Дэвид Балдаччи - One Summer

“Yeah, all your spare time.”

“I have to do it, Sammy.”

Sammy looked at the jumble of splintered wood. “Gonna be expensive.”

“Take it out of my share. And I don’t expect you to help.”

Sammy frowned. “Since when do we have shares and don’t help each other?”

“But this is different, Sammy. I can’t expect you to do this too.”

Sammy looked at the hand-painted sign next to the door and said quietly, “We’ll take some measurements in the morning. Get the materials. We’ll do the paying stuff during the day and this after hours. Okay?”

“Okay,” said Jack. As Sammy turned to go back in the house, he added, “Thanks, Sammy.”

He turned around. “Never been married, Jack. But I understand losing somebody. Especially someone like Lizzie.”

He continued on into the house, and Jack turned to look back at the lighthouse he was now going to rebuild.

“What’s all this for?” Charles asked as Jack and Sammy finished loading the truck to capacity. He eyed the items in the truck bed. “Scaffolding, and you’ve ordered enough wood to build another Noah’s ark?”

“Had a little accident at the Palace,” said Sammy when it appeared Jack was not going to answer the man’s question.

Charles looked alarmed. “Accident? Was anyone hurt?”

“Stairs in the lighthouse fell down,” said Jack. “No one was hurt.”

“So you’re going to rebuild the stairs?” he asked, looking perplexed.

“Yes,” said Jack tersely.

Sammy eyed Charles and shrugged.

“But the light doesn’t even work.”

“He plans on fixing that too,” replied Sammy.

“But why? It’s not registered as a navigational aid anymore.”

Jack finished strapping everything down before he looked at Charles and pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to him. “I found a schematic on the lighting system. I’d appreciate it if you could see if these pieces of equipment could be ordered.”

Charles glanced down at the list. “Might take some time. And it won’t be cheap.”

Jack started to climb into the truck. “Thanks.”

Sammy gave Charles a helpless look and got in the truck.

As they were driving out of town, Sammy said, “Isn’t that Bonnie?”

Jack looked where he was pointing. It was indeed Bonnie. And she was sitting in a car with a younger man dressed in a suit.

“Who’s the guy?” asked Sammy.

“Never seen him before.”

“She’s a strange bird.”

“Yeah.” Jack glanced back at the woman and then drove on.

They unloaded the materials at the Palace. Then Sammy took the VW and drove off to meet with Anne Bethune about what she needed done, while Jack continued on to Jenna’s house in the truck.

Jenna met him at the door. She was still dressed in a robe and slippers.

“Sorry about my appearance. The restaurant business isn’t nine to five; it’s more like ten a.m. to midnight. You want some coffee?”

Jack hesitated.

“No extra charge,” she said, smiling.

“Okay, thanks.”

She poured out a cup and brought it down to him in the music room. She watched him work hanging new drywall.

“You really know what you’re doing,” she said.

“It’s just drywall. Once you know what to do, it’s pretty easy.”

“Right. I can’t even hang a picture.”

“I doubt being a lawyer in D.C. was easy.”

“Just a bunch of words, legal gobbledygook.”

“If you say so.”

Jenna sipped her coffee and continued to watch. “Our kids have really hit it off playing music together.”

“Yeah, Mikki told me.”

“First time I’ve seen Liam really take an interest in anyone down here.”

“He seems like a fine young man. And Mikki’s mood is a lot better. That’s worth its weight in gold.”

He put down his tool and took a sip of coffee. “Mind if I ask you a personal question?”

She eyed him with mock caution. “Should I be scared?”

“No.”

“Then shoot.”

“Ever think about getting married again?”

“I’ve thought about it, sure.”

“I mean, from what you’ve said, you’ve been divorced a while. You’re young, well-off, smart, and educated. And... really pretty.”

“Can I hire you as my publicist?”

“I’m serious, Jenna.”

She put her cup down, sat, and covered her bare knees with her robe. “There have been some men interested in a permanent relationship with me. Some right here in Channing.”

“But?”

“But they weren’t the right ones. And I’m a woman who’s willing to wait for the real Mr. Right. Especially considering how wrong I got it the first time.”

Jack picked up his tool again. “Lizzie and I met in high school. We would’ve celebrated our seventeenth wedding anniversary this year.”

“Sounds like you found Mrs. Right on your first try.”

“I did,” he said frankly.

“I suppose that makes the loss that much harder.”

“It does. But I’ve got our kids to raise. And I have to do it right. For Lizzie.”

“And you, Jack. You’re part of the equation too.”

“And me,” he said. “I hope you find Mr. Right.”

“Me too,” said Jenna wistfully, as she stared at him.

Sammy turned to Jack and said, “I think it’s time to knock off. It’s almost midnight.”

“You go on. I’m just going to finish up a few things.”

They were in the lighthouse. After working most of the last three days at Anne Bethune’s house, Sammy and Jack had eaten a hasty dinner and worked another four hours on the lighthouse. They had cleared out all the wood from the collapsed stairs and assembled the scaffolding up to the top platform, which also needed repair. Fresh lumber delivered from Charles Pinckney’s hardware store was neatly stacked outside in preparation for the rebuilding process.

“Jack, you’ve put in sixteen hours today. You need to get some rest.”

“I will, Sammy. Just another thirty minutes.”

Sammy shook his head, dropped his tool belt on the lower level of the scaffolding, stretched out his aching back, and walked slowly to the Palace.

Jack tightened down some of the scaffolding supports and then climbed up to the top and stepped out onto the catwalk. What he was trying to imagine was how Lizzie the little girl would have thought of the view from up here.

“Were you scared at first, Lizzie? Did you think you might fall? Or did you love it the first time you saw it?” He stared out at the dark ocean and let the breeze wash over his face. He eyed the sky, looking for the exact spot where little Lizzie had imagined Heaven to be perched. And also where her twin sister had gone.

And now where you are, Lizzie.

Farther out to sea he could see ship lights as they slowly made their way across the water. He closed his eyes, and his thoughts carried back to that frozen cemetery four days after Christmas, when they’d laid Lizzie into the ground. She was there right now, alone, in the dark.

“Don’t, Jack,” he said. “Don’t. Nothing good will come from dwelling on that. Remember Lizzie in life. Not like that.”

He looked to his right and was surprised to see someone walking along the beach. As the person drew closer, Jack could see that it was Jenna. She was holding her sandals in one hand, slowly swinging them as she walked close to the waterline. He looked at his watch. It was nearly one in the morning. What was she doing out here?

She suddenly looked up and under the arc of moonlight saw him. She waved and started toward the rocks.

She called up to him. “Working late?”

He said, “Just finishing up a few things. Surprised to see you out.”