“Wow,” Ryder said. “That’s ambitious. And exciting.”
She liked the admiration in his eyes.
“And terrifying,” she added with a smile. “I’ll have to organize my own pension, health benefits, all that. And I’ll have to work hard and be as creative as I think I can be.”
“But someday you might travel with me?” Ryder asked.
“Yes, someday.”
“For now, you’ve got to focus on your own adventure.”
She smiled. “Yes, that’s absolutely right. You know, Ryder, I feel like I did years ago when our seventh grade class went on an educational tall ship cruise. I had to climb the rigging of the main mast while the ship was on open water. It was terrifying and exhilarating. I want that again.”
“Then you should have it.” Ryder sat next to her, watching her, not forcing her, not even charming her. “I’ll be around whenever you want me. However you want me.”
“Oh, magic words.” Juliet set her wineglass on the coffee table. She stood up, took Ryder’s hand, and pulled him up. “Want to have an adventure right now?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” Ryder answered.
“I suppose the bedrooms are all on the second fl—” Juliet began.
Ryder interrupted her, kissing her, kissing her passionately, and she matched his passion with her own, and they fell back onto the sofa. The house, as wide and spacious as the future, spread around them, clear and ready.
thirty-three
As Lisa entered her house, she didn’t know if she was more tired or worried. She couldn’t even decide whether to make herself some steaming hot tea or take a hot shower first. She decided on the hot shower.
She stripped off her sodden clothes in the hallway, not afraid that someone would see her in her undies, because she’d had a text from Theo saying he was fine, he was with Beth, and he was going to spend the night at her place, which was the apartment over Ryder Hastings’s garage. Before they left the nursing home, Juliet told Lisa she was going to spend the evening with Ryder, in his family’s house. That’s going to be a busy block of territory tonight, Lisa thought.
The only person she hadn’t heard from was Mack.
Of course, the cellphones had been out for over an hour, so he probably had tried to get through and failed. Or maybe he felt like she did, that he needed a hot shower before anything else.
She climbed the stairs to the second floor and entered her wonderful new bathroom. Mack and his crew had done a marvelous job. The floor was a glistening clean white ceramic tile, and all the fixtures were new. The walls had been painted a muted sea-green that she loved, and the trim was marshmallow white. She’d bought new towels and bath mats in a turquoise, so thick and fluffy she wanted to wear them.
Mack had found a way to install a shower next to her beloved claw-foot bathtub, and she peeled off her undies, stepped into the shower, and sighed with bliss as hot water rained down over her. She washed her hair and soaped her body, and finally, when her skin was almost red from the water, she turned off the faucets and stepped onto a bath mat. The room was filled with mist. Through the window, Lisa could see that night had fallen.
Because she would be alone tonight—unless Mack suddenly appeared—she slipped into her warm chenille robe with the thick collar and cuffs. She combed out her hair, creamed her face, and put on a touch of lipstick, just in case. Why hadn’t she heard from Mack?
She stood in her bedroom, looking around. It was a nice room, airy and spacious. How many times had she cried in this room, or laughed, or cuddled a sick child, or read a book late into the night? Certainly she hadn’t made love many times in this room, only a few times before Erich left her for his European mistress. So it was an attractive room, but now she thought it was a lonely room.
She stepped out into the hallway. Three more bedrooms and one more bath opened onto the hall, and as she stood at the head of the staircase, she wondered what on earth she was doing living in such a large house by herself. She’d been happy enough, but now, after weeks of Theo and Juliet coming and going and Mack and his men carrying tools and lumber in and out and Dave and Tom singing and laughing, now she thought she would be very lonely with the work done and the house empty.
She sat down on the top step and began to cry.
“Hello?”
The kitchen door opened and shut.
“Theo?” Lisa called.
“No, it’s me, Mack. Your door’s unlocked, you know.”
For some reason, the tears came harder, faster. “I’m up here.”
Mack climbed the stairs to her, large and comforting in his jeans and flannel shirt. His work boots made reassuring sounds against the steps. His hair was damp, and from where she sat, she could smell the light fragrance of Ivory soap. He sat down next to her, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her toward him.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I didn’t know where you were.” She couldn’t stop crying. “Oh, Mack, look at your hands, they’re all bruised and scratched! What happened?”
“I was out in Madaket when the storm hit. I was boarding up the homes of several families I caretake for. Then Millie Maxwell, you know Millie, her daughter Marianne was a couple of classes behind Theo and Beth, Millie ran over to get me because Marianne had gone into labor. The storm felled a large tree right across their driveway and Marianne’s husband’s in the Coast Guard and was out at sea. Fortunately, I had my chain saw in my truck, so I managed to cut the tree into thirds and move the middle third out of the way so Millie could drive her daughter to the hospital.”
“Good Lord, Mack,” Lisa cried. “What would they have done without you?”
“I tried to call you, but the cellphones were down. After they drove off, I finished boarding up the Stowes’ cottage, then I went home for a shower. I wasn’t so much wet as I was covered with twigs and leaves.”
Mack smiled then, and she smiled, too. Her tears stopped. Her heart calmed.
“How’s Juliet?” Mack asked.
“She’s good. She helped with the sandbags, and then she went off with Ryder. She texted that she’s having dinner with him. And I’ve spoken to Beth…”
“She just texted me. Theo saved her life, apparently. She was very dramatic about it. She’s at Ryder’s garage, preparing dinner for Theo, her hero.”
“Really? So we’ll be all alone here?”
“Looks that way.”
Lisa grinned. “Would you like something to eat? Maybe some scrambled eggs or a brandy?”