Love is at the Table

1 “Love is a noun or a verb, it's something you do.” Jenny scowled out the windshield as she drove and complained to her brother. "Love is not a name, okay? Nobody is called Love. That's stupid. Like being called Excitement or Hate." "What about Joy? There are people named Joy," Jimmy responded. "I worked with a Joy once, she was very nice." Jenny rolled her eyes for the hundredth time since she'd picked him up at his condo. The four hour drive to their parent's vacation home in Iowa was nearing its end. During the drive they had covered many topics of conversation; the fact that she'd chosen to wear her work slacks instead of something more comfy, his new haircut, pop music, his marital status–newly separated, and her love life–currently stagnant, but Jenny had mostly focused her talking points on the woman their widower father had married a few months ago, Love Hathaway. A woman neither she nor Jimmy had met. A woman who would be playing hostess over Thanksgiving with their Dad at their family's beloved Lake House retreat. Jenny had reluctantly agreed to spend one whole week with this Love person at the place her mother had made into their home away from home. Now that the week was beginning she was having a hard time accepting the whole situation. "It just...it just sticks in my craw," Jenny said. Jimmy laughed out loud, "Why are you talking like an old farmhouse grandma?" "I don't know," she answered. His amusement made her smile, revealing the small gap in her front teeth, the one she'd inherited from her Mom. "I get this way when I leave the city." "Well, I don't care what her name is as long as she's a good fit for Dad," Jimmy said, always the level headed one. "And don't roll your eyes at that. Don't you want him to be happy?" "Yes," Jenny admitted with an exasperated growl. "But how can he possibly know her well enough to be happy?" Their Dad had married Love only 18 months after their mother passed away. Not even two years! In Jenny's opinion, that was not long enough to get over a 42 year marriage. Jimmy gave her a one shouldered shrug and took a sip out of his travel mug. "I guess we'll find out this week." "I don't understand how you're so blasé about it." "He's a grown man, Jen, you can't stop him from getting remarried." She glowered at his comment and they drove in silence for a few minutes. It was early afternoon and not a cloud in the sky. The landscape had changed drastically from downtown Chicago. Her sedan was now cruising through rolling hills dotted with quaint farmhouses and giant bales of hay, all surrounded by trees and shrubs in full fall foliage. The colors were brilliant. "What if she's after his money?" She asked. "I don't think Dad has the kind of money that inspires that kind of behavior," Jimmy quipped. "She looks like a hippie in her picture," Jenny continued. "She's got to be with a name like that. And she's from Denver. She probably smokes w**d!" Jimmy made a fake shocked face and placed his hand on his heart as if he was having a heart attack. She reached over and punched his shoulder in protest. He pretended to fall into the passenger side door in great pain. "Stop it, I'm being serious," she said. "You're being insane," Jimmy replied as he straightened in his seat. "This whole thing is insane. I don't know why I agreed to come. It's bad enough that Mom is gone, but now we have to be nice to Love," she said the name with a slight sneer. "And Dad said she invited some neighbor of hers or something?" Jimmy nodded, "Yeah, Erin I think he said. Must be some hippie friend of hers. They're probably gonna smoke w**d then eat all of the pies." Jenny chuckled at the thought. Jimmy patted her knee. "I know it's insane, little sister, but any Thanksgiving without Mom is always going to suck. We'll just have to do our best to get through it for Dad's sake." Jenny nodded. He was right. He was usually right, a fact she'd refused to admit when they were younger. "Now," Jimmy continued, "Can we get back to talking about my problems?" "Yes.” It was Jenny's turn to pat his knee. Her heart hurt for her big brother. He and his husband, Paul, had only been separated for six weeks. Their 5-year old daughter, Penelope, was spending Thanksgiving with Paul and his family in Chicago. She'd seen the strain on Jimmy's face the moment he'd opened the door to her this morning. Her brother had a slight build, average round facial features, fair skin that freckled easily, and reddish brown hair. As siblings, they looked very much alike except her hair was a bit darker, even more so since she'd started coloring it a deeper auburn. His eyes were hazel and hers were brown. He was about 5'8" and she was 5'5". Those were the biggest differences between them, besides being different genders. When she'd seen him this morning she thought he looked paler than usual, his eyes had the rimmed look of someone who'd been crying. He was shaved and dressed nicely, which was normal, but she could tell he wasn't feeling himself. Who could be in his circumstances? A separation right before the holidays? Spending Thanksgiving without his little girl? He was probably in shock. She knew she was. The news of his and Paul's marital difficulties had come as a huge surprise to her. They'd always been the most solid couple she'd known, except for her parents of course. "How are you doing?" Jenny asked, giving her brother a sympathetic look. Jimmy sighed heavily. "The same as I was an hour ago." "Aw, honey.” Jenny patted his knee in empathy. "It's all kind of surreal, you know?" Jimmy looked out over the picturesque landscape, his voice cracking a little as he spoke. "I mean it's so beautiful out here and it's going to be beautiful at the Lake House, and the holiday is happening even though Penny isn't here, and Paul isn't here...it just doesn't feel real." Jenny watched her brother out of the corner of her eye as she maneuvered the car along the winding section of the road that took them into the wooded lake area, that much closer to their destination. Jimmy put his hands over his face, covering the fact that he was crying. "Oh, honey," Jenny didn't know what else to say. She was no relationship expert and hadn't even known there was a problem between Jimmy and Paul until they separated. Her advice was next to useless. "I just miss them so much.” Jimmy wiped his eyes with a napkin from the pile they'd collected at the drive through getting their road trip breakfast. "I know," Jenny replied. "Is there any way Paul would meet up with you the day after Thanksgiving? At least let Penny come for part of the holiday?" She thought having his daughter with him for a few days this week might help. Jimmy shook his head 'no’. "We agreed that might be a lot of disruption for her, especially after all of the mayhem of him moving out." Jenny nodded, "I can see that." She smiled at him encouragingly. "Well, we'll be there soon. You gonna call Penny when we get there?" Jimmy nodded and they drifted into silence again, mesmerized by the scenery. They had entered the woods now and a myriad of brilliant fall colors blanketed the sky above the narrowing road. The ground under the trees was covered with crimson red, bright orange and deep golden leaves. All of them presumably fell from the branches above, but those branches looked dense with the same vibrant foliage. It seemed to Jenny that the trees couldn't possibly hold that many leaves. Yet there they were, some of them even fell lightly from the branches that overhung the road, floating downward on the breeze until they drove through them, scattering them in all directions. "God it's gorgeous," Jimmy said out loud, echoing her sentiments. Jenny pushed the button on her door so her window lowered and the cool, autumn breeze filled the car. The air was damp with the scent of decomposing leaves, wood, and the rivers and lakes nearby. The road curved and brought them to a new amazing view around each corner. Memories flooded her mind. Her parents had brought them here several times a year since she was small, five-years old to be exact. The drive was part of the experience and their Mom had always loved to see the fall colors. "The bridge is next, right?" Jenny asked, pretty sure she knew where they were on the road. Jimmy fumbled with his cell phone. "Slow down, I want to take a picture and send it to Paul...or Penny, I guess." "Sure, we'll pull over." As they came around the next curve the trees opened up slightly, revealing a narrow river that snaked through the woods complete with an antique covered bridge to take them to the other side. There was a small shoulder right after the bend that allowed Jenny to pull her car over and park. They both got out, breathing in the wonderful smell of fall, enrapt with the scene. "I can't get over the colors this year.” Jimmy walked onto the blacktop, getting into a better position to take the picture. Jenny could not have agreed more. She had always thought of the covered bridge as a kind of portal into the Lake House, which sat nestled in a grove of trees just five minutes up the road near a small lake. She had crossed the covered bridge countless times over the years, beams of sunlight piercing through the narrow openings between the ancient wood planks, the bridge creaking slightly under the weight of their car, the water tumbling over rocks below them in the river. Each time she made it to the other side, Jenny always felt like she was transformed into something more, someone who belonged in the woods, was one with nature, a friend of the forest, maybe a magical fairy or woodland gnome. Silly, of course, but she still felt that way now, even as a full grown woman who would be turning 33 in a few months. Jenny felt a pang of grief as she realized, once again, that her mother wasn't waiting for her on the other side of the bridge. It didn't seem possible. Just like Jimmy said about Paul and Penny. The whole situation was surreal. For a moment, she let herself believe in the magic of the woods beyond the bridge. She wished as hard as she could that her mother would be somehow still alive on the other side, waiting for her with a huge smile and a warm hug, like always. "Ready?" Jimmy asked. He'd finished taking pictures and rejoined her by the car, looking at the bridge. She breathed in deep through her nose and exhaled through her mouth, then asked him, "Are you?" Jimmy threw his arm over her shoulders and took in his own deep breath, then he wiggled her shoulders and gave her a big grin. "As ready as I'll ever be."