Page 24 of Endless Summer: Stories
“I never told Glenn about Tony Harlowe,” Barbie says.
“You didn’t?” Molly says. “Why not? Tony Harlowe was a catch.”
“It was high school,” Barbie says. But the real reason she never told Glenn about Tony Harlowe was that Tony Harlowe had been the person who made Barbie believe she would never measure up.
“What else have you lied to him about?” Molly asks.
“The thing Eddie went to jail for?” Barbie says. “I was involved in that, and Glenn doesn’t know.”
“The prostitution ring?” Molly asks.
Barbie nods. She says, “Do you think I should call Glenn up tonight, right now, and justtellhim?”
“No,” Molly says. “There’s no need for any night-before-the-wedding drama. Listen, you have your past transgressions, and Glenn, I’m sure, has his. The important thing is that the two of you are going to leave those behind and start a life of eternal bliss tomorrow.” She stops in her tracks. “Jeez, I sound like a Hallmark card.”
“That’s okay,” Barbie says. “I like it.”
When Barbie wakes up, she can’t believe how stunning the day is. It’s unseasonably warm—nearly 65 degrees—and the sky is a bright, cloudless blue.
Molly makes a breakfast of poached eggs on rye toast and wedges of honeydew melon. She pours them each a mimosa.
“Hair of the dog,” Molly says. Molly looksveryhungover.
They eat on Barbie’s back deck, enjoying the sun. Barbie plays theGreasesoundtrack on her iPod speakers and they sing along.Summer lovin’, had me a blast.Barbie can’t remember ever being this happy.
Molly’s words from last night have put Barbie’s mind at ease. As of today, her life is a tabula rasa, a clean slate; this is a fresh start.
There is only one sore spot for Barbie. She misses her brother.
Because Eddie is in jail, there is no one to give Barbie away, so Barbie will walk by herself up and over the dune, then down to the waterline, where forty chairs are set up, twenty on each side of the white wooden trellis that has been pounded into the sand. Judith, the Unitarian minister, will marry them in her flowing white robe. There will be a classical guitarist.
It feels like a wedding!
Barbie is “hiding” behind the tinted windows inside Grace’s Range Rover, which is parked at the far end of the beach lot. She has carefully arranged her blush-pink lace gown around her. She wears her new gold sand-dollar necklace and old button-stud earrings—replicas of the ones she and Molly pierced each other’s ears with decades earlier. Barbie never wears anything more than mascara and lipstick on a regular day, but today her something borrowed is Allegra’s makeup; her stylish niece has done Barbie’s face. Her hair has been smoothed and twisted into a chignon. For her something blue, there are discreet violets embroidered on her underthings.
She’s ready to go!
From behind the tinted windows of the Rover, Barbie catches glimpses of the guests as they pull up. They are escorted over the dunes by two brokers at Bayberry Properties, Gary and Chris, and Glenn’s brother Leon, all of whom look dashing in pink Vineyard Vines ties and navy blazers.
When it’s five minutes to three, Grace and Molly climb out of the car, and then they too are escorted over the dunes. Allegra, Hope, and Barbie remain in the back seat, awaiting Leon’s signal. One finger means they are to get out of the car, two fingers means the processional music has started.
They wait, and they wait. It’s ten after three, then three fifteen. Barbie isn’t sure what’s causing the holdup, but she doesn’t like it. The sun is sinking in the sky. It will set in a little over an hour, another disadvantage to getting married in late October.
Hope tugs at the top of her dress. Allegra sighs with impatience. “Maybe they forgot about us,” she says.
Finally, Leon appears at the top of the dune. He holds up no fingers. He hurries down.
Carefully, Barbie climbs out of the car, and the twins follow.
Leon looks at Barbie. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
His voice contains bad news. Did the altar blow over? Barbie wonders. Did the classical guitarist break a string? “What’s wrong?” she says.
“Glenn isn’t here,” Leon says.
“What?”Barbie says. She glimpsed the setup on the beach when they first arrived, but then Barbie was so intent on not letting anyone see her that she didn’t notice exactly who had come and who hadn’t. She just assumed Glenn was on the beach, waiting for her. “Whereishe?”
“Right before he left the house,” Leon says, “he told me he had to go on a special mission and that he’d meet me here.”
