Page 19 of Winter Solstice
“It’s my trademark,” Eddie says.
“Wasyour trademark,” Allegra says. “Back when you were breaking the law.”
Eddie is very glad he didn’t pursue the fur coat option. “Let’s go,” he says.
They head out to the Cherokee. Allegra, whose range of motion is constricted by her costume, needs help getting in.
“Are you going to be able to dance in that getup?” Eddie asks.
“If I feel like dancing, I’ll take the kimono off,” Allegra says.
“But you do have something on underneath, right?” Eddie says.
“Yes, Dad,” Allegra says. “What kind of woman do you think I am?”
Eddie lets that question slide as rhetorical. As they head out of town, he realizes he has the next twelve minutes alone with his daughter, a rare opportunity.
“How are you feeling about the breakup?” Eddie asks.
Allegra shrugs.
Okay,Eddie thinks. He tries another avenue. “Do you miss your sister?”
“A lot more than I thought I would,” Allegra says. “I feel… I don’t know,abandonedalmost. She’s off at school, meeting people, creating a network of friends and connections that will last her the rest of her life. And I’m stuck at home in a dead-end job.”
“It’s not a dead-end job,” Eddie says. “You’re the face of the company.”
“Glenn is the face of the company,” Allegra says.
“You’re the first person people see when they walk through the door,” Eddie says. “And you’re doing a terrific job. In no time you’ll be a sales associate, and then once you take the requisite courses, you’ll be a broker like me.”
“I don’t expect you to understand,” Allegra says.
“Understand what?” Eddie says.
“You and Aunt Barbie grew up in New Bedford,” Allegra says. “So for you guys, coming to Nantucket was a big step forward. But I grew up here. And here I remain.”
“Well, I’ll point out,” Eddie says, “you could be stucksomewhere worse. There aren’t many places better than here.”
“I always saw myself someplace more glamorous,” Allegra says. “New York City, London…”
“Tokyo!” Eddie says, but Allegra doesn’t even crack a smile. He understands what she means, but at the same time, he feels hurt. He worked his ass off to be able to raise the twins here—and until his recent misfortunes, their lives had been pretty darn blessed. He’d given them whatever theyasked for—fancy Italian leather jackets, three-hundred-dollar jeans, riding lessons, a Jeep, and the expensive college-prep classes that Allegra chose to skip.
There’s no time to bemoan his daughters’ squandered privilege, because now he and Allegra are pulling into the parking lot at the VFW, which is already jam-packed with cars. Eddie feels a surge of excitement. Finally he’s back in the swing of things; he’s where the action is. When he told Glenn and Barbie that he’d been invited to Bart Quinn’s birthday, they were envious. He saw it on their faces.
“Here we are,” Eddie says. “Let’s get this party started.”
It takes Eddie about half a second to realize that he and Allegra are the only ones at the party wearing costumes. Eddie first sees their error in the faces of Mitzi and Bart, who are standing at the entrance to the party greeting the guests. When Mitzi sees Eddie and Allegra, her mouth falls open, then she quickly transitions to a smile. Bart cocks an eyebrow. Eddie feels humiliated, primarily on Allegra’s behalf. He has only dressed as himself. Allegra, on the other hand, looks like she stepped out ofShogun.Eddie decides he will offer to run Allegra right home so that she can change, but he turns to see her shuffling in tiny steps toward Bart and then executing a deep bow with her hands at prayer in front of her chest.
“Happy birthday,” she says when she rises. Then she holds out a hand. “I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Allegra Pancik. I was a freshman when you were a senior.”
“I think I do remember you,” Bart says. “And that’s a dynamite outfit. But you know this isn’t a costume party, right?”
“Right,” Allegra says. “However, I always dress up on Halloween.”
Eddie is extremely impressed by the confidence of this answer. Hope may be at Bucknell paving a golden road into her future, but Hope would not be able to finesse a situation as awkward as this and work it to her advantage. Of the twins, Allegra has been blessed with the superior survival skills.
“Come with me, Allegra,” Bart says. “I’ll show you where the bar is.”
