Local Girls : An Island Summer Novel (9781416564171) (28 page)

There wasn't a whole lot to do on the island when it rained, and you'd think we had control over the weather the way some of the guests acted.

“Isn't there anything to do?” they'd whined to me all week.

I'd point out the movie theater down the street or a few of the museums, but that's not what they wanted. They wanted the sun, the beach, to stroll down Main Street and window shop, to sit outside and eat fried clams on the deck of the Seafood Shanty. When the rain came nobody strolled anywhere,
kids weren't lined up outside Scoops for ice cream, and, as Lexi learned, nobody needed sandwiches for a day at the beach.

The tourists that arrived late Friday night couldn't wait to get a jump on the day, and by eight o'clock half the tables were already full and Shelby was in full-on breakfast Nazi mode. It didn't help that the twelve-meter regatta was this weekend, or that it had rained all last week, so the guests who'd been killing time indoors for several days couldn't wait to get outside before catching their ferry home tomorrow.

I was just clearing my third table, wiping the last of the crumbs off before setting it again for the next guests, when someone called my name from across the dining room.

“Hey, Kendra.” It was Mona's friend Jilly.

“Hi, Jilly.” I replaced the sugar bowl and flowers in the center of the table and stuffed the wet dishrag in the front pocket of my apron before asking the obvious question. “What are you doing here?”

Jilly came over to me, but instead of watching as I laid out the new place settings she took the linen napkins I'd left on the next table and started performing some sort of origami on them. “My cousins are here for the regatta and they're staying at the inn. I'm here to take them to the yacht club.”

I figured it was only a matter of time until she mentioned that day in the deli, and Jilly didn't disappoint.

“God, that day at the deli was horrifying, wasn't it?” she asked, probably preparing to rub it in or grill me about Henry.

“You could say that.”

“I've never seen Mona like that before, I felt really bad for you.”

That surprised me. “You did?”

“Yeah. Look, the way I see it, Henry's a good guy, and better you than some girl Mona can't stand, right? At least you're her friend.”

“Did she agree?”

Jilly frowned. “Not exactly.”

Now it was my turn to frown. “Is she meeting you at the yacht club?”

“I don't know. Here.” Jilly handed over the first napkin, which looked a little like a tuxedo shirt with pleats down the center. “We haven't seen her much lately, she's been spending a lot of time with Kevin.”

I was about to take the napkin from her when I realized what Jilly had just said. “Kevin?”

“You know, Kevin? Her old boyfriend.”

“Yeah, I know Kevin, I just didn't know that you knew Kevin.”

“Yeah, he's a nice guy. Oh, there they are, I better go.” Jilly's cousins were standing in the doorway to the dining room, waiting for her. She smiled at me before turning around and going to meet them. “See you around, Kendra.”

I probably wouldn't see Jilly again before she left to go back to Boston, but I didn't bother pointing that out. Instead, I held the tuxedo-pleated napkin in my hand and sort of returned her smile. “You, too, Jilly.”

Jilly's comment about Kevin threw me for a loop. It wasn't so much that I was surprised Mona was hanging out with Kevin, even though I was. It was just that Mona hadn't been all that psyched to hang out with him when I'd brought it up, so I wondered why she'd changed her mind?

“Tonight's your big party, isn't it?” Shelby asked when I returned to the kitchen.

“Yep.”

“You don't look very excited.”

I shrugged. “I guess I'm just not sure what to expect.”

“It's a birthday party, right? You can expect cake.”

“It's not all about the baked goods, Shelby.”

“Isn't it?”

“Mona's going to be there.”

“Isn't it about time you two buried the hatchet and got this over with?”

“I'd like to, but I think after the other day, there isn't a very good chance of that happening.”

“Well, it's a party. Everyone will be in a good mood. If you have a chance of fixing things up, this is probably it.”

Maybe Shelby was right. Maybe tonight I should try to talk to Mona and explain what happened, how I'd never intended to fall for Henry, it had just happened. If she'd just listen to me, I was sure she'd understand.

At least that's what I kept telling myself.

I parked Lexi's car along the side of the driveway, half on the grass, half on the white crushed stones that led up to the house. There was already a long line of other cars with shiny silver hubcaps and small red alarm system lights blinking on their leather dashboards. The party was in full swing.

Even though I knew the breeze off the ocean would make it even cooler once the sun went down, I decided to wear the sundress Henry and I bought in Boston. I thought it might bring me luck, or at least not make me look so pale. Besides, I hadn't had any other occasion to wear a three-hundred-dollar sundress.

Henry must have been waiting for me, because before I even reached the front door he was walking toward me. Just seeing him made me feel better, and as he approached I actually felt like smiling.

“Hi,” he said, but before I could answer, his lips were brushing against mine. He tasted vaguely like champagne. When he finally pulled back from me, he left his arms wrapped around my waist. “You look beautiful.”

“Thanks. You do, too.” He did. I'd gotten so used to seeing
Henry in shorts and a T-shirt that I couldn't have imagined he'd look so handsome in a crisp white shirt and blue blazer. I wanted to take his hand and lead him back to my car and take him away with me. Instead, I pointed to his pants. “For once you're the one wearing khaki.”

“Such a funny girl, but I wouldn't give up your day job.” He laughed and kissed my forehead. “Ready to go inside?”

“She knows I'm coming, right?”

“Of course. It's not a big deal, Kendra.” Henry reached for my hand and laced our fingers together. “Come on, everything will be fine.”

I followed Henry through the foyer toward the back of the house. Before I could even see the pool I could hear the noise, people laughing and talking above one another, the sounds of a party. But even though I was expecting to find a party outside, I was completely unprepared for what I found when we stepped onto the patio.

Two large white tents were pitched on the lawn around the pool, the trees strung with white Christmas lights. Just above the sound of laughter I could hear the smooth notes of a saxophone in the background. I was about to ask Henry where it was coming from when I noticed a jazz trio under another, smaller tent. On the wooden-paneled floor in front of the trio, couples danced, swaying to the music.

It was like nothing I had ever seen before, not even Izzy and Malcolm's wedding.

“Kennie!” Malcolm came toward us and bent down to kiss me on the cheek. “I'm so glad you could make it. Izzy really outdid herself, didn't she?” Malcolm's cheeks were flushed pink and I assumed it was as much from the empty champagne glass in his hand as from the excitement of the party.
“Henry, there are some friends from New York I want you to meet. Can I steal you away?”

Henry looked to me for an answer and I nodded. “Go ahead, I'll be fine.”

“I'll be right back.” Henry squeezed my hand and then followed Malcolm across the patio.

I didn't recognize anyone, but I figured most of the people were Malcolm's friends from Boston, so I wasn't that surprised. I was surprised that we hadn't run into Mona yet, but I knew it was just a matter of time.

While Malcolm's party wasn't exactly the ideal place, we needed to talk. I needed to explain about Henry, and to ask her about Kevin.

Finally I spotted her, standing by the side of the pool with Izzy and some of Izzy's friends. She was wearing a dress I'd never seen before, but it was blue and she always looked good in blue. It made her eyes even brighter. I watched Mona laugh and then take a sip from the champagne flute in her hand.

Izzy caught me watching them and waved to me. I waved back, took a deep breath, and walked over.

“Kennie!” Izzy hugged me and I hugged her back.

“The place looks great,” I told her, and then pointed to the centerpieces on the tables under the large tents. “You made the right choice with the flowers.”

“They look great, don't they?” Izzy agreed, and then excused herself to go say hello to a couple over by the buffet.

Mona and I faced each other, but neither of us attempted to talk. Mona just stood there, one hand on her hip, the other holding the champagne flute, and for the first time she didn't seem smaller than me.

I smiled. “Hi, Mona.”

She didn't smile back. Instead, she folded her arms over her chest. “Hello, Kendra.”

“You look pretty,” I told her, when what I wanted to say was, “I'm sorry.”

She sucked her cheeks in and shook her head at me before taking a sip of champagne.

“I saw some of your photos in your room, they're really good.”

Mona let out a false laugh. “Oh, how nice. Was that before or after you slept with my brother?”

“It wasn't like that, Mona,” I started, but she held up her hand, telling me to stop.

“I'm going to get another drink.” Mona took one final sip of her champagne, draining the glass. “Good-bye, Kendra.” The way she said my name, it sounded so final.

For the next twenty minutes I wandered around simultaneously looking for Henry and avoiding Mona. Not that I didn't partake in some of the food in the process. Either the wait staff felt sorry for the lonely girl in the sundress who obviously didn't know anyone, or they had seriously overestimated how many appetizers they'd need, because I must have had at least six stuffed mushrooms, two chicken satays, and four puff pastries with Kobe beef and carmelized onions by the time I finally found Henry cornered on the patio outside the family room by a man who looked to be around Malcolm's age but who had about fifty pounds more on him, mostly in the belly hanging over his seersucker pants.

“Excuse me, Henry?” I tapped him on the shoulder. “There's a floral emergency in the tent, I think someone's allergic to the centerpieces.”

“Wow, that can't be good,” Henry improvised. “I really better go. It was nice meeting you.” Henry shook the guest's hand, grabbed my elbow, and led us away.

“Oh my God, I swear I thought I'd never get free. I owe you,” Henry told me. “That was one of Malcolm's Princeton friends. I think I just promised to live in his old room if I get in, either that or I guaranteed Malcolm will donate a new building or something. I would have said anything to get out of there.”

“Glad I could help.”

Henry laid his hands on my shoulders and squeezed. “Cold?”

“Yeah.”

“Why don't you go up to my room and grab a sweatshirt or something.”

I held out the skirt of my dress. “I doubt it will match.”

“Who cares. If you don't mind, I don't mind.”

I shivered and Henry pulled me into him and wrapped his arms around me. “Look, go get yourself a sweatshirt. This is ridiculous.”

“Fine,” I agreed. “I'll be right back.”

Although most of the guests were outside by the pool, there seemed to be people everywhere—the family room, Malcolm's study, the dining room. As I made my way to the front foyer I could hear voices in the living room, their laughter filling the cavernous space. Just through the doorway I spotted Mona and Malcolm standing together in a group, Malcolm's arm casually draped over Mona's shoulders as he told a story, Mona's head nodding in agreement. They looked like any other father and daughter.

Before she could see me, I turned around and headed
toward the kitchen, deciding to take the back stairs next to the kitchen just to be safe.

“Where are you headed?” Izzy asked, meeting me in the kitchen hall.

“I was going to get one of Henry's sweatshirts, it's getting cold out.”

“Your dress is so pretty, you can't wear a sweatshirt. Go borrow a sweater in Mona's closet.”

“It's okay, Izzy, a sweatshirt's fine.”

“Absolutely not,” she insisted. “Get yourself a sweater. Henry's sweatshirts are disgusting. Go!” Izzy pointed up the back stairs, and I started to climb.

I hadn't been in Mona's bedroom since that day back in June, my first day at the inn. It seemed so long ago now, like another lifetime. For the first time ever, being in Mona's room felt like an invasion of her privacy, like I was entering someone else's room, the room of a stranger, someone I didn't know anymore.

The French doors were open, letting in the night air and the sound of the party below. The white lights on the trees reflected off the panes of glass, throwing distorted shards of light around the room.

The last thing I needed was Mona showing up and finding me alone in her room, so I went straight to her closet. On a shelf to the left, Mona's shirts and sweaters were perfectly folded, just like you find in a store. I wondered if Zilda used one of those cardboard templates to make sure every sleeve was folded just so.

Four down from the top I found a tan cotton cardigan. At least it wouldn't clash with my dress like the other choices. I reached my hand in to pull out the cardigan and
as I did, something fell out of the pile and landed on the floor.

And there it was on the carpet in Mona's closet, the Ziploc bag with the leaf she'd taken the day of Poppy's funeral. It was completely brown now, not the brilliant orange it was the day it had fallen onto her hair. But even though the color had faded and the veins had dried up, the leaf was still whole, if more than a little wrinkled.