Sunset Key Read Online Free PDF Page A

faced west, an ice bucket and a small, wooden box between them.
    Letty and Fitch crossed the sand to the chairs. The sunset spread across the horizon like a range of orange mountains. There was no wind. The water was as still as glass.
    Letty glanced down at the box. The top had been stamped:
    HEIDSIECK & CO. MONOPOLE
    GOÛT AMÉRICAIN
    VINTAGE 1907
    NO. 1931
    Fitch pulled an unlabeled bottle out of the ice water. He held it to the fading light. The glass was green and scuffed. He went to work opening it.
    Letty said , “Special. Even has its own box.”
    “This bottle was on its way to the Russian royal family when the boat carrying it was torpedoed by Germans. What must have gone through those young sailors’ minds? It took a half hour. They knew, for a half hour, they were going to die and could do nothing to stop it. Nothing but wait and watch the minutes slide.”
    “In what year?”
    “Nineteen-sixteen. The vintage is nineteen-oh-seven, which makes this—”
    “Ninety-eight years old?”
    He nodded.
    “Oh my god.”
    “It was recovered from the wreck seven years ago. The bottles were perfectly preserved at the bottom of the ocean. Notable not only for the rarity and the history—as it turns out, the wine itself is quite excellent. I bought one for a special occasion. I’d say tonight qualifies. Would you get the glasses, please?”
    Letty reached into the box and lifted out two crystal flutes.
    “Go ahead and ask,” Fitch said as he struggled with the cork.
    “Ask what?”
    He worked it out so slowly, there was no pop . Just a short hiss as the pressure released. The cork crumbled in his hand. He held the opening of the bottle to her nose.
    It smelled like perfume.
    “What do you think?” he asked.
    “Gorgeous.”
    Fitch took a whiff himself and then began to pour.
    “So ask,” he said. “It won’t offend me.”
    “What?”
    “What I paid.”
    “That would be rude.”
    “But you want to know.”
    With her glass full, Letty smelled it again, the carbonation bubbles misting her nose.
    “All right. What’d you pay, Johnny?”
    “Two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. Here’s to you,” he said.
    She didn’t even know how to comprehend such a figure…for a single bottle of wine!
    “To you, Johnny.”
    They clinked glasses.
    The champagne was amazing.
    “I want to know your passion, Selena.”
    “My passion?”
    “What is it that most excites you in this life? What is your prime mover? Your reason for being here?”
    “Prada.”
    This got a huge laugh.
    “Money can’t buy you happiness, darling. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
    “But it affords your own brand of misery.”
    “You’re a lively one, Selena. That’s good. Real good. Let’s sit back and enjoy, shall we?” Fitch said. “This is going to be a night for the senses.”
    Letty leaned back in her chair. “That’s the prettiest sunset I’ve ever seen,” she said.
    “I’m just glad it didn’t rain.” Fitch laughed, but there was a sadness in it.
    All the color went out of the sky.
    “Where are you from, Selena?” Fitch asked.
    Letty had only had two glasses, but she felt good. Too good. “A little bit of everywhere. I guess I don’t really think of any one place as home.”
    Fitch looked over at her. He patted her hand.
    “I know this must be a strange deal for you,” he said.
    “It’s not.”
    “You’re kind to say that, but…” He stared out across the sea. With the sun gone, there were only shades of blue. “I’m just really glad you’re here tonight.”
    * * *

    They walked toward the house on a sandy path that cut through the heart of the island.
    Letty held Fitch’s hand.
    “You have a real sweetness about you, Selena,” he said. “Reminds me of my wife.”
    “You miss her? No, I’m sorry. That’s not my business.”
    “It’s all right. I brought her up. Yeah, I miss her. She left me a year and a half ago.”
    “Before your trial.”
    “Go through something like this, you find out