Nan Rossiter - The Gin and Chowder Club

He thought about the moment he had realized that he was attracted to Noelle. When Annie had died, he was just a boy, but in the years that followed, Noelle had become a part of Nate’s life, a friend to his parents, and had always been someone he could talk to. He had simply loved to be around her, and she had always made time for him; as he matured, so had their friendship. They had certainly never planned for anything to happen, but then one evening last spring, Asa had stopped in to say good-bye before returning to school, and Noelle had been home alone. They had talked for a while, until Asa had said he’d better go. He had kissed her-as he always did. But this time it had lasted a moment longer, and it had felt like something more. When they had finally stepped apart, Noelle had looked startled, and Asa had felt his heart pounding. Noelle had looked at him intently and had lightly touched his cheek, and then to his astonishment she had leaned up and kissed him again.

Asa continued to run, watching the fog slowly lifting. He tried to push the memory from his mind. I must stop remembering. I can’t think this way. But it seemed that they had already stumbled down a path that allowed no return. Finally, Asa just pushed himself to run as hard as he could and tried to convince himself that he preferred the simplicity of solitude.

When Asa got back to the house, his father was up and making coffee.

“How ’bout some of my world-famous blueberry pancakes?” he asked.

“Sounds good,” Asa replied as he poured a splash of orange juice into his ice water. “Do I have time to take a shower?”

“You do if you’re quick-and see if you can rouse your brother too.”

Sarah came into the kitchen in her bathrobe. “Mmmm, coffee. I knew I married you for a reason,” she said, smiling at Samuel. As usual, Sarah had waited up for the boys, even though Isaac had insisted it wasn’t necessary.

“After all,” he had said, “no one worries when I’m at college.”

“If you only knew,” she had replied.

This morning, however, she was glad to have everyone home and safe. She gave hugs to her two men who were up and about, filled her coffee cup, and went out onto the porch with her Bible. For as long as Asa could remember, this had been his mother’s early morning routine. He knew that he was among her prayers, and it always gave him a funny, warm feeling.

After breakfast and showers, the Coleman boys were pressed, dressed, and ready for church. Isaac and Asa had learned early on that Sunday mornings were set aside for God, and even though they would have much rather gone hiking or exploring, their mother was unyielding when it came to church and Sunday school. So, Isaac and Asa were “regulars,” and by the time they could read, they knew their way around the Bible better than most adults. By ages four and five, they had sat obediently in the church pew between their parents and, with their eyes squeezed tightly shut, whispered the Lord’s Prayer. By eight and nine, they could both recite all of the books of the Old and New Testaments, as well as Psalms 23, 91, and 121. Sarah was proud of her boys’ knowledge and believed strongly in the verse from Proverbs, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Samuel agreed with this, but he also wanted his boys to have a growing, living faith, one on which they could always rely. He wanted their lives to have purpose, and he wanted them to use their talents and passions to glorify God. He had repeatedly impressed this upon them. As they grew older, however, he could only pray that they had absorbed some of his guiding doctrines.

Asa sat in the pew next to Isaac and looked out the tall window. He had always marveled at the height and number of panes in the old mullioned windows. The architecture was typical of a New England Congregational church. It had been built in the mid-1700s and had originally served as a meetinghouse as well. Since its establishment, there had been several renovations. In the 1800s, the first change was made when a center aisle had been added. At the same time, the pews had been curved so that the central focus was on the pulpit, the Bible-God. The interior decoration was minimal, almost stark in its simplicity. In front of the pulpit stood a Communion table and beside it, a matching baptismal font. There was no cross, which bothered Sarah, but because this was her church only in the summer and occasionally during the rest of the year, she did not make it an issue. When it wasn’t communion Sunday, there was always an arrangement of freshly cut flowers on the table. Today, there was a bouquet of deep purple lilac blossoms from someone’s garden. On either side of the heavy, fragrant blossoms, two tall white tapers flickered. Asa found the simplicity to be striking.

As they stood to sing the opening hymn, “God of Grace and God of Glory,” Asa noticed Nate and Noelle standing two rows in front of them and remembered his promise to stop by that afternoon. His mind drifted from the service, and he was relieved when the benediction was finally delivered. He was far too preoccupied with his own thoughts to be able to benefit from the sermon. The boys stood with their parents and shook hands with the other parishioners. Nate and Noelle made their way over too. Samuel and Sarah chatted with them, and Asa arranged with Nate to stop by after lunch.

Back at the house, Asa and Isaac hurried upstairs to change. Samuel had suggested BLTs for lunch, which happened to be the boys’ specialty. They came down to the kitchen, and while they made the sandwiches and heated up the leftover chowder, they planned their afternoon. Martha sat patiently at Asa’s feet while he turned the bacon.

“Don’t worry, ole girl, I’m cooking one just for you,” Asa said, scratching her behind the ears and stirring soup at the same time.

Isaac rinsed and sliced two tomatoes. “So, we’ll meet you at Nauset around two o’clock. Does that sound good?” Nauset Beach was in Orleans, and its close proximity to Nate and Noelle’s house would make it easy for Asa to come down when he was done. Nauset and Coast Guard Beach, with its long sandbars, had always been their two favorites for swimming.

Isaac continued. “I guess I’ll call Jen-I told her that I would-and I’ll see who else is around.” Isaac put the bread in the toaster and lamented, “I am beginning to wish that I wasn’t going in to Boston with Dad during the week.”

Asa turned the stove off and laid the bacon out on a paper towel to drain. He wished Isaac was going to be around, too, but he didn’t let on.

“Oh, it won’t be so bad,” he replied, breaking off a big piece of bacon and giving it to Martha. “Careers before women, remember?”

“Yeah, that’s easy for you to say,” Isaac teased.

Asa considered walking around back after parking his truck but then decided to knock at the front door instead. Asa and Isaac had spent almost as much time at Uncle Nate’s house as they had at their own. They had slept over on countless occasions, and although they preferred swimming in the ocean, they had also spent countless hours in the pool. Nate always teased that they were going to wear out the water. Annie had loved having them over for a swim. She had taught them how to dive and how to swim all the way to the bottom to retrieve a shiny penny. If Sarah had some shopping to do, Annie had always been willing to “spend time with her boys.” She’d never called it babysitting. Instead, she would give them her undivided attention and loved to be challenged to a game of Parcheesi or Scrabble. Sometimes they would make ice-cream sodas or cookies, and then they would sit out on the porch and munch or slurp while Annie read stories to them about pirates and shipwrecks. While she read, Asa and Isaac would lie back on the cushioned wicker furniture and look out at the ocean until they could no longer keep their eyes open. Asa had often wondered why Annie and Nate didn’t have any children.