Chapter Twenty-One

TWENTY-ONE

SEPTEMBER 1987

The next morning, Augusta woke before sunrise. When she could not manage to fall back asleep, she decided to go to the pool. It was too early for any of the regulars to be there, but one person was already swimming laps in the water. When she got closer, Augusta saw Irving Rivkin moving through the cool, clear liquid. She watched, incredulous, as he propelled himself forward, his crawl stroke steady and shockingly smooth. She was sorry to say that his form was excellent.

The last thing Augusta wanted to do was to join that man in the pool, so she decided to wait until he was finished. She was sure it wouldn’t be long.

He did twenty-five more laps before stopping—not bad considering the shape he was in. There was the matter of his age as well, but Augusta didn’t accept that as an excuse. She was almost as old as he was, wasn’t she?

She planted herself at the shallow end and stood, looking down at him with her hands on her hips. “What do you think you’re doing?” she said.

It shouldn’t have bothered her so much—the fact that he was swimming laps in the pool. It wasn’t her pool, after all. And she’d seen him in it before. But all the other times, he was merely cooling off—not engaging in the one activity that had kept her sane for all these years; the one activity that, if she were being honest, had helped her most to forget about him. She didn’t want to share swimming with Irving. It felt like a violation.

“Swimming,” he said. “You’re here early. Don’t worry—I’ll get out of your way.”

“Listen, Irving,” she said. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but whatever this is”—she made a circular motion with her hand—“I’m telling you now, it isn’t going to work on me.”

He stared at her blankly as if he didn’t understand. “I apologize,” he said. “If I had known you’d be starting so early, I would have skipped today. Usually my timing is better.” He pulled the swim cap off his head and walked up the steps and out of the water. After he dried himself off, he slipped on his T-shirt and his sandals. “I’ll leave you to it, Augusta,” he said, before he opened the pool gate to leave.

He didn’t protest, he didn’t make jokes. He didn’t flirt or even say goodbye.

Have I finally lost my mind, or did that man actually call me Augusta?

The water felt cooler than usual, probably because it was still so early. Normally, when Augusta swam a set of laps, she felt the tension leave her limbs. There was something about the regularity of the movement—the lifting of each arm over her head, the flutter of her feet, the rhythm of her exhale—that stripped the stress and strain away. And oh, how she relished the fatigue when she was finished! The tiredness that signaled to her overworked brain that it could finally relax.

But today, there was no relief for her. There was no break from her anxious thoughts. There was no respite from the curiosity that hammered her head from the inside out.

Augusta wished she could talk to Shirley, but it was far too early for the sunbathers. She should have gone home and back to bed, but once she emerged from the water, she planted herself in a chair and didn’t move. At nine o’clock, the canasta group showed up, and at ten Shirley finally arrived. She waltzed through the Rallentando pool gate wearing a one-piece ruffled yellow bathing suit with a Zabar’s tote bag slung over her arm. Augusta waited for her to adjust her umbrella, apply her sunscreen, and get comfortable in her chair.

“Something strange happened this morning,” said Augusta, once Shirley was finally settled.

Shirley set down her magazine. “What?”

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” said Augusta. “So I decided to get my workout in early. I got over here around seven and Irving was already in the pool. At first I thought he was swimming laps just to spite me, but I swear he was a natural in the water. It looked like he swims laps every day.”

“He does ,” said Shirley. “He always has, at least since I’ve been living here. I assumed you already knew.”

“How would I know? And how do you know?”

Shirley shrugged. “Chester is up with the sun every morning, and we always take a walk first thing. It gets too warm in the afternoon and the hot pavement isn’t good for his paws. Most of the time we pass by the pool. Irving is out here every morning.”

Chester was Shirley’s miniature poodle, and like most dogs, he was an early riser.

Augusta drummed her fingers on her lounge chair, tapping out a nervous beat. “Why didn’t he tell me about this before?”

Shirley let out a long, low whistle. “No offense, but it seems like you’re making a giant fuss over nothing. Why do you care if he swims in the mornings? He doesn’t get in your way, does he? Other than today, I mean. Plenty of people swim, Augusta—it’s the perfect activity for people our age. Low impact, good for the heart… Besides, it’s not like we give each other notice of our daily workout schedules. I did my Richard Simmons video yesterday, but I didn’t go around telling people. For all we know, after his laps, Irving goes home and does a bunch of sit-ups.”

“Not with that bowling ball belly of his.”

“Wow,” said Shirley, shaking her head. “That man has really gotten under your skin.”

Augusta scowled. “No one is under my skin, okay? But don’t you find it odd that he never said anything? If someone has something in common with you, isn’t it typical for them to mention it?”

“You’re an awfully suspicious person—you know that?” Shirley said. Before Augusta could respond, Shirley held up a hand to silence her. “Look. Ever since you and I met, you haven’t been shy about the fact that you want Irving to leave you alone. He may be flirtatious, and he may tell stupid jokes, but Irving isn’t an idiot. I’m sure that even before the barbecue, even before you publicly scorned him, he knew exactly how you felt about him. Maybe he didn’t mention the swimming because he didn’t want to invade your space. It’s kind of thoughtful if you think about it.”

Augusta wasn’t sure she appreciated this kind of honesty from her new friend. “I didn’t publicly scorn him,” she said, failing to keep the defensive tone from creeping into her reply.

“Oh no? What would you call it then?”

Augusta had no good answers. Had she been too harsh with Irving? Ever since she’d first run into him, she had been consistently up front about the fact that she wanted to be left alone. Was that what Irving was doing? Trying to give her some space? Was Shirley right?

“Why does he swim so early?” said Augusta. “He doesn’t strike me as a morning person.”

Shirley shrugged. “Maybe you don’t know him as well as you think. There’s also the matter of Nathaniel—he swims here, too, same as you. If I hated Nathaniel as much as Irving seems to, I’d probably come early to avoid confrontation. Who wants to share the pool with your nemesis?” Shirley rubbed more sunscreen on her shoulders. “It’s simple when you think about it. Irving doesn’t want to swim with Nathaniel, and you don’t want to swim with Irving.”

Augusta hated the way Shirley made it sound. “Irving isn’t my nemesis,” she protested. “I never said I didn’t want to swim with him.” But even as she spoke the words, a slippery wave of self-loathing threatened to drag Augusta under.

When Jackie called her that evening, her niece asked point-blank about Irving.

“So what’s going on with you two?” asked Jackie. “Have you guys been hanging out?”

Augusta snorted. “Not exactly. There was a barbecue the other night, and Irving came with his girlfriend, Vera. I was sitting with Nathaniel, but then Irving waltzed over and started flirting with me. Right in front of the girlfriend!”

“Maybe she isn’t his girlfriend,” said Jackie.

“Well, she certainly thinks she is. Or at least she did before the barbecue. I’m not sure what she thinks she is now.”

“That sounds juicy! What happened?”

“They were playing music—piping it through speakers—and Nathaniel asked if I wanted to dance. He’s always been a wonderful dancer. Anyway, the next thing I know, Irving is trying to cut in. When Nathaniel refused, Irving tried to push him out of the way. Then Nathaniel lost his balance and ended up falling onto the dessert table. The whole thing went crashing down to the floor and Nathaniel ended up covered in cake and frosting. Shirley’s cheesecake got ruined.”

“Oh my god! Was he okay?”

“Luckily, no one was hurt. Except for Vera’s green Jell-O mold. Unfortunately, Nathaniel was covered in it.” Augusta giggled into the phone. “That part was funny, actually. You should have seen it—what a mess!”

“Vera must have been furious!”

“Oh, she was angry, that’s for sure. And I can’t say that I blame her. It isn’t fun when your date causes a scene and everyone at the party is staring.”

“Plus, her date started a fight over you .”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Augusta. “No one was fighting over me. Irving had a grudge against Nathaniel long before I ever showed up. I just can’t seem to figure out why. I asked Irving about it a few days ago, but he was strangely cryptic about it.”

“Hmm,” said Jackie. “That sounds weird. You should ask him about it again. Try to get the truth from him.”

“Maybe,” said Augusta. “By the way, I checked the calendar. Only ten days until you come to Florida!”

“I know! I can’t wait to see you! Also, I was thinking about your birthday. I would love to meet some of your new friends. What if I take you and a group—whoever you want—out to dinner to celebrate? You tell me who and how many and I’ll make a reservation.”

“I suppose I could invite my friend Shirley,” said Augusta. “And Nathaniel would love to meet you. After all, he knew your mom and dad.”

“What about Irving?” Jackie asked. “The more I hear about that man, the more I’m dying to meet him, too.”

The idea of inviting both Nathaniel and Irving out to dinner seemed unwise. What if the two of them argued again and caused a scene in the restaurant? What if Nathaniel decided to pay Irving back for the dessert debacle? Still, if she got them in the same room with Jackie, maybe her niece could help uncover what their feud was really about.

“We’ll see,” said Augusta. “I’ll think about it.”