“Is that a date?” Zee was amazed.
“It sure as hell looks like one,” Melville said.
“I don’t believe it.”
JESSINA SEARCHED THE CABINETS FOR cake decorations. She had used most of the colored sugar on the Fourth of July cookies. Now she found some green shamrocks, which she rejected, and some heart confetti, which would be perfect to scatter lightly about. But she needed something more. Climbing up on a kitchen chair, she looked deep into the baking cabinet and spotted the amber bottle with the silver dragées. The little silver balls would be perfect, she thought.
She placed them around the perimeter of the cake, spaced every inch or so. Then, with enough left, she spelled out HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZEE in the middle. When she was finished, she covered her creation in plastic wrap, using toothpicks to hold the wrap away from the frosting.
She cleared everything off the lazy Susan and placed the cake in the middle, spinning it just enough so that the birthday message would be clear to Zee the minute she walked into the kitchen.
ZEE LOOKED AT HER WATCH while Melville signed the check.
“Thank you for dinner,” she said.
“Are you going to be okay at that wedding all by yourself?” he asked. “I could go with you if you have time for me to run back and change into a suit.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “But thanks.”
They stopped by the bar on the way out to say hello to Ann and Mickey.
The bar was packed with diners waiting for tables and a preppy-looking group of sailing types. Some guys turned to check out Zee as she passed.
“So what are you two up to?” Zee asked Ann and Mickey.
“Don’t ask,” Ann said.
Mickey smiled widely and stood to offer Zee his seat.
“We’re just heading out,” Melville said.
“Mattei and Rhonda are getting married tonight,” Zee said.
“Oh, I forgot about that,” Ann said. “Should be fun.”
“My boss,” Zee said to Mickey by way of explanation. Then, knowing Mickey’s feelings on the subject, she added. “And her girlfriend.”
Everyone waited for Mickey’s reaction. “Hey, if that’s what the good citizens of Massachusetts want, who am I to protest? I’m a progressive guy.”
Ann rolled her eyes. “Sure you are,” she said.
Two seats at the bar opened up, and a young man who had been eyeing Zee found the courage to walk over.
“Hey, we’ve got seats,” the guy said. “If you and your father want to join us for a drink.”
Zee smiled and declined.
“You and your father,” Mickey said to Melville. “That idiot. How did he know you weren’t her date?”
He was being genuine, but it didn’t come off that way. “Older man, younger woman, it happens all the time.” He smiled at Ann.
It was funny, Ann thought, regarding Zee and Melville, how much alike they looked. Ann was surprised she had never noticed it before. They could easily have been mistaken for father and daughter. In many ways Zee looked just like her mother. But if you examined the cheekbones, the eyes…
“I’ll bring the car around,” Melville said, leaving them.
“I thought you seemed a little too dressed up for this place,” Mickey said. “Happy birthday,” he added, kissing her cheek.
“Happy birthday, Hepzibah,” Ann said.
“Don’t stay out too late,” Mickey said.
Zee laughed. She kissed them both and walked to the curb.
“What?” Mickey said, noticing Ann looking at the car as Melville pulled up.
“Nothing,” Ann said.
A big plate of Stoli oysters that Mickey ordered arrived. Ann started to laugh. “Oysters?” she said. “What part of vegan don’t you understand?”
“Hey, you’re the one who picked Finz.”
“And I’m planning to order their vegan dinner,” she said. “To say nothing of that ridiculous cliché. Oysters? Are you kidding me?”
“I took a shot.”
ANN WATCHED THROUGH THE WINDOW as Melville pulled the car up to the curb. She watched as he got out and walked around to the passenger’s side to open the door for Zee. Ann was lost in thought as the car drove off. It took her a moment to realize that Mickey had been trying to tell her something. “I’m sorry. What?”
Mickey gestured toward the frustrated hostess who was waiting to take them from the bar to the restaurant. “I said, our table is ready.”
55
MELVILLE DROPPED ZEE OFF at the ferry.
“Call me if you need a ride back,” he said.
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “It’s just a few blocks, and it won’t be that late.”
“Happy birthday,” he said again. She kissed him on the cheek.
He sat in the parking lot until the ferry pulled out. Then he sat longer, looking at the harbor and out toward Baker’s Island. He opened the glove compartment and pulled out the book of Yeats.
He’d thought about giving it to Zee as a birthday present. He’d even gone so far as to get a card to go with it and inscribed it with her full name before he decided the whole thing was a very bad idea.
He sat for a long while, just looking at the title. Then he opened to the middle of the book and took out a folded piece of paper.
The paper was what he and Finch had fought about that day when Finch had literally thrown the book at him, the afternoon that had ended their relationship.
Zee had always believed that Maureen hadn’t left a suicide note, and it had been important to Finch that she keep believing that. But it wasn’t true. Maureen had known what she was doing. She hadn’t left the note on the bed where Zee was as likely to find it as Finch. Instead she’d left it in Finch’s study, for his eyes only.
Dear Finch,
By the time you read this note, I will be gone. It is best for all.
Secrets are often carried to the grave, but this is one I will not take with me. Do with it what you will.
The child I bore for you to father is not yours. It belongs to the man you betrayed me with. It happened only once, in a moment out of place and time.
The fates are cruel, they make fools of us all…
Maureen
At the bottom of her suicide note was a message that was meant for Melville, completing the inscription he’d left for her so long ago:
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild.
With a faery, hand in hand.
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.
56
IT HAD HAPPENED BEFORE he met Finch, back when Melville was writing the article on the Greenpeace splinter group. He was coming back from Gloucester on his boat when his engine died. He knew what was wrong immediately and cursed himself for not having gotten around to fixing it. He also knew he’d never make it all the way back to Salem, so he put in at Baker’s Island, hoping to use a phone or, barring that, to borrow a skiff and go to Manchester Harbor to pick up the part he needed at the marine supply.
It was June. Few of the summer people had yet arrived. The little store was closed, and Melville had to walk to the far end of the island before he found an unshuttered cottage.
He stopped at the door to ask if he could use the phone.
She’d been hesitant to open the door. In retrospect he wasn’t certain why she had.
She stood in the doorway looking at him. Her red hair was tied back, and she had a pencil stuck through it, holding it in place. Her eyes were piercing blue. He stood outside the door just looking at her. It was a long moment before he remembered to ask about the phone.
She told him she didn’t have a phone. When she heard his story, she offered to lend him her boat. He took it into Manchester Harbor and picked up the part he needed at the marine shop.
By the time he got back with the part, it was early evening. It wasn’t a hard fix, but it was in a bad place, and he had to pull up the deck and several of the floorboards to get at it. He’d shorted out his running lights in the process. When he finished the job, it was after dark. He figured he’d sleep on the boat and head out again at first light.