1929 (48 page)

The platform was growing more congested, and
the group stayed huddled together as they waited for passengers to
disembark the train.

“Excited?” Jonathan asked Ava quietly.

“I am. I just wish–”

“I know. Me, too. But I promise we’ll bring
her out. It’s not goodbye. It’s goodbye for now,” he reminded and
pulled her under his arm as people pushed and shoved past them.

The whistle blew and the conductor announced
the time and destination, stepping aside as people shoved onto the
train. Jonathan stopped to let two older couples board ahead of
them. As someone nearly bowled Arianna over, he caught her before
she went sprawling and put her in front of him. He turned around
and grabbed Caleb by the front of the coat.

“I know you’re wrapped up in having to deal
with your dad, but that jackass nearly knocked her to the ground.
Wake up and take care of your wife,” he yelled and pushed him back
a couple of inches with irritation. Caleb was wide-eyed and alert
now. Jonathan turned to board the train and someone pulled at the
back of his coat. He spun around and his face lifted in surprise.
Ava pushed past him with outstretched arms.

“Maura!”

“Ye dint think I’d let ye leave town without
sayin’ goodbye, now, did ye?” She hugged Ava tightly with tears in
her eyes.

“Ian said you were gone the whole week,” Ava
squeaked.

“Well, the missus’ wee one got sick, and she
wanted him to see the doctor here in town. We just got in this
marnin’, and when Ian told me ye were leaving, well, I had him
bring me here as fast as he could. Looks like we’re just in
time.”

The whistle blew again, the platform crowd
now thinned and the conductor announced last boarding call.

Ava didn’t want to let her go. “Promise
you’ll come see me. Promise?”

She pulled away from Ava and held her face.
“I promise, love. You’ve not seen the last o’ me.” Ava reluctantly
stepped away, wiping her face and Maura reached for Jonathan. “Ye
take care of yourself, Mr. Jonathan.”

“Thank you, Maura.” He hugged her
briefly.

As the whistle blew one last time, the train
lurched forward and slowly began inching along the track. Jonathan
lifted Ava up into the door. He hopped up to the first step and
held the railing as he turned, the train moving slightly faster
now. He reached in his pocket and pulled out the cross, holding it
up for Maura to see. He called out over the loud chug of the steam
engine. “I’ve carried it every day, Maura.”

Tears blurred her vision and she bit her lip.
She waved briefly before turning to Ian.

∞∞∞

Jonathan waited until the city was well
behind them before he walked back to the smoking car. He sat down,
lit a cigar, and watched the scenery as it passed. Caleb joined him
a few moments later, sitting silently. Jonathan leaned to hand him
a cigar.

“I’m sorry to get on you like that back
there, but she almost got hurt.”

“No. It was called for. I wasn’t paying
attention. I’m glad you were.” He puffed on the cigar and sat
back.

“It’s not just with Arianna.” Jonathan looked
at him gravely. “I need you to be alert and focused all round. What
we’re about to do.” He exhaled and shook his head. “It isn’t going
to be easy. In fact, it’s crossed my mind that we might be
crazy.”

“Well, I could have told you that,” Caleb
said with a short laugh.

“In all seriousness, Caleb, we’re going to
have to work night and day to make this happen. It’s going to take
every ounce of energy and concentration, and I can’t have you
distracted like this. Whatever you need to do to set things right
with your old man, do it, and get it over with.”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about that.” Caleb
rubbed his forehead in frustration. “I’m hoping that the baby will
be somewhat of an icebreaker. Maybe soften him up a little.”

“I’d have a backup plan in your pocket just
in case. Look, I was talking to Aryl last night. If it gets too
bad, we think you should get a place of your own sooner rather than
later.”

Caleb shook his head. “That wouldn’t be fair.
We should all get set up at the same time.”

“You have different circumstances than the
rest of us, Caleb. Think of–”

“If you say ‘think of the baby’, I swear,
I’ll throw you off this train. You can walk the rest of the way to
Rockport.”

“I was going to say think of what it will be
like a few months down the road when your mother and Arianna have
had nothing to do but bump around the same kitchen together.”

Caleb grimaced. “I see your point.”

“See your point about what?” Aryl sat in
between them, holding his hand out for a cigar.

“How wonderfully Arianna and his mother will
get along when they’ve had nothing to do but look at each other for
weeks on end,” Jonathan said and grinned. Aryl laughed
sarcastically as he lit his cigar.

“You’re some help,” Caleb grumbled and
dropped his head in his hands. “What am I gonna do?”

“Manage as long as you can. If it gets to be
too much, say the word and we’ll use savings to get you guys in
your own place,” Jonathan said and removed the cigar from his
fingers before Caleb set his own hair on fire. Caleb grumbled
again.

“Either way, I’m stuck doing something I
don’t want to do.”

Jonathan, to a certain degree, felt sorry for
Caleb. But he knew he would come through this and with Arianna
distracted, he may get the chance to wear the pants in their
relationship for a change.

“It doesn’t matter what you want to do.” He
leaned forward to Caleb's head, Aryl followed instinctively, both
grinning. Jonathan continued, “What you need to do . . .” Aryl
chimed in with him, “. . . is think of the baby.”

Caleb came up fast and shoved Jonathan hard,
swearing under his breath.

∞∞∞

“I’m sorry, Caleb, your father couldn’t make
it.” Aryl’s father shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away.
“He sent his truck and hired hand to help with the trunks.”

Caleb looked at the shiny, black Model-T
pick-up he had bought for his father a few years earlier. It looked
as new as the day he had bought it, and he was glad he hadn’t
gotten rid of it out of spite. Or necessity. “Your mom is real
excited to see you. She said to tell you she’s putting the
finishing touches on your room.” Caleb nodded an uncomfortable
acknowledgment and Michael turned to Jonathan. “Your dad here
yet?”

“Looks like he’s running a little late.” He
checked the crowds and the road. An old, decrepit vehicle pulled in
and sputtered to a stop. His father and mother got out, spotted him
immediately, and waved. Ava tugged on Jonathan’s sleeve.

“Why isn’t he driving the car you sent him?”
Jonathan shrugged, although he had a good idea why.

“Jonathan, welcome home.” Jonathan’s mother
hugged him and then Ava. “Your father and I were so happy to hear
you were coming. We have a room all ready for you.”

“Well, we don’t expect to stay with you long.
And we’re sorry for the short notice.” His mother waved off the
inconvenience and grabbed onto Ava, leading her back to the
car.

Aryl called to Jonathan and Caleb. “Monday,
we’ll meet at Pigeon Cove marina at dawn.”

Jonathan waved as he and his father slowly
walked toward the car.

“So, what’s your plan, son? I know you must
have a few tricks up your sleeve, or you wouldn’t be here. I think
it’s an excellent idea, by the way, to come back home and redesign
your strategy. I’ve been talking to some friends in Boston. They
are about to jump back in. There’s been a small but steady rise
since Christmas, and they think it’s gonna take off like a shot
come spring, and they’re going to ride it back up. Been dying to
talk to you about how you’re going to get back in.”

“We’ll talk later.” Jonathan pointed to the
car. “What happened to the one I had delivered last year? And what
is that thing anyway?” He laughed at the shoddy relic his father
drove.

“Well, I appreciate the thought, but that
Tudor you sent me was breaking down left and right. I spent more
time waiting for parts and having it fixed than I got to enjoy it.
I bought old reliable here, a 1918 Tourer. Hasn’t broke down on me
once.”

Jonathan looked over the open cab and
tattered canvas top. “This can't do too well in the winter,” he
assumed.

“Does just fine. We bundle up,” he said
curtly and climbed into the driver’s seat.

Caleb and the hired hand loaded the trunks
and drove carefully over the bumps and ruts of the gravel roads.
They dropped off Jonathan’s trunk and then Aryl’s before returning
to the farm. The hired hand chose to sit in the back where the
trunks had been.

Caleb turned up the long, dirt road to his
parents’ house, and a knot grew in his stomach. The burly farmhand
hoisted the trunk by himself and carried it in the back door as
Caleb’s mother directed him what room to put it in upstairs. When
she turned, Caleb was in the doorway, Arianna holding open the
screen door behind him.

“Hey, Mom.” He surveyed the room but saw no
sign of his father.

“Well, don’t you look good!” Ethel hugged him
and smiled over his shoulder at Arianna. “And you, too, but you’re
way too thin!” She hugged her carefully and gave her stomach a pat.
“Gonna have to fatten you up. Give me a few minutes to finish
dinner. In the meantime, I’ll show you your room. You can get
settled.”

They followed her upstairs to Caleb’s old
bedroom.

“It’s all cleaned and dusted, and we brought
grandma’s old bureau out of the barn and polished that up for you
to use. The room is cold from airing out all day, but you can close
the window, if you’d like. Of course, we’ll give it a good cleaning
again before the baby comes.”

“Well, I doubt we’ll be here that long,”
Caleb said, looking away from his mother. “But we appreciate you
putting us up for now.”

“Well, we’ll see what happens. You two come
down when you’re all settled, and I’ll have some dinner for you.”
She turned to leave and Caleb stopped her at the door.

“Where’s Dad?” Her smile dropped and she
looked apologetic.

“He’s out working in the barn. Said he’d see
you later tonight or tomorrow.”

“I suppose nothing’s changed,” he said
quietly, looking at the floor. She tilted her head to the side with
a look of pity and put a hand on his cheek.

“It’ll work itself out, don’t worry. He’s
just a stubborn, old coot. He was happy to hear about his
grandchild, though. He started refinishing your rocking horse.
Remember that?” Caleb smiled, recalling his favorite toy as a
child. She left the room, closing the door behind her and they took
a good look around. There was a full-size bed with an ancient quilt
and basic metal frame centered along the wall. On the opposite wall
set the old bureau, and on a side wall was a cabinet with a blue
washbasin and pitcher.

“Well, it’s bigger than our old room–cleaner,
too,” Arianna said.

“It’s pretty bad when moving in with your
parents is a step up.” Caleb sat down on the bed and the old,
spring frame squeaked loudly. “Great.”

∞∞∞

Jonathan noticed the things that weren’t
there; the grandfather clock Jonathan had shipped to his parents
from London, several pieces of art from Paris, furniture and
souvenirs from his travels over the last few years. The entire
house, in fact, was sparsely decorated and seemed almost
hollow.

As his father helped him carry the trunk up
the stairs, he was nervous, making excuses for the missing items
before even asked: given to charity or broken or out being repaired
or, Jonathan’s favorite, tucked away safe because of a rash of
burglaries.

“Crime has gotten that bad in Rockport?”
Jonathan asked sarcastically.

“Better safe than sorry, son.” He avoided his
son’s eyes and set the trunk down carefully in the center of the
room. He and Ava unpacked the trunk until his mother called them
down for a late dinner.

His father passed the casserole dish and
looked at Jonathan. “Did the house sell before you left, or is it
still on the market? I know there are not a lot of buyers right
now. Especially in the high-priced neighborhood you lived in. I
hope you didn’t have to mark it down too much.”

“We lost the house, Dad,” Jonathan spoke
numbly and didn’t look up.

“What do you mean you lost it? It was paid
for!”

“I know.”

Ava only pretended to eat, glancing nervously
from father to son as Jonathan continued uncomfortably.

“When everything shook out, I owed so much
money to the bank, they took everything. My cars, house, firm,
furniture. Everything. It was gone in an instant. And I still owe
money.”

His father stared at him, dumbfounded. “Well,
what have you been doing then? All this time?” Jonathan put his
fork down, leaned back and crossed his arms. He had no desire to
narrate the events from October to January; a period in his life
that he would just prefer to forget.

“Haven’t you been getting Ava’s letters?
She’s been writing, and I know she hasn’t been putting on airs
about our situation.”

“Yes, we’ve gotten them, but there was
nothing saying it was this bad. It sounded like you were on your
way back up. Or at least working on a plan.” Jon Sr. looked at his
wife, confused.

Ava’s mouth dropped and she looked at
Jonathan. “But I told them exactly–”

“Mom?” Jonathan watched his mother as she
nervously fidgeted with her silverware.

“It was that bad, Jon,” she spoke
apprehensively to her husband as she explained herself. “I didn’t
want to alarm you. I polished up what Ava was writing and added in
a few things here and there, so you wouldn’t worry.” Jon Sr. threw
his napkin on the table.