respectively, Olivia and Tess set off for Rhode Island. They left behind a law student delighted with her summer sublet, a retirement-bound photo restorer, and, at curbside, a perturbed Ted.
âHe has his hands on his hips,â Tess reported, looking through her side mirror. âWhy is he so angry?â
Olivia refused to look back. She made a practice in life of not doing that. Once a decision was made and a course of action set, the only way to look was ahead. That said, she was sad saying good-bye to Otis and felt a twinge of regret on leaving the apartment. What she felt leaving Ted, though, was pure relief.
âHeâs not angry,â she told Tess. âHeâs hurt. He wanted us to spend the summer here with him.â
âDoing what? Riding the
swan
boats? Thatâs all Ted thinks I
do
. It wouldnât occur to him that I like to shop.â
It hadnât occurred to Olivia, either. In their household, shopping had always been more functional than fun. But Olivia had an image of what people wore summers in Asquonsetâespecially summersof parties preceding a weddingâand it wasnât what hung in her closet. She didnât want to embarrass Natalie, and the fiancé might be even
more
fashionable. He was still a big question mark. Olivia had pictured a wine baron from the vineyards of France, until Otis said that his name was Carl Burke, at which point she ruled out France. The name was Irish. Since she hadnât ever heard of any Irish wine families, she made him the Irish American head of a California vineyard. She imagined a dignified, elegant, classy man. Men like that surrounded themselves with dignified, elegant, classy people.
Since that circle would temporarily include Tess and her, Olivia loosened the purse strings and took Tess to the stores. Suddenly the daughter who wore nothing but T-shirts and jeans was a whole new creature. She tried on colorful shorts and halter tops, short skirts and sundressesânot only tried them on but
modeled
themâand she looked adorable in everything, because she was smiling. In different clothes, she was a different person. Olivia didnât need a psychiatrist to tell her the meaning of that.
Asquonset was a new beginning, and she had Otis to thank. She hadnât even had to go for a personal interview. Natalie had hired her on his word alone.
Ted was appalled. âBut donât
you
want to see where youâre going? Okay, so youâve seen photographs, but they canât tell you what you need to know. Photographs donât tell the truth. Sheâs
clearly
sending ones that show the place at its bestâthatâs how itâs done.â
Olivia didnât think that arguing was worth the effort. Tedâs pessimism was pure sour grapes. He refused to see that their relationship was ending, and continued to talk about calling her each night, meeting her for dinner midway between Cambridge and Asquonset, even driving down to visit. She tried to put him off gently with pleas of needing to get to know the job, of finding out how demanding it would be. When he didnât take the hint, she was more blunt. She was feeling stifled, she said. She needed space.
Even then he didnât listen. Ted didnât hear what he didnât want to hear, and that was his problem. But Olivia wasnât letting him rain on her parade. She refused to let him disparage Asquonset.
âThe pictures Iâve seen arenât marketing photographs,â she informed him. âThey were taken before anyone even knew what marketing
was
. Some of them are snapshots from a Brownie camera. Theyâre the real thing.â
Otis had confirmed it. When pushed, he had confessed to being at Asquonset a number of times. Had he ever met Carl Burke? He didnât recall it, but he did recall the Great House. He said it was even more beautiful than the photographsâquite a concession from a man who had been spurned.
Besides,
Sonya Weiss
Oliver Tidy
Michael Prescott
Rebecca Lee Smith
P.G. Wodehouse
Mike Nicholson
Torey Hayden
The Dark Wind (v1.1) [html]
Julian Barnes
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