December 1961

On her way home from school in the back of the black car, Jess had her notebook open so she could check through her notes.  The first semester final exams were coming up fast and she was making a list of which books she had to bring home for her and Marty.  He had only two rounds of final exams left to pass if he was going to graduate, and she wasn't taking any chances.

When James reached the gate, he drove straight through and she looked up in surprise.  Turning her head as they continued down the drive, she saw the gate unlocked and wide open.

"Is something going on?" she asked.

"You'll be findin' that out when ya go in the house, won't ya?" he barked, not even bothering to look at her in the rear view mirror.

Fuming as she closed her notebook and stacked her books on her lap, she thought again how much she hated the man.  As soon as he pulled to a stop next to the house, she opened her door and got out, slamming it as hard as she could before he'd cut the engine.  Striding through snow to the back door, she felt a deep satisfaction.

When she let herself into the kitchen, she immediately knew something was wrong.  It was empty and silent and there were no delicious smells of food cooking.  Even more worrying, there were suitcases lined up near the door.  Then Annie came from her bedroom dressed in a matching wool skirt and jacket but her hair was still in a bun instead of styled.  It was obvious she'd been crying and Jess's heart leapt in her throat.  Had Uncle Jonathon fired her?

"Annie, what's going on?" she asked with alarm, going to her.

"Oh, Jess!" she sobbed, and Jess didn't hesitate to put her arms around her.  "I have to go!"

"Why?" Jess cried, pulling away so she could look at her.

"It's my - sister!" she choked out, tears streaming down her face.  "She's had a stroke!"

"Oh, no!" Jess said, hugging her again.

"They don't know if she's going to make it.  I don't know what I'll do if I lose her!" she cried.  "After losing my brother, she's all I have left!"

"I'm so sorry, Annie."  Jess rubbed her back, and after a minute, Annie pulled away.

"Thank you, pumpkin," she said shakily.  "The three of us were so close," she explained, wiping her face with her handkerchief.  "When we lost my brother on D-Day, it was so hard.  If I lose my sister, I'll be the only one left, and my mother -."  She shook her head sadly, unable to finish.

"I'm sure the doctors will do everything they can.  They'll help her."  Annie put her hand on Jess's cheek, and managed a small smile.

"Thank you, pumpkin.  James is taking me to the train station soon.  I called Mrs. Lindstrom up the road.  Her daughter is going to come three days a week to clean and do laundry.  Mrs. Lindstrom will be sending meals with her.  I don't know if I'll be back in time for your birthday - or Christmas."

"Don't worry about that!  That's not as important as your sister."

"Annie!"  Uncle Jonathon's voice boomed out, making Jess jump.  "I've made all the arrangements," he said, striding purposefully towards her.  "There's a ticket waiting for you at the station.  When you get to Chicago, take a cab to the Carlisle Hotel.  It's across the street from the hospital."  Jess stared at her uncle with disbelief.  "I've told them you'll be keeping your room indefinitely.  Dr. Baker will be in consultation with the doctors caring for Margie.  He'll keep me informed of her progress."

"Thank you!" Annie cried, her shoulders slumping with relief.

"Now when you get to the hotel, have them cash this for you and have most of it put in a safe," he said handing her a check.

"Oh, Johnny!" she gasped when she looked at it.  "It's too much!"

"It's not too much!  That's to cover your expenses, and anything Margie needs that the hospital won't provide.  I want you to spend it!  And when you run out, let me know and I'll wire you more."

"You're too generous," she said, tears welling up in her eyes again, and he turned away, looking uncomfortable.

"It's time to leave," he muttered as he went to the window and motioned for James to come inside.  "I'll get our coats."  He left the kitchen, not looking at either of them. 

"Good bye, pumpkin," Annie said sadly while James came in and began gathering up the luggage.  "I wish I didn't have to leave you alone, but Doug will be home for Christmas break soon."

"Don't worry about that!  I can manage for a few days," Jess reassured her.  "I hope you have a safe trip and your sister is okay."

"I'll be late tonight, Jessica!" Uncle Jonathon said sharply, reappearing in the kitchen with his coat and fedora on and carrying Annie's.  "I'm heading back to the office after dropping Annie off."

"Yes, sir."

"There's some pea soup in the ice box you can heat up for dinner," Annie suggested, slipping on her coat.  She looked at Jess with concern for a moment, then gave her another hug.

"We're going to be late!" Uncle Jonathon snapped, looking at his watch, and Annie released her.

"Good bye, Jess," she repeated as Uncle Jonathon hustled her to the door.

"Bye!" Jess called out just before it was closed.

She stood at the window, watching Annie climb in the back of the car, her heart aching for her.  She sincerely hoped her sister didn't die.  And she couldn't believe how much Uncle Jonathon had done for her.  Was it possible he had feelings for her after all?  Perhaps while they were alone, he would comfort her on the way to the train station.  Jess hoped so.  Annie needed that right now. 

James drove off and Jess waved until the car disappeared from view, then she stepped away from the window.  Looking around the empty kitchen, she felt the silence surround her.

Later that afternoon, when Marty opened the cabin door, he took a moment to knock snow from his pants and boots.

"Hi, Marty," Jess said with a smile, coming out of the kitchen.

"Hey," he said, closing the door behind him.

"I've got something special for you."

"Oh, yeah?" he replied, a smile lighting up his face while he unbuttoned his coat.   

"Come here," she said, motioning him forward and he followed her into the kitchen, throwing his coat over the back of the one of the chairs as he passed it.

"Are you cooking?" he asked with surprise, when he saw a pot on the stove.

"No, I'm reheating it.  It's soup!" 

"It's green," he observed with a frown.

"It's split pea!  Haven't you ever had it before?  It's delicious."

"If you say so," he said, clearly unconvinced as he backed away.  "Annie packed soup for you?  That's a first," he said, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms over his chest.

"No, I packed it," she replied, pointing to the empty mason jar in the sink and feeling proud of herself for being so clever.  "We're having dinner tonight.  Annie's left for Chicago because her sister had a stroke and Uncle Jonathon is staying late at the office."

"Wait.  Annie's gone?" he asked, dropping his arms while she got coffee mugs from the cupboard. 

"Yeah, she had to go take care of her -."

"That means you're alone - with him."  When Jess looked over at him, his eyes were troubled.

"I'll probably only see him in the mornings, and Doug is coming home soon."

"I don't like it.  I don't like how he is with you."

"I'll be okay," she reassured him gently.  "He mostly ignores me." 

"Well - alright," Marty said slowly, still looking troubled.  "If it's only for a few days, I guess you'll be okay."

 "I will be." 

While she filled two mugs with soup, her heart swelled with joy that Marty cared so much about her.  It was the sweet side of him that she loved when he showed it.

"You're really going to like this," she said, putting a spoon in one of the mugs and handing it to him.  He sniffed the steam as it rose, and then blew on a spoonful. 

"Well?  How is it?" she asked after he'd tasted it.

"It's bad.  Really bad," he teased with his eyes twinkling.

"Stop it!" she laughed while he licked the spoon clean.  "Take a seat.  We need to start studying."

~

"Jess!  Jess, where are you?"

Jess was already heading down the hallway after spotting Doug's car parking by the garage.

"Hi, Doug!" she exclaimed, bounding up to him.

"How's it going?" he asked as she gave him a tight hug.

"It's going - okay," she said, and let go.  "It's quiet without Annie here."

"Oh?" he said, his brow furrowing while he studied her.  "Well, I'm here now.  Hopefully she'll be back before my break is over.  She wrote me her sister is recovering - it's just going to take a while."

"Yeah, she wrote me the same thing," Jess said sadly. 

She was grateful that Annie's sister had survived, and that Annie was there to help care for her, but the last few days had been hard.  Marty's worries about her being alone with her uncle had been unwarranted.  As little as he'd been around before, she saw him even less now.  He was no longer eating breakfast at home since Annie wasn't there to cook for him, and the only contact Jess had with him was the ride to school which he spent reading his newspaper.  If Doug hadn't come home for Christmas, she didn't know how she would have managed now that school was out until after New Year's.

"I guess dad is tied up with some road commission meeting tonight," Doug explained.  "Is there anything for dinner?"

"Sort of," Jess said with a sigh.  "I'll show you." 

When she pulled out the meal Mrs. Lindstrom had sent with her daughter and showed it to Doug, he took a step back, grimacing.

"What is that?" he asked with disgust.

"I think it's pickled fish - in some kind of cream sauce."

"Is it any good?"

"I didn't try it.  I'm not sure if it's cooked, or if I'm supposed to cook it, and it smells weird.  I ate the last thing she sent, but only because I was starving.  It didn't taste very good."  Doug contemplated the bowl of pale fish in white sauce, and then smiled up at her.

"How 'bout we go get some burgers?"

"That sounds good!" Jess grinned.

After a hearty meal of burgers, fries, and apple pie at the Golden Skillet, Doug suggested they go to a movie.  Jess was thrilled when she found out West Side Story was playing, knowing part of it was filmed in her home town of Manhattan. 

She was glowing with happiness when they left the theater, barely noticing the cold while she hummed 'I Feel Pretty', her favorite out of all the songs.

"That was fun," Doug said as they approached the car.  "Let's go out again tomorrow night.  I think you deserve it after being left alone for so long."

"Okay!" Jess agreed happily.

When Doug turned on the ignition, the car radio started up.  Jess reached for the dial to change the station, and then a shock went through her.  Marty was on the sidewalk coming towards them - and he was with a girl.

While Doug backed the car out of the parking space, Jess stared open mouthed as Sharon Allen, a girl from their grade talked to Marty with a huge smile on her face.  Then she moved closer, looping her arm around his so they could walk together, and Jess felt a terrible pain in her chest, like her heart had just been crushed.  Doug drove off, and when she dared take one last look back, she wished she hadn't.  Marty was saying something to Sharon while she looked up at him adoringly.

What was going on?  Why would Marty be with Sharon?  And then a terrible realization hit her.  They were on a date.  What other explanation could there be for the two of them to be out together on a Friday night.  And from the way Sharon was looking at him while she was holding onto him, it seemed like she was in love.

Slumping against the bench seat, Jess kept her face turned to the window while she blinked back tears.  Had they been dating for a long time?  Maybe Marty had been going on dates for a while, with lots of different girls, and she just didn't know.  He was eighteen after all, already a man, and of course girls would want to go out with him.  He was a catch; kind-hearted, funny, and smart with a great future ahead of him. 

By time Doug had pulled his car into the garage, Jess was in despair.  How could she have been so stupid not to see this would happen?  While she was kept behind locked gates, Marty was free to move forward with his life.  She knew Sharon's family didn't have a lot of money, just like Marty's.  She was much better suited for him, someone he could marry and raise a family with while he worked at the drug store.  Jess could never be that girl. 

"Night, Doug," she mumbled as soon as they were inside, and rushed up the stairs.

"Good night, Jess," Doug called out, but she didn't respond since she knew he would be able to tell she was crying.

She would talk to Marty when she saw him, she decided while she wiped her tears away in her bedroom.  She'd find out exactly what was going on.  She wanted to believe she'd completely misinterpreted what she'd seen and that nothing was going on between them.  But just when she'd manage to convince herself, she saw Marty letting Sharon loop her arm around his and her looking up at him like she was in love.  It was a long agonizing night, and Jess slept very little. 

When her room lightened in the early morning, she decided she couldn't lie in bed any longer.  Pulling on a sweater and a pair of wool trousers, she went downstairs noticing light snow falling outside.  To her surprise, Uncle Jonathon was seated at the dining room table with his usual paper and a bowl of cereal in front of him.

"Good morning," she said, approaching the table, and he grunted in response.  Then Doug came through the doorway from the butler's pantry carrying another bowl of cereal and the coffee percolator.

"Jess!" he said with surprise.  "Good morning."

"Morning."  Was he making breakfast for him and his dad, she wondered.

"You look tired.  Couldn't you sleep?" he asked, looking at her with concern, and Uncle Jonathon peered up at her.

"Oh, uh, I just read too late."  Her uncle shook his head and returned to his paper.

"Have a seat," Doug suggested, coming forward so he could pour coffee for his dad.  "You can have my cereal.  I'll make another bowl."

"Thanks, Doug," Jess said as she sat.  He set it down and she noticed he'd put sliced banana on top of the corn flakes.  "It looks nice," she said, managing to smile up at him.

When he returned, Uncle Jonathon folded his newspaper and picked up his coffee cup. 

"That meeting last night was a waste of time!" he said angrily to Doug.  "They're insisting on continuing Fairfield Lane north."

"Well, that's not going to work," Doug replied easily, digging into his cereal.

"Exactly!  I insisted on another meeting, but that means we're going to be going over the maps with the geologist today.  Don't expect us home for dinner, Jessica." 

Doug's chewing paused as he looked up at Jess with surprise.  At that moment, she remembered he'd offered to take her out again that evening.

"Uh, dad.  I already planned to -."

"It's okay, Doug," she interrupted quickly.  "We'll do it another night."  She didn't feel up to an outing with Doug, and who knew how much worse she was going to feel after she'd a chance to talk to Marty.

"If you're sure."

"Yeah, I am.  I'll get started on the dishes," she said, standing and taking her and her uncle's bowls.

Unable to sit still long enough to do anything productive, she paced through the house for hours, and then decided to leave for the cabin even though Marty wouldn't be there for a while.  Snow was still falling and the accumulation added to the foot of snow already on the ground made walking through the woods difficult, but she didn't mind.  Trying to avoid tripping over buried rocks and fallen branches gave her something to concentrate on while she made her way to the cabin.

Once she had both fires lit, she paced back and forth in the small space until she heard the door open.  She turned and headed into the living room, feeling elated and heartsick at the same time.  Marty came in, stomping his feet to get the snow off his boots and there was a thick coating of white covering his shoulders and wool cap. 

"Man!  It's really coming down out there," he declared, taking off his cap and slapping it against his leg to knock the snow off.  "They said we might get another foot, but it looks like it's gonna be more."  Jess watched him take off his coat and drape it over a chair before he went to the fireplace.  

"I saw you in town last night," she said tightly while he held his hands close to the flames.

"Oh, yeah?  I didn't see you," he replied, rubbing them together.

"You were on Main Street and I was in the car with Doug."

"Oh, that's probably why I didn't see you."

"You were with Sharon Allen."

"Yeah, we went to the late show."

"Are you dating her now?" Jess asked more loudly than she'd intended, and Marty straightened.  When he turned to her, his expression darkened.  She hadn't intended it sounded like an accusation but it had come out that way.  

"No, I'm not dating her," he replied emphatically.

"Then why did you go to the movies with her?" she demanded.

"I don't know!" he said with exasperation, his voice rising to match hers.  "She wanted to."

"Why didn't you tell her no?"

"I did tell her no!  Lots of times!"

"Well, she must have been pretty persuasive!" Jess countered angrily with her hands on her hips. 

"She kept asking me, and when I wouldn't say yes, she said she didn't think I liked girls.  That's why I went out with her!"

"That's a stupid reason!" Jess shouted.  "Of course you like girls!  You're a boy, aren't you?"  Marty studied her for a moment, and then his expression changed.

"Are you mad about this?" he asked with surprise.

"Yes, I'm mad!" she blurted out, but until that moment she hadn't realized that's exactly what she was feeling. 

"Why?" 

While he searched her eyes, she tried to come up with an answer, but she realized there wasn't a valid one.  What right did she have to be angry if he wanted to go out with girls?  It wasn't like she had any claim on him. 

"Just tell me the truth, Marty.  Are you dating girls?" she pleaded with her voice breaking.  At least if she knew, she could prepare herself.

"It wasn't a date!" Marty shouted.  "I don't even like her!"

"You don't like her but you'll go out with her just 'cos she asked!" she retorted, the anger boiling up again.  Marty opened his mouth to argue and then closed it as he turned away.  Letting out a deep breath, he faced her.

"Look," he explained more quietly.  "I had a pretty lousy time with her.  She never stopped talking, even when we were watching the show, and then she practically attacked me when I took her home."

"What does that mean?" Jess asked with alarm.

"Let's just say, girls shouldn't try to kiss a guy they don't even