Part 22 (1/2)
”Well, it is, to some degree anyway,” Maritza said.
”How do you see that happening?” Nick said.
Olivia got nervous and hoped that Nick wasn't setting Maritza up to expose the fact that she didn't understand what the term pop culture even meant.
”Well, all you have to do is turn on the television. The programs are all copies of each other. If Cheers worked, then why not try Friends? One took place in a bar and the other one had a coffee shop. And who cares anyway? And all this reality stuff? If The Real Housewives of New Jersey did well, why not have The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and The Real Housewives of Atlanta? Those are some awful people just acting trashy. There's hardly anything original, and what is original is garbage. Anyway, television's terrible. It's all stupid. Pretty much. I think I want the lobster salad. How about y'all?”
”I'm going to try a lobster roll,” Olivia said. ”I like Downton Abbey.”
”Downton Abbey doesn't count. That's sacred.” Maritza said.
”And I'm going to have the fish tacos.” Nick took another sip of his b.l.o.o.d.y Mary and looked at Maritza. ”Even I like Downton Abbey. And I liked the first few seasons of Mad Men. But I agree with you. By and large, television serves a segment of this population with whom I do not identify, except for PBS and sometimes some other channels like National Geographic. And of course, we need CNN.”
”I like to watch the Olympics, especially the winter games,” Maritza said. ”Anyway, who cares about pop culture? I can't wait to show you the house, Olivia. If you love it half as much as I do, I'm going to ask Bob to buy it.”
Everyone around them was getting their food.
”Nick? Please tell our waiter we have an appointment.”
”Yes, dear,” Nick said and looked around for any of the waitstaff, who at that moment were not to be found. ”Typical,” he said and stood. ”I'll be right back.”
Lunch was wrapped up within the next forty-five minutes, and Olivia and Maritza were soon saying good-bye to Nick.
”Have fun!” Olivia said and blew him a kiss.
Nick drove away with the driver and Maritza said, ”Let's go! It's just right up the street.”
They walked the short distance to Easton Street, where the broker waited.
”This is one magnificent house, Maritza.” Olivia said.
It was a sprawling Nantucket s.h.i.+ngled house with fully matured landscaping of deep blue and purple hydrangeas. The whole place-with its towering chimneys and covered porches and the sheer ma.s.s of it-screamed old Yankee wealth and New England tradition, but in an appropriately m.u.f.fled voice.
”I know! Wait till you see the inside! Hey, Nicole!”
”Hi!” the broker called out. ”Nice to see you again! Hi! I'm Nicole Bousquet,” she said, and shook hands with Olivia.
”Olivia Ritchie. Nice to meet you.”
Olivia wondered if Nicole would be earning the customary six percent.
”Well, let's go inside,” Nicole said.
From the minute they stepped over the threshold, Olivia was transported. They were right on the water and there were water views from almost every single room. The was a beautiful graceful staircase, hand-painted floors in the foyer, and an enormous family room with French doors along an entire wall that opened to a deep and wide deck, which led to a rolling lawn down to the dock in the harbor. The floor plan was wonderful, so the rooms flowed easily. There was plenty of storage and plenty of s.p.a.ce for a large family or an even larger party.
”You could have dinner for two hundred people here. No problem,” Olivia said.
”The owners have done that more than once,” Nicole said.
Avoiding the vulgar question about price, Olivia asked Nicole for a brochure, which would list the cost in addition to a lot of other information. She handed it to her. Twenty-six million. Olivia staggered for a moment. What made this old funky house worth so much money? In the city, that much could buy you a fabulous penthouse. Granted, there were some Manhattan properties listed for over a hundred million that were being s.n.a.t.c.hed up by Russian oligarchs. But twenty-six million for a Nantucket cottage? She needed a moment to digest it.
They went through the kitchen and all over upstairs. Then they visited the guest cottage last. Olivia hated to admit it, but she was charmed to pieces.
”What do you think?” Maritza asked later over a gla.s.s of wine in the lobby while they waited for Nick.
”I think I'd like to see it again tomorrow morning if we have time.”
”I'm sure we can arrange that. But you know, your opinion is the one I value the most. Do you think Bob and I should buy it?”
Olivia was quiet for a moment and then said, ”Listen, in a normal situation, you'd ask yourself certain questions, like: How much are you going to use it? How much is it worth to you to own it? But you and Bob are in a position in which very few people find themselves. I didn't realize you had such a fondness for Nantucket.”
”Well, there's so little humidity,” Maritza said and laughed.
Now, there's a good reason to let go of twenty-six million of your favorite dollars, Olivia thought. But she was right about the humidity. Her hair was behaving, for once.
”Yes, you're right,” Olivia said.
Maritza sensed a trace of disapproval in Olivia's response, so she came clean.
”To tell you the truth, I have fallen in love with this island because it feels like home. When I was a little girl, I had an aunt who had a cottage here, and I would come and spend part of the summer with her.”
”Yes, I heard you mention that on the plane.”
”Yep. So I have wonderful memories of this place. And I think Gladdie would be safe here. Nantucket is a wonderful traditional place for families, and Bob needs to be reminded that we're a family. And once you gut it and make it look like it should, I think it would become Bob's favorite place to be.”
Money aside, those are pretty solid reasons, Olivia thought.
Olivia just didn't want to be self-serving and take an insecure woman like Maritza and push her toward something for her own gain. Olivia wasn't that hardened.
”Maritza? If you buy the place, you and I will make it a paradise.”
CHAPTER 10.
Nantucket Looms
After a delicious seafood dinner and highly animated conversation in the back room behind the bar at CRU, they agreed to meet for breakfast in the dining area the next morning at eight. Nick had spent the better part of the dinner entertaining Maritza with the history of Nantucket from the tales of Tom Nevers and the Nantucket Indians to the stories of the treacherous Rose and Crown Shoal, Walter Chase and his heroic rescues with the surf boat, the Coskata. She was a rapt student, absorbing every word and asking lots of questions.
”Walter Chase said to his men, 'You have to go out, but you don't have to come back!' Can you imagine saying such a thing in today's world?”
”No. I haven't heard these stories since I was knee-high to a gra.s.shopper! And I've never heard of Tom Nevers. I thought it was just a neighborhood. All this information is so good to have because I can tell it all to Gladdie and make her the smartest girl in school!”
Olivia thought, Did that mean Gladdie might receive her formal education on the island?