1929 (42 page)

∞∞∞

“I was thinking,” Jonathan started as they
got ready for bed, “and I decided that we shouldn’t wait any longer
to start a family.”

“Jon, we’ve been over this,” Ava said,
exasperated.

“Yes, I know we’ve been over it. Several
times. And you remain unconvinced.”

“Due to the fact that we’re not ready,” she
said and slipped under the covers.

“And I say we are,” he said, joining her and
rolling to his side. “If we keep waiting for the perfect time, Ava,
it’s never going to come. If we hold out until our life is more
like it used to be, well, that’s not going to happen either.”

He moved closer to her and put an arm around
her waist as she lay on her back, staring at the ceiling in the
dark, unmoved by his emotional plea.

“Ava. If there is anything I have learned
these last few months, it’s that things can change in the blink of
an eye. Six months ago, I would have never imagined that I would be
living here, doing what I do for a living and happy to be scraping
together pennies toward a better life. And one month ago, I
couldn’t have imagined that I would be lying here next to you at
all, much less trying to talk you into having my baby.” She didn’t
understand the first part of his last sentence but let him
continue. “You never know when things are going to drastically
change. The last few months have made my head spin. We can’t live
our lives waiting for the perfect time. It’s never going to come.
We have to go ahead and deal with the setbacks as they come.”

“Jonathan.” Finances weren't the only thing
that made her reluctant. She took a deep breath, not comfortable
speaking of Jonathan’s dark time. This would be the first time she
spoke directly of his depression. “It feels like I just got you
back. I don’t know where you went for those few months, but in both
your heart and your head, you weren’t here with me.”

“I know and I’m so sorry. I know that was
hell on you, and you have no idea how grateful I am that you stayed
by my side. That time is hard for me to explain. I had to hit the
bottom before I could see things clearly enough to pull myself out.
But I’m not going back, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

He found her hand under the covers, pulled it
up to his mouth, kissed it, and then put it over his heart.

“I swear to you. I’m not going anywhere.”

She felt his heartbeat and the warm skin of
his chest and had the overwhelming urge to move closer to him.
Instinctively, he moved his hand to the small of her back to hold
her to him and she touched his face.

“Do you promise?”

“I promise.”

“Alright, I’ll think about it,” she
relented.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

February 15th 1930

Following the instructions written on their
homemade cards, Ava, Claire and Arianna walked into Aryl’s
apartment at six o’clock, sat at the table and waited patiently for
dinner. A sheet was tacked over the entrance of the kitchen, and
jazz played on the radio.

“Whose idea was this anyway?” Ava
whispered.

“Aryl’s. Since no one could buy anything for
Valentine’s Day yesterday, they planned to provide dinner and
entertainment for the evening,” Claire said.

“I can’t wait to see the entertainment.” Ava
laughed.

A loud sizzle followed by swearing came from
the crowded kitchen. Aryl poked his head out from around the
sheet.

“Everything’s fine, but, uh, dinner will be a
little later than expected,” he said and ducked back in.

Pots banged, and more sizzles, pops and
swearing came from behind the sheet. The women held back laughter
at the sounds of obvious struggling and shook their heads in
pity.

“Maybe someone should go help them?” Claire
whispered.

“No, this is good for them,” Arianna insisted
with a smile.

A burnt smell floated from the kitchen and
there were more fervent whispers and cursing.

Finally, twenty minutes later, each of them
emerged with two plates, and the girls did their best to look
impressed when dinner was set in front of them; charred bits of
steak, cold baked potatoes, and carrots boiled to mush.

“It looks great,” Claire said.

“It does. You guys did a great job,” Ava
said, and leaned over to give Jonathan a quick kiss.

“I don’t know if the baby likes carrots,”
Arianna said, picking at her food.

Caleb visibly bit his tongue as he nursed the
burn on his hand.

“Have you thought of any names?” Jonathan
asked as everyone started eating.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t tell me you’d thought of names.”
Caleb looked at Arianna.

“I thought we could name it after my father,
if it’s a boy, and my mother, if it’s a girl,” she said.

“Well, I have relatives, too, you know,” he
said, irritated.

“Actually, it’s customary to name the first
boy after the father and the middle name given for a relative,”
Aryl pointed out, trying to quell Caleb’s irritation.

“Well, I decided it’s going to be a girl
anyway, so all that doesn’t matter,” Arianna said and smiled.

“How do you know?” Caleb’s head whipped
around.

“I just know,” she said. “Maybe I’ll name her
after myself. After all, a little girl would surely be just like
me.”

Caleb’s fork stopped mid-air and color
drained from his face. Jonathan and Aryl struggled not to laugh and
changed the subject to plans for the new building for the remainder
of dinner. Arianna only interrupted three times with statements
about the baby.

After dinner, Aryl changed the radio station
to slower music, and Jonathan lit candles on the mantel, which
illuminated Claire's mural beautifully.

“When did you finish it?” Ava asked. The
bright yellow light shone through the billowing storm clouds over
the churning ocean. The quaint, white cottage set behind the
lighthouse, and the sky was lit with fiery shades of red and orange
on the horizon behind it.

“Just the other day,” Claire said. “I’m going
to hate to leave it. I think working on that has kept me sane.”

“I’m sure it will make the next tenants very
happy,” Ava said. “And you can begin another one in the new
place.”

The lights were turned off suddenly. Ava gave
her eyes a second to adjust. Each man migrated toward the one who
held his heart and asked her to dance in his own unique way.

“Would you honor me, Mrs. Garrett?” Jonathan
asked and, without waiting for an answer, took her hand and slipped
an arm around her waist. She smiled and rested one hand behind his
neck as he placed her other, held within his, over his heart. She
looked up to tell him what a sweet evening it had been, but her
words caught, paralyzed by the intensity of his eyes.

She noticed many things in that brief moment;
how he carried himself with dignity, his shoulders back with
confidence and, especially, the way he held her like she belonged
to him. She was sure he was hers again, returned from that dark,
isolated place he went to, leaving her lonely and scared. She felt
it was impossible to get close enough to him.

Aryl asked silently with a desirous stare
that made Claire blush as he pulled her close and began to
lead.

“Would you and the baby like to dance?” Caleb
asked flatly. Arianna smiled, kicked off her shoes so they would
stand eye-to-eye and took his hand.

Holding her close was torture as he had been
deprived of her for weeks. With a strained expression, he inhaled
the scent of her hair as she rested her head on his shoulder.
Against his better judgment, he let his hands follow the contours
of her back, waist, and hips. He let out a ragged breath, closed
his eyes, put his lips on her neck, and ignored the voice in his
head that warned him he was only intensifying his agony.

One song ended and another began. Caleb
wondered how long he would be able to enjoy her like this despite
the fact that he would pay dearly for it later. Unconsciously he
held her tighter as they danced until she pulled away. He
apologized before she could scold him for squeezing her too tight.
She ignored his assumption.

“I was going to tell you how nice this was.
We haven’t done this in a very long time.” He stared at her lips as
she spoke and then focused on her eyes.

“It is nice. Difficult, but nice.” He
hesitantly leaned in and she closed the gap between them and kissed
him, soft and teasing. He was the one to pull away after only a
moment.

“You’re a cruel woman,” he whispered. “I
can’t take much more of that.” She grinned sadistically, arched her
back, slowly devoured his neck with kisses, and ran her fingers up
his neck into his hair. He swallowed hard and grit his teeth. “I
really need you to stop doing that.”

She ignored his pleas, toyed with his shirt
buttons, and left a trail of lipstick kisses under his chin to the
other side of his neck. He squeezed his eyes shut, let his head
fall and clenched two fistfuls of her dress . “Arianna please,
please go talk to Dr. Westley.” She moved her lips to his ear.

“I did.”

“You did? When? What did he say?” he was
whispering loudly, but the others didn’t appear to notice.

Her seductive eyes danced as she whispered,
“Happy Valentine’s Day.”

A sharp knock on the door jolted the couples
from the quiet, contented places they had found in each other's
arms, and Aryl pulled away with a reluctant sigh.

“Telegram for Mr. Aryl Sullivan,” a young,
uniformed messenger announced.

“That’s me,” Aryl said. The boy handed him a
paper and lingered for a tip, but Aryl had none to give. He mumbled
a thank you, closed the door, and began reading the telegram.

“Who’s it from?” Claire asked, turning on the
overhead before standing beside him.

Caleb had ignored the interruption
altogether, not caring if President Hoover himself were knocking,
he refused to move one inch from Arianna.

Jonathan still held Ava close, although they
had stopped dancing, and an ominous feeling came over him as Aryl
looked at Claire, his brow furrowed.

“My uncle died,” he whispered and looked back
at the telegram to read it again.

“Oh, Aryl, I’m so sorry,” Claire said.

He sat down at the table numbly, still
holding the telegram. They all knew how close he had been to his
uncle, growing up. Jonathan turned off the radio. Claire and his
friends surrounded him as the sweet and romantic evening turned
very somber. Aryl absorbed the news in silence. He held his head in
his hands and sighed repeatedly.

“You need to go back for the funeral, Aryl,”
Jonathan said, breaking the silence.

“No.” Aryl shook his head. It was obvious he
was fighting tears as he cleared his throat. “That would throw our
plans off. We only have two weeks left. We can’t get off track
now.”

“It can still happen. We’ll figure it out,”
Jonathan tried to sound assuring.

“It’s too close and you know it, Jon.”

Jonathan looked down, knowing Aryl was right.
There was no way they could replace train fare and one week missed
wages in the time before taking over the building. Arianna nudged
Caleb to get his attention and he followed her out the door.

A few minutes later, they rejoined the others
at the table.

“Aryl, you need to be with your family. I
want you to take these,” Arianna said, holding out a small velvet
bag. “They should be worth enough to get you to Rockport and back,
maybe with some left over.” Aryl took the bag and out fell two
diamond earrings. “They weren’t listed on the insurance paperwork
when we left. We were saving them for an emergency.”

“Arianna, I can’t take these–”

“You can and you will,” Caleb ordered.

“You have a baby to think about. You should
use this for him,” Aryl said insistently and pushed the bag
away.

“Believe me, Aryl, we think about the baby
plenty these days,” Caleb said. “It’ll be fine. Go home and say
goodbye to your uncle. For all of us,” he said. He held the bag out
until Aryl reluctantly took it from him.

“Thank you. Both of you.” Aryl gave a weak
smile through sad eyes with gratitude.

“See if you guys can get out on the train
tomorrow. I’ll talk to Roman on Monday,” Jonathan offered.

Ava looked at the faces of her friends. Just
moments ago, everyone was blissfully happy and wrapped in the arms
of the ones they loved. Now there were sad faces and heavy hearts.
She looked at Jonathan and remembered his words. Things can change
in the blink of an eye. She reached for his hand and held it
tightly. Aryl thanked everyone for coming and thanked Caleb and
Arianna again for the earrings.

When the door shut behind them, he walked
straight to the bedroom and lay down in the dark. Claire followed,
nestling in next to him. He took a deep breath and exhaled hard,
unable to hold himself together any longer. With a hard shake, he
pulled Claire to him and cried soft, uneven sobs into her
shoulder.

February 16th 1930

The train pulled into Boston a half-hour
early. Aryl glanced around, looking for his father as he helped
Claire down the step.

Walking over to the bench near the ticket
office to wait, Claire gasped when Aryl unexpectedly grabbed her by
the waist and pinned her against the wall. Just as Claire was about
to scold him for embarrassing her with such an outward display of
affection in public, a group of drunken and raucous servicemen
bantered past, knocking everything and everyone out of their
way.

She smiled up at him. “My hero.”

Aryl decided to take advantage of the
situation and stole a kiss.

“You kids and your lewd behavior,” Aryl’s
father chided from a few feet away.