Дэвид Балдаччи - One Summer

“The last night we were together she told me she wanted to come back here for the summer. I could tell she wanted to believe that I would be alive to come with her. She even talked about me fixing up the place. This lighthouse. I never thought I’d have the chance.”

“So you’re fulfilling Lizzie’s last wish?”

“I guess.” He turned to look back out to sea. “Because she never got the chance to come back.”

Jenna said, “And then you got better?”

He glanced at her, his eyes red. “But do you know why I got better? Because Lizzie was right there with me every step of the way. She wouldn’t let me die.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because if I don’t tell someone, I think I’m going to... to... I don’t know. And you seemed like someone who would understand.”

A gentle rain began to fall as they stood there. Jenna put down her glass, gripped Jack’s shoulders, turned him to her, and put her arms around him.

As the rain continued to come down, they stood there in the darkness slowly swaying from side to side.

“I do understand, Jack. I really do.”

“Jenna, you really don’t have to do this,” said Mikki.

They were at a women’s clothing store in downtown Channing during a break from working at the restaurant.

She continued, “It’s no big deal. I mean it’s only dinner out with my family. Dad and Sammy and certainly Cory and Jackie aren’t going to care what I have on.”

“But it’s also your sixteenth birthday, honey, and that only happens once in your life.”

Together, they’d selected a half dozen outfits, and Mikki was trying them on. After Mikki decided on a dark sleeveless dress, Jenna helped her pick out shoes, a purse, and other accessories.

“Thanks, Jenna. I can’t exactly go bra shopping with my dad.”

“No, I guess you really can’t.” She smiled mischievously. “Though it might be kind of fun if you did. Just to see the former tough-as-nails army ranger squirm over cup sizes.”

Mikki was looking down at all the items and mentally calculating the prices. Her face turned red. “Uh, I’m going to have to put some of these things back.”

“Why?”

“I... I don’t have enough money.”

“Sure you do; I just gave you an advance on your salary.”

“What?”

“I do it with all my new employees, or at least the ones turning sixteen who want something new to wear.”

“I’m not looking for a freebie.”

“And I’m not giving it. This will be deducted from your paycheck in equal installments over the next sixty years, young lady.”

Mikki laughed. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. Seriously, you’re a really good waitress and a hard worker. That should be rewarded.”

After they left the shop, Jenna said, “How about an ice cream? I’ve got something I want to talk to you about.”

They sat outside on a street bench with their cones.

“First things first. I spoke with your dad about the talent competition, and he’s completely fine with you entering.”

“Wow, that’s great.”

“Although he did wonder why you didn’t just come and ask him directly about it.”

“And what did you tell him?”

“I played dumb and basically dodged the question.” She licked her cone and seemed to be choosing her next words carefully. “The lighthouse?”

Mikki sighed. “What about it?”

“Your dad spends a lot of time out there.”

“How did you know that?”

“Well, aside from your miserable expression, I just know; let’s leave it at that. Now, have you ever been out there with him?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I just don’t; no reason.”

“You resent it?”

“Resent a stupid building? That’s a dumb question,” she said irritably.

“Is it?”

Mikki finished her ice cream, wiped off her fingers, and threw the trash in a bin next to the bench. “Look, if he chooses to be out there instead of with his family, who am I to rock the boat?”

“I think you just answered my question. You know that was your mom’s lighthouse?”

Mikki scowled. “Yeah, my mom when she was a little girl.”

“So you think it’s odd he seems so...”

“Obsessed? Yeah, a little. What would you think?”

“Hard to say. Now, tell me about what those jerks were yelling at your dad on the street that day. Miracle Man?”

Mikki looked uncomfortable and drew a long breath. “I don’t really want to talk about that.”

“Please, Mikki. I really do want to help. But I need to know.”

Mikki took the next few minutes to fill her in.

Jenna looked thoughtful. “So basically the tabloid made everything up?”

“Well, that’s what my dad says.”

“And you believe a newspaper that makes millions selling lies over your father? How does that make sense?”

Mikki refused to look at her. She said, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

“That makes even less sense.”

“Easy for you to say. It wasn’t your family getting destroyed.”

“No, but let me put on my lawyer hat for a minute and analyze this.” She paused, but only for a moment. “Your dad loses the woman he loves in a tragedy that was really no one’s fault. Then he loses the rest of his family and is left to die alone. Instead, he somehow finds the strength to beat a certain death sentence, brings his family back together, and tries to make a go of it as a single parent. And then a bunch of gut-wrenching lies get spread all over the news and people are calling him terrible things based on those lies, and he has to just stand there and take it.” She stopped. “What an evil guy your dad is.”

Jenna looked over to find Mikki staring down at her feet, a stunned expression on her face.

“I guess I never looked at it that way,” she said after a long silence. “I can see why you were a lawyer.”

“It’s the hardest thing in the world to put yourself in someone else’s place, try to really feel what they feel, figure out why they do the things they do. Especially when it’s easier to stick a label on something. Or someone.”

“And the lighthouse?”

“Lizzie loved it at some point in her life. It was important to her. She wanted to see it work again. That’s good enough for your father. He’ll work himself to the bone to try and fix it.”

“For her?”

“Your dad isn’t crazy. He knows she’s gone, Mikki. He’s doing this for her memory. At least partly. This is all part of the healing process; that’s all. Everyone does it differently, but this is just your father’s way.”

“So what do you think I should do?”

“At some point, find the courage to talk to him.”

“About what?”

“I think you’ll figure it out.”

Mikki laid her hand on Jenna’s arm. “Thanks for the ice cream. And the advice.”

“You’re very welcome to both, sweetie.”

On Saturday night Jenna helped Mikki get dressed in her new clothes and did her hair. She pinned most of it back but let a few strands trickle down Mikki’s long, slender neck.

Cory and Jackie were sitting on the couch together watching TV. They both stared wide-eyed at their sister when she came down the stairs followed by a proud-looking Jenna.

“Mikki bootiful,” said Jackie.

Cory didn’t say anything; he just kept staring, like this was the first time he’d realized his sister was a girl.

Sammy came out of the kitchen, saw her, and said, “Wow. Okay, people, heartbreaker coming through, make room. Make room.”

Mikki blushed deeply and said, “Sammy, knock it off!”

“Honey, take the compliments from the men when you can,” advised Jenna.