The Lucky Ones by Stephanie Greene

Author:Stephanie Greene
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2008-08-24T04:00:00+00:00

Jimmy drove Granddad and their father into the city after golf. They wouldn’t be back until Thursday night. The children and Mrs. Thompson stood on the front steps while Jimmy loaded suitcases into the trunk, waving good-bye until the car disappeared down the drive. Then they turned, in one motion, and went back into the house. Opening the screen door, they discovered it had become a household of women.

Even the walls seemed to have let go of their upright posture to breathe more easily—the air in all the rooms was relaxed and quiet. For four days, there would be no male voices calling for coffee or announcing their arrival. The smell of cigarettes would be gone from the terrace. There was a relaxed, carefree feeling in the air that the presence of one small boy would do nothing to disturb.

“Poor old Jack,” Mrs. Thompson said laughingly.

But Jack burst out from the kitchen shouting, “Hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner! And Sheba made ice cream!” and they all filed after him onto the terrace to eat with their fingers, lounging on chaise lounges, bare feet and all, their mother too. If fireworks had suddenly exploded in the sky over the inlet as they sat there with night falling, it wouldn’t have struck any of them as odd; it felt like a celebration.

Cecile had thought they’d all watch television with their mother, but after they’d taken their dishes into the kitchen, and Natalie said, “I’m going to the dock for a while,” Cecile announced she was too. She looked at her mother, reading to Lucy and Jack, when she reached the door and asked, “Will you be here when we get back?”

“If I’m not, I’ll only be at the Pump House.”

“Oh.”

“Does that meet with your approval?” her mother asked coolly, looking up from the book held open in her lap.

“Sure. I mean…sure,” Cecile said, and hurried to catch up with Natalie in the front hall.

“What are you going to do, spy on me again?” Natalie said.

“I can go to the dock whenever I want, Natalie.”

“Well, don’t follow me,” Natalie said, pushing through the screen door. She let it go behind her. Cecile caught it before it slammed.

“There’s only one way to get to the dock, you know,” she yelled, but she took her time, letting Natalie get farther ahead. By the time Cecile arrived, Natalie and William were sitting on the rocks. Music played on a radio on the Rammer; the boy was swabbing the deck.

Cecile lay on the dock with her head hanging over the edge so that anyone watching her would think she’d spotted something fascinating in the water. Like what? she thought, feeling more and more like an idiot as the night got darker and she went on lying there. Where would she go if she stood up? She could hardly see the water now, much less anything fascinating in it. She must look as if she was dead.

Then feet pounded on the dock and Jenny cried, “What are you doing?” so Cecile rose quickly to her feet.

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