Summer of '69

As David leaves the island, he tells Kate that she’s drinking too much—which Kate already knows. She notes that David has “hated living under Exalta’s roof” (155) and wants them to buy their own house on the island. Kate, however, is unsure of the change. While she reveals to David that she helped Bill and Pick by securing Little Fair, she doesn’t reveal Bill’s promise to talk to his brother-in-law about Tiger. Kate is sober for a day until she sees Pick. She stops drinking again when Blair arrives and reveals her troubles with Angus. Kate is shocked that Angus told Blair to leave, and Blair confesses how kissing Joey complicated things. Kate tells Blair that Angus will come around and that Joey is a fantasy. She then realizes that the only available room is Jessie’s current one. Kate decides that Jessie will move to Little Fair and resolves to give her a little more freedom.

Kirby accompanies Patty on several dates with Luke even though the pair often abandons Kirby to have sex. Luke is from New York City, and his summer home is very posh. One night, the three go to Lucy Vincent beach, a nude beach. Luke demands that they all strip, but Kirby refuses. Patty, however, strips bare for Luke. Kirby notices a handprint on Patty’s skin and wonders if Luke is abusing her. Later, Patty dismisses her concerns. During their date at the carousel, Kirby and Darren discuss their former relationships and how they didn’t work out. They have a great time, and he invites her for steamer clams at his home on Sunday before kissing her goodnight. Excited to tell Patty, Kirby is dismayed to see a new bruise on Patty’s arm. Again, she asks if Luke is hurting her, but Patty is annoyed and asks Kirby to leave her alone.

Blair is angry at Angus’s seeming hesitation to make amends. As everyone goes about their daily routines, she reminisces about childhood at Little Fair. Blair had hoped to stay in the small house, but Kate has informed her that Bill and Pick are living there. Blair is horrified by Lorraine’s lack of motherly concern. She recollects that Lorraine had her own problems and a reputation for staying out too late with questionable men. Later, Blair meets Pick, and the two walk together to use a bank of pay phones. Angus’s assistant informs Blair that he hasn’t been in the office. There’s no answer at the apartment either. She imagines him on some escapade with Trixie and calls Joey. As she dials, Blair considers whether she really has feelings for the younger Whalen. However, when she invites Joey for the weekend, he declines. After hanging up, Blair wonders how she made such a mess of her life. Pick also has a frustrating time trying to reach Lorraine. The two discuss people being book-smart versus people-smart, and Pick says that he prefers the latter. He tells Blair he wants to be a chef when he grows up and she says she wants to “be the mother of someone just like you” (184).

Jessie, Blair, and Kate are stressed and irritated. Exalta alone seems happy, enjoying her bridge club outings with Bill. However, Jessie likes her tennis lessons with Suze. When she beats Helen, who’s now coached by Garrison Howe, Jessie’s elated. She publicly gloats to Exalta, who isn’t pleased and adamantly states that Jessie gets this detestable quality from “your father’s side of the family” (187). Jessie is furious at Exalta’s insult. To subdue her agitation, she sneaks into Exalta’s room and, without asking, takes the gold necklace. That night, dressing for dinner at the Mad Hatter, Jessie discovers that she’s outgrown her dress. Blair chides Kate for not getting her a bra. When Kate reveals that she can’t deal with Jessie getting older, Blair says she’ll take Jessie shopping. Later, in a different dress, Jessie puts on Exalta’s necklace and admires herself, wishing Pick could see her all dressed up.

At the restaurant, Kate relaxes only after she drinks her first cocktail and is sure that no one she knows is in the restaurant. For the first time since Tiger’s deployment, Jessie sees Kate smile. After the second martini, Kate implores Jessie to confide in her since she never told Exalta anything. Jessie ponders confessing her shoplifting, Garrison’s inappropriate behavior, or her crush on Pick, but then realizes that Kate’s too tipsy to register it. Instead, she mentions that Exalta won’t let her sign her surname at the club and suggests that it’s “[b]ecause she’s anti-Semitic” (197). Kate laughs but tells Jessie that she should be proud of her name. She explains that Exalta just doesn’t care for David because she was partial to the handsome Wilder. Kate insists, though, that Wilder wasn’t a good person. When Jessie asks what he did, Kate responds, “What didn’t he do?” (199)—but lets the conversation drop. Kate announces that Jessie’s birthday present is freedom to bike to the beach by herself. As she enters Little Fair, Pick tells her how pretty she looks and moves to kiss her. However, the kiss never happens because Jessie suddenly realizes that she has lost Exalta’s necklace.