Page 136 of The Book of Summer

Cissy Codman just cried “uncle.” Bess never expected to see the day.

Everyone is quiet for a moment, no sound but the howling wind and little pieces of shell clicking against the windows. Cissy looks tired. Her eyes are sort of drifting, lolling about in her head.

“I’m sorry,” Bess says at last. “I’m sorry we couldn’t save the house.”

“Me, too,” Evan says, his voice hoarse.

“But you know what, Cis?” Bess feigns some spunk. “This will be fun!”

She walks a few paces forward and takes a seat at the end of Cissy’s chaise. Meanwhile, Evan inches closer to the door. Emotional women, a deadly house. There’s no decent way for this to end. And so Bess gives him a small wave, followed by a nod that says, Feel free to leave, we’ll talk later.

“We’ll have a grand time finding a new place,” Bess says. “How about Tom Nevers? Or Polpis? I’ve always liked how quiet it is up there, sort of like Sconset. But you really can’t beat the restaurants in town. Think of the meetings you could crash if you were only blocks away. And your charities! You haven’t done anything for the Home for Aged Sailors in forever.”

Bess looks up at Evan, who is partway through the door. Talk about moving a damned house. Cissy is her very own residence, a proper institution. And she was complaining about Cliff House being too large?

“I’m not leaving,” Cissy says.

“Oh, for cripe’s sake. We’ve lost a foot of bluff, at least, sinceyesterday.Frankly, I’m not staying here another night.”

“Thank God,” Evan mutters.

“We have to leave,” Bess says again. “And I get it. This has been your home, our family’s home, for all this time. It can’t be easy to pack it in. I’m sad about it, too. But loss is part of life.”

Bess wonders if Cissy’s reluctance to leave is also about Chappy, who’s lived across the street for sixty years. It must be, Bess decides. Because though he’s never lived there, Chappy is part of Cliff House, too.

“It’s fine to give yourself time to mourn,” Bess continues. “We won’t buy anything right away. You can stay at Tea Time, peruse the listings, and drive local Realtors bonkers with your crazy demands. When you’re ready to pull the trigger, boom.” Bess claps. “I’ll be on the first flight out to help you consummate the deal.”

“I’m not buying a new house.”

“Mother!” Bess yells at the sky.

It’s as if she’s stubbed her toe and wants to scream “fuck!” a million times until the agony goes away.

“Just buy a new friggin’ house!”

“I can’t,” Cissy says. “Because the money is gone.”

“Excuse me?” Bess drops her head back down and gawks at her mother.

Poor Evan is stuck in the doorway, coming and going at the same time.

“You heard me,” Cissy says with a sniff. She takes a sip of her drink.

“Your money isgone? I thought you had, like… millions or something?”

“Saving a bluff is no easy task,” she says. “And not a cheap one either. I poured every last dollar of my grandfather’s, and my father’s, into the SBPF.”

“Shit. Does Dad know?”

“Why would it be any of his business?” Cissy snaps. “That’s my money.”

Bess hears the door click. She looks up to see Evan still on the patio, in the wind and rain. He has officially picked a side.

“How’d you fritter away that much?” Bess asks.

“‘Fritter’? You make it sound like I spent it all on wine and fancy jeans. Elisabeth. Who do you think is paying for the various studies and commissions? The geotubes that are being installed next month?”

“Aren’t a lot of people contributing?” Bess says. “The city? The state?”