The Girl in Hemingway's Studio: A Novel

ONE

The Year Before

May 2016

Alexis finally felt comfortable in her own skin. It’s about time she thought; after all she would be thirty-five years old in September. It had taken a long time for her to discover who she really was and what style looked good on her imperfect body. As a child, Alexis grew taller faster than any of her friends. When she was twelve, she had reached her full height of 5’ 7; and she was taller than anyone else in her class. To make matters worse, she was skinny—soaking wet she didn’t weigh ninety pounds. Her classmates called her the bean stalk or Jack’s bean stalk. Jack was the most popular boy in her class, and he would stare and shake his head when the other boys would chant, There goes Jack’s bean stalk." Jack’s piercing blue eyes would go deep into Alexis’s soul and her cheeks would blush crimson red. How she wished she could immediately disappear from the face of the earth.

During high school Alexis’s body filled out as the other kids grew closer to or exceeded her height. One low point in her freshman year of college was when she became a little pudgy. Alexis quickly lost the freshman 15 through diet and hours of excessive exercise. Finding that look that would define her style and one she felt comfortable wearing, took several more years. It didn’t take long for Alexis to discover the trends of the mid nineties—overalls with one strap off the shoulder, long T-shirts, a Von Dutch trucker hat, laced-up jeans, halter tops, and popcorn shirts didn’t do anything for her confidence or her figure.

Today, Dr. Alexandra Strong Caldwell was an associate professor of English at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. Her husband of six years, Marcus, was starting a new job at Maricopa Community Colleges in the Accounting Department that morning. Alexis said a quick prayer that this would be the job that he would like and find challenging enough to hold his interest.

Alexis walked from the faculty parking lot to her first class on this dazzling perfect May morning. These pleasant cool mornings and evenings were coming to an abrupt end; soon the desert heat would settle in and bake the city of Phoenix for the next four to five months. It was the week of finals and in few short days, her summer vacation would begin. Three months ago, she had entered her original short story in the Florida Keys Flash Fiction Contest. It was a good story, five hundred words that would hold the reader’s interest, have them fall in love with the protagonist, and provide an ending that no one would see coming. The contest winner would be announced the end of May and the prize was paid air travel for two, accommodations for twenty-one days in a residency cottage at The Studios of Key West, a $500 debit card for meals, plus a pass and paid admission to various events. The best part of the prize would give the winning author ten of those days to spend writing in the studio that Ernest Hemingway used when he lived on Whitehead Street most of the 1930s. Her colleagues admired her writing style and ideas, but Alexis needed inspiration. She wanted to create a novel that Hemingway would have loved. Alexis had been working on her beloved novel for eighteen months and needed a shot of originality to make it sizzle. Maybe Hemingway’s ghost would be the catalyst to find the perfect words that could create a best seller.

As she walked past a classroom structure that was in the process of being built, she caught a reflection of herself in a window—the new and improved Alexis. Her light-brown hair was cut in a sugar pixie cut with lots of blond highlights on the top of her thick hair. The new cut emphasized her big brown eyes and cute nose. Her new Ann Taylor outfit of navy and white culottes and a navy T-shirt topped with a smart white jacket was classic.

She smiled as she remembered her mother’s patience when she was a young teenage girl trying to find herself. Her two best friends, Cathy and Julie, loved spending the night at her home. They would arrive dressed in their cute parent-approved outfits, but as soon as their parents drove off and waved good-bye, Alexis and her friends would run into the master bedroom and raid her father’s dresser. The look was grunge. Alexis would distribute her dad’s white boxer shorts and oversized white T-shirts to her friends. After their hair was sprayed and back combed until the top and sides stood straight out and their eyes rimmed with black pencil and tons of mascara, the girls were finally ready to walk down to the local theater to meet their friends.

Grandmother Baxter, who was spending the weekend with her daughter Nora, was shocked as the three friends were ready to walk out of the door.

Nora, did you see Alexis and her friends? called Grandma. You aren’t going to let them leave this house in Arthur’s underwear, are you?

Dorks! exclaimed Charlotte, Alexis’ older sister as she walked out of her room. Charlotte was tastefully dressed in Guess jeans and an expensive sweater; she had begged her mother to purchase.

It’s okay, Mom, Nora said as she gently put an arm around her mother to guide her back into the family room. They all have their own underwear on underneath their outfits and actually they are very modestly dressed. It’s what their friends wear on Friday nights at the movies.

Martha dear, Arthur said as he brought his favorite mother-in-law a glass of wine. My underwear is having a very exciting social life. It gets out more than I do.

Mom, I’m off for my date with Jordan, I’ll see you later, Charlotte said as she twirled the keys to her mother’s car on her finger.

Nora walked back into the living room to confront Charlotte, I thought Jordan was going to pick you up tonight so we could meet him. I don’t like you driving home alone late at night.

Jordan’s parents took away his driving privileges again. So lame, they just don’t want him to have any fun.

Be careful driving and be home by midnight. Remember your driving privileges can also be revoked. And before you date Jordan again, your dad and I want to meet him, warned her mother.

Charlotte just rolled her eyes as she walked out of the front door.

My wonderful parents had so much patience with my sister and me, especially my sister.

Alexis gathered the final exams from her English 107 students and placed them in her briefcase. She looked around the room to see if anything was left in the classroom before she locked the door. Her evening was going to be one dedicated to grading compositions. Looking at her watch, it was time to meet her best friend and fellow professor, Kyle Warner, at the University Club for a quick lunch before the afternoon exams began. She thought about calling Marcus to see how his day was going. If things were good, it would be fun to talk to him; if it was dismal, she didn’t want to hear about it. She put her iPhone in her purse after silencing the ring tone.

Wow, Dr. Caldwell, Kyle greeted her as she walked into the Club. You are looking terrific. How did your students’ finals go this morning?

Hi, Kyle, Alexis walked over to give him a quick hug. They were good. I’m worried about several students in my English 101 class. They had that ‘deer in the headlight’ look when they read the requirements for the composition they needed to write.

Kyle had selected a spot on the patio and secured it by putting his prickly pear chicken sandwich and ice tea on a small table for two.

Alexis looked at her dear friend and smiled. His looks portrayed what a history professor should look like. He was medium height with thick sandy-brown hair. He wasn’t movie star handsome, but nice-looking with brown eyes that twinkled when he smiled. Kyle didn’t exercise except for an occasional walk across campus. His dark horn-rimmed glasses gave him a very distinguished look. All he was missing was a tweed sports jacket with collegiate elbow patches and a pipe.

Kyle pulled out a chair for Alexis to sit.

Did Marcus start his new job today?

Yes, I was thinking about him on my walk over here. I hope things are going well.

"You mean you hope he won’t quit again."

Kyle, there’s no shame in quitting a job, if you aren’t happy.

Maybe one or two jobs, but four? Kyle said as he opened a bag of sugar for his ice tea.

Why do you always pick on my husband? I love him, and we are happy.

Yes, I know, you think Marcus was sent to you from heaven. To change the subject, any word from Florida on the writing contest? Your short story was really terrific, and I’d say that to you even if you were a total stranger.

Why couldn’t Alexis have picked me instead of Marcus? I would have given her such a stress-free life filled with love, security, and children, thought Kyle as he looked lovingly at Alexis.

Alexis and Kyle met when they were undergrads at ASU in a chemistry class. Kyle was smitten with Alexis the first time he laid eyes on her and offered to be her lab partner. He soon discovered that Alexis was madly in love with Dan, a boy she had met in her English Composition class. Kyle became her friend and waited for his turn to date her. Shortly before graduation, Kyle got tired of waiting and began a serious relationship with a girl he had been dating when Alexis broke up with Dan. Timing was everything and it never seemed to work for Kyle and Alexis.

The winners will be notified the end of this month, Alexis responded as she opened her container of yogurt and stirred in some blueberries.

Since Marcus is starting a new job and won’t have any accrued vacation time, can I be your plus one? I have no plans for the whole month of July. Besides, in twenty-one days I might find the perfect girl in Florida. I’ve exhausted all the eligible candidates in Arizona. Kyle smiled only half-kidding.

Alexis made it through her afternoon finals and walked back to the faculty parking lot with an even larger stack of papers that needed to be graded tonight. As she drove through the traffic of the campus, she thought about Marcus and wondered if he was having a good day.

Alexis finally turned into her driveway. Marcus’s car was already parked in the opened garage. Alexis looked at the clock on her dashboard; it read 3:45 p.m. She shook her head as she wondered how his workday could be finished so early.

She stayed in the car a few extra moments to enjoy the ambience of their attractive home. Alexis bought the fixer-upper before she met Marcus. She and her dad had worked hard on transforming a sad, neglected house into a charming home. The neighborhood was older, but the homes were well built and nicely maintained. After she met Marcus and he moved in, the price of the homes in the area escalated. Marcus convinced her to take out a substantial home improvement loan and go for more expensive upgrades—custom kitchen cabinets, granite counters, gorgeous hardwood floors, and a spa-styled bathroom with an Italian tiled walk-in shower that contained an oversized, square rain showerhead. Marcus told her that when she was ready to sell she would make a tremendous profit. Today, that loan still takes a huge chunk out of each month’s budget. It was especially difficult when Alexis was the only one bringing home a paycheck. The worst part was after the beautiful remodel was finished, the housing market crashed.

As Alexis walked through the kitchen, she noticed a bottle of wine had been opened and was close to being empty.

Marcus, are you home? she called as she walked into the family room and saw Marcus watching a baseball game. Hi, honey, aren’t you home early? she asked as she leaned over his leather chair and kissed him.

Yeah, after lunch they sent me to Human Resources to fill out more paperwork. I was there until after two and decided it wasn’t worth going back to my desk, so I came home.

That’s the way to make a great impression on your first day at a new job, thought Alexis, but instead of starting an argument, she smiled and asked, How was your first day? Do you think you will enjoy working for the college?

Yeah, it’s okay. My coworkers were busy, and I really didn’t get the chance to talk to anyone, just quick introductions. My desk was filled with accounts, and I’ll have to learn their computer system, but ask me again in a week or two. Wow, did you see that hit? Looks like a homerun for our Diamondbacks.

Alexis shook her head as she picked up the day’s mail that had been hastily tossed on a small table by the front door. More bills. She and Marcus had so many discussions on cutting back on expenses and not using their credit cards so often. He was always promising to be more careful, but it certainly didn’t reflect in this month’s Visa bill. Maybe she would consider taking that summer school teaching position at ASU that the head of the English Department had begged her to accept. Alexis would wait until she heard the results about the Florida Keys Contest before she would give a firm commitment. She knew it was a slim chance, but she said a silent prayer that her July would be spent in Florida working on her novel rather than teaching a class of students.

CHAPTER TWO

Background

November 3, 1992

Arthur Strong came home from work on Election Day 1992 and asked his youngest daughter, if she wanted to go with him to the voting poll. Alexis loved going anywhere with her dad, especially when he asked her and didn’t include her sister. Arthur drove the few blocks to the local junior high school where they had converted the gym into a polling venue. As they walked up to the sign-in sheet, Alexis noticed her dad’s name was written in alphabetical order. Strong, Arthur. Yes, that is exactly how she thought of her father, Strong Arthur. His strength helped their family survive some very tough years.

Arthur Strong met Nora Baxter at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Arthur defied his parents who wanted him to attend Harvard, Columbia University, or Cornell in Ithaca. Arthur chose the University of Arizona in Tucson not only because it was one of the top universities where to study architecture, but mainly because it was almost three thousand miles away from New York City. Only because Arthur’s Aunt Nancy and Uncle Ronald lived in Scottsdale and promised his parents that they would look after him, did his parents finally give in to their son’s demands. Arthur’s mother couldn’t understand why he couldn’t be more agreeable like his two sisters, Claudia and Melissa.

Arthur had met his mother’s sister, her husband, and their son, Walter, only a few times during his childhood. Uncle Ronald and Aunt Nancy were so different from his parents; they were actually fun to be around. Nancy who had spent her entire young life in New York, suddenly decided to move to Arizona. One Saturday night, toward the end of World War II, she and a couple of girlfriends decided to attend a dance at the USO downtown. There she met and fell in love with Ronald Porter, an Air Force pilot who was in New York City waiting to be shipped overseas to the war arena. After he joined the allies in Great Britain, they faithfully wrote weekly letters to each other. When the war was over, Ronald returned to New York, found Nancy, proposed to her, and whisked her away to Arizona.

Nancy, you can’t be serious about moving, screamed her sister. You don’t know anything about this man and you don’t know anything about the place where he is taking you. Did you know that Indians still roam the hills in Arizona with their bows and arrows and attack residences in the middle of the night?

Marsha, you have been watching way too many John Wayne movies. Arizona isn’t as crowded as New York nor as sophisticated, but it has electricity, running water, and even indoor bathrooms, laughed Nancy.

How are you two getting to Arizona?

By train. I’m so excited to see the countryside from a train window all the way from New York to the Wild West.

But Nancy, stuttered her sister. You can’t travel with a man you aren’t married to, it’s immoral.

We will be traveling in coach, so we will be seated for all of the five days it will take us to reach our destination and we are getting married at his family’s ranch shortly after we arrive. It will be all prim and proper.

Arthur arrived in Phoenix the month before he had to report to school in Tucson. Aunt Nancy and Uncle Ronald met him at the airport with their faithful chauffeur, Charles. All three were inside the waiting area when he deplaned.

Aunt Nancy ran up to him with a big hug and a kiss, Arthur, we are so thrilled you are here. We have so many things to show you in Phoenix before you run off to Tucson.

Uncle Ronald shook his hand and quietly said, Son, welcome to Arizona.

Charles gathered Arthur’s carry-on belongings and led the way to where they would pick up the rest of his suitcases. As they waited at the baggage carousel, they talked.

Aunt Nancy wrapped her arm around his shoulder, Marsha told me you are interested in becoming an architect, is that true?

Yes, Aunt Nancy, I’ve always loved old buildings and discovered I have a knack for drawing and recreating them on paper. Living in New York, I took pleasure in looking at classic buildings and analyzing what made them unique. You know like Grand Central Station, the Empire State Building, and, my favorite, the art-deco Chrysler Building. I hope they will inspire me to create my own special buildings that will generate timeless passion, warmth, and joy.

Well, you picked the right place to begin your career. All over Arizona there are housing developments, office structures, government buildings, and department stores being built. You will have enough business until you are old enough to retire. Nancy looked at her young nephew and laughed. You can’t even imagine growing old; can you?

Arthur smiled and shook his head.

Charles drove them to the Porter’s ranch in Scottsdale. Aunt Nancy explained that when they first moved to Arizona, Ron’s family owned a huge chunk of land where they raised horses and cows. In the 1950s, after air-conditioned homes became common, more people started to move to Phoenix, and the Porter family discovered that using their land for building new homes was a lot more profitable and a lot easier than ranching. Ron’s father gave each of his children a two-acre plot to build a home and sold the rest of his land to developers. Ronald and Nancy’s home sat on a hill with a spectacular view. It was a sizable home and their household help included Charles who doubled as a butler, handyman, and chauffeur and Maria who cooked, cleaned, and also functioned as Aunt Nancy’s party planner and social secretary.

You know Arthur, Ronald said as he sat down at the breakfast bar. Speaking of becoming an architect, I actually designed this house myself.

Really, this house is amazing. I thought you were in the insurance business, Uncle Ronald? Where did you learn the art of design? Did you study it in college?

Aunt Nancy flicked the back of Ron’s head with her bent fingers and smiled, Okay, tell the boy what you really mean when you said ‘you designed this house.’

Ronald laughed, Actually what I meant was that I had an idea of what I wanted our home to look like and I filled up some paper with my chicken scratches and took them to a bona fide architect. He turned my scribbling into plans for this house and I hired a builder. Ronald spread his arms to include the whole estate.

I included two bungalows in the back of the property. Charles and his wife live in one; and Maria lives in the other. When Marie, a widow, first moved in she had two small children who lived with her. Her children are now grown and gone.

Listening to his aunt and uncle’s stories and looking at all the framed pictures that showed their family, their friends, and pictures from their vacations encouraged Arthur to dream about a life so completely different than the one he had been living. What a different life his aunt and uncle had led compared to his parents. In his family’s apartment there were no actual photographs of his parents, or of him or his sisters. One portrait hung in the hallway, a painting of his family when he and his sisters were very young.

What a lovely home you have here and all these pictures show quite an exciting and busy life. Arizona is really beautiful, I had no idea, Arthur expressed to his Aunt Nancy.

When Ron brought me here back in 1946, I, too, was shocked at the alluring landscape of the desert. And I was pleasantly surprised that the people were so friendly and helpful, very different from standoffish New Yorkers. We have accumulated so many friends and acquaintances here; our social calendar is full all the time.

Arthur asked about his cousin, How’s Walter? What’s he doing now?

Aunt Nancy patted him on the back, Walter is in San Francisco. He hated Phoenix and our lifestyle. He’s trying to find out who he is and what he wants out of life.

Uncle Ronald groaned. The subject didn’t come up again. Arthur was surprised to see Walter a couple of years later at a Christmas Eve dinner party at the Porter’s home. Walter had recently moved to Sacramento, taken a job with the U.S. Department of the Interior, and moved in with an interesting looking girl that he had met in San Francisco. He brought Missy with him to the Christmas gala much to his parents’ chagrin. Arthur smiled as he thought to himself, Well, I guess Walter finally found himself.

The week before he left the Porter’s home to move into his dorm in Tucson, Uncle Ronald gave Arthur a set of keys and walked him out to the garage. He explained that an older model tan Ford pickup was seldom used and Arthur would be doing him a favor if he would drive it while attending college. Plus, Uncle Ronald said as he winked, It will give you wheels to come back to visit us frequently. That would make your aunt very happy. And, I, too, would enjoy seeing you on a regular basis.

Arthur discovered he liked Tucson and fit in with the university’s student population. He enjoyed his classes and two weeks after moving into the dorm, he met Nora at the University Library. He was looking for a book in the biology section that would explain the anatomy of a human cell when he spotted a young girl sitting on the floor in the middle of the row. She was surrounded with open books and looked up at him. She had short black hair and beautiful deep-blue eyes. A sprinkling of freckles gave her an impish look of mischief. She smiled at him.

Hi, my name is Nora Baxter, she said as she extended her hand. Can I help you find something? I know this section of the library like the back of my hand.

At that moment, Arthur fell madly in love with this charming young girl; it took Nora a little longer to reciprocate. Arthur was charismatic and attentive, qualities that Nora admired, but she resisted when he asked her out to dinner to repay her helpfulness in helping him find the perfect book he needed for his research. Arthur was persistent, something he learned from his mother. Nora gave in, and soon they were dating every weekend. Arthur captivated her with stories of growing up in New York, his crazy wealthy parents, and his selfish, self-absorbed sisters. When he was ready for a commitment, again Nora resisted. She wanted to finish her schooling and find a meaningful job. Nora was majoring in biology; she wanted to do medical research. She wanted to help find cures for disease and relieve the world of disabling afflictions. Besides, this young boy was only a freshman; Nora was in her junior year and needed a Master’s Degree to do the work she felt compelled to do. Arthur was tenacious; Nora abandoned her arguments and fell helplessly in love with this captivating East Coast boy.

In the spring of 1973, Nora graduated with a Master’s of Science in Clinical Translational Science and Arthur received his Bachelor of Architecture, they began looking for jobs in the Tucson area. But when Nora was offered a position at the Barrow Neurological Research Institute at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Arthur decided to look in Phoenix for architect positions. He wasn’t going to let this vibrant, beautiful, spirited woman escape. He was thrilled when he was offered an architect apprenticeship at the prestigious firm of Kraft and Wilson Architecture, Inc., just a few miles from Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Nora and Arthur were married four months after graduation in the garden patio of Uncle Ronald and Aunt Nancy’s home. Arthur’s parents flew to Phoenix to attend the ceremony and meet their new daughter-in-law. They were not impressed with the desert scenery, social casualness, or the cowboy atmosphere of the Wild West where their son and his new bride were taking up residence. That was Douglas and Marsha’s first and last trip to Arizona.

CHAPTER THREE

The Apartment

Arthur’s parents, Douglas and Marsha Strong, had moved into their apartment on New York’s Upper East Side seven months after their fabulous wedding that was called the social event of the 1946 social season. This picturesque building was seventeen stories high and contained twenty-seven apartments, and the location was perfect. It was located on Fifth Avenue and Eighty-Fifth Street. Rosario Candela designed the apartments in the 1930s, and the Strong’s luxurious apartment was 5,300 square feet. It contained five bedrooms, a living room, library, dining room, kitchen, wine room, and three rooms for live-in staff members. After their three children arrived, Mrs. Strong felt the apartment was a little too small, but every time Douglas brought up the subject of moving. Marsha refused.

Marsha, we can move to a larger residence with more rooms. I can have my real estate man scout out some places that we can check out. I know they are building some beautiful, modern apartments close to my office.

No, Douglas, I have a feeling this apartment building is very special, and I love the location. It is so convenient for everything I need. We will just manage with a more confined space and make do.

In 1964, the building was humming with a new rumor. A very special new tenant had purchased the apartment on the fifteenth floor. Jacqueline Kennedy and her two children would occupy a mirror image dwelling, one floor below the Strong’s apartment. Some of the residents were concerned that tourists, fans of Mrs. Kennedy, and reporters would invade their privacy, while others were thrilled that this world-famous woman and her security staff would be living in their building.

At their Thanksgiving celebration, the Strong’s dinner table was filled with conversation about the former first lady. They were all hoping to meet her and perhaps become friends. That fall Arthur began attending a boarding school, Phillips Exeter Academy, which is located in New Hampshire and considered a feeder school to Harvard. Arthur’s sister, Claudia was attending Deerfield Academy in Western Massachusetts, just thirty miles north of Springfield, and Melissa was now the only child still living at home. The Thanksgiving break was the first time the Strong