “Daddy, I’m sorry I was so cranky and unpleasant the other day.”

  “Don’t worry,” Mack said. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”

  Theo kissed his mom’s cheek. He and Beth sat in separate chairs facing the sofa.

  “Was that storm crazy or what?” he asked.

  “Theo rescued me!” Beth said. “Dad, he was amazing!” She launched into a dramatic description of the wave, her fall, her realization that she was going to drown, and Theo’s sudden appearance, and his strength carrying her up and out of the water. It was all true, it had all happened, but Theo felt uncomfortable in the spotlight.

  When Beth finally wound down, Theo’s mom said, “Theo, how wonderful.”

  Theo nodded, waiting to hear Mack say something even slightly positive.

  Instead, Mack stood up. “Son,” he said. “Let me shake your hand. Words can’t express how grateful I am that you saved my daughter’s life.”

  Theo stood up. He took Mack’s big calloused hand.

  “Thank you,” Mack said. He enclosed Theo in a quick gruff hug.

  Theo’s butt hadn’t even touched his chair when Beth gleefully announced, “So we decided to move in together.”

  Theo choked. “Still got some water in my lungs,” he muttered apologetically.

  His mom sat there looking at him and Beth, and she was smiling radiantly.

  Mack didn’t look so radiant. “Well,” he said, returning to the sofa, “I can see how, in the excitement of the storm and Theo saving you, you would feel that way. But, honey, you don’t have to decide something so important so quickly.”

  Theo saw his mom glance at Mack.

  Beth was exuberant. “But, Dad, we’ve been in love with each other forever. And we’re not saying we’re getting married. We both just got back to the island, and we both need to concentrate on our jobs. We want to be together, and live our lives day by day.”

  “But,” Lisa said, “where would you both live?”

  Theo and Beth had discussed this on their way over. Now they gave each other an encouraging look.

  Before Theo could speak, the back door slammed.

  “Mom? I’m here with Ryder.”

  Juliet came into the room. Her clothes were somehow dry, rumpled, and muddy, and her short hair stuck out all over the place.

  “Dude,” Theo said. “You need some mousse.”

  Ryder was with her. He looked more composed. Dry hair, clean shirt, pressed khakis.

  “Ryder helped pass sandbags at the Island Home,” Juliet said, and she gazed up at Ryder as if she’d just seen him rescue a pack of puppies.

  Everyone spoke at once. Theo relaxed because the talk was all about the storm and everyone’s experiences. Lisa slipped out of the room into the kitchen.

  Theo followed. “Can I help?”

  After a while, they returned with a pot of coffee, a bottle of wine, several bottles of beer, and a tray of cups and glasses.

  Lisa returned to the kitchen and came back with a plate of cookies. “Wicked Island Bakery,” she said.

  “I love their cookies,” Juliet said.

  Theo, on his best behavior, stood up and offered his sister the comfortable wing-back chair. He pulled over a straight-back chair and sat next to Beth.

  Ryder pulled over the other straight-back chair and sat next to Juliet.

  The three men each reached for the beer. The women had glasses of wine. The conversation flowed easily, as they still spoke about the storm.

  Then, suddenly, everyone was silent, like clocks that had run down.

  Theo’s mom spoke. “I think this is the first time we’ve all been in the same room together.”

  Mack leaned back and scanned the ceiling. “The ceiling looks perfect, doesn’t it? You’d never know about the mess it was before.”

  “I know,” Lisa said warmly. “And the bathroom is wonderful—”

  Theo settled in his straight-back chair, even though it wasn’t the kind of chair to settle in. It had a caned seat, and part of the caning had ripped and one small piece was poking into his thigh. He was aware of how Mack kept shooting looks at him, but the looks weren’t like bullets, they were more like those little circles beside exam true-and-false questions. Or, maybe, those asterisks that could almost be stars. Mack knew by now that Theo was a good worker who always showed up on time, never backed down from a difficult job, and got on well with the crew. He didn’t think Mack knew anything really bad about him, because Theo hadn’t ever done anything bad unless he thought about how drunk he got in college. But Mack hadn’t seen him then.

  The fact was that Mack had been good to him these past few weeks. He’d trusted Theo to be a good worker, and he’d taught Theo about a hundred thousand things to do with carpentry. But that didn’t mean Mack would want a guy like Theo, who didn’t even have a profession, to move in with his only daughter. Also, his mom’s question hung in the air: Where would they both live?

  While Juliet paused to sip her wine, Ryder said, “Lisa, I’d like you to know that I’ve asked your daughter to marry me, but she has declined.”

  Lisa cocked her head. “Oh?”

  “I did,” Juliet declared. “But he didn’t actually propose. And I didn’t actually decline. I want to start a new website business of my own. That will take time and concentration. I have to wait to think about marriage.”

  “While you’re thinking about it,” Lisa said, “Mack and I have our own announcements to make.” Lisa took Mack’s hand. “We’re going to get married.”

  “Oh, Mom,” Juliet cried. “This is fabulous! Wonderful!” Jumping up, she threw herself on her mother and kissed her cheek. “Hooray! I want to be your bridesmaid.”

  “And I’ll give you away,” Theo told his mom.

  “And I’ll give you away,” Beth told her dad.

  Lisa said, “That sounds perfect. We’re going to have a huge event. We’re waiting until January so we can organize a proper ceremony and reception.”

  “So you’ll live together?” Beth asked. “Where?”

  “That depends,” Mack said. “Where will you and Theo live together?”

  “Wait,” Juliet said. “What? Theo, you and Beth are moving in together?”

  “Yeah,” Theo told her, and he couldn’t help grinning like he’d scored a major touchdown.

  “Where are you going to live?” Mack asked.

  Man up, Theo told himself. “What we thought…and we haven’t had the chance to talk with Ryder about it yet, obviously…was that we would live in the apartment over Ryder’s garage. Just for a while, until we sort out a better place to live.”

  Juliet snorted. “Yeah, because it’s so easy to find a year-round place anyone can afford on this island.”

  Theo ignored his sister. He’d had years of practice. “What do you think about that, Ryder?” Theo asked. “We’d pay you rent, of course. Whatever you ask.”

  Ryder smiled. “Theo, it would be great with me if you both lived there. I travel so much, I’m seldom at home. My real home base is in Marblehead, about forty-five minutes from Boston. It would be helpful to have you two there keeping an eye on things. I certainly wouldn’t charge you rent. I have a caretaker for the main house, but it would be good to have you two living there, too.”

  “Cool,” Theo said. “Beth’s committed to her job at Ocean Matters, and I—” Theo looked at Mack, handing the decision to him.

  “I asked you to work for me this summer,” Mack began, and stopped.

  Theo’s heart froze.

  “And I’ve had it in the back of my mind to ask you to join my crew permanently. But you know, Theo, if you move in with Beth, I won’t favor you over the others. I won’t pay you more or give you the easy work.”
r />   “Well, that’s too bad, Dad.” Beth laced her words with sarcasm. “Because that is the only reason Theo has for wanting to marry me.”

  Mack cocked an eyebrow at his daughter. “I suppose that’s true,” he agreed in a terribly serious tone of voice.

  “Oh, Dad,” Beth said, smiling back.

  “Hang on a minute,” Juliet said, in her most professional voice. “Let me get this straight, Mom. You are going to marry Mack in January. In the meantime, you’ll live all alone in this house and Mack will live all alone in his house and Beth and Theo will live all squeezed up in a tiny little one-bedroom apartment.”

  “It’s so not tiny,” Theo said.

  “It isn’t,” Beth agreed. “It’s a beautiful space, with an incredible view of the water.”

  “Still,” Juliet said.

  Theo met his sister’s challenge. “So where are you going to live while you start your new business? I mean, obviously, you’ve got your apartment in Cambridge. But also obviously, you’re all charged up about Ocean Matters, so I assume you’ll be coming down to Nantucket now and then. Where are you going to stay?”

  Juliet, always one step ahead of Theo, ignored his question and threw her own at him. “What if you and Beth have a baby? Will the garage apartment be big enough then?”

  “Oh, a baby!” Lisa cried. “How wonderful! We could—”

  “Mom, chill! We’re not pregnant,” Theo said.

  “And we won’t be for a long time,” Beth added.

  Mack turned to Lisa. Somehow they communicated without words, because Mack turned to the others. “We all need to sit down and think about this. I have no problem moving into this house with Lisa, and then you and Theo could have our house, my house.”

  “Yeah,” Theo said, “but hang on. If Beth and I get your house and you and Mom live in this house, what does Juliet get?”

  “Theo, you sweet thing, looking out for me,” Juliet said as tears sprung to her eyes.

  Theo started to say Don’t get used to it, which was the sort of thing he said to his sister, but Beth had made the slightest little kitten whimper of adoration at Theo’s concern for his sister, and he could feel her eyes all warm and admiring on him.

  Then Beth spoke up. “The crazy thing about life on Nantucket is that it’s always about houses, finding a house you can afford to buy if you’re only a normal person, or finding a year-round place to rent. I think we’re going about this the wrong way. Somehow we have four places of residence on the island. Lisa’s, my father’s, Ryder’s house, and Ryder’s garage. We don’t have to settle all the real estate talk now. Can’t we just celebrate? I mean, look at us! We’ve got so many things going on!”

  “And some of us are starting our own business,” Juliet said.

  “And some of us are making wedding plans,” Lisa said.

  “And some of us might get married someday, too,” Ryder said.

  “Let’s go out to dinner,” Mack said. “Let’s go somewhere nice. The water didn’t get as high at Le Languedoc or Dune or American Seasons.”

  “Right,” Lisa seconded. “And let’s drink champagne.”

  “But not too much,” Juliet said. “Some of us have to work tomorrow.”

  “Stop it,” Theo said to his sister.

  In a small mob, they rose and the women went to various bathrooms to put on their lipstick, and the men stood in the front hall talking about the storm. When the women joined them, they had a slightly confusing discussion about which cars to take because no one had a car that would hold six people, so they decided that each couple would take a car. Then they decided they’d go to a restaurant in town, so no one needed to take a car. They could all walk.

  So they walked, Lisa and Mack, Juliet and Ryder, Beth and Theo. The storm had blown itself out, leaving leaves and flowers torn from trees and bushes, and small pools of water everywhere. As they reached Main Street, they looked down toward the wharves. The water was receding, but puddles remained in low spots, reflecting the light of the early evening sun peeking out from the disappearing clouds.

  thirty-five

  The first Saturday after the Labor Day weekend, Ocean Matters threw a fundraising party at the yacht club. The theme was, of course, The Sea, and people were invited to come in underwater attire—a prize would be given for the best costume. The town’s self-declared matriarch Prudence Starbuck appointed a decorations committee tasked with transforming the ballroom into an underwater palace. The committee went overboard.

  All the overhead lights were veiled with blue, green streamers undulated from the ceiling like seaweed, and treasure chests spilling with glittering dime-store jewelry were the centerpieces of every table. A local band performed dance music interspersed with ocean-themed songs—“Beyond the Sea,” “Octopus’s Garden,” “How Deep is the Ocean,” “Under the Sea.” The partygoers, celebrating the end of another prosperous and overwhelming summer, came in the dozens, their costumes more Vegas than starchy New England. Mermaids in a rainbow of colors danced with pirates and ship captains. The winner of the best costume was Prudence Starbuck, who came as Queen of the Sea, complete with scepter and crown and necklaces of diamonds and other gems, some of them undoubtedly real. Her date for the evening was a handsome young man, Dylan Fernandes, congressman for Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and Cape Cod. There were several bars set around the room, as well as Spanky’s Raw Bar in one corner, where people lined up to choose from mussels, clams, and oysters on the half-shell.

  Because it was for Ocean Matters, Ryder insisted on buying a table for all six of them. No one argued with him. No one wanted to argue with anyone that night. The weather was perfect, warm but not humid, and the sky was clear and bright, freckled with stars. The doors were open to the porch, patio, and long green velvet lawn and people wandered outside to cool off after dancing or to fall back on the deep cushioned wicker chairs and stare up at the stars.

  Lisa and Mack strolled along the boardwalk down to the dock, rubbing shoulders companionably as they walked. Mack had rented a large gold-trimmed swashbuckler’s hat complete with purple plume. He’d found a large black morning coat at the thrift shop. For the final touch, he had fashioned a hook out of cardboard and aluminum foil, which he wore when he and Lisa weren’t dancing. Lisa’s costume was easier. She went as Tinker Bell, wearing a strapless green dress, a yellow wig, and lovely wide wings she fashioned from wire and iridescent chiffon.

  “Let’s sit,” Mack suggested when they reached a bench overlooking the water.

  “I can’t cuddle up to you, Mack, my wings are getting in the way,” Lisa said.

  “I know. And I’m afraid if I try to kiss you, I’ll take your eye out with my plume.”

  They laughed together, holding hands.

  “This is a memorable night,” Lisa said. “I’m delighted for Ryder and all the OM staff that it’s going so well.”

  “Since it’s such a memorable night,” Mack said, “I think I’ll do what I’ve been meaning to do for some time.”

  “Oh, yes?” Lisa turned toward Mack as far as she could in her restricting dress. She hadn’t worn it for years, not since she was young and lithe, before she gave birth. She could stand and dance in it, but if she turned too quickly while sitting down, she worried that the seams might pop.

  Mack reached into his pocket. He brought out a small black velvet box. In an easy movement, he knelt on the boardwalk. “Lisa Hawley, will you marry me?” He opened the box to display a small but fiery diamond solitaire ring.

  “Oh,” Lisa said. “That’s beautiful, Mack. Of course I will.”

  Mack slid it onto the ring finger of her left hand and leaned up to kiss her. “Good,” he said. “Since we’ve booked the yacht club for the wedding reception in January, I thought you probably would say yes.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Lisa said. “Thank you, Mack.” She turned he
r hand this way and that so the lights along the walk sparked fire in the stone. “I couldn’t have dreamed up the chain of events that led from my dining room ceiling to this moment where we’re sitting side by side as Captain Hook and Tinker Bell.”

  “I like you as Tinker Bell,” Mack said. “Especially in that dress.”

  “It’s old and too tight.”

  “I know. That’s why you’re bulging so satisfyingly over the top of the dress.”

  “Mack,” Lisa chided, but she was pleased. A year ago she wouldn’t have had the courage to dress like a petite green fairy. But knowing that Mack found her alluring no matter what she wore gave her a kind of freedom, a release from the restraints she’d imposed on herself because of her age. She never wanted to look like mutton dressed as lamb, or like the pathetic washed-up movie star Gloria Swanson played in Sunset Boulevard, but she found that Mack’s love allowed her to dress more playfully. Not for him—but for herself.

  “Let’s go back to the ballroom and drink more champagne,” Lisa suggested. “We should celebrate this ring.”

  So they rose, and Lisa tugged the dress into submission, and Mack put his hook back on, and hand in hook, they returned to the party.

  Juliet, who in her lifetime had watched scores of old musicals, had found costumes from the play South Pacific on eBay. Ryder came as a naval lieutenant, looking magnificent in his dress whites. Juliet dressed as his doomed Polynesian lover, in a flower-printed sundress with blossoms around her ankles and a lei around her neck. She was letting her hair grow long, but it hadn’t gone past her ears, so she rented a wig of long black hair. She was amazed and delighted at how the light sweep of hair over her bare shoulders lit up her senses.

  “Let’s walk down to the dock,” Ryder told her when the band took an intermission.

  “Sure,” Juliet said. She was slightly tipsy, not from champagne, although she’d had plenty of that, but from the evening. A party. Costumes. Friends laughing. Music. Dancing more than she had for years. Catching a glimpse of her mother gazing up at Mack as he held her in his arms during a slow ballad. Spotting her brother laughing with friends while Beth leaned possessively against his arm. Tonight they were all happy. Bad times, sad times, would come, but so would more nights like this, when they were all happy.