Ryder thanked Sandra and began his talk with the usual how-nice-of-you-to-come-out-today, allowing Lisa time to stare frankly at the man. After all, everyone else was.
He said, “I’d like to begin my talk with a quote from the National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Sylvia Earle. Sylvia is a marine biologist and legendary oceanographer whose documentary Mission Blue is available on Netflix.
“Sylvia Earle said: ‘If we fail to take care of the ocean, nothing else matters.’ ”
Ryder waited as his audience muttered agreement. For the next half hour, he spoke passionately about how seventy-one percent of the planet was ocean, and how too many creatures and plants in the ocean were dying. How the ocean was the world’s largest carbon dioxide sink. Ninety-three percent of the planet’s carbon dioxide was stored in vegetation, algae, and coral under the sea. But it couldn’t keep up with the carbon that man’s use of fossil fuels was adding to the atmosphere. Added to that was the problem of plastics, pollution, and overfishing.
Ryder illustrated his speech with PowerPoint images, and he ended by listing the ways people could help the ocean. He mentioned his organization, Ocean Matters, and told them how to join up, how to find the website, and the names of several relevant sites.
The applause at the end of his talk was enthusiastic, not a great surprise because he was talking to people who lived on an island. Afterward, people gathered around the hospitality table to pour themselves a paper cup of lemonade and take a cookie or two. Others stood in line to talk with Ryder, including Juliet and Lisa, waiting their turn.
When they reached the lecturer, Ryder said, “Hi, Juliet. It’s great to see you here.”
“Hi, Ryder.” Juliet nodded toward Lisa. “This is my mother, Lisa Hawley. She lives here year-round.”
“Yes,” Lisa said, “and I’m most interested in your ideas and your organization.”
“Let me give you my card,” Ryder said. “I’d like to find someone to head a chapter of Ocean Matters here on the island.”
Lisa took the card. “I’m sorry I can’t do it, because I support everything you said. But I own a shop on Main Street and summer is crazy.”
From behind her shoulder, Prudence Starbuck, an island native in her seventies, spoke up. “I’d be glad to help.”
“Nice meeting you,” Lisa said to Ryder as she moved away.
“Nice meeting you,” Ryder answered. “And nice seeing you again, Juliet.”
Juliet flushed at the warmth in his gaze. She hurried off to speak to a friend. Lisa spotted Mack at the round table with the punch bowl in the middle. She headed his way.
“Hey,” she said. “How are you?”
“Good.” Leaning forward, he said in a low voice, “You look very kissable.”
Lisa grinned. “So do you. But my daughter’s here.”
“And so is mine.”
“I thought I saw her sitting with you. When did she get here?”
“Last night. With her master’s finished, she’s home and looking for a job.”
“We’re headed into tourist season. She’ll have no trouble finding work.” Lisa turned to search for Beth. “I haven’t seen her for years.”
“She’s there. In the blue dress.”
“Oh, she’s lovely.” Lisa sighed. “Theo’s been in California for seven years. I’m not sure he’ll ever come back.”
“Actually,” Mack said with a grin, “that’s fine with me. I’d like to be the only male in your life.”
Lisa felt herself blush. “Mack—” She wanted to tell him to stop because other people crowded next to the table for punch. She almost hated it when Mack spoke seductively. It reminded her of Erich, who’d been a magician with words and an adulterous husband and a cruelly absent father. She couldn’t say all this to Mack, not here, not now. It almost made her dizzy, feeling so attracted to him and at the same time so frightened.
From across the room, Lisa met her daughter’s eye and understood the slight sideways motion of her head. Time to leave.
“I’ve got to go,” Lisa told Mack. She was aware of several Nantucket acquaintances watching them, so she said politely, “Good to see you.” She slipped from the group and joined her daughter.
“Do you want to say hello to anyone else?” Lisa asked.
Juliet shook her head. “No, thanks.”
They went down the curving stairs, out the tall white doors, and down the steps to the brick sidewalk.
“How do you know Ryder Hastings?” Lisa asked.
“I met him on the boat coming over,” Juliet said.
“He seems nice.”
Juliet shrugged. “His work is certainly important.”
“I wish I had the time to help out.”
Juliet said, “I would help if I spent more time here.”
“You know you’re always welcome.”
The wind was rising, whispering through their hair.
“We should drive out to Surfside tomorrow to see the waves,” Juliet said. Immediately she corrected herself. “I mean, I should. I don’t want to mess up your schedule. I mean, if you’re planning something with Mack.”
“Oh, I think Mack and I can resist each other for a day or two,” Lisa answered, laughter in her voice.
“Good,” Juliet said churlishly. “Sorry to be so childish.”
Lisa linked arms with Juliet. “You are a child. You are my child. I love you and Theo best of all. You know that.” As they turned the corner onto Fair Street, Lisa said, “Let’s get a pizza and watch a movie tonight.”
“Great idea,” Juliet agreed.
eight
The next morning, Lisa and Juliet drove out to Surfside. The south beach had always been Juliet’s go-to place when she had a problem. The yielding sand, the flashing light of the waves, the whirling wind, all cleared her thoughts.
Today, though, Ryder Hastings’s lecture ran through her mind. Of course when she was a kid in school she’d learned about the ocean, about plastics caught in fish stomachs, in turtle throats. She’d seen films of dead whales with a frightening assortment of human-created debris in their stomachs. She’d seen the birds and fish helplessly trapped in a thick coat of oil in the Gulf of Mexico from the BP oil spill. She’d taken tests on the information, and aced the tests, but she hadn’t become a crusader. Looking out at the gleaming blue waves that replenished her soul, she experienced a pang of guilt.