Strained silence ensued until Angela managed to contain her anger. She then changed the subject to her and David’s quest for furniture in the neighboring antique and used furniture shops.
Everyone was relieved when the time of the Christophers’ departure arrived midday on Sunday. David, Angela, and Nikki dutifully stood alongside the house and waved until the Christophers’ car disappeared down the road. “Kick me next time I talk about them coming up here,” Angela said. David laughed and assured her it hadn’t been that bad.
The magnificent fall weather continued well into October. Although there had been some cool days in late September, Indian summer arrived and brought days as warm as those of summer itself. An auspicious combination of temperature and moisture preserved the peak foliage long after what the Bartlet natives said was usual.
In mid-October during a break in Saturday morning basketball, Steve, Kevin, and Trent cornered David.
“How about you and your family coming with us this weekend?” Trent said. “We’re all going over to Waterville Valley in New Hampshire. We’d love to have you guys come along.”
“Tell him the real reason we want them to come,” Kevin said.
“Shut up!” Trent said, playfully rapping Kevin on the top of his head.
“The real reason is that we’ve rented a condo with four bedrooms,” Kevin persisted, ducking away from Trent. “These tightwads will do anything to reduce the cost.”
“Bull,” Steve said. “The more people the more fun.”
“Why are you going to New Hampshire?” David asked.
“It’ll be the last weekend for foliage for sure,” Trent said. “It’s different over in New Hampshire. More rugged scenery. Some people think the foliage is even more spectacular there.”
“I can’t imagine it could be any prettier than it is right here in Bartlet,” David said.
“Waterville’s fun,” Kevin said. “Most people know it only for winter skiing. But it’s got tennis, golf, hiking, even a basketball court. The kids love it.”
“Come on, David,” Steve said. “Winter will be here soon enough. You’ve got to get out and take advantage of fall as long as possible. Trust us.”
“It sounds okay to me,” David said. “I’ll run it by Angela tonight, and I’ll give one of you guys a call.”
With that decided, the group joined the others to finish their basketball game.
That night Angela was not enthused when David mentioned the invitation. After the experience of the weekend at the lake combined with being busy around the house, David and Angela had not socialized much. Angela did not want to participate in another weekend of off-color jokes and sexual innuendo. Despite David’s feelings to the contrary, Angela continued to wonder if their friends were bored, especially the women, and the idea of being together in such close quarters sounded a little too claustrophobic for her.
“Come on,” David said. “It will be fun. We should see more of New England. As Steve said, winter will be here all too soon, and for the most part we’ll be imprisoned indoors.”
“It’ll be expensive,” Angela said, trying to think up reasons not to go.
“Come on, Mom,” Nikki said. “Arni told me Waterville was neat.”
“How can it be expensive?” David questioned. “We’ll be splitting the condo four ways. Besides, consider our income.”
“Consider our debt,” Angela countered. “We’ve got two mortgages on the house, one of which is a balloon, and we’ve started paying off our student loans. And I don’t know if the car will make it through a Vermont winter.”
“You’re being silly,” David said. “I’m keeping close tabs on our finances, and we are doing perfectly well. It’s not as if this is some extravagant cruise. With four families in a condo it will be no more expensive than a camping trip.”
“Come on, Mom!” Nikki cried.
“All right,” Angela said at last. “I can tell when I’m outnumbered.”
As the week progressed excitement about the trip grew. David got one of the other CMV doctors, Dudley Markham, to cover his practice. Thursday night they packed to leave the following afternoon.
The initial plan was to leave at three P.M., but the difficulties of getting five doctors away from the hospital in the middle of the afternoon proved impossible to overcome. It wasn’t until after six that they actually departed.