1929 (47 page)

Arianna argued with the shop owner
repeatedly, demanding more store credit for the shoes that had been
purchased in Paris and the dresses bought in London, and Ava
intervened to help them come to an agreement. By the time they were
finished, they each carried two large bags of clothes, with Ava
offering to carry a third bag of baby clothes and a dozen cloth
diapers for Arianna.

“Well, we can check that off our list,” Ava
said. “Tomorrow we’ll go to the safe deposit box together.”

They passed by an open door where a woman
with an Irish brogue was bantering loudly. Ava stopped walking
abruptly.

“Maura,” she breathed. Claire could see all
of the happiness and excitement drain from her face, and Ava turned
to look at her helplessly. “What about Maura?”

∞∞∞

“Ava, what’s wrong?” Jonathan came home to
find the apartment dimly lit, Ava on the couch, her arms hugging
herself and her head slumped over on the arm of the couch. He
looked at the bags of clothes, which were still sitting where she
set them by the door, as he walked in quickly and sat down next to
her. “Are you sick?” He touched her forehead and noticed her
despondent, red-rimmed eyes. “What happened?” He pulled her up and
over him in one graceful motion, wrapping his arms around her.
“Talk to me, Ava.” She sniffled and tears welled up as she
spoke.

“We have to leave Maura,” her voice cracked
as she cried. Jonathan looked down, holding her against his
shoulder and sighed heavily.

“I hadn’t thought of that,” he whispered. He
put his head on hers and began rocking her lightly. “I’m going to
miss her, too, sweetheart,” he said quietly. “She has become a very
special person to us, hasn’t she?” Ava nodded against his shoulder.
He felt the corner of the cross pressing into his thigh and shifted
so it wouldn’t be damaged. He had shown it to Aryl once, who
commented that it was beautiful.

It’s so much more than beautifully woven
straw. It’s Maura’s legacy. A symbol of her love and devotion to
those she cared about, he thought. He blinked away tears as he
recalled that fateful night. It was Aryl who pulled me out of that
bathtub. But it was Maura who kept me out through the telling of
her family legend and selfless gift. She made me open my eyes,
really see things for what they were and stop the cycle of
self-pity that nearly destroyed me. And that brought my Ava back to
me.

He hugged Ava tighter and kissed her
forehead. He was unsuccessful at evading tears and discreetly wiped
his eyes before setting Ava up straight in front of him.

“Let’s go see her.” He wiped under each of
her eyes and kissed her forehead. “Let’s go right now. And while
we’re there, we’ll plan her first visit to Rockport.”

“Really?”

“Why not? We’ll work hard and help her with
the train fare. Maybe she can come this summer. How does that
sound?” He smoothed her bedraggled hair and settled his hands on
her shoulders.

“Oh, Jon, that would be wonderful!” She threw
her arms around his neck and hugged him for a long time before she
whispered to him, “You always know just what to say to make it
better.”

He smiled, almost blushed, but mostly felt
overwhelmingly grateful; to Aryl for finding him, to Maura for
breathing life back into him, to Ava for forgiving him, and to the
cross for being a constant reminder of each of those things.

“Get your coat. We’ll grab a sandwich on the
way.”

Happiness was restored with the hopes that
there would be a visit soon, and Jonathan and Ava began planning it
before they even got on the trolley. It was crowded with only one
seat available, and Ava looked slightly shocked when Jonathan took
it. He gave her a teasing look and to her great embarrassment,
pulled her by the hand to sit on his lap.

“Jonathan, really!” She looked around
nervously for judging faces.

“What?” He pulled her closer as the trolley
wobbled down the track. “No one cares. See.” She relaxed a little,
and he slipped his arm under her coat around her waist so she
wouldn’t be jostled off his lap. “I’ve been thinking about you all
day.” The mix of breath and growl indicated just how he had been
thinking about her, and she swatted at him, embarrassed.

The trolley made several stops, and it wasn’t
long before the seat next to Jonathan was free. Ava glanced at it
and then back to Jonathan, snuggling in closer, content to stay
where she was.

∞∞∞

“I'm so sorry, Jon, Maura’s not here.” Ian
stepped aside to invite them in. “She went upstate with the family
she works for on their winter holiday to the country. She won’t be
back until next week.”

Ava stared at Ian in disbelief. “But we’re
leaving.”

“Is that so? Whereabouts to?”

“Back to my hometown in Massachusetts,”
Jonathan said, not hiding his disappointment of missing Maura.

“Well, she should be back mid-week. Come back
then, I know she’d love to see you. Would you like some tea?”

“No, no, thank you. The problem is, Ian,
we’re leaving Saturday.”

“Oh, I see. Well, that’s a problem. She’ll be
awful sad she didn’t get to say goodbye.”

“We wanted to talk to you both about coming
to see us in Rockport. So, this isn’t so much a goodbye as we’ll
see you this summer.” Jonathan looked around as he spoke,
remembering the crowded Christmas Eve and Tarin’s exquisite
voice.

“I’m sure she’d love to. I’ll bring it up to
her when she gets home.” Ava looked on the verge of tears, and
Jonathan squeezed her hand.

“Ian, I’ll write down my parents’ address, so
she can write us. And we’ll drop a letter in the mail before we get
on the train. And please ask her to pass this on to Charles and
Sven.” Jonathan jotted down the address and stood for a moment, as
if waiting for Maura to walk through the door. “Well, I guess we
better get home.”

“I'll tell her you came by and about visiting
this summer. Maybe me and Scottie will stow away.”

“We’d love to have you all.”

“Have a safe trip now.”

Jonathan shook his hand and turned to leave
with Ava under his arm.

∞∞∞

“Sorry we’re late.” Jonathan shook off his
coat. Everyone was waiting at Aryl’s house when Jonathan and Ava
returned. “We went to say goodbye to Maura, but she wasn’t there.”
He joined the others at the table. “She won’t be back until next
week.” He tried to distract himself, pulling out a list from his
pocket and reading over it.

“You’ll see her again,” Aryl said. “I’m sure
of it.”

“And we can give you your baby shower,
Arianna.” Claire looked at Ava, who nodded in agreement, but while
thinking about Maura, she was unable to get excited about a
party.

“So, take our pay tomorrow, add in what we’ve
saved and subtract train fare, and this is what we’ll land in
Rockport with.” He passed the paper around the table.

“Not bad.” Aryl leaned back. “We shouldn’t
have to stay with family long at all.”

“Here’s a list of things we need to do
tomorrow after work. Ladies, here’s what you need to be doing
during the day and a list of things to pack. We’ll be trading the
radios for steamer trunks tomorrow. If you could have these things
ready to pack, that would be wonderful. How did today go?”

“Good.” Claire spoke up for the three of
them. “Arianna is quite the haggler. She even walked away with some
baby things.”

“That’s great. Tomorrow, we’ll send a
telegram during lunch to Aryl’s parents. They can inform the others
of our arrival time. That way we only have to pay to send one.
Saturday morning, we’ll finish packing and catch the two o’clock
train.”

“We have to say goodbye to Shannon and
Patrick,” Arianna said with a sigh. “And no one has mentioned my
vanity. I know we can’t take it with us, so I’d like to give it to
her. She’s helped me a great deal.”

Caleb put an arm around her, encouraging her
generosity. “I think that’s a great idea. She would love it.”

Ava wasn’t sure, but she thought for a moment
that Arianna was blinking away tears. She assumed that Shannon was
to Arianna what Maura had become to her.

Escaping this depressing life was going to be
bittersweet, after all.

February 21st 1930

The three women took a whole hour before
lunch to visit with Shannon and say goodbye. They exchanged
addresses and promised to stay in touch. Shannon talked of
visiting, but everyone knew, due to finances, that it was very
unlikely. Claire noticed the unframed painting of the angel, which
hung above the fireplace and decided that she would send Shannon a
beautiful wooden frame for it as soon as she could.

Ava gave Claire a certain look, and they
excused themselves, claiming piles of work to do. It was only
partly true. They wanted to give Arianna time for a private
goodbye. They each gave Shannon a long hug, and nearly all managed
to remain composed.

“I’m just goin’ to miss ye so much. I know
the next neighbors won’t be so wonderful.”

“We’ll keep in touch,” Ava reminded. “And
maybe you can visit when Arianna has her baby?” Shannon smiled, but
knew deep down that this was most likely the last time she would
ever see them.

After Ava and Claire left, Arianna relaxed,
letting her shoulders slump forward. Roan started to cry in his
cradle and Arianna automatically went to pick him up, bouncing him
gently as she walked. Aislin scrambled up onto her mother’s lap.
Arianna gazed at Roan as she spoke to Shannon.

“I can’t thank you enough for everything
you’ve taught me.” She gave a little laugh as she shifted Roan up
to her shoulder. “I know I must have been terrible in the
beginning.”

“Twas no trouble. I enjoyed it. And no, you
weren’t terrible. I was impressed with how quickly you learned. Yer
a natural, you know. You’re going to be a wonderful mother.”

“I guess we’ll see,” she said wistfully. “I
wish you could be there. For the first few weeks, you know.”

“I do, too.” She set Aislin on the couch
beside her and went to the kitchen, trying not to sound too
emotional. “You have your good friends, though. Don’t forget that.
They care about ye so much, ye know.”

“I know,” she said quietly. “I couldn’t have
gotten through this without them either.” It was quiet for a few
moments with Aislin’s giggles and Roan’s cooing the only occasional
noises.

“Will you stay for another cup of tea? I know
ye have a lot to do.”

“It can wait.” She laid Roan down in his
cradle again and walked to the kitchen doorway. “I have questions
about the baby. When it comes, I mean.” Shannon turned and saw her
eyes full of tears.

“I’m really scared,” she whispered.

∞∞∞

“I think Columbus might have used these,”
Aryl joked. It was a bustling evening as they carried three old
trunks down the street after trading the radios. Once home, they
set them in the center of the room, and the women packed a fraction
of their belongings in the order of importance as laid out in a
list by Jonathan.

Caleb and Jonathan carried the vanity down
the hall to Shannon, who cried and gushed over the beautiful piece.
They helped squeeze it into the small bedroom and said their
goodbyes to Patrick.

After they left, Shannon opened a drawer and
found a few postcards Arianna wanted her to have, a picture of her
and Caleb, one of Arianna’s finer dresses she had saved back and a
lace chemise with a note pinned to it.

For your week

February 22nd 1930

Shannon heard scuffling in the hallway. Caleb
had told her the night before that Arianna was too emotional for a
second goodbye, but she couldn’t help but run out to catch a
glimpse of the group at the bottom of the stairs.

“Thank ye for the dress,” she called out.
Arianna stopped and took a moment before she turned. She managed a
half-smile and raised her hand, but nothing more. “I’ll come see
you in Rockport, I promise,” Shannon said with tears in her eyes.
She watched them walk out the door and turned slowly to her own
apartment as the beady-eyed one eavesdropped through her door.

They arrived at Grand Central Terminal a good
while before their train’s scheduled departure, unloaded the
trunks, and waited while Jonathan bought six one-way tickets.
Everyone was excited and talkative except Caleb, who was rehearsing
his first words to his father in his head and had to be reminded to
stop pacing.

Arianna noticed women as they passed in
fashionable dresses, salon-styled hair, and luxurious furs. She was
self-conscious, as she looked over herself, dressed plainly in a
red, gingham dress with the sides let out for her growing stomach,
flat shoes and a black wool coat.

Aryl pulled Jonathan aside. He recounted the
events of his recent trip; shared details about the service and
funeral, news about family and friends, and the town’s changes in
the last several years. He talked of all the things that hadn’t
changed; the people, the sound and smell of the ocean, the gentler
pace of life than what they were used to. Jonathan became more
anxious to leave as the echoing noise of the station grated on his
nerves.

“Let’s go get some lunch,” Jonathan
suggested. They waved to the others as they went to get sandwiches.
Aryl bought two apples and Jonathan’s mouth watered. It had been at
least two months since he had eaten fresh fruit. He hoped his
mother still had her garden and looked forward to the farmers
market he remembered from childhood. He planned to eat a quart of
strawberries and a case of apples the first chance he got. Jonathan
passed out small, overpriced sandwiches and caught a glimpse of
Aryl as he dropped the apples in Arianna’s handbag when she wasn’t
looking.