Camp Mansfield - Chapter Two

“Come on in” welcomes Thomas holding the wide the door for Faith “We’re all in the living room chatting away”.

“Thanks so much” replies Faith taking off her jacket and handing it to Mr. Thomas to place on the coat rack to dry off.

“We’ve started a fire to keep yourself warm.  The rain is really coming down, I wonder if it will ever stop” reflects Thomas looking out of the large window entering the living room “Everybody’s in here.”

Feeling nervous but comfortable among friends, Faith raises her eyes and makes direct contact with Ted.  Elated to see his good friend from such a long time ago, Ted smiles with delight and joyfully exclaims in his eternal nickname for her “Hey, Faithless, how are you doing?  It’s so good to see you!”

“Pretty good Slimy Toad!” sarcastically answers Faith giggling while Ted heads towards her for a friendly bear hug.

“You two …” dismissively states Mrs. Bartram shaking her head “You’re not exactly 12 anymore.”

“She’ll always be my Faithless to me” remarks Ted with his arm still stuck like glue around her shoulder.

Faith nudges him in the side like the many times she did as a teen when he would tease her, “I guess you’ll always be my toad too.”  He kisses her on the forehead like he would his sister and releases her from his grasp.

“Ready for dinner?” asks Ted feeling hungry after his long flight and travel excursions earlier that day while grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the dining room “Faithless, you have to sit by me.  We’ve a lot to catch up on.  What’s it been, three or four years?”

“Closer to five and a couple of months” precisely remarks Faith having regularly noted the times that she has missed him over the years.

“Yes, it has definitely been that long.  I should have been around more often, but everything has been so busy lately with a few promotions thrown in that I didn’t have much time to take off.  I even lost a few days of my vacation the last couple of years because my schedule has been too hectic.  Living overseas for a while didn’t exactly fit into my budget to come home either” explains Ted now wishing that he had made more of an effort to come home especially to see Faith whom he didn’t realized that he missed so much.

Understanding the limits of a budget, Faith nods her head in agreement and stirs the spaghetti with her fork on the plate in front of her.

“Hey, what are your plans tomorrow?” asks Ted looking directly at Faith when he hears his mother answer instead already feeling a little envious of the attention her son is giving to Faith “Oh nothing much.  I thought that we would spend the day together tomorrow for a mom and son time.  I’m sure Faith is too busy with the things at camp to have any free time, right Mr. Bartram”.

“No honey, I think we could let Faith have the day off to spend some time with Ted.  They haven’t seen each other in such a long time” kindly remarks Thomas receiving at the same moment a swift kick in his shin under the table from Mrs. Bartram. “Owww!” giving Mrs. Bartram a disgusted look and then speaking firmly, “I think Ted can decide what he would like to do with his time.  There still is plenty of time to visit with us”.

Mrs. Bartram gives him the evil eye in return promising that things will not look good later on when they are alone together in private.  “I suppose Ted can do as he wishes.  But I would think being his mother that he would want to first spend his time with me.”

Looking away from his mother but towards Faith, Ted rolls his eyes.  Faith blushes not wanting to be in the center of attention in any argument or misunderstanding. “Mom, I love you very much.  But I haven’t seen Faith in a while either.  How about if I take you out to dinner tomorrow night, just the two of us? I have some things that I would like to discuss with Faith that you most likely would not be interested in.  I’m thinking of taking her to the state fair tomorrow and you don’t like to walk much.”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right.  Dinner sounds very good.  Can we go to my favorite restaurant?” feeling a little appeased asks Mrs. Bartram.

“It’s a date.  We’ll leave here about six-thirty” establishes Ted hoping to defer any disagreement with his mother “Remember to dress up too!”

“You’re mother and I have been discussing the house on the property up the road that we built a quite few years ago when we first got married” begins Thomas not sure how his son will react to the news “Since you’ve been busy and not able to visit much, we’ve decided to rent it in the meantime.  I know it is your inheritance, but it will help your mother and me to have a little extra income.”

“Do you have in mind who you might rent the property to?” asks Ted knowing that the house needs to be used but not happy at the prospect that it might be rented to strangers.

“I think that you might remember them from your days attending the territorial music institute?  They seemed to remember you” explains Mrs. Bartram “They’re family is very influential.”

“The renters are a brother and sister.  Their name reminds me of something to do with fish” trying to remember offers Thomas.

“Fish?  What are you talking about? The last name is Crawford not crawfish!” annoyed answers Mrs. Bartram shaking her head “Always talking about fishing.  I remember the first time we met, you said your last name was similar to Barracuda.  Bartram and Barracuda who would ever think those two names are related?”

“Crawford?  Do you mean Mary Crawford?” slowly asks Ted not sure how he feels about her staying in his home.

“Yes, yes that’s it. Mary Crawford” explains his mother “Lovely girl.  She could talk for hours and very charming.  She will make someone an excellent wife one day.”

As she hears the name, Faith can feel her face being drained of all color.  Her hand touches her cheek for reassurance.

“I remember Mary as sure most of my friends remember her as well” remarks Ted looking next to him “Do you remember Mary?”

“Yes and her brother Henry.  They were very popular when we were growing up” blandly replies Faith not wanting to give away any hints of the snobbery with which Mary treated most of the girls around her.  Henry was a player and not much of a prize in Faith’s eyes either.

“I seem to remember Henry always talking about you, Faith.  But you never seemed to give him the time of day” considers Ted grateful that Faith never dated him “I had this nagging feeling that he was my friend so he could be around you.”

In retrospection Faith quietly rolls her eyes “I don’t think that I was Henry’s type.  He seemed to be attracted to the rather shallow and high maintenance kind of girls.”

Ted eyes widen in contrast to how he remembered the summer time events of years ago. He remembers quite clearly Henry bragging about how much Faith liked him and that it was mutual.  He considers that perhaps his perception of things in the past was incorrect due to his young age then.

“How long will they be staying?” politely asks Faith not sure if she wants to hear the answer.

“Oh, I believe the rental contract is for a year.  Plenty of time for Ted, Mary, and Henry to catch up and be reacquainted with each other as long as Ted promises to visit more often” encourages Mrs. Bartram grateful for a motive to make Ted see her more often as well as the status that might be offered in a future union “Mary is quite a nice young woman.  I think she might be exactly your type Ted.”

“Well, I don’t know.  It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other.  We are probably two different people by now from when we knew each other as teens” suggests Ted not wanting his mother to fantasize about any matrimonial ideas with someone he has not been in contact with for over ten years.

“You never know what surprises might happen with your heart” Mrs. Bartram states as a matter of fact “For all I know, you might be married within the year.  You’re getting older you know. I'm ready for some grand-kids too!”

“Yes, I know.  But I’d rather wait for the right one that just marry because I’m lonely even if she is a nice girl” remarks Ted glancing over at Faith who seems lost in her own thoughts “What about you, Faith?  How do you feel about the whole marriage thing?”

“Me?  I just hope I find someone one day who loves me as much as I love him” quietly replies Faith wishing Ted understood that she would consider him a good match with her on any day.

“Why are we talking about weddings?” asks Thomas interrupting the conversation “Please pass the potatoes.  They’ll find who they want when they want.  I think it is all a matter of timing and coincidence.  They’re ready and they just happen to meet someone at that time who is someone that they want to be with.”

“I think it is a bit more than that” offers Ted knowing that he has met quite a few beautiful women during his travels but of whom none seem to be the right one “It’s more a matter of shared interests, a common background, and similar outlooks on life. Sometimes the person that a man wants ends up being right next to him the whole time”.

“What do you think Faith?  Do you think Ted’s right?” asks Thomas curious to know her answer.

“I think it is a little of both.  It is a matter of timing where life is falling at the moment” agreeing with Thomas but then looking over to Ted “And finding someone who is a lot like you and who can communicate well with you.”

“I think it just takes a pretty girl who knows how to flirt” bluntly states Mrs. Bartram from experience “That’s how I got my Mr. Bartram”.

“Yes and I’ve been in prison ever since” agrees Mr. Bartram giving his wife a peck on the cheek to smooth over the reality of this statement.

After dinner and walking towards the front door, Ted helps Faith put on her jacket, “Is it all right if I pick you up at cottage around nine? Will you be ready by then?”

“Yes, no problem.  See you then!” happily replies Faith looking forward to seeing Ted tomorrow and being able to talk with him.

Ted opens the door and watches Faith as she walks to her golf cart.  Faith waves back to him and smiles.  As he watches her, Ted does the same but feels an aching in his heart that he doesn’t remember having before.