Golden Girl(33)

Rip Bonham sees what’s happening and steps in. “Whoa, Dennis, come on, buddy, that’s enough.”

Dennis lets Rip pull him aside while Willa hurries over to her father with a wad of paper napkins. JP presses the napkins to his nose and there’s a red bloom through to the other side.

Willa says, “Do you need an ambulance?”

JP shakes his head and Rip escorts Dennis out to the parking lot. Those of us remaining gather our things and fold a few of the club’s famous chocolate chunk cookies into napkins to enjoy later.

It’s fitting, we suppose, maybe even flattering that Vivi has men fighting over her to the very end.



Our hostess, Savannah, leads JP into the dark, cool, and empty ballroom, where they sit on two banquet chairs off to the side. Savannah has known JP since they were children on the tennis courts here—ankle-biters, they were called, the kids who volleyed and learned to serve and then ate pizza in a circle on the sun-warmed clay. JP was just one of the crowd, indistinguishable from the other sons of privilege Savannah had grown up with, until he started dating her best friend. And then married her, had children with her, cheated on her, and caused her all kinds of heartache. Savannah is annoyed to be in the position of having to comfort him, and yet she knows this is what’s called for.

“I’m sorry that happened,” she says. “I should have been watching Dennis more closely. He was a ticking time bomb.”

“I never understood what she saw in him.”

“He’s salt of the earth—she liked that. Plus, he worshipped her, and after what she’d been through…”

“She wanted the opposite of me,” JP says. “Well, that she got.” He looks at Savannah; she sees a pair of bloodshot green eyes above the bloody napkin. “You know, my relationship with Vivi wasn’t exactly black and white. It was probably the most complicated relationship in the history of the world.”

This makes Savannah laugh. “You sound like such a pompous ass.”

“I know,” JP says, then he starts to cry. “I loved her so much. From the instant I set eyes on her, when I picked up those clothes at the dry cleaner’s…”

“You were picking up your mother’s dresses,” Savannah says. “That alone should have warned her to stay away from you.”

“I made such a mess of things,” JP says. “Dennis wasn’t wrong—I did break Vivi’s heart. I know I did.”

Savannah relieves JP of his bloody napkin. His nose looks like a rotten strawberry, and a bruise is forming at his jawline. That’s going to hurt in the morning. “I’d love to parse it all out with you, JP, but I’m not in the right frame of mind right now. We need to focus on what’s important—”

“Finding out who hit her,” JP says. “Seeing justice done.”

Savannah takes a breath for patience. “The police are handling that. You and I have the kids to worry about.”

“The kids love me,” JP says. “But they don’t like me. They liked Vivi. They talked to Vivi.” He offers Savannah the slow, handsome half smile that, Savannah knows, was one of the things that hooked Vivi in the first place. “And they like you. They talk to you.”

“They do,” Savannah says, standing up. “Do you need me to give you a ride home or are you going to call Amy?”

“Amy?” he says as though he has no idea who that is.

“I’m parked out front,” Savannah says. “Let’s go.”





Amy




Amy asks for the day of Vivi’s memorial service off and so does Lorna, claiming that she needs to support her friend, and thankfully, Wednesdays are slow at the salon. Brandi, the receptionist, reluctantly takes them off the schedule, thinking they will be attending Vivi’s service.

Instead, the two of them head to Cru, located on the end of Straight Wharf, which is the best place for day-drinking on Nantucket.

They settle in at the back bar and order a bottle of champagne, the Pol Roger, “in honor of Vivi.” They also order a dozen oysters and, what the hell, while they’re at it, the caviar service—osetra, with all the trimmings. When the glass doors swing open, diners have an unimpeded view across the water. There’s a narrow strip of boardwalk around the back bar, and Amy knows that plenty of people have fallen in; she used to hear the ruckus when she worked across the way at the Cork with JP. The ocean is spangled with sunlight; boats are tilting from side to side in the nearby slips; the ferry’s horn sounds, and seagulls cry out like jealous girls. Tommy the bartender pops the cork on their bottle of champagne.

“Celebrating, ladies?” he asks.

Amy hasn’t thought about the optics of this until now. She’s taking a day off work so she can mourn her boyfriend’s ex-wife, but her version of “mourning” is drinking champagne she can’t afford and eating caviar she really can’t afford. What if someone sees her?

“That’s right,” Lorna says, raising her flute of platinum bubbles. “Celebrating a life.”

Amy had offered to skip the service and reception before JP even asked. “I think everyone, the kids especially, would be more comfortable if I stayed away.”

Amy sensed JP’s relief immediately. “You’re probably right,” he said.