Beloved (53 page)
Authors: Antoinette Stockenberg
"
Jane?
"
Jane turned to see her mother waiting to be introduced to
"
her Bing.
"
She made the introductions and Bing, courteous to a fault, asked whether Gwendolyn would like a
gl
ass of wine. She said yes, Bing went off again, and Jane said,
"
Well, what do you think?
"
"
I think he
'
s an amazingly attractive man, and he has excellent manners,
"
Jane
'
s mother replied, delighted.
"
I mean, about
Mac.
"
"
He impressed me as a man with a lot of anger,
"
Gwendolyn said thoughtfully.
"
That
'
s all very well when you
'
re young or an artist
—
but he
'
s at least forty and runs a business.
"
"
I take it you two didn
'
t hit it off, then.
"
"
We didn
'
t
not
hit it off. I would never give him the satisfaction. Anyway, he likes Bach and so do I. There was some common ground.
"
Jane sized up her mother with her short, perfect hair, her clear, untroubled gaze, and her cool and articulate manner, and thought:
No
way
is there common ground.
She was scanning the room for Mac, who had disappeared again, when she saw Jeremy coming up for air from Nintendo. Their eyes met; the boy looked pleased to see her. He flashed her a V-for-victory sign which she didn
'
t understand, and then he went back to his Nintendo. Bing returned with a glass
—
made of real glass
—
of wine for Gwendolyn.
"
I want to learn everything I can about your daughter, Mrs. Drew,
"
Bing said.
"
She
'
s as tight-lipped about her past as a Gothic heroine
—
at least, she has been lately,
"
he added with a mournful look at Jane.
"
And her modesty can be exasperating. I figure the best way to learn anything about her is to go straight to the source.
"
He took Jane
'
s amused mother by the elbow and said,
"
I see a quiet corner.
"
Then he turned to Jane with his rascal
'
s smile and added,
"
I
'
ve abducted your mother; go find someone else to play with, darlin
'
.
"
They went off and Jane decided to see how life was treating Mac
'
s son. The boy certainly looked happy— younger and more carefree than on his last visit to the island. The scar on his forehead was nothing more than a tiny pink reminder; and that, too, would someday disappear.
They exchanged greetings.
"
What was
this
for?
"
Jane asked him, flashing him his victory sign.
Jerry grinned and said,
"
I
'
m staying over for spring break, and Dad says it
'
s partly thanks to you.
"
"
He
did?
Did he say why?
"
"
Yeah. He said you read him the riot act.
"
"
Jer, come
on!
Your turn!
"
His cousin slapped him on the back of his head and Jerry elbowed him in his ribs while the third boy grabbed the Nintendo control and tried to steal a turn. The boys were busy being boys, and Jane left them to it. She decided to see whether she could be any help in the kitchen and got drafted immediately into carrying out cold salads and hot dishes.
The activity in the kitchen was at a fever pitch. This was it, the serving of everything at once, the moment of truth at any buffet. Mrs. Adamont was barking orders like a company sergeant, making grown men hop and their women laugh. Billy was running around like a chicken without a head, looking for a pitcher. Mac came in at some point and began a frantic rummage for extra serving spoons.
Jane was wondering how Celeste was managing the willpower to stay out of her own kitchen when Celeste did walk in, a three-year-old in her arms, and said,
"
Give Un
cle Mac a good-bye hug.
"
The toddler threw her arms open wide and fell forward into Mac for the hug. With a huge grin the child said,
"
Rub noses, rub noses.
"
Mac, a spoon in each hand, laughed and held her little shoulders and rubbed her little nose and Jane felt a stab as deep and as sharp as she
'
d ever felt in her life.
"
Della
'
s taking them home,
"
Celeste said to Mac.
"
Jimmy
'
s a little feverish; he
'
s sitting around like a bump on a log.
"
"
Geez
—
he
must
be sick,
"
Mac agreed.
"
Are these the only spoons we had?
"
Celeste said yes and suddenly they both looked sad, and Celeste turned away and left the room. Then the whirlwind passed over Mac again, sucking him back into it, and he began the next frantic search for the next needed object.
And all the while Jane was thinking,
This is a real family in a real community where people care. Time and the outside world have taken their toll, and the ties are a little frayed, but everyone cares about everyone else. Even the divorced ones care.
"
Hey! Daydreamer! Are you gonna fish or cut bait?
"
Jane shook herself free to see Mrs. Adamont brandishing a wooden spoon at her.
"
Can you carry this crockpot of baked beans? It
'
s heavy.
"
"
Sure,
"
said Jane; but Mac intercepted the cargo.
"
I
'
ll take it. You can have the next load.
"
His smile was unlike any of the half dozen he
'
d al
lowed her to see so far. It was
affectionate. And the timbre in his voice
—
also new; also affectionate.
"
Don
'
t forget to plug it in!
"
Mrs. Adamont shouted after him.
"
Here, dollink, take out another batch of paper plates. People are going to want to double them up. Why Mac bought the cheap ones I
'
ll never know. Take some more napkins, too. These are awful. The man
'
s been shopping for himself for three years; you
'
d think he
'
d learn.
"
Jane took the stuff out to the small oak table piled high with eating tools. Mac was crawling around under the big dining table, plugging in the crockpot cord. When he came back out, he smiled and said,
"
I don
'
t know why I bothered.
Doris
'
s beans will be gone in five seconds.
"
He stood next to Jane, hands on his hips, and looked around.
"
That should do it, then,
"
he said, looking every inch like the lord of his manor.
The dining table was groaning under the weight of the food. From the chourico and peppers to the teriyaki chicken wings, from the Swedish meatballs to the
New England
cornbread, everything looked delicious. There was no rhyme or reason to the meal; it was as thrown together as the red, yellow, pink, and blue streamers spiraling the room, as diverse as the guest list itself.
The kids, obviously near death by starvation, were lined up by the table with paper plates flattened against their chests. There was some, but not too much, pushing and shoving as they waited for Mac, who waited for Mrs. Adamont, to give The Signal. When she finally said,
"
Okay, people, let
'
s eat,
"
there was a quiet but intense scramble for the marshmallow ambrosia, the little hot dogs on toothpicks, and the nachos, in that order. Mrs. Adamont scolded the first three kids for being pigs and encouraged the others to at least
look
at the spinach pie.
The buffet, it seemed, was going to be a success.
Relaxing, Mac said,
"
I think while everyone
'
s out here I
'
ll give Mrs. Adamont a hand cleaning up the kitchen.
"
"
No, you don
'
t,
"
Jane said firmly.
"
You should be looking after your guests. I
'
ll do it.
"
He looked surprised.
"
Thanks,
"
he said softly.
One syllable:
Thanks.
And yet it set every hair tingling. She left him and reported for duty to Mrs. Adamont, who handed her two trash bags and said,
"
Recycles in this one, the rest in this one.
"
Billy
'
s wife Carol was there, filling up the dishwasher, while her baby was screaming for a fi
l
lup herself.
"
I
'
m going to have to feed her again,
"
Carol said with a sigh.
"
She must know there
'
s a buffet going on.
"
She sat discreetly to one side, unbuttoned her blouse, and began nursing Sarah.
Jane went around picking up loose plastic and paper, then finished loading the dishwasher while Mrs. Adamont refilled some of the casseroles. All the while, she was replaying the way Mac looked and sounded when he said
"
Thanks.
"
Somehow, in some way, she
'
d broken through some barrier. It was the first time Mac had let her do something for
him,
the first time he wasn
'
t keeping her at arm
'
s length.
She felt ridiculously happy. All her suspicions about him, all her careful reasoning
—
gone. All her fears and all her worries about Judith Brightman
—
gone. In their place was a warm, glowing
feeling
—
because he
'
s let me do the dishes.
Jane had considered many careers in her life, but scullery maid wasn
'
t one of them.
She laughed under her breath and shook her head.
I
'
m as bonkers as Cissy.
There was a knock on the kitchen door and Jane went to answer it. She was extremely embarrassed to have to greet Phillip Harrow, the only man on
Nantucket
not invited to Uncle Easy
'
s birthday party. As carefully dressed as ever, Phillip stepped inside and meticulously wiped his muddy feet on the mat. He seemed to be dragging out the awkwardness of the situation, and she disliked him intensely for that.
Carol, still nursing, adjusted her position away from him; it could have been taken as a snub. Mrs. Adamont, however, saved the day.
"
Don
'
t just stand there like a little lost sheep, Phillip. Supper
'
s on in the other room.
"
"
Ah, but not for me,
"
Phillip said ironically.
"
I
'
m here because I have an urgent message for Cissy Hanlin.
"
Nothing in Cissy
'
s life was urgent, but Mrs. Adamont said,
"
Go on in and tell her, then.
"
"
I think not,
"
he said, turning to Jane.
"
Would you mind?
"
he asked her coldly.
"
Yes, of course; I
'
ll get her,
"
Jane answered, beating a quick retreat into the keeping room. She didn
'
t know who was being more gauche, Mac for not inviting him, or Phi
l
lip for coming over instead of picking up the phone. They were a hell of a pair.
She found Cissy sitting with her mother and Bing, who were equally dismayed by Jane
'
s disappearance. Jane made her excuses and took Cissy aside. When Cissy went out to the kitchen to Phillip, Jane busied herself gathering empty plastic cups. Seeing her hang back, Mac broke away from the company and came up to her.
"
What
'
s up? Why did Cissy leave?
"
Jane had to explain that Phillip Harrow was standing like a little matchstick boy on his kitchen mat, then watch Mac
'
s relaxed and expansive mood dissolve into the cold, brooding one she knew so well.
"
Maybe he
'
s conveying a message from Cissy
'
s husband,
"
she said, mostly to give Mac someone else to think about. She filled Mac in on Cissy
'
s situation, then was relieved when he shrugged and said,
"
That
'
s none of my business.
"
Mac returned to the company, and when Jane peeked into the kitchen, Phillip was gone and Cissy was looking ecstatic; so the message must not have been about Dave. It turned out that Phillip had to fly the next afternoon to
Grand Cayman
on business. He wanted Cissy with him.
"
Didn
'
t I tell you?
"
she said jubilantly.
"
First the ring, now this! I have to leave now.
"
"
Cissy! You can stay to sing happy birthday, at least.
"
After some arm-twisting, Cissy agreed to stay for the cake, but only if the gifts weren
'
t opened first. Jane sent her back to her half-eaten meal, pleased that she
'
d thwarted Phillip
'
s attempt to be a spoiler. She was taking sides, and she knew it. And she liked it.
She dragged Mrs. Adamont and Carol away from the kitchen, assuring them that the dishwasher would go on without them, then sat them down with her mother and Bing, got a plate of food for Carol, and burped Sarah while her mother ate. Bing Andrews and Gwendolyn Drew had become thick as thieves while Jane was gone; her mother
'
s tone was gay, even flirtatious, with him. As for Jane
'
s little mix of islanders and off-islanders, it was a good one. Bing knew how to charm women, and it didn
'
t matter if they were young or old, rich or poor, married or single.
And yet.
From across the room Jane could see Mac holding court with a group of his own. Jane recognized Mac
'
s gorgeous cousin Miriam from the church bazaar, and one of the men from the Town Building, and two or three others she didn
'
t know
—
and Celeste. There were no bursts of scandalized laughter over there, of course; but what laughter there was, was easy and intimate, as if these people had laughed together before.
Jane was still finishing her own hasty meal when the dishes were cleared away and the cake rolled out. Uncle Easy, who
'
d been table-hopping all evening, sat down with a toddler on each knee and led the crowd in a lusty rendition of
"
Happy Birthday,
"
then got all eleven kids to help him blow out all eighty candles on the sheet cake. After that he took a knife and sliced off a yellow frosting rose for each of them for their services, and ate the twelfth one himself. What was left of the cake was cut up and passed out with coffee and tea to the stuffed, contented company.
Before Uncle Easy began opening his gifts, Cissy went up to him and wished him a wonderful, wonderful life, as happy a life as she was having. Radiant with joy, she went up to Jane and said,
"
I
'
m off to pack.
Finally
I
'
ll get to wear some of the resort wear that would
'
ve got me laughed off the island. Oh, and Mac will be watching Buster for me.
"
Jane hugged her and wished her a safe trip, and Cissy floated out of the house into the dark May night. The sounds of laughter brought Jane back to the keeping room; Uncle Easy was wisecracking his way through the opening of the gifts. Jane took the seat Bing had been saving for her.
"
If you jump up one more time, I
'
ll tie you to that chair,
"
Bing threatened in a low voice.
"
As a matter of fact, I may tie you to it anyway.
"
He took her hand in his and held it down in mock captivity, then leaned over and brushed his lips against hers again.
But something was different for Jane. This kiss wasn
'
t like the earlier kiss. She felt no particular joy in having Bing claim her publicly; quite the opposite, in fact. Something had changed in the course of the evening, and she thought it had to do with the word
"
thanks.
"
She glanced across the room where Mac was sitting, just in time to see him register a certain amount of disapproval over guests making out during gift opening.
Jane watched as Mac leaned over and whispered something in his ex-wife
'
s ear. Celeste nodded and reached down for her purse, then got up and, blowing a kiss first to Uncle Easy and then to her son, left the room.
Mac followed her.