“It’s Labor Day weekend,” Melville said. “It’s early this year. This is Sunday night, Zee’s birthday. Tomorrow is the first day of September.”
They had done this before. It had become a ritual in the last few years they’d spent together.
“Yes,” Finch said. “September.”
Melville braced himself, waiting for Finch’s rage to surface. When it did, Melville would explain in a way that would make him understand everything that had happened. He’d explain well enough, and he’d ask for forgiveness. Finch would forgive him again, just as he had so many years ago. And if Finch’s rage came back tomorrow, he would explain again. And then, maybe one day, Melville would be able to convince Finch that they should explain the whole thing to Zee.
Finch returned his stare. But the anger wasn’t there.
It’s over, Melville thought, thanking God. This must be the next stage the doctor talked about, when they become less angry and for a while things seem almost normal again. Melville’s neurologist friend had told him about this. The honeymoon period, he had called it. The period before late-stage Alzheimer’s crossover.
“Are you comfortable now?” Melville asked, reaching over to fluff Finch’s pillows.
Finch nodded. Still looking at Melville as if he was trying to figure something out, he finally smiled. “I haven’t seen you working here before,” he said. “You must be new.”
58
THE FRIENDSHIP STOPPED IN Newburyport on its way south. The battery on Hawk’s cell phone was dead, and for some reason he couldn’t get reception using anyone else’s. When they got to town, he walked up to State Street looking for a pay phone.
He hadn’t called Zee the first week after their talk about Lilly. The second week he’d driven over to the house on Turner Street on two different occasions, finding the courage to ring the bell, then losing it just as quickly, as he sat in front of the house. She didn’t want to see him. The connection with Lilly made it too much for her. He could understand that. But at the same time, there were things he needed to say to her and questions he needed to ask. He knew he wasn’t going to let her go without those things being said.
Tonight Hawk wasn’t going to say any of those things. He just wanted to make sure she was all right. The story of Zylphia had done something to him, worried him in a way he couldn’t explain. True, the similarities were strange. But Hawk wasn’t someone who believed in ghost stories or even sea lore. No, this was different. He was worried about her in some exceedingly practical way, yet there was nothing practical he could put his finger on.
There’s a disturbance in the Force, he thought as he dialed.
It was Jessina who answered. She was cautious at first, not wanting to reveal too much.
“Is she there?” Hawk asked.
“Not at the moment,” Jessina said.
“Can you just tell me if she’s all right?” Hawk asked.
Jessina thought about it before answering. She liked Hawk a lot; she hadn’t really understood what had gone wrong between them.
“She’s fine,” Jessina said. “She’s at a wedding in Boston.”
“Right,” he said, remembering the invitation on the lazy Susan in the kitchen. Then he remembered that Zee had told him that the wedding was on her birthday.
Maybe the reason for his agitation was as simple as that. She would be seeing her ex-fiancé at the wedding. Hawk felt jealous just thinking about it, though he knew he had no right to feel that way. Maybe it was the wedding that was making him feel so tense.
Not knowing what else to do, he decided to leave a message. “Just tell her happy birthday.”
THE CREW HAD GONE TO dinner at the Black Cow and sat outside on the deck. The sailors were rowdier tonight than usual-he could hear them from around the corner as he approached. They were all good guys. He was going to miss working with them.
When Hawk sat down, they were talking about the application that the Friendship had recently filed to officially commission the ship. It was a great idea. If the ship was to be officially commissioned, they could take groups out sailing. And classes full of kids.
Too bad he wouldn’t be around for it, Hawk thought. He would have loved to be part of that.
59
ANN AND MICKEY CLOSED down the restaurant. It was surprising how much they had to talk about when they actually began to speak to each other. Mostly they talked about Zee and Maureen. And Mickey talked some about Ireland and about his brother Liam, the one who had died. They talked so much that they lost track of how late it was and were genuinely surprised when the waitress came over to tell them she was going home and would they please pay the check?
Ann excused herself and went to the ladies’ room. As she washed her hands, she looked into the mirror for a long time, trying to see something in her face, something that had changed.
Mickey paid the check and caught up with her at the door. They walked past the wharf and toward Ann’s shop.
“You want to come in?” she asked.
“Into your store?” he said.
“Yes,” she said. “I’ll make you some tea.”
He looked at her. “What kind of tea?” he asked, thinking about the kind she was famous for.
She smiled at him.
“You sure?” he said.
“I’m not at all sure,” she said. “But I’m feeling adventurous tonight.”
“Okay,” he said, following her into the store, waiting as she locked the door behind them and led him through the beaded curtain to the back room. “But I won’t be needing any tea.”
“We’ll see,” she said.
60
ZEE MISSED THE LAST boat home. It was ten-thirty. She’d stayed until the very end, through the traditional first dance, the cutting of the cake, and the tossing of the bouquet.
She walked back from the wharf to the front of the hotel and the taxi stand where Michael stood with his date waiting for the valet. She nodded to him as she passed.
He excused himself and followed.
“Zee?” he said.
She turned around. They had managed to stay away from each other all night. Mattei and Rhonda had seated them at opposite sides of the room, Zee with her colleagues and Michael with his.
“Happy birthday,” he said.
“Thanks.”
“I was going to ask you to dance,” he said. “But I got cold feet.”
“It’s probably better that you didn’t,” Zee said, looking toward his date.
Michael shrugged. “You’re more daring than I am. I didn’t want to come here alone tonight.”
She smiled.
“How’s Finch?”
“Not very well,” she said.
“Mattei told me he took a fall,” he said.
“He’s in a nursing home,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Thanks.”
“I’m also sorry about the way I ended things,” he said.
“It was pretty brutal,” she said.
“And cowardly,” he added.
“Maybe.”
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
“Apology accepted.”
“I was pushing you into something you clearly weren’t ready for,” he said.
“I don’t think what I was or not ready for was clear in any way,” she said. “Least of all to me.”
“And is it clear now?”
It was an odd question to ask, particularly with his new date standing only a few yards away. Still, she knew he deserved an answer and that she had never given him one.
“It is,” she said.
“And?”
“Good-bye, Michael,” she said.
61
ROY SAT AT THE kitchen table counting his money. Four hundred and fifty dollars. Plus the money he’d taken off the girl. He hadn’t counted it yet, really had only taken it to make things look like a robbery. The thought of Hawk behind bars made him laugh out loud. He’d left the hammer with Adam’s name on it right next to the body where they would be sure to find it. Roy knew they’d figure things out eventually, but by the time they did, he’d be long gone.