Mary and Alvin Ch. 11

She smiled when she saw him watching her.

"How's the back?" he asked, taking her in his arms.

"My back's okay. My shoulders are kind of sore."

"Well, come along," he said, leading her by the hand to one of the hammocks that hung between the trees near the shore. He climbed in and Mary followed him, sitting between his legs as she had in the canoe. They swayed precariously for a moment, then found their balance. Alvin began kneading her shoulders.

"Oh, yeah, that helps," she said.

Uncle Harry wandered over. "Where's Fang," Mary asked him.

"Oh, he's off with Timmy and the kids, jerking around in the puckerbrush somewhere. Better not come back covered with goddam ticks. How was your expedition?"

"It was wonderful," Mary replied, "We saw a moose, and a calf, over by the other side of the lake."

"Should of shot her. Damn good eating."

"And we saw.."

"Um, honey.." Alvin began.

"...an eagle, we went right by it."

"Eagle?" Harry shouted, "Cockswallowin' sonsabitches!"

"Should of warned you," Alvin whispered, "Harry is not fond of eagles."

"Goddamn right, I'm not," Harry said.

Mary looked over her shoulder at Alvin with a puzzled expression.

"An eagle took his dog."

"Goddamn. Skipper was the best hound I ever had. And that bald headed son of a bitch snatched him and flew off. Fuck eagles," he said, walking away.

"Is this another falling porcupine story?" Mary asked Alvin.

"No, it's true."

"Should I go say I'm sorry?"

"Honey, that happened before you were born."

She squinted at him suspiciously. "I'm not sure an eagle can carry off a dog."

"It was a small dog."

Mary cautiously moved over and lay down beside Alvin. The late afternoon was warm, but a cool breeze blew off the lake. In a few minutes, they both were dowsing.

Alvin awoke from the noise of the kids emerging from the woods into camp. Mary was sitting up, looking out at the lake.

"What are you thinking?" Alvin asked her.

She was quiet for a minute before responding. "I was thinking about you. About little Alvin running around here, playing, swimming in the lake. I wish I could have seen you then."

"You think we'd have been childhood sweethearts?"

"I think it's a lovely thought." She paused for a second. "Do you believe in soulmates?"

When Alvin didn't immediately respond, Mary realized her faux pas. Surely, if he did, he would have believed that Bonnie had been his soulmate. She tried to think of something appropriate to say, but before she could, Alvin spoke.

"I believe in love," he said, "and I believe...no, I know, that I love you."

"I love you, too, Alvin."

"Well, alright then."

Bob and Danni had been building a fire. Alvin and Mary untangled themselves from the hammock and went to help them.

"Looks like rain coming," Bob said. Alvin gazed across the lake. A line of thunderheads was slowly moving in their direction.

"Will we be okay in the tent?" Mary asked, trying to hide her nervousness.

"We'll be cozy," Alvin said. "Hours away anyhow. Be here midnight, I'd reckon."

Bob looked at Mary and shrugged. "He'd know," he said.

The fire had expended it's first burst of energy and was subsiding. Bob and Alvin went into a small shed behind the cabin and returned carrying a large metal grill. It was four feet square and had two foot high metal legs welded to the corners. They deftly placed it over the fire.

Mary went into the cabin to see if she could be of any help in preparing dinner. Diana, Laura and Molly were all sitting at the table, drinking white wine.

"I thought you might need some help," Mary said.

Laura waved the wine bottle. "Sure, help us polish this off."

Mary sat down and Laura poured her a glass of wine. She took it and sipped.

"How was the canoeing?" Laura asked.

"Oh, it was great. We saw a moose and calf, just across the lake."

They all smiled in a way that Mary thought might be a little bit condescending.

"Not much like California, I'd imagine," Diana said.

"No, not at all," Mary said.
 "Do you miss it?" Molly asked.

"Yes, of course. Well, I think mostly it's been harder to adjust to a small town after living all my life in a big city."

"Do you expect you'll want to go back eventually?" Diana asked.

Mary thought carefully about her response. "Do I expect to? Not really. But who knows what the future might bring?"

Mary looked at the three women. She realized how much each of them relied on Alvin. Diana was not just his sister, she was his business partner. Laura was his employee as well as his cousin. Mary still wasn't sure how dependent Tim was on Alvin, but even Molly had a vested interest in the matter. She had not thought about how much her relationship with Alvin would affect so many people. Now she realized that to these woman she was a potential threat to them and their families.

"Well, we are glad you are here, now, anyway," Diana said.

Mary sought for words that would reassure them, but could only manage a thank you.

They finished their wine and began assembling supper. A bean pot had been baking in the oven all afternoon.

"Mary, have you had New England brown bread?" Laura asked.

"I don't think so."

Laura picked up a large can and showed it to her. "I am betting you don't get this in California."

"No, I don't think I ever saw bread in a can before."

Alvin came in and watched as Laura opened both ends of the can and pushed the bread out. "The old-timers used to make steamed bread in a coffee can," he explained to Mary. Laura sliced the bread and Alvin snatched a piece. He tore it in two and gave half to Mary. It was hearty and tasted of molasses. "Nothing better with baked beans," Alvin said.

Diana pointed to a five gallon plastic bucket and asked Alvin to carry it outside. He picked it up and Mary looked into it. It was full of cobs of corn, still in their husks, soaking in salty water. She followed Alvin out and they arranged the wet corn in a circle around the edge of the fire. It was soon giving off a sweet smelling steam.

Laura brought out the bean pot and set it on one corner of the grill. Diana followed her with a platter stacked high with steaks and then Molly, carrying a tray of bread and butter and condiments.

The whole family gathered around the fire as Diana grilled the steaks. Soon they were all digging into their meals.

The wind was picking up and the air grew chilly. After finishing their supper, Bob and Diana, Tim and Molly and Uncle Harry decided to go indoors to play cards. The kids ran about the yard playing, while everyone else gathered close to the fire.

Alvin smiled when he noticed that Rachel had pulled her chair close to Mary's.

"What kind of books do you have?" the girl asked her.

"Oh, all kinds," Mary replied, "I have lots of fantasy and some science fiction, if that's what you like."

"Yeah, I do." She frowned. "Some of the kids at school call me a nerd."

"A nerd is something people call somebody they know is smarter than them," Mary said.

Charlotte fetched her guitar and quietly strummed a few tunes. Laura helped the kids make s'mores. Every now and then, raucous laughter would emerge from the card game in the cabin, but around the fire, the group grew quiet, just relaxing in each other's company.

Laura herded the kids off to their tent and went in the cabin to join the game. Then Rachel decided she wanted to read for a while before she went to sleep and went inside.

Jennifer and Danni were the next to leave. Mary had noticed the looks they had been giving each other all evening, and was not surprised when they retired to their tent. She wondered if Alvin noticed as well.

It was just Charlotte with by the fire now, and Alvin listened as she talked to Mary about the end of her relationship with Jacob. He was never sure what to say in such situations. He was glad that Mary was there to console his daughter, and pleased that they were becoming close.

Alvin had misjudged the weather. The first drops of rain began to fall just after ten.

"I thought you were good at predicting the weather," Mary said, as they dashed to their tent.

"Better at sea than on land," he replied with a laugh.

They entered the tent and fell into each others arms on the air mattress. Thunder rumbled overhead.

"What tonight's topic of conversation?" Mary asked, "Raccoons? Chipmunks?"

"Wiseacre California girls," Alvin said.

They took off their outer clothes and crawled into the sleeping bag.

Mary snuggled against Alvin's chest. "I can't wait to tell my Mom I saw a moose, and a baby moose, and an eagle."

"And an old man who managed to paddle all the way down the river without dropping dead."

"Oh, stop it."

"Well, you're happy to be accepted by my family, I'd like to feel the same with yours."

"Okay, that's fair. But we don't have to worry about it now." She kissed the underside of his chin. "Will you be disappointed if I go to sleep?" she asked.

"No, sweetheart, it's been a long day."

It only took a few minutes for the patter of raindrops on canvas to lull them to sleep. ****

It was still raining when they woke up in the morning. They quickly dressed and dashed to the cabin. All of the kids were curled up in sleeping bags scattered around the floor. They had been frightened indoors by the night's thunder. Charlotte and Molly sat at the table drinking coffee, while Diana was checking on a tray of biscuits in the oven.

Alvin sat down next to his daughter and kissed her cheek. Mary asked Diana if she could help her. Soon, they had a tray of bacon in the oven and the remains of the bean pot heating on the back burner.

Tim came in and announced that Harry had left sometime during the night.

"That's Harry," Alvin said, "comes and goes as he pleases."

"Or a UFO took him," Mary said. Everyone laughed, waking up the kids.

The kids began squabbling over the bathroom, and their racket woke Bob and Rachel, who emerged from their bunks.

"I think we may as well head home after breakfast," Laura said. "Looks like the rain will last all day, and the kids will just get cranky."

Tim looked at Molly. "What do you think?"

Molly agreed that they ought to go soon as well.

Diana whipped up a dozen eggs and began scrambling them. Mary took the biscuits and bacon from the oven. Soon, the table was laden with food. Charlotte ran out to fetch Jennifer and Danielle.

Alvin looked around the table at his family while he ate. He looked at Laura and her children, finally quiet as they shoveled beans and eggs into their mouths. He looked at his brother Tim, with his sometimes wife by his side, his son perched on his knee. He looked at Diana, his sister, at Bob and at Rachel, reading her Harry Potter as she nibbled a strip of bacon. He looked proudly at Charlotte, his brilliant first born child, and her sister Jennifer, the girl who so resembled her mother, as they chattered away at each other. Jennifer's hand rested on the table, holding that of her love Danielle, who had become as another daughter to him. His family. The people who made his life worth living. And he turned his head and looked at Mary. She looked back at him, her deep brown eyes filled with love, and he knew what he had to do.