1929 (26 page)

∞∞∞

“You found who beat up Jon, I take it,”
Claire said, pointing to Aryl’s swollen hand.

“We did.” She took his hand in both of hers
and examined it.

“Well, you know I don’t like the idea of you
fighting,” she said like an exasperated mother. “But I’m glad you
found him. C’mon, dinner’s ready.”

“What’s this?” he asked excitedly when she
set the bowl in front of him. It was brim full with chunky
vegetables. He didn’t wait for an explanation before digging
in.

“Well, technically, I could call it vegetable
beef because there is a little bit of beef in it, but it’s
vegetable soup. Shannon took me down to a cannery today. She’s
friends with the owner. He lets her buy the dented cans for
half-price. I bought a dozen. I used some for this soup and put the
others away.”

“That’s a great idea. Can you go again?”

“Shannon goes every other Monday. She said I
could go with her anytime.”

“You should take Ava and Arianna, too,” he
suggested.

“I will. That reminds me, Arianna is
sick.”

“Sick with what?” he asked, worried it was
something that might make rounds and cause them to miss work. She
shrugged.

“She has a fever, and her cough sounds
horrible. Ava and I took turns today checking on her.” He nodded
his approval while finishing off the soup. “That was great. Is
there more?”

“Sure.” She carried his bowl back to the
kitchen and refilled it.

“You don’t think there will be any trouble,
do you?” she called. “With you and Caleb taking care of that guy
who attacked Jon? I’m worried he has a big brother that'll come
looking for you guys,” she half-joked.

“Well, if he does have a big brother, then
that might be more of a challenge,” he said, grinning.

“I’m serious, Aryl,” she said, setting the
bowl in front of him. He debated a moment before he spoke.

“Can you keep a secret?” he asked.

“Of course.”

“No, I mean, really keep this to yourself.
Never breathe a word of it to anyone, especially to Ava and
Arianna.”

“I promise. What is it?” His expression was
starting to worry her.

“Well, you already know the history between
Jon and Victor,” he started. “We got it out of this guy that Victor
paid him to do it.” Her eyes widened in question as he continued.
“We’re not sure why exactly. I’m wondering if he found out that
Ruth showed up, throwing herself at Jonathan. That might be enough
to drive him to do something like this.”

“Well, what would stop him from doing
something like this again?” she asked, truly afraid for all three
of the men now.

“The message we sent through Tony,” he said
gravely and left it at that. He was quiet while he finished his
second bowl of stew. He pushed his bowl away and leaned back.

“That was great,” he complimented. Although
it was rather bland, it was hot and filling; therefore, in Aryl’s
mind, it was great. She took his bowl, still worried and walked to
the sink.

“You don’t need to worry, Claire,” he said,
reading her. She nodded, unconvinced. He held his hand out and she
walked back over to him. He held her by the waist and looked up at
her.

“I promise you. There is no need to worry. If
it makes you feel better, Caleb and I agreed that we wouldn’t go
out alone.”

“Then you’re worried, too,” she said
accusingly. He shook his head.

“No. We thought it would make Jon and you
girls feel better, that’s all. What’s for dessert?” he asked,
changing the subject.

“There isn’t any,” she said, looking down at
him apologetically. He grinned and looked her over.

“Nonsense. There’s something sweet and tasty
right here.” He hugged her waist and tugged at the material of her
blouse with his teeth. She pulled away, sighing in frustration.

“Aryl.” He pulled back to look up at her, a
button between his teeth.

“Hmm?” She nodded toward the homemade
calendar pinned on the wall. The day had a black line through it.
“You’re kidding!” he groaned, letting the button pop out of his
mouth. “I thought that started tomorrow!” She shook her head with
remorse. He dropped his head in disappointment and she put her
hands on his head.

“I’m sorry,” she said, frustrated at the
situation herself. He brought his head up and pulled her close,
buried his face in her breasts and let out a long, agonizing
scream. She threw her head back laughing and, after a moment of
muffled screaming, growling, and swearing, he pulled away
composed.

“Are you going to be okay?” He nodded with a
strained face and let go of her.

“Fine. I’ll be fine.”

∞∞∞

Jonathan was quiet on their walk to work,
despite Caleb and Aryl’s attempt to pull him into conversation. He
had a knit hat pulled low in an attempt to hide the bruising that
spread from his nose to both eyes. Even though he ached incredibly,
he decided he would rather endure the protesting of the damaged
muscles in his body than stay home. If he had been there today, he
would have continued to stare at the wall, the minutes ticking by,
as he relived events of the last six weeks. Ava would have
fluctuated between doting on his injuries and flying into fury for
his unwillingness to consider moving back home. Even the stares and
commentary from ignorant men at work would be better than dealing
with that.

He didn’t notice that no one looked at him as
he entered the yard. And the ones that did, by accident, looked
away as quickly as possible. People stepped aside to let him pass,
and whispers uttered well out of ear shot confirmed that this was
the man to stay away from. Word had traveled about Tony, rumored
still to be in the hospital. Jonathan didn’t know it yet, but he
would never receive another insult, be the butt of any practical
joke, or receive words without respect for the rest of his days at
the yard.

∞∞∞

Ava gathered Claire and went to Arianna’s
where Ava sat on the end of the bed. Arianna was still slightly
feverish.

“We need to talk,” Ava told them. “I have an
idea. I presented it to Jon, but he turned me down flat. I’ll keep
pressuring him, but I have a feeling that he will have to relent,
if you both put pressure on your husbands as well and if they
agree.”

“What’s the idea?” asked Claire, who was
simply excited there was something new to talk about.

“I think we need to leave. Leave this place
and leave the city. We should go to Rockport.” They stared at her
for a moment, not sure what to say. “Oh, come on, aren’t you sick
of this? We don’t have to stay here! We can leave on the next
train. Wouldn’t you give anything to get out of here?”

“Of course,” Arianna said with a hoarse
voice. “I'd love to leave, but where would we live? Where would the
men find work?”

“I’ve already thought about that,” Ava said
excitedly. “You and Caleb can stay with his parents on their farm,
and you and Aryl can use that summer home your parents have, and
Jonathan and I can stay with his parents. Jonathan is fighting me
about that part. His pride is stopping him from asking them if we
can come. But he’ll have to agree to it if we’re all on board
together. There’s no way he would stay here without Caleb and Aryl.
As for jobs, something will work out,” she finished
insistently.

“Ava, Caleb and his father haven’t spoken in
several years. Ethel writes, but Hubert is still incredibly angry
with him for selling his grandfather’s farm. There’s no way we
could stay with them,” Arianna told Ava regretfully before going
into another coughing fit. Claire turned to Ava.

“My parents sold the vacation home shortly
after the crash to pay some debts. They aren’t as bad off as we
are, but they only have a fraction of what they used to, and it
seems to be getting worse. I guess we could go to Boston and stay
with them there, but then we all wouldn't be together, and I don’t
know how long that would last. She talks in her letters as if they
are weeks from living in a place like this themselves.”

“What about Aryl’s parents? They love you.
They would love to have you both,” Ava pressed. “They sold the
house when Aryl’s younger brother left home, and his father built a
small cottage. They wanted to save everything for retirement, and
they put lots of money into investments like everyone else. Now all
they have is that little cottage and his fishing boat. They’re hand
to mouth, too.”

“There has to be a way,” she insisted. “There
has to be. I’m going to keep trying to find it,” she informed them
willfully.

“We’ll try to think of something, too,”
Claire reassured her but knew deep down the reality of it. She and
Aryl had talked of going home in the beginning but decided it
wasn’t feasible. Claire turned her attention to Arianna.

“Have you eaten anything today?” she asked
while feeling her head. Her fever had come down slightly.

“No, I’m not hungry.”

“Nonsense. You need to eat. I’ll go make you
something.” She went into Arianna’s kitchen to find something to
make and called Ava to help her.

∞∞∞

Caleb and Aryl went to look for firewood
together after dinner. They came home with only a few pieces
each.

The next evening, Caleb stopped in his tracks
a block from the building and hit Jonathan on the arm with the back
of his hand.

“There’s the Packard again,” he said with a
nod.

Jonathan looked up and grumbled under his
breath.

“Let’s just keep walking. No matter what,
just ignore her,” Aryl suggested. Jonathan nodded, put his head
back down and walked fast. She exited the car before he passed this
time and blocked his path.

“Jonathan! What happened to you!” she yelled,
trying to reach out to touch his face. He pulled his head away and
tried to side step her. She kept up pace beside him.

“Jonathan, why won’t you let me help you? Why
won’t you let me take you away from all this? You deserve so much
better,” she whined. He stopped and glared at her.

“Go away, Ruth,” he snapped before he turned
onto the stoop of his building.

Inside, Caleb stopped him at the door with a
grab of his coat.

“Now if I were you, I’d go right in and tell
her Ruth showed up,” Caleb suggested. Jonathan looked
irritated.

“Caleb’s right. In fact, why don’t we go in
with you?” Aryl insisted.

∞∞∞

“I have to tell you something,” Jonathan
started. Ava was surprised and slightly confused to see all three
men walk through the door. “Ruth showed up again outside this
evening.” Ava’s smile dropped, her ears burned red and she crossed
her arms tightly. “The only two words I said to her were go away.
And then I walked away.”

“He’s telling the truth, Ava. We saw it,”
Aryl said.

“What did she say this time?” Ava asked. He
shifted uncomfortably. He hated repeating Ruth’s words.

“She just went on like she did before, just a
few sentences . . . .” He trailed off, praying she would drop
it.

“What were her exact words, Jonathan?” Ava
insisted. He looked at Caleb and Aryl helplessly, but they could
provide no relief.

“She asked what happened to me. She asked why
I wouldn’t let her help me get out of here and said that I deserved
better than this,” he said, finishing with a sigh. Ava said
nothing. She stared at him with clenched teeth and took a moment to
remind herself that Jonathan had been honest, so she shouldn’t be
angry with him. Her anger was with this woman, who wouldn’t stop
approaching her husband.

When she could speak with kindness in her
voice, which took several minutes, she looked at Jonathan.

“Thank you for telling me,” was all she could
manage.

Jonathan and Ava spent another tense, silent
evening eating dinner, watching the fire and then trailing off to
bed separately.

∞∞∞

After Jonathan left for work the next
morning, Ava sat down with pen and paper. She closed her eyes to
better visualize Ruth’s notes. Having only looked at them briefly
and in anger, she had difficulty recalling the details of the
information. She wrote down what she could remember: a park,
fountain of lovers, something about a dog, three o’clock in the
afternoon. What days? She huffed her breath in frustration and
threw the pen down. She suddenly remembered that Arianna had seen
the notes, too. She threw her sweater on, grabbed the paper, and
prayed that Arianna would remember enough to make a difference.

∞∞∞

“Ava.” Arianna opened the door, still a
little sick but on the mend.

“I need your help,” Ava said before Arianna
could greet her. She walked in and spun around to face her. “Those
notes,” she started, “from Ruth. I’m trying to remember the
information, but there are pieces missing. I was hoping since you
looked at them that you might remember the things I can’t.”

“Why would you want to do that, Ava?”

“I plan on going there. I’m going to tell her
to her face to leave Jonathan alone,” she said, and handed her the
paper. “Here’s what I remember. Can you add anything to it?” she
asked hopefully.

“I can do better than that,” Arianna said,
smiled and went to the bedroom. Ava followed and leaned on the
doorjamb while Arianna dug in a drawer of her beautiful vanity. She
pulled the original note from under her delicates. She held it up
between two fingers, and Ava’s mouth fell open.

“You have it! Why did you keep it?” she
asked, amazed and grateful.

“I thought you might want it eventually. If
it were me, I would definitely want to make an appearance,” she
said. Ava opened it and saw she would be there on Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday at three o’clock to walk her dog around the
fountain in the center of the park. Arianna was reading it from
over her shoulder.