on.
There’s a disturbance in the Force, he thought as he dialed.
It was Jessina who answered. She was cautious at first, not wanting to reveal too much.
“Is she there?” Hawk asked.
“Not at the moment,” Jessina said.
“Can you just tell me if she’s all right?” Hawk asked.
Jessina thought about it before answering. She liked Hawk a lot; she hadn’t really understood what had gone wrong between them.
“She’s fine,” Jessina said. “She’s at a wedding in Boston.”
“Right,” he said, remembering the invitation on the lazy Susan in the kitchen. Then he remembered that Zee had told him that the wedding was on her birthday.
Maybe the reason for his agitation was as simple as that. She would be seeing her ex-fiance at the wedding. Hawk felt jealous just thinking about it, though he knew he had no right to feel that way. Maybe it was the wedding that was making him feel so tense.
Not knowing what else to do, he decided to leave a message. “Just tell her happy birthday.”
THE CREW HAD GONE TO dinner at the Black Cow and sat outside on the deck. The sailors were rowdier tonight than usual-he could hear them from around the corner as he approached. They were all good guys. He was going to miss working with them.
When Hawk sat down, they were talking about the application that the Friendship had recently filed to officially commission the ship. It was a great idea. If the ship was to be officially commissioned, they could take groups out sailing. And classes full of kids.
Too bad he wouldn’t be around for it, Hawk thought. He would have loved to be part of that.
59
ANN AND MICKEY CLOSED down the restaurant. It was surprising how much they had to talk about when they actually began to speak to each other. Mostly they talked about Zee and Maureen. And Mickey talked some about Ireland and about his brother Liam, the one who had died. They talked so much that they lost track of how late it was and were genuinely surprised when the waitress came over to tell them she was going home and would they please pay the check?
Ann excused herself and went to the ladies’ room. As she washed her hands, she looked into the mirror for a long time, trying to see something in her face, something that had changed.
Mickey paid the check and caught up with her at the door. They walked past the wharf and toward Ann’s shop.
“You want to come in?” she asked.
“Into your store?” he said.
“Yes,” she said. “I’ll make you some tea.”
He looked at her. “What kind of tea?” he asked, thinking about the kind she was famous for.
She smiled at him.
“You sure?” he said.
“I’m not at all sure,” she said. “But I’m feeling adventurous tonight.”
“Okay,” he said, following her into the store, waiting as she locked the door behind them and led him through the beaded curtain to the back room. “But I won’t be needing any tea.”
“We’ll see,” she said.
60
ZEE MISSED THE LAST boat home. It was ten-thirty. She’d stayed until the very end, through the traditional first dance, the cutting of the cake, and the tossing of the bouquet.
She walked back from the wharf to the front of the hotel and the taxi stand where Michael stood with his date waiting for the valet. She nodded to him as she passed.
He excused himself and followed.
“Zee?” he said.
She turned around. They had managed to stay away from each other all night. Mattei and Rhonda had seated them at opposite sides of the room, Zee with her colleagues and Michael with his.
“Happy birthday,” he said.
“Thanks.”
“I was going to ask you to dance,” he said. “But I got cold feet.”
“It’s probably better that you didn’t,” Zee said, looking toward his date.
Michael shrugged. “You’re more daring than I am. I didn’t want to come here alone tonight.”
She smiled.
“How’s Finch?”
“Not very well,” she said.
“Mattei told me he took a fall,” he said.
“He’s in a nursing home,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Thanks.”
“I’m also sorry about the way I ended things,” he said.
“It was pretty brutal,” she said.
“And cowardly,” he added.
“Maybe.”
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
“Apology accepted.”
“I was pushing you into something you clearly weren’t ready for,” he said.
“I don’t think what I was or not ready for was clear in any way,” she said. “Least of all to me.”
“And is it clear now?”
It was an odd question to ask, particularly with his new date standing only a few yards away. Still, she knew he deserved an answer and that she had never given him one.
“It is,” she said.
“And?”
“Good-bye, Michael,” she said.
61
ROY SAT AT THE kitchen table counting his money. Four hundred and fifty dollars. Plus the money he’d taken off the girl. He hadn’t counted it yet, really had only taken it to make things look like a robbery. The thought of Hawk behind bars made him laugh out loud. He’d left the hammer with Adam’s name on it right next to the body where they would be sure to find it. Roy knew they’d figure things out eventually, but by the time they did, he’d be long gone.
He spun the lazy Susan around and looked at the cake. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZEE, it said. The letters were crooked and sloping.
Roy was hungry. He wanted to eat the cake, but he needed something more. He’d already drunk almost two
