One Week in Maine

by Shayna Ryan

“So you’re the one that dumped all that venison in Will’s lap, huh?” he joked with a twinkle in his eye.

  “Excuse me?”

  “The deer,” Will cut in apologetically. “Some of the meat was ruined, but there was a lot still good on it, so I had our local game butcher, Bernie, process it for me. I called him on my way to pick you up so he could run out and grab it.”

  “You’re the one who took the dead deer?”

  “Well, Bernie, technically, but at my request.”

  “Bastard beat the rest of us to it!” Blue lamented.

  “But why?” I didn’t care what kind of road kill it was, the thought of consuming meat from it was repulsive.

  “Because there’s no sense in letting good meat rot on the side of the road!” Blue explained incredulously, as if I were stupid.

  “It’s a common practice out here, and that was a lucky find. With the cool weather the meat hadn’t started turning yet, seeing as how it was a fresh kill and all.”

  “Hard to get your hands on fresh venison outside of hunting season, and a lot of folks are running low on last year’s batch,” Blue added.

  “Out of my way Blue!” Ginger bumped him with her hip as she laid out our meals.

  “I’ll catch you kids later! Better go back to my seat before Ginger here puts the hurt on me!” Blue gave me a little teasing wink, and I decided I liked the odd local guy after all.

  Conversation in the café had resumed to normal levels, and as I overheard bits of people’s current conversations, I was relieved to hear they were no longer discussing me.

  “Blue seems like a good guy,” I told Will offhandedly.

  “That he is. He’s one of the best hunters around, too, and he’ll tip me off to anything hinky he finds out there.”

  “Kind of like a snitch?” I teased.

  Will laughed at the comparison. “I’m not sure I’d label him as a snitch, exactly, but I’m sure some of the poachers and baiters sure see him that way! Nobody messes with him, though. As nice as he is, he’s got a hell of a temper.”

  Will insisted on paying the bill for our meal, and I reluctantly allowed it.

  Back on the road again, he explained a bit more about the deer meat.

  “I didn’t want to explain it all back there at the café in case anyone was offended, but I know you think it’s disgusting. What you’re not considering is how poor many people are in this area. Hunting and scavenging’s been a way of life up here forever. People do what they need to do to get by, and sometimes that includes things outsiders might consider gross.”

  “People seriously do a lot of that kind of thing?”

  “I mean, don’t think we’re all combing the roadways for smashed raccoon, but if someone hits and kills a deer, and the meat’s usable, you bet. Bernie’s keeping a bit of the venison from your deer for himself as payment for processing it, I’ll take a little bit home to the Inn, and Janie’ll get the rest. It’ll feed them for a few months, if she stretches it a bit. And Bernie’s got a large family–he’s happy to do the work for me if it means they have meat on the table for a while.”

  “So it’s helping people, really.” I could deal with the idea of it if I could spin it that way in my own mind

  “Yup, you got it. You hitting that deer was a blessing in disguise. Maybe not for the deer,” he added, “but at least for two households in need of a helping hand.”

  So his girlfriend was poor. Not that I looked down on those in lean times as my checking account wasn’t exactly overflowing at the moment, but this news surprised me.

  Bernie lived in a prefabricated house at the end of a long, lonely dirt road. He was younger than I had expected, maybe in his late twenties at the most.

  “Hiya.” He put me instantly at ease with his friendly demeanor.

  “Maya, you gonna come say hi or what?” he hollered at the house. “Maya’s my wife. She’ll be out in a minute or two. Betcha the little ones are keepin’ her busy. The twins are cuttin’ some new teeth, and they’re cranky.”

  “Twins?”

  “Well, the second set. We’ve got seven kids all together. Two sets of twins and three separates. And another on the way.”

  My mind spun as I tried to imagine having that many kids. I wasn’t sure I ever wanted one, never mind over half a dozen.

  “C’mon, the meat’s in the freezer in the garage.” Bernie motioned for us to follow him to the large detached garage at the end of the driveway.

  “Thanks for getting it done so fast, Bernie,” Will told him as we entered.

  Bernie grabbed two portable coolers and opened a nearby chest freezer, just one of many lining the walls of the garage.

  “Just bring these back later in the week or whatever, ‘kay Will?”

  “You got it.”

  Together the two men filled one cooler and then moved on to the next. Will stopped and held up his hand.

  “That’s enough, Bernie, really.”

  “Cooler’s not half yet full.”

  “I know, it’s fine. I’ll take this home, and the other cooler to Janie. You keep the rest.”

  “The deal was half, Will, you know that, and you ain’t yet got nearly half the meat I took off that animal.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Dottie and I don’t eat a whole lot of venison, and you know Janie doesn’t have the room to store much at once.” Will said the right words, but even I could tell he was just trying to talk Bernie into keeping more of the meat than they had originally agreed upon.

  “You sure, Will? I mean, we sure could use it and all, with the season not opening for another month, but I don’t want to take advantage or nothin’.”

  “No, it’s all good, Bernie. You keep the rest; we’ve got plenty here.” Will closed up the second cooler and picked up one in each hand. “We have to run and deliver Janie’s meat, but thanks for butchering it!”

  “No problem, you know that. Call me if you find anything else.” He grabbed one of the coolers from Will and followed him to the truck. I trailed along behind them.

  “Well, Maya must be tied up still. Maybe next time,” he shrugged apologetically to me.

  “Sure.” I didn’t bother pointing out that there wouldn’t be a next time.

  The men loaded the coolers into the back of the truck and Bernie waved to us as we pulled away.

  “That was a nice thing you did for him back there,” I commented softy when we hit the road again.

  Will shrugged. “It’s no big deal, really, and I know they’re hurting right now.”

  We were both quiet as we drove to the next town over to get to Janie’s place, but it was a comfortable silence. After a fifteen minute ride down increasingly desolate back roads, Will finally pulled up in front of a dumpy looking trailer. An ancient sedan sat on cement blocks in the gravel driveway, and sun-bleached toys littered the yard.

  A blonde girl around the age of five or six came running from the backyard, and as I climbed out of the truck I heard her yelling “Uncle Will’s here!” The little girl catapulted herself into Will’s open arms and he gave her a quick kiss on top of her head.

  “Hey, Sadie, where’s the rest of the gang?”

  “Momma’s inside with Chloe, but Hunter’s out back.”

  I was impressed with Will’s easy relationship with the little girl. Kids always made me vaguely uncomfortable because I was never quite sure how to act around them. They struck me as loud, rude little terrorists of sorts, but Will was clearly at ease with the little girl.

  She wiggled out of Will’s arms and raced around the trailer to find Hunter.

  “So she’s got three kids?” I really wanted to know if any of them were his, but it felt like too personal a question to ask. It was possible, but it seemed unlikely somehow. From the little I knew about Will already, I couldn’t imagine him allowing his child to live in those conditions.

  “Yup. Sadie there’s the oldest.”

  We walked across the lawn to the crumbling cement steps and Will rapped on
the door.

  I took a deep breath to steady myself. I was about to meet the woman who held Will’s heart and it intimidated me. In different circumstances I might consider the woman to be my competition for his attention, but as my stay in Maine was only temporary that wasn’t the case. It was hard not to be jealous, though. Based on the condition of the trailer and surrounding yard, my life was far more financially stable than Janie’s, but she had Will. I hated to admit it, but I was jealous of her, even with her dumpy home. I braced myself to meet Will’s girlfriend.

  -5-

  The door to the trailer opened and a skinny, tired looking young woman with a young toddler on her hip lit up with surprise when she spotted Will on her doorstep.

  “Will!” Balancing the little one on her thin hip, she pulled Will into a one-handed hug. He pulled her into a quick embrace and ruffled the toddler’s wispy hair.

  I watched the exchange through narrowed eyes while I wondered how a woman like that had ever caught Will’s attention. While she wasn’t ugly, she sure wasn’t pretty, either. She was rather plain and haggard looking. Looks weren’t everything, but surely Will could do better than this.

  “Janie, this is Calista. She’s staying at the Inn until the end of the week or so, up from Connecticut.”

  “Hi, Calista, c’mon in. Geez Will, if I had known you were coming over and bringing company I would have cleaned up a bit. Sorry, hun, but this guy gave me no warning and with the kids and all…”

  “Oh, please, don’t worry about it,” I responded sweetly. As I followed Will into the trailer I tried to ignore the disarray and clutter that covered most of the place. Toys littered the floor everywhere, and various articles of laundry were draped over the furniture. The stale odor of cigarettes lingered in the air.

  “Have a seat.” Janie hastily swept some of the mess aside.

  To my surprise, Will sat next to me on the faded loveseat while Janie parked herself in the recliner.

  “Where’s Joey today?”

  “Joey. Well, see the thing is…he got stopped a few nights ago for speeding and he didn’t have a license, so they arrested him and they towed the truck.”

  Will sighed. “So he’s in the slammer again?”

  “It was a violation of his probation. He’ll be out in a couple of weeks.” She lifted her chin defiantly as if daring him to say anything about it.

  “You could do better, you know, Janie,” Will told her sternly. I tried to hide my surprise. Maybe Will wasn’t her boyfriend after all. I sure wasn’t getting that vibe at the moment.

  “Don’t start again, Will! You know that I love him, and we’ve got the three little ones.” Her tone was tense.

  “I hope he learns his lesson this time at least, but I doubt it,” he grumbled. Before Janie could respond, the front door banged open and Sadie flew into the trailer with her little brother right behind her.

  “Unky Will! Unky Will!” The chubby little blond boy raced over to him and climbed up into his lap. “Hi, Unky Will!”

  “Hunter, my man, you get bigger every time I see you! How old are you now? Thirty? Forty?” Again I marveled at his natural ease around the children.

  Sadie burst into giggles. “No! He’s three!”

  “Three, huh?” He tickled Hunter under the chin and the little boy burst into peals of laughter. I couldn’t help but smile at the sound of the kids’ heartfelt joy over seeing Will.

  “Easy, Will, don’t rile ‘em up so!” Janie chastised.

  “Okay, kiddos, that’s enough,” he told them as he gently removed Hunter from his lap. “Why don’t you two go play outside some more, okay?”

  Sadie and Hunter did as they were told and once more the front door banged shut.

  “So how are you doing with Joey gone?” he asked Janie once the two older kids were outside again.

  “Fair, I guess. The electric and propane are all paid up, and the woodpile’s almost done, but since they towed the truck I don’t have any way to go anywhere.”

  “You know I would help you,” Will reminded her softly. “All you need to do is call, Janie, you know that.”

  “Yeah, I know. I might have to take you up on that sometime. I gotta get more groceries in a few days, and I don’t know if my neighbor can run me into town or not.”

  “That reminds me…” Will stood up. “I’ve got a bunch of venison for you. I’ll be right back.” With that he went out to the truck to retrieve the meat, leaving just us girls alone. It made me nervous; I had no idea what I was supposed to talk about with Janie in his absence. It didn’t appear that we had much in common. I just hoped Will would be quick.

  “So what brings you up this way?” Janie asked politely. I held back a sigh of relief that she was taking the reins on this one.

  “A wedding. It’s today, and I hit a deer so my car needs some serious repairs so I’m kind of stuck here for now without a ride to the wedding.”

  “No one ever stays out this way on purpose. This area is good for passing through, not much more.”

  I caught the edge of bitterness in her voice and I struggled to find an answer to that. “It’s beautiful, though.”

  “I guess.”

  Suddenly an idea struck me. Will’s philanthropic ways must have been rubbing off on me. “I have no plans this week while I’m waiting to get my car back. If Will doesn’t mind, I could borrow his truck to run you to the store. Oh, maybe not…we couldn’t all fit in there.” I eyed the toddler in Janie’s lap dubiously.

  “Would you really do that? Betcha one of my neighbors could watch the kids for an hour or two so I could restock the fridge.”

  “Sure, why not?” Janie seemed like a nice enough woman and it’s not like I had anything else to do all week. It looked like she could use all the help she could get.

  Just then Will came back in with the cooler filled with venison. “You can thank Calista for this one. She’s the one who hit the deer!”

  “Thanks, you guys. It’s a big help, really.”

  I stayed seated on the love seat and watched Will help Janie fill the freezer with the venison. Even from the living room I could tell that before our arrival the freezer had been pretty bare.

  Once they were done cramming the venison into the freezer, Will gestured to me that it was time to go, so I stood up. As anxious as I had been to get away from the Inn, I was now eager to go back. It wasn’t fancy and it wasn’t pretty, but it was clean and clutter free. Janie’s trailer was not, and it made me feel a tad bit claustrophobic.

  “We gotta go, Janie, but you call me if you need anything. Promise?”

  “I promise, I promise.” She rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. “Thanks again for the venison. I really appreciate.”

  We said our goodbyes out on the front stoop, and Sadie and Hunter came tearing around the house and hugged Will fiercely.

  “You’re comin’ again soon, Uncle Will, right?” Sadie asked as she hugged his neck tightly.

  “You betcha, princess. You be good for your Mom now.” He untangled the kids from around his neck and they followed them out to the truck.

  “Bye, pretty lady!” Sadie called in a sing-song voice to me as they pulled away. I waved to her out the truck window and surprised myself when I gave her a big, sincere parting smile. That little girl was simply adorable.

  “So what’s her deal, anyway?” I asked as we drove back to the Inn. Our visit to Janie’s had put to rest my assumption that she and Will were romantically entangled, but I still couldn’t figure out their connection.

  “Janie? Joey’s her deadbeat boyfriend. He spends his time drinking and bouncing in and out of jail on various minor, never ending infractions. Of course he can never hold down a job for long because he’s too busy getting arrested.”

  “I take it you’re not a fan.”

  “Nope, I think he’s a loser. But he got Janie pregnant at a pretty young age and she’s stuck by him ever since. She just doesn’t believe that she could do better, and it’s a shame because he
r kids suffer for it.” His disdain for Joey was clear.

  “Is she really your sister?”

  Something crossed his face when I asked that, something brief and unpleasant, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. “No, I don’t have any siblings. The kids just know me as Uncle Will because I’ve been around since before they were born. What about you–who’s missing you back home right now?”

  “My parents live just outside of Greenwich, and I have an older sister in Boston.”

  “No one else?”

  “Are you asking if I have a boyfriend, Will?” I teased. It came off as a joke like I intended it to but I was dying to know if that’s what he was asking in his own indirect way. I sensed that was what he was trying to ask, but I worried that I might be just misreading him.

  “Maybe,” he shrugged with a smile and a quick glance at me before returning his eyes to the road.

  “Well I don’t, in case you were asking.” I stared out the window for a moment as I screwed up the courage to ask what was on my mind. “What about you–anyone special in your life?”

  “No. Not in a long time.” My elation at the news that he was single was tempered by the pain in his voice.

  “What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Actually, I do.” His expression hardened and he kept his eyes on the road in front of him, effectively shutting down our dialogue.

  My heart sank; I had screwed this all up. Here we were, confessing to each other that we were single, and I had inadvertently ruined it. But his reaction piqued my curiosity. It was easy to believe that he led a somewhat charmed life with his good looks, good reputation, and the job he enjoyed so much. Now I wondered just how happy he really was, with some sort of painful history looming over him. Whatever it was, his wounds were still clearly fresh.

  “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to pry,” I offered. He gave a small nod to show that he had heard me but said nothing in return. We didn’t speak the rest of the ride back to the Inn.

  “I really am sorry I asked,” I told him once again as we walked towards the Inn, side by side.

  “I know. You didn’t mean to pry, and I’m sorry I’m so sensitive about it. I just don’t like to talk about it much, and your question took me by surprise. I didn’t mean to be a jerk,” he explained. “And yeah, I kinda was asking if you were seeing anybody.”Out of the corner of my eye I caught his boyish grin and my heart soared.