Island Girls

by Nancy Thayer

  Only one summer had she been in the room when her father was married to Justine. She’d peeked inside, of course. It had been fragrant with Justine’s perfume, the armchairs draped with her discarded lingerie, all lacy and, to an adolescent’s impressionable mind, tantalizingly sexy. Mysteries shimmered in the air, and the enchantments of the woman who had stolen her father’s loyalty.

  Arden walked around the room now, touching the posters of the canopy bed, the back of the armchair, the bureau. It all still gleamed with secrets, sensuality, choices made long ago and forgotten.

  Justine’s red velvet jewelry box stood on the dressing table. Arden slid onto the bench and lifted the lid. Inside—nothing. Of course not. Justine must have taken all her jewelry with her to her Boston home after Rory’s death.

  Because it wasn’t Justine’s house any longer. It belonged to Arden, Meg, and Jenny.

  Arden rose and slid open the doors of the closet. Extending deep into the walls, it was crammed with clothing: Justine’s colorful summer wardrobe and Rory’s equally vibrant attire. At one end of the closet, a shoe organizer held sparkling sandals and well-worn deck shoes along with knee-high rubber waders.

  At the other end of the closet was a row of shelves where Justine kept extra sheets, towels, and blankets. Arden ran her hand over the linens, feeling only the smooth softness, enjoying a sense of illicit possession, wondering who would keep these sheets if Justine didn’t take them. Certainly Arden and Meg wouldn’t want the sheets their father had slept on with Justine.

  Turning, Arden caught her heel on something. She clutched at the inner wall to keep herself from falling.

  Looking down, she saw she’d nearly tripped on a loose board. Squatting, she started to wedge the board back into place.

  Then she stopped.

  She lifted the board. Beneath the closet floor lay a black velvet jewelry pouch.

  Arden’s heart thudded so fast and hard she thought she might faint.

  She lifted out the pouch and dumped the contents into her hand. Even in the darkness she could spot the glimmer and gleam of real gold and a large diamond-circled emerald.

  Justine’s necklace. Oh. My. God.

  She left the closet, sat on the bed, and inspected it in the light. Yes, this was it, the necklace, the necklace Justine had accused Arden and Meg of stealing, the reason she’d exiled them from the house and island.

  Jaw clenched, Arden returned the jewelry to the pouch and stomped down to her own room and her cell phone.

  Jenny couldn’t take her eyes off Dr. William Chivers. He appeared to be as stunned as she was. People had told her she looked like her mother, but never before with such immediacy.

  She forced her numb lips to move. “I’m Jenny. Justine’s daughter.”

  A flush of warmth moved over the physician’s face, and a smile broke out like the sun from behind clouds. “Of course you are. Please come in.” He shut the door behind her, gestured her to a sofa in a small consultation area, and punched the phone on his desk.

  “Barbara. No calls.”

  He seated himself in an armchair across from Jenny, taking care to pinch the crease of his trousers as he sat. He waited, an amiable expression on his face.

  Jenny’s mouth was so dry she couldn’t speak. She was trembling.

  Williams Chivers noticed. Patiently, as if she were someone from another country, he said, “My goodness. You look just like her. How is she?”

  “She’s fine. Well, not so great just now. Her husband died.” Jenny’s words were slow to arrive and felt shapeless in her mouth.

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” His eyes were gentle, his face full of compassion.

  “You’re my father,” Jenny blurted. Now the words rushed out. “This is weird, I know, and I apologize, but I’m thirty-one now, and my—friends—have convinced me I need to know about my biological father because so many characteristics are passed along through the genes. Mother—Justine—never told me until today who my biological father was. For years she was married to a wonderful man, Rory Randall; he adopted me, he was my real father, I thought of him as my real father, but of course, I don’t have his genes. I don’t mean to upset you or embarrass you or cause you any problems at all, and I won’t tell your wife or kids or anyone, but I really think I need to have some idea of your medical history.”

  She sat back in her chair, exhausted.

  His hands had been clasped together, but now he put one hand over his heart, as if to still it. He seemed to sink into a private reverie. “Give me a moment.”

  Jenny waited.

  Dr. Chivers spoke slowly, remembering. “The last time I saw her, we fought. I don’t recall the reason. Something inconsequential. We fought, we parted in anger. I was busy, I didn’t phone her for a few days.… When I did call, she wasn’t there. She’d just vanished, without a word. I tried to find out where she’d gone. I didn’t have much free time, I was at Mass General then, but I did everything I could and came up with nothing. I thought … I thought she’d stopped loving me.” Suddenly he bent forward, resting his elbows on his knees, burying his face in his hands.

  Jenny sat silently, respecting his mood.

  After a moment, he lifted his head. “Could you tell me your birth date?”

  “March 18, 1982.”

  He nodded. His eyes searched her face. “It’s as if she cloned you. I don’t see much of me in your features at all, which is lucky for you.”

  She smiled and lifted her dark hair off her ears. “What about these?”

  The tops of her ears were slightly tipped, peaked like an elf’s. Like William Chivers’s. Justine’s were perfectly rounded.

  “Oh dear.” He chuckled. “Poor you.”

  “You’re being so kind.”

  “My dear child,” William Chivers said, “why wouldn’t I be kind?”

  At his words, emotions unclenched in Jenny’s heart like a flower opening to the sun, unfurling petals she’d never even known existed, delicate silken shades of hope, regret, and a profound, stirring, powerful need.

  This man was her father.

  This man was her father, and he accepted her.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, for tears were streaming down her face and her shoulders were shaking. “I didn’t know—I wasn’t sure whether you’d be glad to see me or if you’d turn me away or tell me I was wrong—”

  William Chivers rose and crossed his office to a table with a pitcher of water and glasses on a tray. He poured the water and brought it to Jenny.

  “Take your time,” he advised her. “No hurry. Of course you are upset.” He sat back down in his chair and waited, hands folded in his lap.

  A box of tissues sat on the coffee table between them. He held them out to her. Jenny took a few, blew her nose, wiped her cheeks. She took a sip of water and made an effort to still her shaky breathing.

  Lifting her eyes, she studied his face. She saw her own emotions reflected in his eyes and in the sudden blotchy patches on his skin.

  “Are you married?” she asked.

  “I was. My wife died two years ago.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Thank you. We have two children. My son, Roger, is in medical school at Harvard. My daughter, Penny, is studying to be a veterinarian.”

  Her arms broke out in goose bumps. She had a brother and a sister! A half brother and sister, but still!

  “Do you have siblings?” he asked.

  She paused, then said softly, “Two sisters.”

  “I’m so glad. I wouldn’t want you to be an only child. I was an only child, and it’s lonely.”

  She wanted to tell him everything. She wanted him to know that she had been lonely, for ten years, until Rory brought Meg and Arden into her life, and then she’d only really had them for two years, until Justine sent them away.

  He was speaking now. “Where do you live?”

  “On Nantucket. I’m here visiting my mother. She lives in Belmont. She’s widowed, too.”

&nbs
p; William Chivers took a deep breath. “I didn’t realize she lived in the Boston area.” He studied the floor for a moment, seemingly fascinated by the pattern in the carpet. “I have some phone calls to make, and paperwork to finish,” he told her. “But I wonder, do you think you could have dinner with me tonight?”

  Her throat was choked with tears. She could only nod.

  TWENTY-ONE

  When the doorbell rang, Arden swore under her breath. She’d been pacing the house, cell phone in one hand, jewelry pouch in the other, and completely forgotten that she’d invited Palmer White to dinner.

  She stuck the pouch in the drawer of the hall table, smoothed her hair, and opened the door.

  Palmer stood there with a bottle of wine in his hands. He was casually but expensively dressed in chinos and a red rugby shirt that gave a glow to his cheeks and made his dark eyes glitter.

  Seeing her face, Palmer said, “You forgot?”

  Arden shook her head. “Of course not. Come in. Sorry, I’m kind of rattled. I—it’s complicated—never mind.”

  “Want help hiding the body?”

  “No, no.” She smiled. “But I’m afraid I didn’t manage to get dinner started yet. It’s been that kind of day.”

  Palmer held up the bottle of wine. “We could start with this while we recon a new plan.”

  “Brilliant idea.” She led Palmer to the kitchen, found glasses, handed him the corkscrew. “Do you like Szechuan? We could order some in.”

  “Doubt it. I don’t think there’s a Szechuan place on the island.”

  “Well, we are not having pizza.” Arden opened the refrigerator and peered in at the steaks she’d planned to marinate and grill. “I can cook,” she said over her shoulder. “Well enough, anyway.”

  “I’m sure you can,” Palmer said. Gently he pulled her away from the refrigerator, shut the door with one hand, and wrapped her against him with the other.

  She felt his heart beating steadily against her, and his breath was warm on her face. With a sigh, she laid her head on his shoulder and sagged into his supporting arms. To her surprise and relief, she realized she was crying, not in great agonizing sobs, but in silent acceptance. Crying on Palmer White’s shoulder seemed like receiving an unexpected mercy.

  “Sorry,” she apologized after a while. She walked over to take a tissue and blew her nose. “How do you like our dinner so far?”

  “Best I’ve ever had.” Palmer’s voice was low and kind.

  They sat inside, on the sofa, because it felt so good to kick off her sandals and curl up on the welcoming cushions. What could she tell him? she wondered. That she’d discovered the pouch of jewelry Justine had accused her of stealing?

  That she’d found proof that Justine had purposely lied in order to exile her and Meg from the island? That it was an unbelievable relief it hadn’t been Jenny who had taken the necklace to make her mother get rid of them? That as much as she had adored her charming father, she wished he were alive for just one minute—no, make that five—so she could shout at him, rail at him, tell him how much misery he’d caused in his lifetime, how much chaos! Simplify this.

  All of this was private knowledge that should be shared only with Meg and Jenny. Arden didn’t know Palmer well enough. She didn’t know if she could trust him not to spill out the Randall family gossip after too many glasses of wine beneath a hot summer sun to twenty or forty of his best friends.

  “I played tennis today,” Palmer told her.

  She gawked at him as if he’d said he’d visited the moon. She was so absorbed in her own melodrama she’d forgotten other people had lives.

  She focused on Palmer. “How’d you do?”

  “I won. I usually do. I’m fast, and I’m powerful.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Wanna feel my biceps?”

  Arden glanced at his tanned muscular arm pushing up the fabric of his cotton sleeve. He did look strong. He did look healthy. He did look—uh-oh—attractive.

  “Tell me about your family,” she invited.

  “My family?”

  “Yes. Because my family is so bizarre. It would be nice to hear about someone whose life isn’t wacko.”

  “You think my family’s not wacko?” Palmer grinned. “I think that may be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  Arden dropped her head in her hand. “Oh, damn, I have been slightly snotty, haven’t I?”

  “Not snotty. Let’s say cautious.”

  “Women in our family tend not to trust men,” she told him. Waving her hand, she pressed, “But I need a break from my family for a while. Tell me about yours.”

  Palmer leaned his head back, as if searching for the information on the ceiling.

  “My father’s a hedge fund manager. My mother’s a social worker. I’m a media space manager. My sister Hadley’s a nurse working in Africa.” After a moment, he added, “My father is six feet tall. My mother is five feet six. I’m six feet tall. Hadley, who is two years younger, is six feet three.”

  “How was it for her, growing up?” Arden asked.

  Palmer shook his head. “Not easy. She got her height early, and her boobs, too. She always knew she’d be tall. She was tall in kindergarten. With our mother recounting seriously upsetting scenes from her day at the dinner table—and I realize she was a little off base to do so, but maybe this will assure you that all families are wacko—Hadley started volunteering as a Big Sister early on, and at youth shelters and safe places. Right after school, she’d bike off, or later, when Dad gave her a beat-up old sedan, which was exactly what she wanted, she’d drive that. After high school, she went to nursing school, and then she signed on with a volunteer relief agency.”

  “She sounds admirable.”

  “She is admirable, but she’s no saint, and she’s not boring, and she attracts her share of men. She’s actually quite a bombshell now that she’s an adult. She’s engaged to a doctor, and in a couple of years they’re going to settle down in Boston and start a family.”

  “Nice.” Arden reached forward to pour herself more wine.

  “Feel better now?” Palmer asked.

  “I do. Thanks. Sometimes my family life overwhelms me.”

  “I’ve got a proposition for you that would take you far away from all that.” Palmer’s eyes were sparkling.

  Arden leveled a skeptical look at him.

  Palmer laughed. “Well, of course, I’m always up for that, you might say. But no, this is a business proposition.”

  “Oh yeah?” Now she was interested.

  “I recently bought a TV station in Houston. I need someone to jazz it up. I need a morning show most of all, something to appeal to women.”

  “And you thought of me?” Arden was stunned.

  “You’re a smart woman. You can learn fast. Plus, you’ve got a real presence, you think on your feet, you’ve got sex appeal, you’ve got a great laugh. I want you on my team.” He paused, then added slyly, “And I guarantee the pay is good.”

  Arden stared into space, her mind buzzing. Houston. One thing she knew from reading W and Vogue was that the parties were stupendous, the clothes and houses out of this world. They knew how to live in Houston; they weren’t paralyzed by ancient Yankee rules of make it last/wear it out. The women’s jewelry was more than one set of grandmother’s pearls; the men’s wardrobe consisted of more than one old blue blazer. Lots of money in Houston …

  “I have a contract with Channel Six.”

  “Since I own it, I’m sure we can work that out.” Palmer stood up and held out his hand. “Let’s go out to dinner. Someplace really posh so you can contemplate my suggestion in seductive luxury.”

  Arden hesitated. “Well …”

  “Don’t worry,” Palmer said with a quirky smile. “You can pay.” She took his hand, knowing at that moment she was just perhaps maybe falling a little bit in love with him.

  Weirdness, she was utterly weird, but she didn’t want to drive the thirty minutes back to her mother’s home in Belmont to change cloth
es. For one thing, it was close to rush hour and the traffic would be horrific, but more than that, Jenny did not want to share one fraction of this event with anyone, not even her mother—especially not her mother—not yet.

  William Chivers was Jenny’s father, her biological father, and he wanted to take her out to dinner, to get to know her, and she wanted to get to know him.

  She wanted him all to herself. She wanted him to look at her, his daughter. She wanted to hear everything about him, to see if he held his fork the way she held hers.

  But they were meeting at the Harvard Club for dinner, and she felt wrinkled in her blue linen dress. She hurried over to Newbury Street, slipped into the first boutique she came to, and quickly found a svelte sleeveless black dress. She bought heels to wear with it, even though she had a pair of black shoes almost like them back on the island.

  She passed the time until dinner walking around the public gardens, pretending to enjoy the flowers, the children playing games, the man throwing a Frisbee for his dog. But all she could think of was William Chivers.

  They were seated at a table near the window, with a respectable amount of space between their table and others. Light music played, something classical. William Chivers wore the same tan suit, white shirt, blue tie. The maître d’ knew him, as did the waiter. He requested his favorite white wine and made small talk while they checked out the menus and ordered their meals. Then they sat back in their chairs and studied each other.

  “Please,” Chivers said. “Tell me about yourself.”

  Shyly at first, Jenny spoke about the easy things: her work, her schooling, her life in the Nantucket house. She was hesitant to say her mother’s name, or Rory’s, as if that would break the frail cobweb bond between herself and this new real father.

  “And men?” Chivers asked. “Or women?”

  “I broke up with a man a few months ago. He was a really nice guy, but perhaps a bit too beefcake.” She blushed, remembering sex.