"You don't have to tell me." He gulped down some cranberry juice. "Hey, this is good."
"Cranberries are a big thing here," Mommy said. "I'd like a penny for every one I harvested. I'd be rich."
"You're gonna be rich," Archie promised. Mommy's smile warmed and she turned to me. "Isn't this a nice house, honey? There's a beach right behind it and a dock, too." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I forgot how refreshing the ocean air could be," she said, which I thought was funny. She had never enjoyed our trips to the ocean as much as Daddy had.
"Yeah, it sure cleans the coal dust out of your lungs," Archie said.
Aunt Sara brought in pretty blue-and-white china soup bowls and set them in front of us. Then she brought in the kettle of clams and a bowl of melted butter.
"Please help yourselves," she said. Archie dipped his hand into the kettle quickly and brought out a clam. He plucked the meat with his thumb and forefinger and dipped it in the butter and sucked it down quickly.
"Great," he said.
"Use your fork," Mommy instructed as quietly as she could.
"What? Oh. Sure." He took a handful of clams out of the kettle and dropped them into his bowl, this time digging into the clams with his fork.
Aunt Sara smiled quickly and then looked as if she were at a loss as to what to do next.
"Aren't you having any, Sara?" Mammy asked.
"No. I'm fine. Go on. You eat, Haille." She looked at me again, stabbing me with her penetrating gaze. I nervously reached into the kettle and scooped up a few clams. I put them into my bowl and picked out the meat of one with my fork. Aunt Sara watched my every move, approving with a little nod every gesture I made. I felt like a specimen under a microscope. I looked at Mommy.
She didn't seem to notice or care about the way Aunt Sara was looking at me. "These clams are as wonderful as I remember them. It's been a long time."
"Yes," Aunt Sara said. After a deep sigh, she finally sat in her chair. "Was it a hard trip?"
"Naw," Archie said. "Some rain along the way is all."
"We had an unusually cold winter this year," Aunt Sara said. She looked around. "This house never seemed to warm up."
"How do you heat it?" Archie asked.
"Fireplace, and kerosene stoves. It's an old house, but we've been here ever since."
"Ever since what?" Archie asked.
"Ever since Jacob and I got married," she said. She looked at Mommy a moment. "You haven't changed all that much, HaiIle. You're still so pretty."
"Thank you, Sara."
"Melody has inherited your best features," Aunt Sara added, gazing at me again. I couldn't help blushing. "Yes," Mommy said. "Everyone says so."
"Cary, he takes after Jacob, but May looks more like my side of the family. Laura.. Laura was special," Aunt Sara added softly. Her eyes grew glassy and her gaze grew faraway. Then, suddenly, as if realizing we were there, she turned to me again and smiled. "Are you a good student?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"She's a very good student," Mommy said. "All A's."
"Just like Laura," Aunt Sara said. She shook her head. "Cary isn't like his twin sister was. He gets by, but he's not much for being shut up in a classroom. He's more like Jacob," she said. "Give him something to do outside and he'll be happy, no matter how cold it is or how much it's raining. When the Logan men get busy, the world could come to an end around them and they wouldn't know it."
"I know," Mommy said.
Aunt Sara sighed again, so deeply I thought she might shatter like thin china right before our eyes. "I'm sorry about Chester. Might as well tell you that before Jacob comes in. He won't want me speaking about him."
I looked at Mommy. Why wouldn't Daddy's brother permit anyone to speak about him even now, after he was dead? Mommy nodded, as if she had no trouble understanding.
"So how old's Cary now?" she asked, deliberately changing the topic.