Mary and Alvin Ch. 07

The Grove

All morning, Mary's thoughts kept drifting to Alvin and the story he had told her of Bonnie, of his love and of his loss. She had told him to take the day for himself, but she longed to reach out to him, to hear this voice and ask him if he was okay. He was good at doing his taciturn New England thing, but she could tell how much he still hurt, despite his attempts at maintaining a granite exterior. That frightened her, not because she thought he might do harm to himself or that he could not bear up under his pain, but because she was hesitantly admitting the strength of her feelings for him, and she feared he would not be able to open his wounded heart to her.

She felt the need to talk to someone, so she texted her friend Kelly and offered to treat her to lunch at the China Garden. Kelly immediately agreed.

As they munched on spring rolls, Mary told Kelly about her visit to Alvin's house, and their late night conversation.

"You told me, Kel, the first time we talked about him, that I was competing with a ghost. I see now what you meant."

Kelly shrugged, "Well, you do have some advantages in that contest, right? Being warm flesh and all."

Mary laughed at that, but spoke seriously. "I just wonder about what's bottled up inside, you know, when a guy tries to hold all those feelings in. And really, he's not that good at it. You can hear the emotion in his voice when he talks about her, or about his daughters."

Kelly nodded. "I remember at Bonnie's funeral..."

"You went to her funeral?"

"Sure. My mom worked with her at the hospital. Anyway, I remember Alvin sitting there, with Jen and Charlotte, and thinking, how does he not just break apart? And, then, with Bonnie's dad..."

"What happened with her dad?"

"He just totally lost it. Well, her mom had died like a year before, so there's that. But at the end of the service, when everyone was leaving the grave, he just broke down. Fell on his knees, just wailing."

"Oh, the poor man."

"And there was Alvin," Kelly continued, "went right to him and lifted him up and put his arms around him and held him. I remember that so clearly. Bonnie's dad with his head against Alvin's chest, just weeping his heart out, and Alvin holding him and comforting him. I thought, how does he do that? Hold his shit together like that? You could see how much he was hurting himself."

Mary looked down at the table. "Kelly, what I am afraid of is that the wall that holds that in is the same wall that will block me out."

Kelly thought for a minute, then shook her head. "You are missing the main point, Mary."

"What's that?"

"Do you think he ever sat up till the wee hours telling anyone else all about it? Talking about his feelings? Jeezum crow, I frickin' doubt it."

Mary was sure that Kelly was right, and took some solace from that. Her mood lightened as the day when on.

When she got home, she found an envelope tucked into the edge of her door. She opened it and took out a small card. The front was adorned with a colorful drawing of balloons and the words, "You are invited!" The message inside, filled in by a delicate hand that surely was not Alvin's, was an announcement of a "Summer Homecoming Party for Jennifer and Danielle", to be held on Saturday at Alvin's house, beginning at five o'clock.

She kicked off her shoes and plopped down on the couch. She looked at the card again. All day, she had thought about calling Alvin, despite her own suggestion that he take the day to focus on himself. But she really wanted to hear his voice, and wasn't it just polite to RSVP for the party? Without another thought, she dialed his number.

Alvin was lying flat on his back in the hold of Tom Woodward's sailboat when his phone rang. He was holding a flashlight in his mouth while he felt around a tangle of wires beneath the boat's instrument panel, trying to learn why it had lost power. He fished the phone from his pocket, saw that it was Mary and spit the flashlight out on to the floor.

"Hi, you busy?" Mary asked when he answered.

"Nope, just lying around."

"Oh, good. You must be tired, you didn't get much sleep last night."

"Oh, I'll be finishing up here in just a bit."

"The reason I called is that I got an invitation to a party Saturday."

"Well, it ain't no Hollywood soiree, just family and a few friends, having a cookout and such. Jen and her girl will be coming down from Orono for the summer. Just a little welcome home thing."

"I really appreciate that you thought to invite me."

"I will take some credit, but Jen made a point that she wanted to get a good look at you."

"You've been telling her about me."

"Not me. She's got spies, I think. I'm of an opinion that she talks to the birds and forest creatures. You had any crows looking in your windows? Right sneaky bastards, those crows."

"Stop it. You're trying to keep me from freaking out about meeting your family."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Freaking out?"

"Trying to put a stop to it."

"No, of course not."

He crawled out from under the control board and sat up. "Listen, Mary. They'll like you because I like you."

"Charlotte will be there too?"

"Oh, you've got the whole gauntlet to run."

"I thought you were trying to reassure me."

"I'm just having a little fun with you. It will all be fine, don't worry."

"Should I bring anything?"

"If you brought something sweet, that might gain you a few points."

"Okay. Well, I'll see you Saturday."

"I'll look forward to it." He slipped his phone in his shirt pocket and pulled himself to his feet. He felt a twinge of pain in his back and smiled at the memory of the massage Mary had given him after he'd installed her air conditioner.

The sun was low in the west as Alvin climbed on to the wharf. He looked across the harbor. The trees on the far shore were aglow with the low angled light. A great flock of gulls flew overhead, returning to their island rookeries for the night. He checked in with Bobby, one of his part time summer helpers, and let him know he was going to head home. He was weary, having put in a long day after a short night's sleep. He didn't want to cook when he got home so he trudged up to the diner and asked Audrey to make him a cheeseburger and fries.

He was sitting at one of the picnic tables on the deck, sipping a Pepsi, when she brought out his food. She sat down across the table from him and took off her hairnet. Audrey had been running the Faulkner's Wharf Diner since Alvin was a kid. He thought of her more like an aunt than an employee.

"You look beat," she said to him as he bit into his burger.

"Didn't get much sleep last night."

"Out with your new girl, I suppose."

"Something like that."

"You think this one might be a keeper?"

"Might be," he shrugged.

Audrey stood up and stretched. "I can't make it Saturday, but I'll be glad to whip you up a plate of deviled eggs to take."

"Thank you, I'd like that."

She patted Alvin on the shoulder. "Lonesome sucks, dear," she told him, "Don't know why a body'd choose it."

Saturday was a gorgeous late June day. Mary drove out to Puddledock Road with all her windows open, enjoying the afternoon breeze and the smell of pines.

There were a half dozen cars parked in front of the house when she arrived. She got out, took a minute to straighten her dress, then reached in for the platter of cookies she had baked. It was her mother's special recipe, chocolate chip with coconut and macadamia nuts. As she approached the front door, she saw a dark haired boy sitting on the steps. She guessed that he was about eight years old.

"Hi," she said as she approached, "I'm Mary. What's your name?"

"Theo," he replied, "I came with my dad."

"What's your dad's name?"

"Timothy John Faulkner."

Mary resisted the urge to ask him his mother's name. "Nice to meet you Theo."

The boy was staring intently at her platter.

"Would you like a cookie?"

"Sure," he said. Mary held out the platter and he took one. "Thank you, Ma'am. Everybody is down to the grove."

"The grove? Where's that?"

He gestured to his left. "Around there and down the path. I'll show you."

Mary followed as he marched around the barn and along a weather beaten wooden fence. She looked over the pickets and realized with a start that it surrounded what had been Bonnie's garden.

They rounded the corner of the fence and walked down a well worn dirt path. A short way ahead of them, across a field of wild flowers, she saw a circle of tall pines, and within it she could see figures moving. She followed Theo into the cool shade under the trees and passed into a clearing, about fifty feet in diameter. A stone ringed fire pit sat in the center, surrounded by benches and an assortment of lawn chairs. To her right there was a grill, converted from an old oil drum, and a pair of picnic tables, laden with food and drinks.

She didn't see Alvin or Tim, and did not know anyone else, so she walked over to the picnic tables.

A woman was arranging food on a tray, and when she looked up, Mary knew who she was. There was no question she was cut from the same cloth as Alvin and Tim.

"You must be Mary," she said with a smile, "I'm Diana, Alvin's sister." She turned to a tall man standing by the grill, tending the coals. "This is my husband, Bob."

The man reached over and offered Mary his hand. "Bob Michaud, glad to meet you."

Mary put the platter of cookies down on the table and shook his hand.

"Alvin and Tim are over to the woodpile, getting ready to start the fire," Diana said, "They'll be right back. I see you met Theo."

"Yes, he was my guide. Very helpful."

Theo blushed and asked for another cookie. Mary looked at Diana. "You think it's okay?" she asked.

"Oh, hell yes," Diana replied, "We ain't that kind of family, dear, give the boy a cookie."

Theo took a cookie in each hand as Diana led Mary over to the other table and introduced her to her daughter Rachel, a pretty but shy sixteen year old.

"My boy, Andy, is in the Coast Guard. He's out your way, Sausalito, California."

"That's up by San Francisco."

Diana shrugged. "They could have stationed him in Rockland or Southwest Harbor but they sent him out to the west coast."

"Oh my god, you must be Mary," someone said in a loud voice. Mary turned around to see a young woman in jeans and a Maine Black Bears t-shirt striding toward her. Mary's first thought was that she looked remarkably like the picture of her mother that she had seen on the mantel.

"I'm Jennifer," she said, hugging Mary and kissing her cheek. "This is Danni."

The woman behind her was very tall, with olive skin and jet black hair. "Pleased to meet you," she said, shaking Mary's hand.

Mary had not known what you expect when meeting Alvin's daughters, but she had definitely not expected to be greeted with a hug and a kiss.

"Come on, let's sit down and talk," Jennifer said. Mary turned to Diana, who nodded to her.

"Sit, get to know each other," she said, "I'll call all of you to come help with the food in a little bit."

The three young women pulled up lawn chairs and sat down.

"So, you moved here from L.A.?" Jennifer asked, "Jeez, that's got to be some wicked culture shock."

"It's a change all right," Mary said, nodding, "But I am getting to like it here very much."

"Cool. Danni's a little weirded about living here." She took her girlfriend's hand. "She's a city girl."

"Oh? Where are you from?" Mary asked.

"Providence," Danni replied, "I know it's not L.A. but it's still a city."

"So, what made you come to Maine to go to school?"

"Well, it's a good school, but mostly because I got an athletic scholarship."

"Really?"

"That's how we met," Jennifer jumped in, "on the basketball team."

Danni nodded. "It was a locker room romance," she said.

"So, who's the better player?" Mary asked.

"Oh her, for sure," Jennifer replied, "she's a starting forward, I'm a second string point guard. I can beat my dad at horse anytime though, so I got that going for me."

"So, you plan to make this into a real farm again?" Mary asked her.

Jennifer broke into a broad grin. "I definitely do. Later, if you want, we can take a walk around and I can show you some of our plans. First thing though, is we are going to build a house down near the pond. We hope to get it mostly up this summer, then move in after graduation next year."

"And I need to find a job," Danni shrugged.

"You won't have a problem," Jennifer told her. She turned to Mary and said "I keep telling her, these police departments up here are desperate to hire female officers. They have a real problem with domestic abuse cases and that."

"Makes sense," Mary said.

"Well, I hope so," Danni said.

Jennifer leaned over and kissed Danni's cheek. "Don't worry, sweetheart. You check off a lot of boxes for them. You're a gay Jewish Latina. Hiring you probably allows them to get a shitload of grants from the Feds or something."

Mary liked these two. She was starting to feel much more comfortable.

Alvin and Tim came into the clearing, each toting one end of a canvas tarp laden with firewood. They dumped it near the pit and Tim began building a fire while Alvin crossed the clearing to Mary. He bent down and kissed her cheek.

"I see you've met one of my monsters," Alvin said.

"Hey, I'm the frickin' guest of honor," Jennifer replied, swatting at her father. He turned to her, took her face in both his hands and kissed the top of her head.

"You're not a guest, you're home," he said.

A gaggle of Jennifer's friends arrived and she and Danni went over to greet them. Alvin sat down next to Mary.

"Seems you were getting along well," he said.

"She's really sweet. And Danni, too. I'm really glad she's here."

"Why's that?"

"I'm not the only outsider."

Alvin nodded. Looking up he said, "Here's Charlotte."

Mary watched Charlotte come into the grove. She was shorter than her younger sister and rounder of figure. Where Jennifer was a close likeness of her mother, Mary could see echoes of Alvin in Charlotte's face. She was accompanied by a handsome, broad shouldered young man. The hockey player, she recalled. She found it curious that both of Alvin's daughter's were partnered with athletes.

Alvin got up and held his hand to her. She took it and rose beside him. She thought he was just helping her up, but he held on as they crossed the clearing to greet his daughter.

Charlotte smiled when she saw her father, and held it when her eyes turned to her, but Mary thought she saw some of the warmth leave them.

"Hi Daddy," Charlotte said, giving Alvin a hug. Alvin, with one arm still around her, turned towards Mary.

"Charlotte, this is Mary," he said.

Charlotte nodded and said hello.

"It's very nice to meet you," Mary said, smiling and hoping that she looked sincere.

"And this is Jake," Alvin went on, pretending not to notice that the air was growing icy.

Jake held out his hand and Mary shook it. "You are a hockey player, I hear."

"Yes, well, for a while longer anyway."

"Don't be negative, honey," Charlotte said, taking his hand. Looking at Mary she said, "He is waiting to hear if his contract gets renewed."

"I'm sorry," Mary said, "I didn't mean to bring up a touchy subject."

"That's alright dear, how would you know anything about it?"

Alvin smiled, but Mary caught the implied dig in the remark.

"Looks like Di has got the food cooking, maybe we ought to see if we can lend a hand," Alvin said.

Bob and Diana, with help from Rachel and Theo, had everything ready to go. The grill was covered with burgers and hot dogs. A steaming crock of baked beans sat in the middle of the closest table, surrounded by bowls of chips and potato salad, and dishes of deviled eggs and pickles and condiments. In addition to Mary's cookies, there was a blueberry pie and a plate of brownies.

Jennifer and Danni were pushed to the front of the line. Alvin handed Mary a paper plate and guided her in behind them. Bob slipped a cheeseburger on a bun and smiled as he put it on her plate. As she selected her side dishes, Diana said "Hey look, she likes dilly beans. Don't get them out in California, I'm guessing."

"I never knew they existed before I came here," Mary said.

"We may just make a Mainer out of you," she said, and Mary recalled that Alvin had said the same thing on the day they had met.

Alvin and Mary took seats side by side at the other picnic table. Tim and Theo joined them, while Jennifer, Charlotte and their friends congregated in chairs near the fire. Rachel hovered on the edge of the group. Mary watched her and thought she knew how the girl felt, longing to fit in.

When everyone else had filled their plates, Diana and Bob joined the group at the table. They made small talk as they ate. Bob told Mary that he was a realtor.

"You folks coming here have been good for business, I'll say that."

"Too many moving here, if you ask me," Tim said. "No offense, Mary, you look to be a good egg, but around here, we don't like too much change."

"I like it fine," Bob said.

"Well, you're from away," Tim replied, as he bit into his hamburger.

Bob looked at Mary and rolled his eyes. "I'm from Lewiston."

"Your folks was from Canada, come down to work in the mill."

"But I was born in Maine."

"The cat can have kittens in the oven..."

"...but that don't make them biscuits," Diana and Alvin said in unison with Tim.

"That was one of my dad's favorite sayings," Alvin told Mary.

"Oh, I'm just having some fun with Bob," Tim said, "he's a good old biscuit in my book."

Theo laughed hard at his father, and everyone else joined in his infectious laughter.

"You have to admit though," Alvin said, "we don't make it easy on new folks."

"I've got no problem with new folks. Like Bob says, we are doing well off them moving here, but the burden is on them to fit in, not for us to change things to their liking"

Mary slapped at a mosquito that had landed on her calf.

"Now see," Diana said, "a Maine girl would know not to wear a sun dress like that to an evening event. You want to keep covered. After a bit we'll build the fire up and the smoke will keep them away, mostly."

"And stay out of the puckerbrush," Tim added, "you want to avoid the ticks."

Alvin gave Diana a stern look. She caught it, and reached across the table, touching Mary's hand. "I don't mean to be harsh, dear, just giving some friendly advice."

"It's okay," Mary said, "I understood."

"After we finish eating, I'll get you some bug spray."

"Thank you," Mary said, "and thanks for the food, everything's great."

Alvin patted Mary's thigh under the table. She looked at him and he winked. She smiled and put her hand on his.

As the sky darkened, Mary became aware of a steadily increasing noise, almost like a chorus of sleigh bells.

"What is that sound, crickets?" she asked Alvin.

"Peepers," he said. When she looked at him with a puzzled expression, he explained, "Frogs, little frogs. That's their mating song."

"I had no idea frogs had mating songs," she said.

"Romantic little bastards," Tim said. Once again, Theo found his father hilarious, and his laughter was contagious.

When everyone had finished eating they cleared the table and moved over by the fire. Tim and Alvin threw more wood on, and the blaze roared into a high twisting spiral. As she felt the heat on her skin, Mary realized that it had begun to grow chilly in the shady grove, and she welcomed the warmth.

Alvin fished a couple of beers from a cooler and straddled a lounge chair. Mary sat on the edge, between his legs. She leaned back and he wrapped his arm around her waist.

Theo came by, handed Mary a long wire skewer and held out a bag of marshmallows. She thanked him as she took a handful. She put one on her skewer and leaned forward to hold it near the fire. When it had browned she held it out to Alvin.