Page 39 of Winter Solstice
“I know,” Allegra says. “I felt so bad about that.” She finds a vase under the office’s kitchen sink, and she fills it with water. “These are going right on my desk where everyone can see them.” She touches his arm. “Thank you, Bart.”
He wants to kiss her, but there are other people in theoffice. Most of them are at desks, on their phones orengrossedwith their computer screens, but Bart can’t risk compromising Allegra’s professionalism. Even now her phone is ringing. He needs to let her go.
“Have dinner with me tonight,” he says. “Fifty-Six Union, seven thirty. I can pick you up, or…”
“I’ll have my dad drop me off at the restaurant,” Allegra says. “And you’ll get me home after?”
He nods. “See you then.”
When Bart gets back home, he finds Mitzi on the side porch smoking a cigarette. Bart checks the time on his phone. It’s three o’clock in the afternoon—four and a half hours until he will next see Allegra. But Mitzi smoking in the middle of the day is a new development, and not a good one.
“What’s up, Madre?” he says.
Mitzi waves the smoke away but does not extinguish the cigarette, despite the fact that it is nearly burned down to the filter. “That envelope Eddie Pancik dropped off earlier?” she says. “It was a listing sheet. I’m selling the inn after your father dies.”
“You are?” Bart says. He’s not sure how to react. Is this good news or bad news? On the one hand, it sounds like good news. Mitzi has made a decision to stop running the inn. On the other hand, selling the inn seems inconceivable. It’s the only home Bart has ever known, and it’s the only place Mitzi has ever lived on Nantucket, except for a long-ago summer rental. “What will you do then?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” Mitzi says. “Your father told me you want to reenlist for active duty?”
“Hedid?” Bart says. Bart wasn’t sure Kelley had absorbed this piece of news.
“As much as it terrifies me, I think it’s a good idea,” Mitzi says. “You aren’t happy here, that much is obvious. You need a sense of purpose. You need to create a life. They won’t send you back overseas, I wouldn’t think.”
“Probably not,” Bart says. There is appeal in going where the action is, but he has also considered officer training school. His dream is to become a drill sergeant at Camp Lejeune. He would love nothing more than to be on the other side of basic training. He knows firsthand the mental toughness it takes to be a Marine. He was held prisoner for two years; he watched his fellow troops die. And he survived. He is tougher, meaner, and uglier than even Sergeant Corbo. He regards his mother. “I thought you would be against it. I thought you would throw yourself on the ground in front of my feet and beg me not to go back.”
Mitzi drops the butt of her cigarette into an empty Diet Coke can on the railing. The Diet Coke throws Bart for a second loop. Has Mitzi been consuming the stuff? CigarettesandDiet Cokeandselling the inn? Do Mitzi’s further plans include moving to Vegas to participate in the World Series of Poker?
“I have some happy news,” Bart says.
Mitzi raises her eyebrows in expectation, but it doesn’t erase the deep lines of sadness from her face.
“I have a date tonight,” Bart says.
He gets to the restaurant early so that he is standing out front when Eddie Pancik pulls up to drop off Allegra. Bart opens her door and helps her out of the car. She’s wearing a black knit dress that clings to her unbelievable figure and a pair of leopard-print high heels. She is, in the words of his fellow Marines,smoking hot.
Bart pokes his head into the car to address Eddie. “I’ll have her home on the early side, Mr. Pancik,” he says. “I know she works tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Bart,” Eddie says. “You kids have fun.”
Eddie drives away, and Bart takes Allegra by the hand. He holds the door to the restaurant open and ushers her inside. The restaurant is lit by candles, and Bart and Allegra are seated at a cozy, tucked-away table.
“This is so romantic,” Allegra says. “This is a real, grown-up date.”
“I figured I’d better bring my A game,” Bart says. “I know you’re used to smooth operators like Hunter Bloch.”
“Oh please,” Allegra says. “I’m all finished with smooth operators like Hunter Bloch. I want…”
Bart leans forward. He can hear Centaur’s voice in his ear, saying,PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT SHE WANTS!
“… I want a real man.”
A real man,Bart thinks. What does Allegra mean by that? Probably she means she wants someone strong, intelligent, competent. Someone who has achieved something noteworthy: in Bart’s case, joined the Marines, been captured, and been held prisoner. If Hunter Bloch were to walk into this restaurant right now and make a snide comment to Allegra or try, somehow, to win her back, Bart would bring Hunter to his knees, using only one hand. But Bart knows there are other elements that go into being a man, qualities that his father and his brothers have that he has yet to develop.
Patience.
Thoughtfulness.
“Let’s order a bottle of sparkling water,” Bart says. “I don’t want you to get carded or have it be awkward.”
