Ariel sat up, leaning back on her hands. “I don’t side with anyone,” she said quietly. “I had a spectacular evening, and I enjoyed every moment, the food, the wine, the beauty of the house. I don’t hate anyone simply because they’re wealthy. And I don’t envy them, either. But I can tell you that living here on this island, working at the real estate agency, I’m seeing how pleasant money can make life, and I do not want to be poor.” She stood up. “Good night, everyone. We have work tomorrow.” She walked, alone, into the Sand Palace.

  sixteen

  This Summer

  Thursday evening, Jade-Marie looked at her watch. It was almost five-thirty, about the time the Sand Palace Four gathered at the bistro for a drink. Jade-Marie was nervous. This was her father’s special week and she wanted everything to go well. She felt protective of Sheila because Sheila had once been part of the Sand Palace group. Plus, she liked Penny a lot and hoped Sheila was okay with Penny going off with Liam. Jade-Marie trusted Liam to be good with Penny. She wasn’t sure she could trust the seas.

  Her father, Sheila, and Wyatt walked through the sliding glass doors, into the foyer. Jade-Marie hurried over to greet them.

  “Hi, guys, good day?” Jade-Marie kissed her father on the cheek.

  “Out at the new police and fire station,” Nick said.

  Jade-Marie snorted. “What? Why don’t you take them to the dump, too?”

  “Actually, we went there first,” Wyatt told her. “I asked Nick to show me the changes in the infrastructure of the island. When we were here in ’95, the police station was in town and the fire station was by Stop & Shop. It’s great how it’s all been modernized.”

  Nick led them to the bistro. “Let’s have a drink and call the wives.” Speaking to Jade-Marie, he said, “I’m taking everyone out to Millie’s and then to watch the sunset on the beach.”

  “Nice,” Jade-Marie said.

  “Come with us,” Nick said.

  “I might do that.”

  They ordered their drinks and sat at the long table by the window overlooking the pool.

  Sheila kept tapping her phone and looking worried. “Has anyone seen Penny?” she asked. “I’ve been trying to reach her, but she’s not answering her phone.”

  “Didn’t you find her note?” Jade-Marie asked.

  “What note?” Sheila demanded.

  “She told me she’d leave you a note. Or call you.” Jade-Marie took a deep breath. “Penny told me she’s going sailing with Liam overnight.”

  “What? Penny’s on a sailboat overnight? I don’t understand.”

  Oh, no, Jade-Marie thought. She hurried to reassure Sheila. “Mrs. O’Connell, Penny will be fine. Liam’s an experienced sailor and no storms are forecast. It’s an adventure.”

  “She should have asked me!” Sheila was red in the face.

  Francine and Ariel stepped out of the elevator and strolled across the foyer to their table. Francine wore clam-diggers and a gray silk T-shirt. Ariel wore white shorts and a blue boyfriend shirt.

  “Hi, everyone. I hope I haven’t kept you waiting.” Francine leaned over to kiss Jade-Marie. “We oldies are going out to Millie’s for dinner and to watch the sunset. Want to join us?”

  Nick rose. “Babe, I’ll get you a G and T. Ariel, what can I get you?”

  Ariel slid into a chair next to Wyatt. “I’d love a prosecco.”

  “And so it shall be!” Nick replied, bowing at the waist before walking back to the bar.

  Francine slid into a chair next to Jade-Marie. She scanned the faces around the table. “What’s wrong?”

  “My daughter is gone!” Sheila cried. “Jade-Marie let her go off with that Liam person. Overnight!”

  “Lucky Penny,” Francine said. “I wouldn’t mind spending the night with Liam. Have you seen him?”

  “Mom,” Jade-Marie said, smiling, amused and only slightly embarrassed.

  Sheila’s mouth tightened. “You think it’s funny? Penny is my only daughter. She’s less—less sophisticated than the rest of you. If something happens to her, I’m holding you personally responsible, Jade-Marie.”

  “I wasn’t laughing at you or Penny,” Jade-Marie said.

  Wyatt shook his head. “Sheila, you’re catastrophizing.”

  “I’m what?”

  “You’re predicting dire events without sufficient information.”

  Ariel nodded. “He’s right, Sheila.”

  Sheila sniffed. “I’ll be glad to be wrong when my daughter returns.”

  “Hold on, hold on.” Nick set Ariel’s prosecco before her. “Sheila, look, I know Liam. He’s a champion sailor.”

  The sliding glass doors opened, and Jason stepped into the foyer. He caught sight of the others sitting around the long table in the bistro and waved. He started walking toward them, then paused.

  “Please come join us,” Jade-Marie said. “We’ve got a crisis.”

  “Really?” Jason walked toward the group. “Well, I’ve got—”

  Sheila interrupted him. “My daughter has gone off with Liam on a sailboat overnight!”

  Jason turned on a dime and went to the bar.

  The oldies, as Jade-Marie now thought of them, kept trying to reassure Sheila. Had Sheila always been such a drama queen?

  Jason returned with a beer in his hand.

  “Sit here,” Jade-Marie said, patting an empty chair next to her.

  Jason sat. Lowering his voice, he said to Jade-Marie, “Penny went sailing with Liam overnight? Wow. I wouldn’t have believed she had the guts.”

  “It is a surprise. Sheila seems to think it’s a catastrophe.”

  “Wait till I break my news,” Jason told her.

  “What news?” Jade-Marie leaned toward Jason, as if they were conspirators. She was close enough to see the sunburn over his nose and cheeks, close enough to sense the fresh salt air on his shirt, warmed by his chest. Close enough to touch that chest. Close enough to kiss.

  Softly, Jason said, “I have a job at Cabot’s Marine for the summer.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Not kidding.” He moved his hand from the back of the chair to her shoulder, gently urging her closer to him. “Because of you, Jade-Marie. You gave me the courage to do it. When we talked today, I knew what I wanted to do.”

  “Remain on the island and be free,” Jade-Marie whispered.

  “Yes. And spend as much time with you as I can. You’re changing my world, Jade-Marie.”

  Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m so proud of you,” she said softly. “Oh, I really want to kiss you now.”

  “Darling,” Ariel called. “Could you share your secret with us or is it only for Jade-Marie?” Her voice was sweet and slightly shaky.

  “I’ve got a job at Cabot’s Marine,” Jason told his mother. “For the summer and maybe longer.”

  “Here on the island?” Ariel asked, her hand at her throat.

  “You can’t work here,” Wyatt said angrily. “You’ve already got a job, in case you forgot, at the university!”

  “I don’t like working there,” Jason said, his voice mild. “I’ve mentioned this before, about fifty times.”

  “Get over it,” Wyatt argued. “No one likes their first job. You have to start in the basement, like I said, and slowly make your way up.”

  “Dad, first of all, you were never in the basement. Plus, you like geology. I don’t. I never have.”

  “Don Cabot is a good guy—” Nick interjected.

  Wyatt turned on him. “No one asked your opinion.”

  Francine stood up. She was very slight, but she radiated power. “Let’s allow Jason and his family to discuss this matter. Sheila and Nick and I—and Jade-Marie, if you’d like—are going out to Madaket. We’ll go in Nick’s Jeep. The hotel has another car you can use when you follow later.”

  “Thanks, Mom, but I’m doing something with Jason.” Jade-Marie turned to Jason. “I’ll wait for you on the bench outside.”

  Jason reached up and gripped her hand. Still holding it, he rose.

  “Jade-Marie and I are going to the Jetties to eat. We’ll walk.”

  Jade-Marie gave her mother a little wave as she was towed to the front door by Jason. When the sliding glass doors opened, she and Jason stepped through into the hot summer evening, and Jade-Marie was exhilarated, as if they’d been released from prison.

  For a few moments, they walked in silence. Jason gripped Jade-Marie’s hand hard.

  “Um, Jason,” she said, “your hand…”

  “Oh, sorry. I guess I wasn’t thinking.”

  “Oh, you were thinking. But share it with me. Don’t keep it inside. Let’s talk about it. I mean, it is extraordinary, what you’ve done. Leaving a full-time job at home for a short-term job on an island? I mean, wow.”

  Jason raised his eyes to meet hers. “Okay,” he said. “I’m thinking I made an impulsive decision.”

  “But not necessarily the wrong one,” Jade-Marie said.

  “Right,” Jason said. “You’re right, Jade-Marie. It’s odd. I felt at home at Cabot’s Marine. I felt—challenged. I mean, an outboard motor is complicated. It’s not like studying anomalous precious metal occurrences, but it’s real. Somehow, it’s more real. It’s here, now. Don showed me the transom clamp bracket, and swivel bracket, the screw threads, and the lubricant to grease them. Some of the stuff I already know, the spark plugs, the fuel filter. I want to take apart an outboard motor and put it back together again. I would like to do that. I never knew before that I’d like to do that. I like to—move.”

  “If you worked on the island for the summer, you could learn stuff that you could use anywhere,” Jade-Marie said quietly.

  “True. But you know what? I want to live through a winter here. I want to see more of the island. I’ve only been here four and a half days, and it’s like I stepped into a whole new world.”

  “I know what you mean,” Jade-Marie said.

  “I’m glad Penny went with Liam. It will change her life. The day we biked around the island was a revelation for me. I sound like I’ve joined a cult, I know, but honest to God, it’s a kind of magic. I mean I don’t want to worship it or write songs about it or anything. I just want to be there. Be here on this island.”

  “It will be difficult to find a place to live in the summer,” Jade-Marie said.

  “No! That’s the thing! Don has a small apartment above the shop. It’s kind of a pit, but it’s right on the harbor. I can see everything!”

  “That’s amazing. I’m surprised Don hasn’t rented it out.”

  “You should see it. The sink has rust stains, and the mattress you don’t even want to know about. The windows have a great view, but they’re really old, and get this, to keep a window raised, you have to prop it up with a stick.”

  “That’s an old Nantucket custom,” Jade-Marie said.

  “Really? How do you know that? How long have you lived here?”

  “I was here for a few weeks last summer, when Dad was thinking of buying the place, and we spent Christmas here. I’ve been here this year since April. I like it a lot. I’ve toured the whaling museum and gone to some talks and made a few friends.”

  “Will you be here this winter?” Jason asked.

  Jade-Marie smiled. “I will.”

  Jason asked, “So how do your parents feel about you staying here?”

  “They’re fine with it. They’d be fine if I said I was going to become a kangaroo trainer in Australia. Not that they don’t love me, they do. But we have moved so many times in my life because of Dad’s work. They get that I want to stay in one place. Mom’s going back to France for a few months for her fundraisers. Dad will be here for the summer. A group in Switzerland wants him to invest in a ski hotel, so he’ll go out there at some point, and rendezvous with Mom in Switzerland for Christmas. I’m invited, but I’d rather stay here and see what a Nantucket winter is like.”

  Jason said, “Tell me about your dad. He’s an interesting person.”

  “That’s one way of describing him,” Jade-Marie said. She sighed. “You’ve seen him, and what you see is what you get. He’s energetic, brilliant, charming, impulsive, and fun. He’s a good guy. He’s always excited about the next project, and he loves solving problems. Bad side—he’s impatient. With my mom and me, he’s unreliable.”

  They reached the parking lot for Jetties Beach and the Mobi-Mat to the water and the Sandbar outdoor restaurant and bar. Jason bought them each a beer and they scuffed through the sand down to the water. In the daytime, the beach was crowded with families because the water was shallow for a long way out. Now families had left for dinner. It was easy to find an isolated spot to sit.

  They watched in silence as a yacht with a helicopter and Jet Skis floated into the inner harbor. One of the fast ferries drifted past, heading for the mainland. White sails hovered in the far distance like mirages.

  “I wonder how Penny is,” Jade-Marie mused.

  “I bet she’s in heaven on the open water. It’s amazing out there.”

  “Liam isn’t bad, either,” Jade-Marie said, trying to get a rise out of Jason. “He’s a sexy guy,” she added.

  “But he’s a good guy, right?” Jason asked.

  Jade-Marie laughed. “Don’t worry about Penny. She’s more likely to attack him than the other way round.”

  After that, they were quiet. It was that time of evening when it seemed the earth and ocean paused to take a deep breath. The light changed and dimmed. The sky drifted from blue into lavender. The temperature dropped as a light breeze swayed over the water and onto the land. This far away from the restaurant, no noises interrupted the delicate evening sounds. The waves lapped musically against the shore. A gull cried. The moon rose, sending a shimmering lilac-hued veil around the island.

  “Nice,” Jason said.

  “Nice,” Jade-Marie agreed.

  “It’s immense,” Jason said.

  Jade-Marie remained quiet, giving him space to think, to feel.

  “My dad is going to be so angry. And so hurt. But the world is larger than his science. This”—Jason held his hands wide—“this can’t be captured.”

  “No,” Jade-Marie said. “Only enjoyed.”

  “Right!” Jason smiled at Jade-Marie. “Right.”

  Jade-Marie said softly, “You must feel like an astronaut stepping out of the spaceship onto the moon.”

  Jason nodded. After a moment, he said somberly, “I feel like someone stepping out of a boarding school into my real home.”

  “That’s a lot,” Jade-Marie murmured.

  “Do you know what I like about you?”

  She cocked her head. “What?”

  “You know how to be quiet.”

  Jade-Marie peered up at him from under her lashes. “I can be noisy, too.” She couldn’t believe she was behaving like this, but she could tell by the way his pupils dilated and his breath hitched that he wanted her, too.

  Jason stared at her, as if trying to figure out the answer to a puzzle. He bent toward her, pulling her to him, kissing her hard and then harder, as if some wall inside him had broken and his feelings were rushing out.

  A child cried out in a high little voice, “Mommy, what are those people doing?”

  Immediately, Jason and Jade-Marie pulled apart.

  “I guess all the families haven’t gone home,” Jason said.

  “Also,” Jade-Marie remarked, readjusting her clothes, “kissing on a beach is difficult.”

  “Then let’s go back to the hotel,” Jason said.

  He stood up and held out his hand. She took it, and rose, and walked by his side as they headed toward the Lighthouse.

  * * *

  —

  Liam had caught a bluefish, cleaned it and grilled it while Penny stood in the tiny galley kitchen, tossing a salad of the arugula and romaine Liam had in his toy-size refrigerator. They had sat on the deck chairs next to the hibachi, eating as the sun set, licking their fingers, not needing to talk.

  They were in open water, no land in sight, when Liam dropped the anchor. The sky was cloudless, and Penny had never seen so many stars. She lay on the bow of the boat in her sweatshirt and shorts and life vest, a glass of prosecco in her hands, propped on her stomach, and marveled at the sky.

  Liam lay next to her. He was in shorts and a sweatshirt and held a glass of whiskey in his hands.

  Now Liam stood up. He leaned over Penny, his legs wide apart for balance. He held out his hand.

  He said, “Let’s go to bed.”

  Penny said, “I’m not sleepy.”

  Liam said, “We’re not going to sleep.”

  Penny’s heart tripped. She wanted this. She had known this would be part of their trip, and she was eager and nervous. She took his hand and he pulled her up. She followed him to the stern and down the steps into the cabin. Beneath the bow, where they’d just been lying, a wide bed stretched out, with pillows and sheets and small windows on each side. She lifted her arms to take off her sweatshirt—she had nothing on underneath because she’d hung her bikini top up to dry.

  “My God,” Liam said. “You’re beautiful.”

  The attraction between them was so intense, Penny was trembling. Liam stripped down until he wore only a shark’s tooth on a rope around his neck. His chest was lightly furred with black hair, and along his arms, the hair was bleached white. A scar ran from his neck to his navel. Penny could imagine him wearing a pirate’s hat and boots, a parrot on his shoulder.

  Liam embraced Penny, and they lowered themselves onto the bed, and making love was so sweet, Penny wept.

  Afterward, they slept, curled together. They both woke in the night, shifting positions. The portholes were still dark. They made love again, and slept again.