hand.
“Aren’t you?” Last night they had made love and talked almost until morning, trying to postpone their parting. After a wide yawn, Emily says, “I should have brought some coffee.”
“Have some of mine.” Ben gestures toward the Styrofoam container in the cup holder.
She drinks it, savoring the knowledge that his lips touched the rim as much as she’s enjoying the taste of the coffee.
“So you’ll phone me tonight?” asks Emily.
“Sure. But you know once I’m back at school I won’t be able to call you every day.”
“I know. I’ll come to Boston as often as I can, and once I’m settled, you’ll come visit me at Smith, right?”
“Right.”
All too soon they arrive at the Steamship Authority parking lot. The Iyanough is waiting, a large, white catamaran hovering above the water.
“Do you have your ticket?” Ben asks.
“Right here.” Emily holds it up.
Ben joins a line of cars dropping people off at the departure shed. “I’ll park and come wait with you.”
“No. No, I’ll be fine, Ben. Just drop me off and go to work. This is the way our lives will be for four years. Coming and going, meeting and saying good-bye. I’ve got to learn not to become a soggy emotional ball of wimpiness every time.”
“This is all good,” Ben assures her as he sets the gear shift into park. “We’re going to get our college degrees, and learn how to help the island, and we’ll marry and be together forever. Remember that.”
“God, I love you, Ben!” Emily throws her arms around him and kisses him hard, tears rolling down her face. “I’m fine. I’ll talk to you tonight. I love you!”
She jumps out of the Jeep, lifts out her suitcase and backpack, and rolls her luggage to the cart to be loaded. Before she takes her place in the boarding line, she turns back to wave at Ben, but he’s had to drive off so someone else can unload. He’s going one way, she another.
She is stepping into her future.
Part Three
Shipwreck House
CHAPTER TEN
Four Years Later
Emily prefers taking the plane to the island, not because it’s faster than the ferry, but because from this height the coastline, shoals, and reefs are all visible.
In many ways, over the past four years, distance has been good for her. It has allowed her to separate herself from Ben. It’s made it possible for both of them—Ben at Tufts in Boston, Emily at Smith in Northampton—to concentrate on their studies. Their passion simmers while they’re apart. Their phone calls and emails are a mixture of visions of the future when they’re together and commonplace complaints about papers due, cranky professors, irritating classmates.
A year ago, Ben graduated from college and returned to the island to take a job with a conservation association. Emily flew down to the island with a bottle of champagne to celebrate.
This year, Emily has been honored with a fellowship to work on a master’s degree in water ecology at UMass Amherst, her own project focusing on preventing pesticides from polluting Nantucket Harbor. She’ll be part of a team assembling a report for the state officials. This might actually, in time, lead to legislative change. She knows Ben will be pleased for her, proud of her. This news is too important for phone or email, so she flies down to Nantucket to tell him in person.
When Emily steps off the nine-seater plane that bounced her through the clouds from Boston, Ben is at the gate to meet her, tall and handsome, her gypsy lover tamed by a sports coat and tie. He works for a town organization now. He’s not dreaming; he’s doing.
“Emily.” He pulls her to him.
Wrapping her arms around him, she speaks his name against his lips as his mouth crushes hers. She presses her body against his. For a moment desire ignites between them, and the world falls away.
Then a woman with a duffel bag accidentally knocks Ben on the shoulder. “Sorry,” she mutters, steaming toward the departure door.
Ben releases Emily.
“Aren’t you?” Last night they had made love and talked almost until morning, trying to postpone their parting. After a wide yawn, Emily says, “I should have brought some coffee.”
“Have some of mine.” Ben gestures toward the Styrofoam container in the cup holder.
She drinks it, savoring the knowledge that his lips touched the rim as much as she’s enjoying the taste of the coffee.
“So you’ll phone me tonight?” asks Emily.
“Sure. But you know once I’m back at school I won’t be able to call you every day.”
“I know. I’ll come to Boston as often as I can, and once I’m settled, you’ll come visit me at Smith, right?”
“Right.”
All too soon they arrive at the Steamship Authority parking lot. The Iyanough is waiting, a large, white catamaran hovering above the water.
“Do you have your ticket?” Ben asks.
“Right here.” Emily holds it up.
Ben joins a line of cars dropping people off at the departure shed. “I’ll park and come wait with you.”
“No. No, I’ll be fine, Ben. Just drop me off and go to work. This is the way our lives will be for four years. Coming and going, meeting and saying good-bye. I’ve got to learn not to become a soggy emotional ball of wimpiness every time.”
“This is all good,” Ben assures her as he sets the gear shift into park. “We’re going to get our college degrees, and learn how to help the island, and we’ll marry and be together forever. Remember that.”
“God, I love you, Ben!” Emily throws her arms around him and kisses him hard, tears rolling down her face. “I’m fine. I’ll talk to you tonight. I love you!”
She jumps out of the Jeep, lifts out her suitcase and backpack, and rolls her luggage to the cart to be loaded. Before she takes her place in the boarding line, she turns back to wave at Ben, but he’s had to drive off so someone else can unload. He’s going one way, she another.
She is stepping into her future.
Part Three
Shipwreck House
CHAPTER TEN
Four Years Later
Emily prefers taking the plane to the island, not because it’s faster than the ferry, but because from this height the coastline, shoals, and reefs are all visible.
In many ways, over the past four years, distance has been good for her. It has allowed her to separate herself from Ben. It’s made it possible for both of them—Ben at Tufts in Boston, Emily at Smith in Northampton—to concentrate on their studies. Their passion simmers while they’re apart. Their phone calls and emails are a mixture of visions of the future when they’re together and commonplace complaints about papers due, cranky professors, irritating classmates.
A year ago, Ben graduated from college and returned to the island to take a job with a conservation association. Emily flew down to the island with a bottle of champagne to celebrate.
This year, Emily has been honored with a fellowship to work on a master’s degree in water ecology at UMass Amherst, her own project focusing on preventing pesticides from polluting Nantucket Harbor. She’ll be part of a team assembling a report for the state officials. This might actually, in time, lead to legislative change. She knows Ben will be pleased for her, proud of her. This news is too important for phone or email, so she flies down to Nantucket to tell him in person.
When Emily steps off the nine-seater plane that bounced her through the clouds from Boston, Ben is at the gate to meet her, tall and handsome, her gypsy lover tamed by a sports coat and tie. He works for a town organization now. He’s not dreaming; he’s doing.
“Emily.” He pulls her to him.
Wrapping her arms around him, she speaks his name against his lips as his mouth crushes hers. She presses her body against his. For a moment desire ignites between them, and the world falls away.
Then a woman with a duffel bag accidentally knocks Ben on the shoulder. “Sorry,” she mutters, steaming toward the departure door.
Ben releases Emily.
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