Part Twenty-Six

At last, thought Peggy, as she strolled down to catch her 5:20 ferry: sunlight in the morning. The eastern sky was filled with a rose-colored glow. Overhead, small orange-and-red clouds gathered in little clusters, interspersed with blue sky. The waters of Eagle Harbor were as calm as a pond, and Peggy noticed that the tide had gone even lower.

It was ironic, though, that she finally got the kind of day she had been waiting for, but was in no mood to enjoy it.

"Good morning. You look very nice," Raoul said quietly as she took her seat on the ferry.

"Technically, I shouldn't even be sitting with you," Peggy said. She wore a slim black skirt that she felt was especially flattering, a silky cream-colored blouse and a crisp blue jacket. She had put on makeup and a little jewelry here and there, nothing overdone, it wasn't her style, but she knew a little sparkle would complement her outfit. The whole effect was a dramatic departure from her usual cottons and corduroys and fleece. The only reminders of her typical attire were the comfortable walking shoes on her feet; in her backpack she carried the shiny black heels that she would put on once she got to her office.

Raoul sighed. "I think it's going to be a lonely fourth-of-July weekend."

Yesterday had been a stressful day. First, Peggy scrambled to prepare for a presentation to the board of directors of her organization, the Northwest Environmental Fund. Her boss, Milton Pacer, had hastily arranged it.

"They want to hear what you're going to say on your trip to Congress," said Milton.

Unfortunately, her notes and data on coastal development issues were geared toward the report that she and Raoul had been working on as part of their involvement with the governor's Coastal Planning Task Force. It was going to take a lot of work to condense that down to a few discussion points that she could explain to skeptical board members.

"They were never completely sold on this task force to begin with," Milton had said. "They think it's all a plan to give real estate developers and big business what they want."

"Do you blame them?" Peggy replied.

She fretted over it for most of the day while trying to reach a key colleague who was out photographing wild flowers around Mt. Rainier. When she looked in the mirror at two in the afternoon she saw that her face had become red and splotchy from stress. Then, at three o'clock her boss made another announcement.

"We're being sued," he said.

"By who?"

"A resort company, Vacation Partners, says we unfairly characterized them as being insensitive to the environment in one of our press releases."

"How else would you describe it when they buy up old shorefront properties and put up big ugly condos that destroy fragile dune systems?"

"They were granted a permit to build because there were already some old structures there," said Milton.

"And I'm sure that was in no way connected to their campaign contributions," Peggy said.

"You can't prove that. Look, I approved the press release, I'm on your side, but I've learned that you can only fight them with facts and the law," Milton said. "But the real reason I'm telling you about this is because Burnett and Edwards is representing them."

Peggy's eyes widened. Milton was an old friend in addition to being her boss, and she had told him about her budding but unlikely relationship with a lawyer she met on the ferry.

"That's Raoul's firm," she said. Her skin felt hot. She wanted to throw herself into a bathtub.

"Just wanted you to know," said Milton.

"Thanks." After the conversation she called Raoul.

"You must have heard," he said immediately.

"Are you involved in the case?" Peggy asked.

"Yes. I tried to get out of it. I took the liberty of explaining that I had, um, a personal relationship with an employee at Northwest Environmental."

"That would be me, I hope," said Peggy.

"Yes. But I was overruled. They want me on the case. Mainly because I've won these types of cases before."

"Do you think you'll win this one?"

"I can't talk about it."

"In other words, you're going to successfully sue us because we told the truth and I'm supposed to act like, well, it's just something we leave at work and forget about?"

"It's going to be challenging," he said.

"Challenging. That's an interesting way of putting it. I think it means that it's up to me to get over it."

The next morning, as they sat on the ferry, Peggy felt more relaxed. The redness in her face had passed with a good night's sleep. She was thinking of the presentation she was going to give at ten o'clock. The sun had peeked over the mountains and splashed a brilliant orange light over Puget Sound. To the east, the Cascades were dark and trimmed in gold; and some parts of Seattle, such as Queen Anne just north of downtown, were enveloped in a thick blanket of fog.

Peggy pulled out some papers. "We might as well discuss business," she said. "I need to clear up a few things for my presentation today."

"Would you like to go to the street dance with me this weekend?" he asked. Bainbridge Island was planning many Fourth-of-July activities.

"I don't know. It might be too... challenging for me," she said without looking up.