Chapter 107
THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND was the seventy-fifth Submarine Birthday Ball, which the command was holding at the Cervo Tennis Club in Porto Cervo.
Someone had reserved a block of rooms at Le Ginestre, a nice hotel near the club, and had arranged for the liberty boats to ferry all of us back and forth between La Maddalena and Porto Cervo beginning at noon on Saturday, which gave the guys enough time to play a round of golf before the real festivities got underway.
When we checked in at Le Ginestre, Laura asked for adjoining rooms, which was smart because after Paul and Bobby left for the golf course, we flung open the doors and wandered back and forth between the two rooms, admiring the dresses and accessories we’d packed for our big night out.
I had bought my gown in town, at Solinas.
It was lilac with spaghetti straps and a two-tiered silk skirt, and I thought it was perhaps the prettiest thing I’d ever owned.
Laura had mail-ordered a dress from Spiegel, but when it arrived, it was a size too small, so she’d borrowed a dress from Mary Lou, of all people.
The dress was bright orange, with a scoop neck and sheer sleeves, and while there was technically nothing wrong with it, it was maybe a little too conservative.
If I’m being honest, the color also made Laura look like a giant kumquat.
“What are you doing for jewelry?” I asked, and she removed a black satin case from her bag and handed it to me.
“Bobby gave me this last night. He’s calling it an early birthday present.”
Inside the case was a gold choker as thick as my thumb. “Oh my God, Laura. That thing is insane.”
“I know!” she said. “I didn’t even want to ask how much it cost.”
“Angela did say gold was cheap.”
“Yeah, but this much of it?” she said with a nervous laugh.
“Well, it’s beautiful. And Bobby’s a sweetheart.”
“He said I deserve something nice after the year I’ve had.”
“He’s right,” I said.
“We’re going to start trying again,” she admitted, shyly.
I sat down on the bed. “You are?”
It seemed so soon, and I worried that all of it would lead to more heartbreak. But she was such an optimistic person by nature that maybe she never saw it that way.
“We’re just going to take it one day at a time and see what happens,” said Laura as she took the case back from me. She was stashing it in her luggage when there was a knock at the door.
“Coming,” I said, and went to answer it.
It was Beverly, who was wearing a white bathing suit and big sunglasses and looked ready to hit the pool. “Eileen,” she said as she removed her glasses. “You called it.”
“Called what?” Laura asked.
“Jim Jenkins is the next commodore.”
“No shit,” I said. Of course, I hadn’t called anything. I’d just repeated what Teo had said.
“Mary Lou’s got to be thrilled,” said Laura.
Bev shrugged. “Two more years on the rock.”
It didn’t sound bad to me, but I also didn’t have a tenth grader at boarding school in Spain. I suspected that Mary Lou had been counting on having Chris at home for his junior and senior years.
“I can’t believe Bobby didn’t tell me,” said Laura.
“They delayed the announcement,” said Bev. “Because everyone was doing damage control after the story broke.”
She was referencing Teo’s story, which Laura and I had not discussed. In fact, we hadn’t so much as acknowledged it, which was a little weird.
“It’s funny that Teo was the guy who broke the story,” Laura said now, in front of Bev.
“Why’s that funny?” I asked.
She crossed her arms. “Just the timing. Bev told us about the grounding in confidence, and then the next thing we know, Teo’s doing this whole big exposé on it.”
“Bev told half the island,” I argued, then turned to Bev and apologized.
“No,” said Bev. “It’s true. I have a very big mouth.”
I returned my attention to Laura. “There were also more than a hundred sailors on that sub. So you’ve got whoever they told.”
Laura looked a little sheepish.
“Should I start making a list of all the guys on the tender who knew what was going on? We’ll be here all day.”
“Okay, okay,” said Laura. “I take it back.”
“As you should,” I said in my most indignant tone, which was a real feat, considering I didn’t have anything to be indignant about.