[A/N. I still don't really know whether or not I like this story as much
as I liked the one before, but like I said I'm the persistent type and I am
not going to give up on it. I am determined to finish it and also to do the
best job I can. I'm already thinking ahead to the sequel which promises to
be quite VC Andrewsish!]
SIX:
After that night Cary didn't ask me again what had happened to May to make her think running away was her only solution, and to my surprise and happiness he also stopped treating May like a baby. She noticed it of course and asked me about it when Cary, Lara and I went over to Aunt Sara's for our usual Sunday lunch. Aunt Sara was in a cooking frenzy, and she smiled absently at us when we came in.
"Melody, could you be a dear and go with May to get me some cranberries from the bog?" She asked, barely turning around.
I shrugged, handed Lara to Cary, and May and I went down to the Cranberry bog. I made her laugh by telling her that when I first arrived and heard them talking about the bog that I thought it was some big muddy place, and I had no idea how pretty it could look. "But don't go telling Cary that," I warned her with a grin. "He still teases me sometimes about being a landlubber."
May signed back that because Cary was such a good sailor he thought anyone who didn't know as much as him was no good. She laughed telling me about how Cary and Laura used to argue over who was the better sailor, but Cary stubbornly refused to believe she could possibly be better than him!
I smiled, imagining that. After all the Cary I knew was nothing if not stubborn.
That's when May asked me whether I'd told Cary what had happened between her and Tommy. I assured her I hadn't; I wouldn't break my promise to her.
She frowned briefly and then signed "That's strange, because he's been acting different the last few days."
"Different how?" I demanded, worried that he hadn't taken my advice after all.
"He's been acting as though I'm grown up!" May said with a shrug. "I met him in town the other day when he came in to get something he needed for the boat he's building, and I was with Tommy, and he just said hello and chatted to us both as if...well not like usual!"
I laughed, and explained to May that I had suggested to Cary that she was growing up and old enough to make her own choices, and that he couldn't baby her forever.
Her face lit up in a smile, and she thanked me profusely.
"So," I asked as we started back towards the house with the important cranberries. "How are things between you and Tommy?"
She smiled happily as she answered her hands almost a blur. "Great! I'm having dinner at his place on Friday to meet his parents, and I'm trying to work up the nerve to ask Ma to let him come to lunch next Sunday." She told me.
"I'm sure she won't mind." I said, although privately I knew it might be a bit hard for Aunt Sara to realise her little girl was growing up that fast, especially with Laura dead, and Cary living away from her.
May shrugged, and told me that she'd just have to get used to the idea because she and Tommy were planning on being together a long time. She was still smiling happily when we went back into the kitchen were Cary was explaining the details of the boat he was building to Aunt Sara. ".and then when I finish off that it's pretty much done and ready for Mr. Harrison. So with Kenneth's, the judges and this one, I should start getting some exposure and maybe the business will take off." He was saying, and then he glanced at us. "What's with the smiles? Or is it secret women's business?" He asked us, signing so May could understand.
May just smiled and handed the cranberries to her mother, and then hurried over to Cary to take Lara from him.
"If we tell you we'll have to kill you." I told Cary jokingly, but there was still a slight warning in my words. A warning which Cary got, as he continued his discussion on boats.
Aunt Sara finished cooking and came to sit down at the table with us as she waited for the meal to be ready. "You know Cary, " she said. "I was thinking the other day how you should have a boat launch."
"A what?" Cary repeated, frowning slightly in confusion.
"A boat launch." Aunt Sara repeated. "Make it like a party, you know invite a few people, have a few nibblies and drinks- then everyone would know about your business and hopefully the orders would come hurrying in."
I was impressed. "That's not a bad idea Aunt Sara!" I said. "We could have Cary breaking a bottle of Champagne over the boat- like in the movies!"
"We're not in the movies." Cary muttered, but he was looking thoughtful. "I don't know that I'd want something too elaborate. I feel like with our wedding, and Lara's Christening and all we've probably had enough big parties lately, but something smaller, where I could invite people who might be interested in getting me to build them a boat could be interesting. I'll have to think it over."
The timer on the oven beeped then and Aunt Sara hurried over to it. A few minutes later we were in the dining room with our meal. Cary said grace and then we began to eat. As we ate Aunt Sara mentioned that she had been speaking to Mrs. Jackson in town the other day and that Adam was marrying his girlfriend from college, Francine. "By the way she was speaking it sounds like the marriage is going to be a pretty big affair." She told us shaking her head. "It seems sinful to waste so much money on a wedding."
I shrugged. "I guess if I had that kind of money Cary and I would have had a huge wedding too." I said, but Cary shook his head.
"You'd never catch me doing anything like those Jackson's. Show offs the lot of them and Adam is the worst of the lot." He insisted.
I hid my smile by taking a sip of my water. Cary's feelings about Adam were not exactly unknown to me. I remembered even at the very beginning he warned me about him, about his reputation, but foolishly I refused to believe him. And then after the incident on the beach although Cary never exactly gloated about it, I got the feeling he felt justified.
May began to tell us all about her ideal wedding. It would be on the beach, the bride and bridesmaids would wear simple, yet elegant dresses with their hair piled up on their heads with a seashell comb to hold it in place. They would be barefoot and exchange vows as the sun was beginning to set. Before she could get too carried away though
Aunt Sara interrupted her with a laugh, telling her that it was a long way off yet.
May frowned, and signed to her mother that she was almost sixteen, and in some areas and countries girls got married at sixteen!
"Well not in Provincetown." Aunt Sara said primly and the subject was closed.
I saw Cary give May a sympathetic smile, and she smiled back briefly.
"So Melody," Aunt Sara asked, as we finished our meal. "How's Lara behaving herself?"
"She's great." I enthused. "I mean, I'm sure all mothers say that, but honestly I think she's the perfect baby. She never cries unless she wants something, and she's already trying to sit up. Cary, is convinced more and more every day, that she's going to be a genius."
Aunt Sara smiled, a little nostalgically. "When Cary and Laura were babies Laura was the same. She was so well behaved it was surprising. I suppose she saw how much her brother annoyed me and was making up for him?"
Cary looked indignant, but May and I both laughed. I had to admit though, whenever Aunt Sara spoke of Laura, I would feel my heart do a little jump of fear lest she regressed.
When we were leaving later I saw Cary give May a hug and sign to her to have a good week, and say hello to that nice Tommy friend of hers. With a grin May signed back that she would. On the way home Cary asked, in what was obviously his attempt at a casual tone, "That Tommy- he's May's boyfriend isn't he?"
"What makes you ask that?" I replied, equally as casually.
"I just get the feeling that's all." Cary replied, and glanced at me briefly.
"And if he is?" I asked, and then hastily added "And that was just an IF Cary, nothing more."
"If he is," Cary said slowly. "I guess I hope they're happy together and he treats her well."
I smiled and said nothing more. The rest of the trip home was spent in companionable silence. I felt as though my life really was perfect now. I remembered after Lara's Christening thinking that things were too perfect, but now I decided that kind of idea was stupid. Life was what you made of it, and I was determined to make mine good. My mind flitted briefly to Holly's tarot cards and their predictions. The thought that they'd predicted that there would be obstacles I would have to overcome, and that I had fears about Lara had concerned me at the time, but on closer reflection I decided that they were simply a bunch of silly cards and nothing else. Lara was a joy, I was happy with her and Cary, and Cary was enjoying his boat building business.
To my surprise as we pulled up the long driveway I noticed there was a car sitting out the front of the house. As we stopped next to it, a slightly overweight girl stepped out of it, and my mouth opened in shock. "Alice!" I called, jumping out of the car. "What are you doing here?"
She smiled slightly. "Can't I visit my best friend and her family? I haven't seen you since the wedding, and the only time I've ever seen Lara is in photos." She said.
I frowned. "Of course you can visit me any time you want." I assured her, but then I asked her the question that had been bugging me since we'd pulled up a moment ago and I'd recognised her. "But why aren't you at college?"
To my shock she burst into tears. "Oh Melody it's terrible. I'm a failure. I only passed one subject last year, and I'm failing everything again."
"Calm down Alice, come inside and I'll get you a drink." I said, and I led her inside, with Cary and Lara following at a slower pace.
SIX:
After that night Cary didn't ask me again what had happened to May to make her think running away was her only solution, and to my surprise and happiness he also stopped treating May like a baby. She noticed it of course and asked me about it when Cary, Lara and I went over to Aunt Sara's for our usual Sunday lunch. Aunt Sara was in a cooking frenzy, and she smiled absently at us when we came in.
"Melody, could you be a dear and go with May to get me some cranberries from the bog?" She asked, barely turning around.
I shrugged, handed Lara to Cary, and May and I went down to the Cranberry bog. I made her laugh by telling her that when I first arrived and heard them talking about the bog that I thought it was some big muddy place, and I had no idea how pretty it could look. "But don't go telling Cary that," I warned her with a grin. "He still teases me sometimes about being a landlubber."
May signed back that because Cary was such a good sailor he thought anyone who didn't know as much as him was no good. She laughed telling me about how Cary and Laura used to argue over who was the better sailor, but Cary stubbornly refused to believe she could possibly be better than him!
I smiled, imagining that. After all the Cary I knew was nothing if not stubborn.
That's when May asked me whether I'd told Cary what had happened between her and Tommy. I assured her I hadn't; I wouldn't break my promise to her.
She frowned briefly and then signed "That's strange, because he's been acting different the last few days."
"Different how?" I demanded, worried that he hadn't taken my advice after all.
"He's been acting as though I'm grown up!" May said with a shrug. "I met him in town the other day when he came in to get something he needed for the boat he's building, and I was with Tommy, and he just said hello and chatted to us both as if...well not like usual!"
I laughed, and explained to May that I had suggested to Cary that she was growing up and old enough to make her own choices, and that he couldn't baby her forever.
Her face lit up in a smile, and she thanked me profusely.
"So," I asked as we started back towards the house with the important cranberries. "How are things between you and Tommy?"
She smiled happily as she answered her hands almost a blur. "Great! I'm having dinner at his place on Friday to meet his parents, and I'm trying to work up the nerve to ask Ma to let him come to lunch next Sunday." She told me.
"I'm sure she won't mind." I said, although privately I knew it might be a bit hard for Aunt Sara to realise her little girl was growing up that fast, especially with Laura dead, and Cary living away from her.
May shrugged, and told me that she'd just have to get used to the idea because she and Tommy were planning on being together a long time. She was still smiling happily when we went back into the kitchen were Cary was explaining the details of the boat he was building to Aunt Sara. ".and then when I finish off that it's pretty much done and ready for Mr. Harrison. So with Kenneth's, the judges and this one, I should start getting some exposure and maybe the business will take off." He was saying, and then he glanced at us. "What's with the smiles? Or is it secret women's business?" He asked us, signing so May could understand.
May just smiled and handed the cranberries to her mother, and then hurried over to Cary to take Lara from him.
"If we tell you we'll have to kill you." I told Cary jokingly, but there was still a slight warning in my words. A warning which Cary got, as he continued his discussion on boats.
Aunt Sara finished cooking and came to sit down at the table with us as she waited for the meal to be ready. "You know Cary, " she said. "I was thinking the other day how you should have a boat launch."
"A what?" Cary repeated, frowning slightly in confusion.
"A boat launch." Aunt Sara repeated. "Make it like a party, you know invite a few people, have a few nibblies and drinks- then everyone would know about your business and hopefully the orders would come hurrying in."
I was impressed. "That's not a bad idea Aunt Sara!" I said. "We could have Cary breaking a bottle of Champagne over the boat- like in the movies!"
"We're not in the movies." Cary muttered, but he was looking thoughtful. "I don't know that I'd want something too elaborate. I feel like with our wedding, and Lara's Christening and all we've probably had enough big parties lately, but something smaller, where I could invite people who might be interested in getting me to build them a boat could be interesting. I'll have to think it over."
The timer on the oven beeped then and Aunt Sara hurried over to it. A few minutes later we were in the dining room with our meal. Cary said grace and then we began to eat. As we ate Aunt Sara mentioned that she had been speaking to Mrs. Jackson in town the other day and that Adam was marrying his girlfriend from college, Francine. "By the way she was speaking it sounds like the marriage is going to be a pretty big affair." She told us shaking her head. "It seems sinful to waste so much money on a wedding."
I shrugged. "I guess if I had that kind of money Cary and I would have had a huge wedding too." I said, but Cary shook his head.
"You'd never catch me doing anything like those Jackson's. Show offs the lot of them and Adam is the worst of the lot." He insisted.
I hid my smile by taking a sip of my water. Cary's feelings about Adam were not exactly unknown to me. I remembered even at the very beginning he warned me about him, about his reputation, but foolishly I refused to believe him. And then after the incident on the beach although Cary never exactly gloated about it, I got the feeling he felt justified.
May began to tell us all about her ideal wedding. It would be on the beach, the bride and bridesmaids would wear simple, yet elegant dresses with their hair piled up on their heads with a seashell comb to hold it in place. They would be barefoot and exchange vows as the sun was beginning to set. Before she could get too carried away though
Aunt Sara interrupted her with a laugh, telling her that it was a long way off yet.
May frowned, and signed to her mother that she was almost sixteen, and in some areas and countries girls got married at sixteen!
"Well not in Provincetown." Aunt Sara said primly and the subject was closed.
I saw Cary give May a sympathetic smile, and she smiled back briefly.
"So Melody," Aunt Sara asked, as we finished our meal. "How's Lara behaving herself?"
"She's great." I enthused. "I mean, I'm sure all mothers say that, but honestly I think she's the perfect baby. She never cries unless she wants something, and she's already trying to sit up. Cary, is convinced more and more every day, that she's going to be a genius."
Aunt Sara smiled, a little nostalgically. "When Cary and Laura were babies Laura was the same. She was so well behaved it was surprising. I suppose she saw how much her brother annoyed me and was making up for him?"
Cary looked indignant, but May and I both laughed. I had to admit though, whenever Aunt Sara spoke of Laura, I would feel my heart do a little jump of fear lest she regressed.
When we were leaving later I saw Cary give May a hug and sign to her to have a good week, and say hello to that nice Tommy friend of hers. With a grin May signed back that she would. On the way home Cary asked, in what was obviously his attempt at a casual tone, "That Tommy- he's May's boyfriend isn't he?"
"What makes you ask that?" I replied, equally as casually.
"I just get the feeling that's all." Cary replied, and glanced at me briefly.
"And if he is?" I asked, and then hastily added "And that was just an IF Cary, nothing more."
"If he is," Cary said slowly. "I guess I hope they're happy together and he treats her well."
I smiled and said nothing more. The rest of the trip home was spent in companionable silence. I felt as though my life really was perfect now. I remembered after Lara's Christening thinking that things were too perfect, but now I decided that kind of idea was stupid. Life was what you made of it, and I was determined to make mine good. My mind flitted briefly to Holly's tarot cards and their predictions. The thought that they'd predicted that there would be obstacles I would have to overcome, and that I had fears about Lara had concerned me at the time, but on closer reflection I decided that they were simply a bunch of silly cards and nothing else. Lara was a joy, I was happy with her and Cary, and Cary was enjoying his boat building business.
To my surprise as we pulled up the long driveway I noticed there was a car sitting out the front of the house. As we stopped next to it, a slightly overweight girl stepped out of it, and my mouth opened in shock. "Alice!" I called, jumping out of the car. "What are you doing here?"
She smiled slightly. "Can't I visit my best friend and her family? I haven't seen you since the wedding, and the only time I've ever seen Lara is in photos." She said.
I frowned. "Of course you can visit me any time you want." I assured her, but then I asked her the question that had been bugging me since we'd pulled up a moment ago and I'd recognised her. "But why aren't you at college?"
To my shock she burst into tears. "Oh Melody it's terrible. I'm a failure. I only passed one subject last year, and I'm failing everything again."
"Calm down Alice, come inside and I'll get you a drink." I said, and I led her inside, with Cary and Lara following at a slower pace.
