“Cheers!” Roni said, lifting her flute. “To life!”
“And longevity! And by the way, folks, I can never eat fish again,” Olivia said, taking a sip.
“My heavens, Olivia, you can’t say that!” Nick said, fishing out an olive. “Fresh fish and shellfish are the backbone and pride of Lowcountry cuisine!”
“I know how she feels, Nick. How can she be sure she’s not eating one of Danny’s friends?” Roni said.
“Danny?” Nick said.
“Danny the Dolphin,” Roni said. “I named him.”
“I see,” Nick said. “Well, in this culture we don’t eat dolphins, and they only hang out with each other.”
“Oh,” Roni said.
“Like, birds of a feather . . . ?” Olivia said.
“Yes.” Nick stared at Roni and was quiet for a moment. “You know, Roni, there is a world of research that’s being done trying to measure the aptitude of dolphins and to decode their language and so forth. They are highly intelligent, as we have known for some time. And there is no doubt in my mind that a dolphin saved Olivia’s life this afternoon. I feel like maybe we should do something to honor that.”
“Like what?” Olivia said.
“Maybe we should eat what they eat. I happen to know they eat fish and shellfish. They have teeth, you know,” Nick said. “They belong to the same family as the pilot whales and the orcas.”
“How do you know this stuff?” Roni said. “I thought you taught history.”
“I did. But I looked it up on my smartphone while you ladies were getting dressed tonight.” Nick said. “What a world we live in today! Anyway, if they eat fish, we can eat fish without an ounce of guilt. Besides, our Lord caught fish.”
“Okay,” Olivia said. “I’ll eat seafood, but not tonight, and it might be a while before I go swimming again.”
“Nonsense. We can and will go swimming where that nice young man recommended.” Nick said. “Was it luck that put a CPR worker on the beach fifty feet from us?”
“Nick? That’s two references to religion in one day. Where are we going with this?”
“Nowhere, really. I just think that what happened today is too coincidental to be called coincidental. Call it God or whatever you want, but that was the unseen hand in action.”
“Maybe,” Olivia said, “but the question is why?”
“Yes, my love. Unseen hand is the answer, but why is the question.”
Chapter 8
Jump!
After a simple breakfast of yogurt, fruit, and toast, Olivia and Nick began cleaning up the kitchen. As they were putting their bowls in the dishwasher, Roni arrived. It was just a few minutes shy of nine o’clock.
“Good morning! I bought you some supplies,” Roni said, dropping several bags from Whole Foods on the kitchen island. “Nick? Thanks again for dinner last night. It was delicious!”
“You’re welcome! It was a pleasure to be out on the town with not one but two glorious females! Would you care for coffee?” Nick said.
“Sure! Thanks!” Roni said. “Olivia? Have you seen Danny this morning?”
Roni giggled and Olivia shrugged her shoulders. Nick poured Roni a mug and handed it to her.
“You mean, did I see Danny my dolphin friend? Um, no,” Olivia said. “You’ve been shopping at this hour? This is when I remember how much younger you are than me. Thanks! Just give me the receipt.”
Roni pulled a long roll of paper from her purse and handed it to Olivia.
“I love to go to grocery stores in new places and see what they’ve got. The Whole Foods in Mount Pleasant is a treasure!”
“Good to know.” Olivia said. “What did you buy?”
“The basic stuff you need—sugar, flour, salt, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, garbage bags, Ziplocs in two sizes, sponges, dishwashing liquid, and—jeez, just take a look!”
Olivia began emptying the paper bags and she had to agree. They needed every thing that Roni bought. But she wished Roni had shopped at the BI-LO. Nick picked up the receipt, looked at it, and covered his mouth with his hand in shock.
“Outrageous! I can’t believe,” he said, “that you spent this much money and there’s nothing to eat in all of these bags!”
“Actually,” Roni said, “somewhere in one of these bags are a dozen eggs, coffee, a pound of bacon, a pound of butter, and a loaf of bread. Oh! And half-and-half.”
“You’re a sweetheart to do this, Roni. Thanks!”
“It was on the way, so I just pulled over. No biggie. So did you call Maritza yet?”
“Not yet. I was just going to refill my mug, go out on the porch and do just that!”
“Well, tell her I said hi.”
“I will!”
Olivia added a bit of half-and-half to her coffee and left them to continue setting up the kitchen. Once outside, she saw a huge container ship entering the harbor. She stood there for a moment, awestruck by its massive size, and she gained a new appreciation for the power of its weight. She began counting its freight. This gigantic vessel held eight containers across the width of its deck and fifteen of them in length. Each stack was six or eight containers high. There was probably a fleet of eighteen-wheelers waiting near the docks to take them all, one by one, to their final destinations.
The container ship passed their property. It was the same kind of ship that had nearly killed her. She knew she’d never look at them quite the same way again. The gargantuan size of the container ships was like the star-filled night sky over the dark ocean—both reminded her that she was a mere speck in the scheme of things. And the ships and the dolphins would be a permanent reminder that she had survived for a reason. She had been there in that deep water at that moment for some kind of cosmic reason. Absolutely. There was a lesson to be learned from her harrowing experience, but she still had no idea what it was.
She shook her head and pressed Maritza’s number into the keypad of her phone. A shrimp trawler came into view. Its nets were down and a flock of hungry sea gulls followed it closely. It was a beautiful sight: the boat and the gulls and the sparkling endless water.
“Maritza? Good morning! It’s Olivia. Roni said I should call?”
“Oh! Olivia! I cain’t begin to tell you how happy I am to hear your voice!”
“Well, wonderful! I’m glad to hear yours too! Roni is down here with us in South Carolina, and she said . . .”
“Oh! That’s right! Y’all moved! I keep thinking you’re still around the corner and across the park! How did it go?”
Olivia had the thought, Dammit, Maritza! Are you really this much of a ditz? Yes. She was. Out of sight, out of mind.
“Well, it was bedlam at first, but I think we’re finally beginning to get our arms around it all.”
“I keep forgetting that I’ve got to send y’all a little something for a housewarming. How does y’all’s stuff look in the new house?”
“Not quite right yet, but it will.”
“What I’m really asking is, is there something that y’all need?”
Olivia started to laugh because only Maritza would ask such a question and in that way.
“Oh! Goodness! You don’t have to buy us a single thing!” Olivia considered how sweet that was and said in an unusually familiar way, “But I’ll tell you this much: I’m truly glad I can get fabric at a discount because there’s a lot of reupholstering to be done. The light’s different here, you know?”
“What? Y’all got a different sun down there?” Maritza laughed.
“You’d think so. Everything takes on a sort of gray-blue hue in the morning and an odd yellow cast in the afternoon. There’s a tremendous amount of glare from the water, and even the smallest aspect of a pattern pops out in bold detail like it never did in New York. Never mind the wear and tear I never noticed. Now that shows in a whole new way! It’s all about the light.”
The truth was that Olivia felt disoriented. There were no rugs to anchor the rooms. The beautiful floors were heart pine and rich with the p
atina of over a hundred years. But still. And she missed their clocks, ceramics, and paintings, the things that would make anyplace feel like home. The house looked as if it was putting itself on display but was only half dressed. And the crazy light’s changing all the time was very distracting.
“I’ll bet that’s true! That’s exactly why I want you to come to Nantucket with me. Only you would think of what color the light is. You and Monet, that is.”
“Monet? The French Impressionist?”
“Yep. I went to this show at the Met with Bob, and I read on one of the little signs they put on the walls next to the paintings that he painted the light of the landscape, not the actual landscape.”
“I’ve never heard that.”
“Yep, well, that’s what it said. That’s why he’s an Impressionist. Anyhow, y’all have an eye for that sort of thing. You and old Claude!” Maritza giggled.
Just when I think she’s a complete screwball, she starts quoting the curatorial department from a show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Olivia thought.
“Just me and Claude Monet.”
“That’s right! So Bob and I are looking at buying this big old house and I’d just like to have your opinion of it before we sign on the dotted line, you know what I mean?”
“Maritza, I would be thrilled to help and I’m honored to be asked. May I bring Nick with me? He loves Nantucket.”
“Of course, bring Nick! I’ll get it all organized and email you the details.”
“That sounds perfect. Thanks.”
“Is tomorrow too soon?”
As a general rule, when Maritza called, Olivia dropped everything. She did this not only because it was what Maritza had come to expect or because she was her only living, breathing client of any heft. She did this because it was what all her clients expected. Otherwise they’d simply call someone else. Well, not Maritza so much, but most of her other clients felt no loyalty at all. They wanted what they wanted when they wanted it. Period.
“Actually, if we could have one more day . . .” Olivia held her breath.
“Of course! I know you’re trying to get settled. And did Roni tell you about Spain?”
Olivia sighed in relief.
“Thank you! Yes! Oh, my goodness! How fabulous! We can’t wait. And she told me that Daniel is getting married. Wow! Is Bob thrilled?”
Bob has to be aghast, Olivia thought. A young man with Daniel’s résumé (read: trust fund of untold wealth) could have anyone he wanted.
“Dahlin’? The question ought to be, am I happy about Bob’s ex-wife Colette coming on the boat with us for the wedding? And she’s spending the night.”
“Oh, dear.” Olivia was unsure of what to say. “Well, thank heavens it’s a big boat.”
“Honey, Noah’s Ark would be too small for me and that bitch.”
“I’m sure. This is going to require some incredible resolve, Maritza, but my money’s on you.”
“Olivia, you know how hard I try to make Bob happy. I feel like he’s just doing this to make me even more insecure than I already am. Things between us aren’t any better than they were on Necker. He and Ellen are always whispering when I come into a room, and then they get all quiet. They must think I’m stupid. She’s such a tramp.”
Olivia never would’ve pointed out to her that only a few years ago Maritza was the tramp. So she said, “I’m sorry, Maritza.” What else was there to say?
“And now he’s throwing his ex-wife in my face.”
“Well, let’s be honest. It’s not so unusual for the ex-wife to want to be present at the marriage of her child, is it?”
“No, but it’s awkward. Can’t she just leave after they cut the cake? She has to stay over as our guest? And between us? This girl Daniel is marrying? She doesn’t have a daddy to give her away. Not a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out of.”
What an image! Olivia thought.
“The poor child. That has to be a real heartbreak for her.”
“Who knows? I’m gonna ask her if she wants to go shopping for a dress, something to hide her tattoos. She’ll probably say no, but I’ll ask her.”
That girl has no problem showing her tats, Olivia thought.
“Who knows what young people want these days? I don’t think brides blush anymore.”
“Truly. All I know is Bob is gone more and more. Maybe that’s why he wants this house on Nantucket—one more place to escape.”
“Let’s have a look at it together before we jump to conclusions.”
“Oh, Olivia! What am I going to do?”
“Well, if the Nantucket house is as amazing as I’m guessing it is, you’re going to buy it and we’re going to decorate it to a fare-thee-well so that Bob swoons over it! He will see how talented you are and fall in love with you all over again!” This was the moment to be assertive and Olivia knew it. She needed the job.
“Do you really think that will work?”
“I think it’s worth a try, don’t you?”
“Anything is worth a try. The only good thing that’s happened to me since I saw you the last time is that Bob took me to Naples for a quick trip.”
“Italy?” A two-day trip to Italy would not have surprised Olivia at all.
The tour boat that left from the Charleston Marina was making the turn right in front of their house. Olivia watched the passengers as they stared at her house and took pictures.
“No, Florida. But I hardly saw him the whole time. He’s looking to open two more restaurants there, so he was in meetings all day and night. At least we stayed at the Ritz-Carlton, so it wasn’t torture.”
“The Ritz-Carlton there is beautiful. I did some work for a client in Naples a few years ago and I stayed there a lot.”
“Hey! Remember that guy Mel from Necker Island? The submarine captain?”
“Vaguely.”
“Well, by coincidence he was in Naples too, and he gave me another lesson on how to use the Triton! He was there at the marina doing demos.”
“And you loved it?”
“I adored it! I can’t tell Bob, though. You know, he thinks they’re only for dumb ol’ men.”
“Well, I sure don’t agree with that.”
“Oh, Olivia, I don’t care. I just want Bob to be happy. I think I might buy him one for his birthday. The one I want to get him is only around a million three. Those things can get very expensive, and of course, you have to ask yourself, how much is he really going to use it?”
Olivia wondered if Bob had so much money that Maritza could spend that kind of sum unnoticed.
“It’s always important to consider the practical side of things,” Olivia said, thinking, You’ve got to be kidding me.
“Well, we’ll see. Mel said he’d look into it for me. I think it would be a fabulous surprise, don’t you? Anyway, let me stop running my mouth and go get Nantucket organized for us. Watch your email!”
“I will!”
Jason came through the door with two young guys. When he saw her on the phone, he mouthed Hello!
“In there,” Olivia whispered and pointed to Nick’s study.
Jason and his men went back inside toward the room with the small mountain of unattached wires.
“Thanks for everything, Olivia. I feel like there’s hope when I talk to you!”
“Maritza? There’s always hope!”
Olivia pushed the End button on her phone and went into the kitchen for a bottle of water.
Roni was measuring shelf paper and laying it down inside the cabinets.
“How’s Maritza?”
“Understandably annoyed. I’m going up to Nantucket with her the day after tomorrow.”
“Good! I’ll have contracts ready.”
“Good idea! How’s it going in here?” Olivia asked.
“You have more teaspoons than anyone on earth,” Roni said. “And commemorative mugs.”
“My sweet husband has a soft spot for mugs. He buys one every place we go.”
Nick came
into the room carrying a box of dishes. “I most certainly do not!” Nick said.
“Yes, you do. Okay, he didn’t buy one on Necker because it had no gift shop and neither does Bob’s boat.”
“That’s not a boat. It’s a ship!” Nick said.
Jason stepped into the kitchen to say something to Olivia, but he saw Roni first, because Olivia was digging around in the pantry.
“Hi there!” he said. “I’m Jason Fowler.”
“You are?” Roni all but squealed.
“Morning, Jason,” Nick said.
“G’morning, sir,” Jason said.
Nick harrumphed. Olivia heard this unfamiliar tone in Roni’s voice and looked up to see what was going on. Nick looked from face to face. Roni’s face was bloodred. Olivia and Nick were beyond the age of sensing pheromones in the air, but had they been able to, they would’ve noticed that the room was swarming with them. Perhaps the entire house was suddenly flooded with them. It was as though they all were trapped in a snow globe full of raging, sexy, twerking pheromones. Even the normally supercomposed, all-business Jason Fowler was way off kilter and grinning like an idiotic schoolboy. Nick cleared his throat and left the room.
“Excuse me,” Nick said.
Olivia made a mental note—Nick was jealous.
“Jason? Say hello to Roni Larini. Roni helps me run my business in New York. Roni? Jason is our general contractor.”
“Cool,” they both said.
“How’s the technology battle going?” Olivia asked.
“I’ve got to put a booster on your router,” Jason said.
“That’s exactly what I told her she needed!” Roni said.
“Awesome. How long are you in town?” Jason asked.
“One more day,” Roni said.
“Would you like to have dinner tonight?” Jason said. “Oh! You probably have plans.”
“No, actually, I don’t and I’d love to have dinner,” Roni said.
They exchanged cell phone numbers. Roni told him where she was staying and Jason said he’d see her later. He was off in search of a router booster. Moments later, Nick reappeared in long khaki trousers and a starched blue shirt neatly tucked in. He had his navy blazer slung over his shoulder and he was wearing his best Top-Siders.