Page 57 of Winter Solstice
“Delicious,” he says, and he flags their server to order another one for himself.
PART THREE
DECEMBER
BART
The first weekend of December on Nantucket is Christmas Stroll. It has been this way Bart’s entire life, but he never cared, barely noticed, and didn’t think to celebrate.
Until this year.
Because this year he’s in love.
He’s in love!
On the Friday of Stroll, Mitzi wants Bart out of the house because there are interested buyers coming to look at the inn. Bart heads down to Main Street, which is as busy and bustling as it is on any summer day—only now the shop windows are all decked out with snowflakes and glass ornaments, wreaths, ribbons, gingerbread houses, candy canes, and reindeer. Main Street is lined with Christmas trees, each one decorated by a class at Nantucket Elementary School. That was probably the last time Bart was excited about Stroll—when his fifth-grade class came downtown during the school day to hang their ornaments on their tree and Ms. Paul took them to Nantucket Pharmacy for hot chocolate.
When Bart steps into Bayberry Properties and sees Allegra’s face, Christmas has a whole new meaning.
She says, “I can take my lunch break now. Want to stroll?”
They hold hands and walk up the street, poking into the bookstore first, then into Murray’s Toggery, and then Bart leads Allegra over to the pharmacy for a nostalgic cup of hot chocolate. She takes a sip and gets a speck of whipped cream on her nose.
“I’m in love with you,” Bart says.
“What?” Allegra says. “You are?”
“I am,” Bart says. He doesn’t care if it’s too soon, he doesn’t care if they’re too young, he doesn’t care that they both still live with their parents at home. He doesn’t even care if Allegra is in love with him in return (okay, maybe he does care, but judging from the glow of her face and the light in her eyes every time she looks at him, he isn’t worried; she’s in love with him, too), because he gets it now. He gets it completely. The world makes sense. It has meaning, and that meaning is love, and love, for him, is Allegra Pancik.
On Saturday, Allegra has agreed to help her mother decorate for Christmas up at Academy Hill. There’s a tree in the lobby that needs trimming, and there is garland to be hung, as well as wreaths for the front door and all of the front windows. The residents of Academy Hill usually come down from their apartments to watch, and Mr. Lazear, who is “seriously ninety years old,” according to Allegra, and who used to be the music teacher back when Academy Hill was a school in the 1950s, leads everyone in carols.
“It’s actually kind of fun,” Allegra says. “I went with my mom last year. We could really use your help if you know anything about stringing lights or draping garland.”
Does Bart know anything about stringing lights or draping garland? He’s only Mitzi Quinn’s son, and Mitzi Quinn is only the biggest Christmas fanatic south of the North Pole.
“I’m your man,” Bart says.
“I can’t tell you how grateful I am,” Allegra’s mother, Grace, says. “Eddie is showing houses all weekend, and he isn’t handy anyway.”
“No problem,” Bart says. He unpacks the artificial tree, and he and Allegra snap its branches into place, then get it covered in white lights. Allegra hangs the ornaments, while Grace sets out a punch bowl, which she fills with juice, ginger ale, and a container of rainbow sherbet, and arranges a platter of homemade sand tarts and peanut butter cookies with chocolate kiss centers.
As Bart hangs the wreaths, the lobby fills with residents, many of whom Allegra walks over to introduce to Bart.
“My boyfriend, Bart Quinn,” Allegra says.
“Is this the war hero?” one gentleman asks.
“Bart Quinn, sir, United States Marine Corps.”
Once the news circulates that Allegra has a new boyfriend, everyone wants to meet Bart, shake his hand, thank him for his service, and tell him what an honor it is to have him right here at Academy Hill. One of the residents served in Korea with the Army; one of the women was a battlefield nurse in Vietnam. Mrs. Hester, who must be nearly deaf, comments very loudly about how handsome Bart is, and Mr. Reinemo says just as loudly that Bart is a lucky young man to be courting someone as fetching as Allegra.
Then Mr. Lazear enters the lobby singing “Deck the Halls.” The next request is for “Jingle Bells,” and Bart thinks of Ava—she really and truly despises this song—but everyone in the lobby belts it out with the enthusiasm of schoolchildren. During the endless, empty hours that Bart was being held prisoner, he used to conjure the faces he was fighting for back home, but he never once thought of the elderly. Mostly he thought about babies, kids, people his age who were the future of the country. But now he feels proud that he was also fighting for people who are living out their final years with purpose and dignity, people who have known enemies other than ISIS and the Bely, people who understand the cost of freedom.
Mrs. Hester rummages through a box until she finds the plastic mistletoe, and as everyone sings, she implores Bart to hang the mistletoe in the doorway. He does so, and then Mrs. Hester directs Allegra and Bart to stand beneath it.
“I think they want us to kiss now,” Allegra says.
“Well, we can’t disappoint them,” Bart says. He leans down to kiss Allegra, and the room erupts in cheers.
