Purling Road - The Complete First Season: Episodes 1-10

by M. L. Gardner

  She gave a hard nod of her head. "Yer right. I'll stay tonight and ask Mr. Jonathan to come tomorrow night."

  "Actually, I have a better idea. How about you stay with Arianna tonight?"

  A few moments later, after working out the logistics they returned inside. Everyone looked to them curiously except Jonathan who kept his eyes averted. Caleb pulled Claire aside and Maura went to Jonathan with a sweet smile.

  "Can I talk to ye outside please?"

  He didn't answer, but didn't hesitate. This time, Maura picked up her coat on the way out the back door.

  As she slipped her arms inside the warm wool, she spun around. "I told myself that I'd be kind and gentle with ye, but now that yer in front of me, all I want to do is slap ye."

  His eyes popped wide.

  "Yer doing damage to a friendship, a lifelong friendship because of something that is completely out of yer control. Yer inability to grow this business at this time is not any more his fault than it is yers. On top of that, yer damning Mr. Caleb fer doing what's best fer himself and his family. Ye'd never let someone get away with doing that if it were ye trying to make a better life. In fact, that's exactly what's happening here. Ye see Mr. Caleb leaving the boats as preventing ye from improving yer life and ye act like ye hate him fer it. Only yer trying to do the same to him! By keeping him on the boats, yer preventing him from growing his farm. It's quite obvious yer being a selfish ass."

  Jonathan looked everywhere but at her.

  "I know ye," she said more gently. "I know ye want to grow and expand, but now is obviously not the time, Mr. Jonathan. Ye should know all about timing from yer old life. My God, I only served ye in yer house and I learned all this just from being around ye. Surely ye remember. There is no difference in running a million dollar brokerage or a two boat fishing operation. Most things do not happen simply because ye will them to. It's about timing, market, pricing and jumping on a good opportunity when ye see it."

  At the word opportunity, Jonathan thought of Aryl's suggestion for guided fishing tours. Perhaps that was the next logical step.

  With a faint pout, he looked down.

  "Ye look just like Jean when he's scolded," she said, trying not to smile.

  "It never takes you long to straighten me out. I know I was hard on Caleb," he said quietly.

  "And..."

  "And, I know I owe him an apology."

  "And..."

  He looked at her, confused.

  "And ye know that when ye give that apology, it's not going to change anything fer him. He's home and he's staying home."

  "I know," Jonathan said with a frustrated huff.

  "Perhaps ye need to see things more from his angle, Mr. Jonathan."

  "How so?"

  "Why doesn't he drop his mother off at yer house fer a few days. Ye can deal with her episodes and outbursts, periods of not knowing who the hell ye are and then there's the random incontinence. Then ye can tell him he's wrong for needing to be near his family." She crossed her arms tightly. "Yer a smart man, Mr. Jonathan. So when ye act daft, it rubs my nerves like no other."

  He smiled with a nod. "I'll apologize for calling Arianna weak as well."

  "Good boy," she said patting his arm. "Now. About Mr. Aryl. Here's what Caleb and I have decided to do."

  ***

  Aryl looked up from his book as Jonathan walked in the bedroom door. It was late, well past dark.

  "I thought you left," Aryl said.

  "I did. And then I came back."

  "So did I," Caleb said, following close behind. Both men had a pillow and rolled blanket in their arms.

  Aryl had panic on his face. "No. We are not going camping!"

  Jonathan couldn't help but laugh. "We're here to see that we don't even need to go camping again. Unless it's for recreation."

  Aryl watched as they each spread a blanket on the floor; Caleb on the far side of the bed, Jonathan at the foot.

  "What are you doing?" Aryl asked.

  Claire pushed the door open, her arms full of more blankets. "It gets cold in here at night, might want to take these."

  "Wait, are they sleeping here?" Aryl asked.

  Claire didn't answer. Didn't even look at him. She just turned and left.

  "What's wrong with her? And someone answer me, why are you making beds on my floor?"

  "We are making beds because we're staying here tonight. And tomorrow night. Maybe the next, I'm not sure. That depends on you. And what's wrong with Claire? Why don't you think about that for a minute and then tell us," Jonathan said.

  It appeared that Aryl was growing irritated. Neither Caleb nor Jonathan acknowledged it, they just let him think.

  "She thinks I'll get hooked again. All of you do."

  "All of us are worried about it," Caleb said. "If you didn't have Claire and Jac, if you didn't have us here to remind you of what you need to fight to keep, tell me you wouldn't have gone out already and found more on your own."

  "No, I wouldn't," Aryl said. Both his eyes and voice were shaky. He wanted to believe he wouldn't. But deep down he knew he might. Then he remembered with great disappointment that he had. Not twenty-four hours after tasting it again, he'd dug through the drawers and closet, hoping Claire had hidden it in the room.

  Jonathan turned on the small bedside radio to break the uncomfortable silence. He'd apologized to Caleb earlier. Caleb had accepted, but things weren't quite back to normal yet. Caleb remained defensive, waiting for Jonathan to try to talk him into coming back.

  Jonathan sat in the chair next to the chest of drawers. "Let's talk about your idea for guided fishing this summer," he said.

  "You ran the numbers?" Aryl asked.

  "Not all of them. The way I see it, if we can just break even with what we'd normally catch, it'd be an easy day's work. With some luck, we'll make more."

  Aryl adjusted in the bed, trying to sit up straighter.

  "I really think it will work. Of course the boats will need some attention. A fresh coat of paint, some chairs and a small table for the deck. They'd bring their own fishing poles, so we'd only need to buy poles for ourselves."

  "Why do we need poles?" Jonathan asked.

  "Might as well catch dinner for ourselves while we're out there."

  They talked a while longer throwing around ideas; which papers to advertise in, what to charge, how long each expedition should last. It wasn't the expansion that Jonathan had been hoping for, but it was expansion nontheless and the hope that came with making plans was enough.

  Caleb had remained silent throughout this conversation. He had hopes and plans of his own and was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, sketching them out on a piece of paper. When the conversation began to slow, he spoke up.

  "Do you guys want a garden plot again this year? I'm doing my ground planning and I need to know."

  "Yeah, that'd be good," Aryl said.

  "I'd appreciate it," Jonathan added.

  "Same size as last year or bigger?"

  "If you can spare a little more, bigger would be good. What Ava grew last year will almost last us the winter."

  "We ran out a few weeks ago, so like Jonathan said, if you can spare a bigger spot, that'd be great."

  "I can spare it," Caleb said quietly, eyes on his paper. "How's your arm?"

  Aryl, distracted by the conversation felt the deep ache return.

  "Hurts some."

  "You'll probably be losing your mind from boredom by the weekend. If you're feeling up to it, why don't we all run out and buy seeds. That will give you both time to talk to Ava and Claire about what you want to grow."

  "That sounds good," Aryl said.

  "And if you're feeling up to it, you guys can come over and stake out your plots before the next snow."

  "Thanks, Caleb," they both said.

  ***

  Three days and three nights went by. While Caleb was needed at home during the day and Jonathan had to keep running the boats with Ian, they spent nights talking, p
laying cards and on two occasions when Aryl's craving ran deep, they talked him through it.

  He managed to get by with no morphine after Caleb and Jonathan began their modified camp out on his floor. They laughed, reliving memories from their youth, grew irritated with each other at differences of opinions and teased each other mercilessly. Without the women around to keep them in line, there was much cursing and many off color jokes were told.

  The deeper the conversation, the funnier the teasing and the harder the laughter, the less pain Aryl felt and by Saturday, as Caleb predicted, Aryl was begging to get out of the bed and get some fresh air.

  They went downstairs and told Claire he needed to get dressed. He hadn't asked for her, but she went up anyway.

  He was struggling to get the sleeve of his shirt over the bulky cast. Silently she helped him.

  She stared at the shirt as she buttoned it. He stared at her.

  "I'm sorry," he said.

  She nodded.

  "I'm going to be okay. I'll heal up and go back to work and things will be fine."

  There was sincerity in his voice and his eyes. She wanted to believe him. More than that, she wanted to know why. Why were Jonathan and Caleb able to help him through this time and the last and she wasn't? She'd been there, tried to step in and be what he needed and it was only a matter of hours before he was short, foul tempered and driving her away again.

  And then there was the even bigger question. Did she want to know the answer? She had the thought that it should be enough that when he was out of the drugs grasp, she was enough to keep him away.

  She tried to smile and let that be enough. "Let's go. They're waiting."

  ***

  Jonathan answered the door as if it was his own. He'd been there so much it was beginning to feel like it.

  He was surprised to say the least.

  "I received Claire's telegram. There was a break in the weather and I came as soon as I could."

  Jonathan stared, speechless.

  "Ruth, why would you come here?" he asked. The idea was for her to recruit work for Claire, not come for a social visit.

  She smiled, not at all offended. "Well, I've always wanted to buy a summer home here. Victor would never consider it being your hometown, but he's not here to reign over me anymore, is he?"

  "I'm sorry," Jonathan said, rubbing his forehead. "What does that have to do with Claire and Aryl?"

  "Oh, how silly of me. I've decided to invest in some real estate in Rockport. Claire's home specifically. It's mine now. I purchased it just yesterday. She needn't worry about rent until her husband is back to work."

  In her face Jonathan didn't see a need to be thanked. He only saw contentedness at having done something good for another human being.

  "Why?"

  "Why not? I did try to scare up some work for Claire, but most everyone is away for the winter or wanting to wait until spring. I realized their predicament was urgent and I wanted to do something to help. I was fairly certain they wouldn't accept money outright so temporary rent forgiveness will have to do."

  "That is very generous. You continue to shock me, Ruth. Come in. Claire and Aryl will be downstairs shortly. You can tell them the good news yourself."

  Episode Ten

  "A Trip to the Garden"

  Arianna wrestled with the window, its wooden frame was stubborn after the long winter. Pounding a few times here and there with the palm of her hand, she jostled it loose and pushed it open. Taking a deep breath of crisp spring air, she smiled. Spring meant no more hanging clothes to dry all over the house. No more stuffy stale air and a chance for the twins to run outside, tiring themselves, making bedtime easier.

  They'd plant soon; Caleb and his barley, she and all her kitchen vegetables. Her friends would be over to plant their gardens and tend to them as well. She'd make cakes and cookies and spend the afternoon with them as they worked their garden plots several times a week. Arianna adored gatherings.

  Nature would grow all kinds of flowers and greenery that she could pluck, preserve and make into arrangements, adding to their fruit stand that stood at the end of the driveway. She'd even saved enough to run an ad in the Rockport Review. They'd had a decent amount of customers with just those who happened to drive by, but she envisioned even better sales if she were able to let people in town know about it. And, she'd ask Claire to paint a sign for the fruit stand, advertising the fact that she did hair. With all of this in the works and all the opportunity that each small venture brought, Arianna couldn't be happier that the dreary winter season was over.

  A few dwindling banks of snow clung to the side of the barn and in other shaded areas. That would be gone soon and things would begin sprouting. She walked through the kitchen to the living room passing Ethel, who slept in the chair covered by a lap blanket. She opened another window with considerably less effort. There was the slightest chill in the air, but the children were upstairs taking a nap and she put on a sweater. It was good to air out the house.

  She heard Caleb banging away at something in the barn. She thought she remembered him saying that he was going to shoe the new horse he'd bought, but she wasn't sure. She hadn't been in love with the idea of buying a horse so soon after Caleb came home. He had a tractor with an engine and as far as she could see, the horse wouldn't do much to justify the food it required. But Caleb wanted it, found a way to save and barter and said several times that it wasn't a farm until there was a horse. She relented. And kept score. She was sure there would be something in the future that she would want, he wouldn't, and it would require his relenting. She was right.

  Shannon's letter came nearly two weeks ago, officially inviting them to Boston to stay for a few days and see Patrick fight. It was his first big match at Boston Garden and the bookies were already heavily speculating the odds in Patrick's favor.

  Please come, she asked in the letter. And if you can, bring a few dollars to wager on Pat. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

  While none of them were gamblers by nature, it certainly couldn't hurt to make a few extra dollars. They might even come out ahead with the expense of the trip paid for with some to spare.

  Caleb was concerned with everything that needed be done at home. He didn't think it was a good idea to leave for a few days. She pouted. That didn't work. She tried being overly sweet. That didn't work. Then she reminded him that she never wanted to buy that blasted horse in the first place and yet she agreed because it was something he really wanted. This trip was something she really wanted. When it began to look as if not even that would sway him, she not so tactfully suggested, under her breath of course, that she might sell the beast to a glue factory when he wasn't looking because it wasn't worth the hay it was eating.

  Caleb relented on the trip.

  They were preparing to leave the next day about noon. There had been many visits around her table with all three couples discussing the details. They were simple really, but Arianna thought that the excitement of seeing Shannon again and just something to break up the monotony of daily life was enough to have them hashing it out over and over again for the sheer joy of it. After all, this was an adults only trip.

  Maura had agreed to stay at Arianna's house to watch all the children and care for Ethel. After Ava checked her head for fever, Maura explained that they really didn't have the extra to join them and that Ian would want to continue working with Peter while they were gone. He also volunteered to care for Caleb's animals in exchange for a slightly larger garden plot on Caleb's land which he needed to spend time on as well. They were, in essence, moving in and taking over for four days.

  And, Maura reminded them, if anyone could handle such a workload, it was she and Ian. All in all, it came together very quickly and seemingly without a wrinkle. Everyone was excited to get away to the city.

  ***

  Maura was happy to busy herself with so many children. It took her mind off greater problems like why Ian had been so quiet lately. Things between he and Scottie
had, for the most part, returned to normal. So why he'd become quiet, deep in thought and distant had her curious. She noticed such things now. She hadn't always. In fact, she'd nearly lost him worrying for other people's problems.

  After buttoning up their home, the three of them waited by the road for Caleb to pick them up. He helped load their carpet bags in the small bed of the truck and then somehow managed to get them all fit in the front, sitting over and on each other, Ian's head and arm nearly hanging out the window. Caleb was smashed against the door as he drove.

  "I really appreciate your helping while we're gone. Are you sure it's not too much?" he asked.

  "Just show me what the animals need," Ian said with a nod. "We'll manage fine."

  "And all the kids...Maura, you're sure?"

  "Positive. We'll have a grand time. I've got Scottie and Jean and they'll be wonderful helpers with the younger ones."

  "And .my mother?"

  "I can handle her, no worries, Mr. Caleb."

  "If she has an episode, it's just better to try to get her to her room and keep her there until it passes."

  "We discussed all this last week, Mr. Caleb," she reminded. She and Ian had come over for dinner to discuss the details of caring for the house, children and animals. Mostly they talked about caring for Ethel. It would be no easy job, but Maura hoped against hope that the four days might go by without an incident and if it didn't, she'd handle it.

  ***

  They stepped off the train and took a good look around. The city smelled, as most cities do, but it was welcome this time if only for the reason that it was a change of scenery. Though the trip was planned on a shoestring, it was still a vacation trip and everyone was excited to be there. Only Claire was familiar with Boston outside the train station or business district. Standing out front, Arianna held out Shannon's letter which included directions. Jonathan took it, consulted with Claire and after a moment of getting his bearings, set out leading the group.

  They talked as they walked, Arianna linked her arm in Caleb's, Jonathan's arm was around Ava's waist and Aryl frequently put his hand on Claire's back, if only to remind her that he was there.