Nancy’s Theory of Style (34 page)

“It’s sweet of you to ask, but on
Saturday I’ve got a showroom sale for a designer who specializes in period
wallpapers and your father and I have a brunch on Sunday. You have a good
time.”

So on Friday evening, Nancy, Derek, and
Eugenia packed up the Mini and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, north
through the woods, and on the spectacular road along the coast. “I don’t feel
good,” Eugenia said from the backseat on the curvy road.

“You’ll feel better if you pick a spot
far ahead and stare at it,”
Nancy
said. “It’s just a little ways more.”

“Carly barfed at circle time today.”

“We don’t say that, Eugenia. We say,
Carly was ill.”

“Her ill was orange and smelled bad and
she cried. She eats Play-doh.”

“Thank you for sharing, Eugenia. Only a
little further.”

“We can sing a song,” Derek suggested
and started with “Row, Row Your Boat.” By the time they were finishing “Old
McDonald,” the sun was about to set and they arrived in the quaint town.

“We have to hurry,”
Nancy
said and turned down a private drive
that led to a car park next to a gray wall. “Everyone grab something.” They
picked up overnight bags, bags of food and DVDs, and
Nancy
led them around the wall.

The pale beach stretched in front of
them, the
Pacific Ocean
rolling in with a low
roar, and the wind whipped at their hair and clothes. To their left was an
elegant house with floor to ceiling glass windows facing the beach.
Nancy
said, “Now this is
how modern should be done.”

She keyed in the security code on the
alarm panel and they walked into the house, tracking sand with them. The first
floor was one vast open space decorated in whites, soft grays, and shades of
blue-gray. There was a fireplace at the far end, a kitchen at the other, and a
wide industrial steel staircase. The space was furnished with streamlined low
sofas, square occasional tables, and a long bleached wood dining table.

“Take off your shoes!”
Nancy
said. “Hurry.”

They left their shoes at the door and
went outside onto the cool sand.
Nancy
rolled up the cuffs of Eugenia’s pants and Derek rolled up the cuffs of his
jeans.

Nancy
said, “Eugenia, you can only get your
feet wet and you have to watch out for the jellyfish on the beach. They’re
clear and they sting. I’ll race you!”

As the three ran to the edge of the
waves, Nancy and Derek exchanged looks and slowed down so that Eugenia reached
the water first.

“I win, I win!” she cried. “It’s cold! Where
are the pirates?”

“We’re the pirates!” Derek shouted and
dashed to pick up a driftwood branch that he gave to Eugenia. He found another
branch and he and the child had a swordfight while
Nancy
danced at the edge of the waves with a
long seaweed streamer.

The sun dipped on the horizon, tinting
the sky and clouds orange and gold. “Make a wish,”
Nancy
said. “Let’s all make a wish.”

“I want a real sword,” Eugenia said.

Nancy
wished that she could find a way to
stay as happy as she was at this moment, but she didn’t say her wish aloud. She
turned to Derek and asked, “What did you wish?”

“That things weren’t as complicated as
they are.”

So he was thinking about
Prescott
. She reached for
his hand, cool in the chill of the evening and said, “We’ll figure them out.”

They washed their feet off in the warm
water of the outdoor shower by the spa on the private deck and went into the
house.

Nancy
assembled a dinner of food she’d bought
at the deli and opened a bottle of champagne while Derek and Eugenia built a
fire. After dinner they roasted marshmallows and made s’mores. Eugenia laughed
when Derek grabbed
Nancy
’s
hand to lick melted chocolate off her fingers.

They watched “Muppet Treasure Island,”
and
Nancy
noted, “Miss Piggy always looks amazing. Like Audrey, she’s iconic with her
long blond fall and pearls.”

“Can we hunt for treasure?” Eugenia
asked.

“Yes, tomorrow, but now you’ve got to go
to bed.”

They put Eugenia in the smallest bedroom
so she would be cozy. “You can listen to the ocean sing to you all night,”
Nancy
said. “If you need
anything just call and I’ll come.” She and Derek kissed the girl goodnight and
left the door open so she would have light from the hallway.

Nancy
felt odd about sharing her parents’
suite with Derek, so she took him to the room she usually stayed in. She was
standing by the window watching the reflection of the moon on the water when he
came up behind her and put his arms around her.

She leaned back to him and said, “I like
our mornings together, but it’s nice to be able to spend the night with you.”

“I think so, too.”

They just stood like that, each thinking
their own thoughts, and
Nancy
’s
included a desire to brush her teeth because she wanted to wrap herself around
Derek and kiss him until he was breathless. “I’m going to get ready for bed.”

When she went through her cosmetics
case, she realized she’d forgotten her toothpaste and walked to her parents’
room.

She put on the lamp and saw the
king-size bed facing the windows. She wished her mother would come and enjoy
this place more often.
Nancy
went into the bathroom and opened a drawer on her mother’s side of the vanity. She
took out the toothpaste and was shutting the drawer when she saw something interesting.
She picked up a bottle of Bobbi Brown face lotion. There were other unfamiliar
skin care products and a pretty metallic lip color.

But
Nancy
’s mother only used lotions that were
made for her by her dermatologist, and Hester thought that metallic lipstick
was unattractive on women over forty.

Nancy
went into the bedroom and opened
dresser drawers. She found a black bikini and Stephen King paperbacks. Her
mother only bought hardback books and her father didn’t read fiction.

“What are you doing?” Derek was standing
at the door.

“Nothing,” she said and realized that
she was holding the bikini top.

Derek smiled. “Is that yours?”

“I don’t know whose it is. My parents
sometimes let other people stay here. Someone must have left her things.”

“I often leave things behind when I stay
somewhere.”

“It could even have been Birdie, because
she’s got access to this place and she’s so careless. Oh, the thought of her in
my parents’ bedroom…ewh.”

“Mrs. Carrington-Chambers, please stop
thinking about other people and come here.”

She went to him and he took her hand and
walked her back to the bedroom. He stroked her cheek, and said, “I’m mad about
you, Mrs. Carrington-Chambers.” Then he kissed
Nancy
until she couldn’t think about anyone
else, or anything else but being with him at that moment.

The next day, they bundled up and went
for an early morning walk on the beach.
Nancy
showed Eugenia jellyfish and they collected small shells and found tiny crabs.

As the day warmed and the fog burned
off, Eugenia met a family with children. She built sand castles with them while
Derek and Nancy watched drowsily on a blanket.

 
At noon, they called Eugenia. The mother of
the other children said, “You’ve got a wonderful little girl.”

Derek said, “We think so. Your kids are
nice, too.”

They washed sand from their feet, put on
their shoes.
Nancy
dashed upstairs to put on her butterfly brooch, and then they walked together
to the cluster of shops and cafes.

“It was very generous of you to
compliment those children,”
Nancy
said.

“One tries to be polite,” Derek said. “Eugenia,
there are too many cars here. Hold my hand.”

As they crossed the highway, now crowded
with tourist traffic,
Nancy
caught their reflection in the window of a surf shop. In shorts and t-shirts,
holding hands, they looked like they belonged together. Dressed so casually,
Derek looked less fabulous, yet more incredible.

They went to the market in the handsome
old white building and picked up groceries for lunch. Derek said, “Let me get
this,” and shooed
Nancy
away from the register.

She and Eugenia waited for him on the
porch out front.

“Hey,
Nancy
,” said a gravelly voice.

She turned to see Bailey and his
slightly older companions. Bailey was wearing a yellow Lacoste polo, madras
shorts and leather thongs. His calves looked a little thin, but she was used to
seeing Todd’s thick, muscular legs and Derek’s naturally athletic limbs.
Nancy
wondered if Derek
was wearing madras ironically, or not.

“Hi, Bailey. What are you doing here?”

“We’re doing some body surfing,” he said
to her. His friends waved to someone farther down the street and he told them,
“Go ahead. I’ll catch up in a minute.” When they’d left he looked down at
Eugenia and said, “Who’s this?”

“This is my niece, Eugenia. Eugenia, say
hello to Mr. Whiteside.”

Eugenia ignored them and whacked at a
post.

“I’m trying to civilize her,”
Nancy
said.

“Are you here for the day? Is your niece
staying with you? Because, if not, I’ve got a room in the house we rented.” He
put his hand on
Nancy
’s
arm.

“I’m staying at my parents’ place.”

“Derek lives with us,” Eugenia said with
a belligerent glare at Bailey.

He looked puzzled and said to Nancy,
“Your assistant?”

“Derek doesn’t live with us,”
Nancy
said, nervous that
Eugenia would say something even worse. “He helps me with Eugenia and I thought
it would be a treat for both of them to come here.”

“So this is what you meant when you told
me you were unavailable tonight. Someone, me for example, might get the wrong
idea about you and your assistant.”

Nancy
was afraid that her sexual satiation
was obvious. “That’s absurd. It’s a working weekend. It’s preposterous to think
that I’d be involved with him.”

“Because he’s gay?”

“Yes, gay and he’s staff. We Carringtons
know enough not to get involved with the help, Bailey, but we appreciate their
assistance with chores and drudgery, and a child is nothing if not drudgery.”

Eugenia ran toward the store’s doorway
and
Nancy
glanced over to see Derek standing a few feet away holding the bag of groceries.
The expression on his face was unreadable.

Nancy
felt a painful mix of fear and guilt. How
much had he heard? “Derek!” she said. “You remember Bailey Whiteside. You met
at Gigi’s party.”

“Hey, how’s it going?” Bailey said, with
an upward tip of his chin.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Whiteside. Mrs.
Carrington-Chambers, I’ll take these back to the house and prepare lunch. Would
you like me to take Eugenia for you?”

 
“Yes, thank you.”

Eugenia grabbed Derek’s hand and they
walked away, the small brown-haired girl and the lanky dark-haired man.

“Well, that was awkward,” Bailey said. “But
the English are much more honest about class divisions. If he’s baby-sitting,
do you want to come for a barbecue tonight?”

“Thanks, but I promised Eugenia that I’d
watch movies with her. I’ll see you on Tuesday.”

He leaned over and kissed
Nancy
on the lips while
she stood stock still. “Can’t wait,” he said. “Maybe you can get that guy to
watch her all night.”

“Nice try, Bailey.” She smiled, but all
she could think about was getting to the house and explaining to Derek. She was
so upset that she almost walked into the local man who took care of the house
for her family.

“Hi, there,
Nancy
.”

“Hi,
Lowell
.”

“Your folks called and said you were
coming this weekend. I stocked up the firewood. Anything you need?”

“No, everything is fine. Thank you.” She
took a step away, but
Lowell
didn’t seem to notice her urgency.