Chapter 8 – One Disaster After Another

Martin sat facing Louisa across the table. Louisa had moved the arrangement of daisies to one end of the table after lifting them to her face to get a whiff of any fragrance.

"Martin, these will last for quite a while. What a lovely choice!"

"Hmm, it was those or some wilting red ones," he answered.

She laughed lightly as she replied, "I'll put one in your buttonhole when you leave for you to take home."

Louisa handed him the platter with the lamb chops. "I hope these will be okay."

I hope what I have to tell you will go okay too, she thought. I like seeing him at my table. Am I doing the right thing? Oh no, stop those thoughts. Your decision has been made. Now get on with it.

She selected a chop in turn. The asparagus looked so green and tender on her plate beside it. She was pleased with her quick work in the kitchen for this meal. Now, say it now.

"Martin," she said. He had lifted his knife to cut into his chop.

"I'm going to America." She watched as his face jerked up and his eyes sought hers while his knife slipped and knocked the chop off his plate onto the floor.

"America ... why, er when ..." He could say no more. He did not move and sat staring across the table at her.

Louisa had turned pale as she watched the lamb chop vault from Martin's plate onto the floor. She could put hers on his plate, but what would she eat?

"Martin, I'm going with a teacher exchange program." She stood up and moved to the side of the table, then bent down and retrieved the piece of meat.

"This is something I've wanted to do since I was a child." Louisa carried the chop to the sink and quickly rinsed it under a warm stream of water.

"It really is a privilege to be selected," Louisa said as she walked back to the table. He

continued staring across the table as if she had not moved away. Should she put this piece on her plate? No. She was hungry too.

There was one more chop on the platter, in case he wanted to eat two tonight. She hesitated a moment, then put the chop in her hand back on his plate. He automatically cut a piece and raised it to his mouth.

"My expenses are paid, so I'm going to come out ahead." Louisa said as she sat down. She knew this economic fact would impress him.

Martin chewed another piece of meat. There was no other reaction.

"I'll be flying to Chicago. I've been assigned to a school in a small community in Illinois."

"Chicago? But I thought …" and Martin stopped abruptly. He was quiet, staring at Louisa.

"But what, Martin?"

"Hmmm." Martin did not move.

Louisa leaned toward him and tried to speak gently, "Martin, tell me what you were thinking?"

Martin slowly used his knife and fork to cut a piece from the chop.

"Our rides together, this summer…. " Just bits of his thoughts were coming through, but Louisa quietly waited.

"We could … ummmm … planned to go further away." He lifted the fork to his lips. Louisa guiltily watched him chew, but it was as if he was completely unaware of his movements.

"Summer plans?" Louisa felt confused. "But Martin, you never said anything to me about summer plans."

She could see that was all she was going to get from him at the moment. She continued to eat her own chop.

"Martin, I know this is hard for you, but it would be so much easier for both of us if you tell me right away when you think of something that concerns us both. No need to keep silent. No secrets. Let's be honest with each other."

Martin snorted. "Secrets … honesty, you should talk! When did you find the time to concoct this summer scheme?"

Louisa gulped as Martin found his voice. Now she was hearing his thoughts. And as usual, Martin was right. His mind was so quick and he'd caught her. He turned the lecture she'd just given him back to question her actions. He deserved an answer.

"I usually do some sort of work with children in the summer. That will stay the same." Her words came rushing out. "Martin, I never know where I stand with you. Do you want to see me or don't you? I waited all week for you to call, to see if we'd be together this weekend."

Louisa cut a piece of asparagus, but suddenly she wasn't hungry. She was eager to tell him about her coming adventure. The words tumbled out as she explained how she'd seen the notice about teaching overseas in her education magazine, what she'd had to do to apply, how she had almost forgotten about it until the letter had arrived. This opportunity would increase her teaching experience. She wondered what would be the same and what would she find to be different in an American primary school.

Louisa saw that Martin was eating very mechanically as he listened to her. At least he was being fed at her home, but it didn't look as if he were enjoying the meal. He didn't even know what he was eating, she thought. Oh, why had she rushed the telling of her news.

"Martin ..." she stopped. "Martin, would you like the second chop?"

He nodded. She finished eating her asparagus while Martin ate the chop. She was waiting for him to say something, anything. She knew this was not the usual silence that they shared together.

Suddenly, there was a noise at the open window. Then, by Martin's chair, there appeared a black nose surrounded by bushy gray fur with two black eyes peering out from underneath and a wiggly body showing its delight at finding Martin.

Martin found his voice as he leaped up from his chair, "Oh, how did this awful thing get in here!"

Louisa had acted quickly too. She grabbed the collar of the dog and pulled him toward the door, as the dog strained to get back to Martin.

"Cameron, come." Louisa addressed the dog by its name that he'd gotten from his owner, the old widow Mrs. Quinn, who let her dog out early in the morning and relied on the goodness of strangers to feed him during the day because everyone knew she was getting by on very little. Al Large and others had noticed the great affinity this dog had developed for the GP of Portwenn and they now jokingly called Cameron "Doc Martin's dog," which was probably more in response to Dr. Ellingham's intense dislike of that creature.

"Okay, he's gone." Louisa said as she shut the door. Martin had resumed eating and Louisa returned to her seat at the table. "That dog is very fond of you, Martin. As I recall, he shows up often where you are." She could not contain a smile as she said this. And she found she had a bit more to say. "Martin, I don't blame him. I am very fond of you too."

Martin again paused, this time with an asparagus piece on his fork. His blue eyes blazed into hers, and Louisa felt as if he could see into her soul.

"Louisa, I am NOT fond of that dog. But, I ... ah, I am fond ... fond of you.," he quickly finished. Then he ducked his head and popped the asparagus into his mouth. Louisa could see a flush appearing on his face.

Now Louisa did not know what to say. The interruption of their meal by "Martin's dog" had brought forth heartfelt, but perhaps unintentional declarations from each of them. For the moment, it appeared America was forgotten.

Louisa finally answered in a voice barely louder than a whisper, "I'm glad you feel that way."

Martin cleared his throat. "The chops were a good choice for tonight's dinner."

"Thank you, Martin. I'm glad your enjoyed them. To celebrate the end of the school year, I got us a dessert."

Louisa was pleased to see a small smile appear when Martin watched her place the fruit tart on the table.

Louisa cut the tart. "Martin, you've never told me if you've been to America. Have you?"

"Yes, once, back in ... well, six years ago. To a medical conference in New York City. There was no time to be a tourist. Just seeing all the tall buildings ... truly amazing."

Louisa handed Martin his plate with the dessert and fixed one for herself. "I'm flying direct to Chicago. I've read about the skyscrapers there too."

"What do you expect to learn from this?"

"I want to observe the ways young children are motivated to learn. It is so important that these beginning students have enriching and successful experiences. I'm going to ...

"You're going to a small village, you said. Why didn't you take this opportunity to work in a big city, perhaps with disadvantaged children?"

"Martin, I don't feel comfortable in big cities. Just going overseas will be enough of a change for me to get used to ... how people speak, strange terms for things ...I'll be away from the sea."

"You won't be around. I had been thinking we could extend our drives further from Portwenn with the weather getting nicer. You grew up in this area and there are things you could show me, teach me right here."

"I know, Martin. But this wasn't a difficult decision when I thought about the goals I have for my life. I am committed to the field of education ... there's so much more for me to learn."

"America," Martin snorted. "Where some of the people get the very best medical care in the world, and yet others get nothing. I'll take our system over that any day."

"And I'll be able to make a few comparisons about schools, teachers and students, to tell you when I'm back."

"I'll take our educational system over theirs too!" Martin exclaimed.

"May I ask you to drive me to the Bodmin train station … next Thursday. My flight from Gatwick is early in the morning so I'll stay overnight in London beforehand."

"Yes, of course, Louisa." His answer was curt. " Now I really must be on my way. Thank you for the meal tonight."

Louisa replied as she followed him to her door, "Thank you for the flowers. Good night, Martin."

He bent his head to go out her front door.

"Yes, good night." And with that, he was gone.