Winter Storms (17 page)

“Tell me about it,” Ava says. “Anyway, I owe you dinner at the Club Car.”

“With caviar,” Shelby says.

They get dressed up and go the following night. Ava wears a green velvet Betsey Johnson dress that she's owned for years but only recently has been able to fit into—talk about Christmas joy!—and Shelby wears red. The Club Car is all decked out for Christmas and it smells of garlic and rosemary. The piano is stationed in the back, as ever, the pianist piecing together a medley of carols.

“
Anything
but ‘Joy to the World,'” Ava says. “I'll even take ‘Jingle Bells.'”

“Wow, that is
not
like you,” Shelby says.

The maître d' seats them in the front window. “You two are the prettiest window dressing I could ask for,” he says.

“But more important, we're smart,” Shelby says.

Ava smiles down at the table. Being a mother has not softened Shelby in the slightest.

They order champagne, naturally, and then two ounces of osetra caviar, which comes with all of the usual accoutrements—buckwheat blini, chopped onion, capers, egg whites, egg yolks, and crème fraîche—as well as a bottle of vodka, nestled in a block of ice, from which the waiter pours them each a shot. And then, maybe because they are pretty or maybe because they are smart, he pours them each another shot, on the house.

Ho-ho-ho!
Ava's head is instantly spinning, so much so that she thinks she sees Scott and Roxanne by the maître d's stand. She blinks and chases the vodka taste out of her mouth with a sip of crisp, cold champagne.

It
is
Scott and Roxanne. Roxanne is wearing a black dress. Ava heard that she has worn black every day since losing the baby. And she's wearing black stiletto heels. Some people, it seems, never learn.

Scott waves. Ava waves. Shelby glances over her shoulder and groans.

“It's not a problem,” Ava says. “He doesn't faze me anymore. And neither does she.”

“Really?” Shelby says. She builds herself a loaded caviar bite, and her eyelids flutter closed in ecstasy as she eats it. “I'm sorry, what were we talking about?”

“I'm over Scott,” Ava says. It's true; she sees him and feels nothing. This past Friday afternoon he dressed up as Santa Claus for the final assembly before break and he handed out candy canes and chocolate coins, and Ava gazed upon him and felt… nothing. A couple days before that, he had come to school wearing his ugly Christmas sweater, the one with the light-up tulle Christmas tree on the front that he had bought solely to please Ava. The one he had worn to her Ugly Christmas Sweater Caroling party. The one he had worn when he accompanied Roxanne to Nantucket Cottage Hospital and then Mass General after she gruesomely broke her ankle while crossing Federal Street. That sweater had so many memories attached to it—both good and bad—and yet when Ava saw Scott wearing it, she had felt… nothing.

“I hope he and Roxanne are happy together,” Ava says. “I hope they try to have a baby again.”

“Not likely,” Shelby says. “I heard she's moving to California soon, before the end of the school year.”

“Is she?” Ava says. Not even this juicy tidbit piques her interest. If Roxanne moves to California, Scott will be single once again. All Ava feels is a twinge of sympathy for Scott—but honestly, not much. He's a good guy. He'll find someone else soon enough.

Scott and Roxanne are seated at a table somewhere behind them, but Ava doesn't even bother to sneak a peek. She doesn't scrutinize the expression on Scott's face or analyze his demeanor or wonder what he orders to drink. Maybe Roxanne
is
moving to California and this is a farewell dinner, or maybe they're just out celebrating the holiday. Ava doesn't care!

She studies the menu. “I'm going to get the beef Wellington,” she says. “And then, let's go sing.”

 

T
he texts from Norah Vale pop up on Jennifer's phone at the worst possible moments. The first was on Thanksgiving, but it was instantly eclipsed by the phone call from Kevin with the double-whammy news of Kelley's collapse and another soldier from Bart's platoon found.

A week later, they know that Kelley's cancer has metastasized to his brain and that Bart is alive. A mixed bag of news if ever there was one. Patrick has chosen to focus only on the positive: Bart is alive and coming home in time for Kevin and Isabelle's wedding and Christmas. And Kelley will battle his cancer just the way he's battled all the other hardships of the past few years.

“My father is a warrior,” Patrick says.

Jennifer hears the respect in Patrick's voice, which serves to mask his fear. Kelley is only in his early sixties, but he's mortal just like everyone else.

For the kids' sake, Jennifer adopts Patrick's mind-set. They don't tell the boys about Kelley's cancer. All they announce is that Uncle Bart has been found and is on his way home. “Uncle Bart is a hero, a real-life hero who experienced unknown horrors while defending our country,” they say. Patrick and Jennifer hammer this home; their kids need something to honor other than their video games.

Norah's second text comes while Jennifer is decorating a client's house for Christmas. She had such success putting her own home on the Beacon Hill Holiday House Tour that decorating for Christmas has become a cottage industry within Jennifer's already-booming interior design business. She has twelve clients across Boston and the suburbs who want her to deck their halls. Jennifer isn't in a position to turn away any business. She is grateful for all the clients who stuck with her through Patrick's incarceration, and she still lives in fear that rumors of her pharmaceutical addiction might get out.

At the moment, she is decorating a townhome for a couple in the South End who are throwing a huge party in a few hours. This project has turned out to be more fun than Jennifer anticipated. The couple favor a mid-twentieth-century style, and too much is not enough for Peter and Ken, so out come the white Christmas trees decorated with psychedelic glass balls and on the wall hangs a display of holiday-themed Jell-O molds.

Brenda Lee plays on the blue Bakelite turntable—“Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree”—while Ken shakes up some martinis and Peter prepares the ham, decorating it with pineapple rings and maraschino cherries.

“I wish you could stay,” Peter says.

“Me too,” Jennifer says. She loves this couple, loves the vibe of their home and all of the authentic details. The presents under the tree are sleek and color-coordinated. There's a pile of royal-blue presents, a pile of hot-pink presents, a pile of amethyst-purple presents.

Christmas comes in all shapes and sizes,
Jennifer thinks.
All colors, all eras.
She would love to don a shimmery minidress, put on chunky heels and shimmery earrings, and drink martinis and eat deviled eggs and chicken livers wrapped in bacon.

Eartha Kitt sings “Santa Baby.”

But tonight, Jennifer and Patrick are going out alone. They both miss the lavish holiday party that Everlast Investments throws at the Four Seasons, so they have decided to throw a “company party” of their own. They're going for drinks at Sonsie and then having dinner at No. 9 Park.

As Jennifer is putting the finishing touches on Peter and Ken's vintage-Christmas-card collage, her phone pings.

She checks it eagerly, half hoping it's Paddy telling her he's running behind with work so that she can stay for a few more minutes and enjoy a martini or two. But no. It's Norah.

The text says:
Are you by any chance coming to Nantucket for Stroll? I really need to talk to you.

Stroll,
Jennifer thinks. That's right. Tonight is the Friday of Stroll weekend on Nantucket.

Burl Ives sings “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas.”

“I just love the way records sound on this turntable,” Peter says.

Jennifer gives him a blank look, then she stares at the message on her phone. Stroll weekend last year was when all of Jennifer's troubles began. She wanted oxy and Ativan, and who, of all people, supplied her habit? Argh! Jennifer wants to go back in time to Stroll weekend of last year and do everything differently.

“Are you okay?” Ken asks. He hands her a martini.

Jennifer slips her phone into her pocket and fakes a smile. “Yes!” she says.

“She wants to leave so she can go on a date with her hubby,” Peter says. “Let her go already.”

What does Norah want to talk to her about? Should Jennifer respond or just ignore this text as she did the last one?

“You can go,” Ken says. “But this martini is a work of art. Take it home and enjoy it as you get dressed. I'll get you a cup.”

“And take a deviled egg!” Peter calls out from the kitchen.

Andy Williams sings “It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

The third text from Norah comes as Jennifer is wrapping the boys' gifts on her bed and bingeing on
Bloodline. Bloodline
comes at the recommendation of Sable; former addicts
know all the best shows, Sable insisted, and Jennifer
laughed, thinking this was probably true. It's eleven o'clock at night a week before Christmas, and Paddy is still in the home office, working. Jennifer brought him a glass of scotch and a piece of gingerbread with lemon sauce an hour earlier while he pored over the day's market activity. He has raised thirty-two million for his hedge fund so far. This is going to happen, he assures Jennifer. This is going to be a success.

When Jennifer's phone pings so late, she assumes it's her mother in California, who is infamous for disregarding the time difference.

When Jennifer sees that it's Norah, she gasps, as she might have at a stranger's face appearing in her dark bedroom window.

The text says, simply,
Jennifer.

“What?” Jennifer whispers. “What do you want?”

A second text follows:
I'll be in Boston the next few days. Call me, please.

Jennifer nearly screams. Norah is coming to Boston. Norah is going to… what? Stalk Jennifer? Knock on the front door or sit in her menacing black truck, engine idling, out on Beacon Street? Will she trail Jennifer as she takes the kids to school? Will she harass Jennifer in front of the other parents? Will Jennifer's dirty little secret get out? Will Norah harm Jennifer or threaten the children?

This has to stop,
Jennifer thinks. She holds her phone gingerly, like it's a ticking time bomb. She types in:
Leave me alone. Please.
But that makes her sound like she's a victim, pleading, groveling. She doesn't send it.

Jennifer deletes the texts, just as she deleted the other two texts; she can just pretend they never existed. She can block Norah's number on her phone. She should have done this back in August!

What does Norah
want?
She knows Jennifer got caught by Kevin and Paddy and she surely must guess that Jennifer has been through counseling. Norah should count herself lucky that Jennifer didn't go to the police!

She should go to the police now, Jennifer thinks. To Paddy first, then the police. She should have kept the texts to turn over as evidence!

But another, calmer part of Jennifer's psyche encourages her not to overreact. Norah is, no doubt, just after some money. Jennifer should continue to ignore her. Eventually, she'll go away.

Jennifer wraps the last present—a black leather belt with a silver buckle, for Bart. Mitzi has said he's lost weight and none of his clothes will fit.
An American hero needs to keep his pants up,
Jennifer thinks. Then she laughs. Thoughts of Norah fade away.

 

H
is radiation oncologist has granted him a week's reprieve over Christmas. He doesn't have to report for his final treatments until December 27.

He may skip those anyway. The radiation isn't working. He has inhabited this body for more than sixty years and
he
holds the ultimate authority over it—not his doctors. He knows the cancer is growing, sinking its tentacles deeper and deeper into his brain. He's dizzy all the time and needs to hold on to the rail as he descends the stairs. He can barely hear out of his left ear, a development he's trying to conceal by cocking his head when someone is speaking to him. And the headaches are… stupendous. They are impossible to endure without medication, but the pain medication makes
him loopy and, of course, he doesn't want to become addicted,
like Jennifer.

Although, he reasons, what does it matter if he becomes addicted now? The end is coming. He can feel it.

He doesn't share this knowledge with anyone. Nobody wants to hear it! Everyone expects Kelley to battle, to wield his mighty sword and fight off the failure of his body. Plus, everyone is distracted. It's Christmastime! Kevin and Isabelle are getting married! Bart is coming home! Ava is moving to the city to embark on her new career! Patrick is starting his act two, a hedge fund where he will be his own boss!