Standing around with her but being left out of every conversation Naomi has with Maeve has been terrible.It’s worth any amount of snubbing, I suppose, to have Jack.Still, it’s not fun.
“You know, pumpkins are expensive here,” I say.“Back home, we could get a huge one, much larger than these we’re selling, for ten bucks or less.”Here, we’re charging twenty bucks for a small one.
“That’s the thing about pumpkins,” Naomi says.“They’re not native to Ireland.They came from America, in fact, and while people here do like the novelty of them, they just don’t do well in Ireland.I suspect they won’t be around as a fundraiser for much longer.”
Maeve forces a smile, but it doesn’t touch her eyes.“I’ll be glad when no one wants them.We have to stuff straw beneath them so they don’t rot.We have to carefully keep the frost away.They just don’tgetIreland.”
“They can’t handle our rain or our early frost,” Naomi says.“Basically, they aren’t hardy enough to thrive here.”
Yeah, yeah, I get it.They’re talking about me.Really subtle, ladies.
“Then why do you even sell them?”I blink.“You’d think the locals wouldn’t want them to begin with.”
“Well, even though the holiday of Halloween originated here in Ireland,” Maeve says, “you Americans added some panache to it.”
“That’s true,” Naomi says.“We Irish originally carved turnips for generations to ward off the evil spirits, but when Irish immigrants showed up in the Americas, they found these large orange gourds were easier to carve.”She smiles, but again, it’s superficial.“And now, the tradition has come back here.At the end of the day, pumpkins are anoveltyhere.The Irish like to try strange things.”
Oh, boy.How thick do they think they need to spread this?
“It won’t last.Soon, the Irish will stop caring about pumpkins and kick them to the curb,” Maeve says.
“Who’s the pumpkin here?”Jack walks up behind me.“Because it almost sounds like you’re trying to say Vanessa is.”He slides his arms around my waist, and drops his chin on my shoulder.“And I think I need to be clear on something, if she’s supposed to be the pumpkin.”
The blood has drained from Naomi’s face.
Maeve looks like she just swallowed a bug.
“My entire life is better because I have thenoveltyof an American in it, and I have no intention of kicking her anywhere.But my position as coach of this team is avolunteerone.As an unpaid coach for your boys, I could quit at any time that the job becomes too much.I doubt you’ll find a better coach, but if my connection to the mother of two of the players is bothering you, I’ll quit so fast you’ll trip over a pumpkin and fall on your face.Are we clear?”
Naomi chokes.
Maeve just nods slowly.
“I can’t make you be friends with someone, and I don’t imagine my very smart, very kind girlfriendwantsto be friends with you two if this is any indication of how you’ve been acting around her.But if I hear of you making her feel unwelcome again, your boys will be off the team.You can go screaming to the principal, but if they ask me, I’ll tell them that their playing wasn’t good enough to compensate for their horrible mothers.”He squeezes my hand.“And that your son Cormac was caught with marijuana.I think that would convince them to ratify my decision.”
“We’re sorry,” Maeve says.
“I—my Cormac knows better,” Naomi says.“It must have been a misunderstanding.”
“Why don’t we close the stand early, considering the weather today?”Jack turns and holds out his left hand, the rain pelting his open palm where it reaches past the tent above us.
“We posted the hours.”I smile at him.“I’ll stay until it’s over.I’d hate for people to come and be turned away.”
“Are you sure?”he whispers.
“Yes,” I whisper back, rolling my eyes.Clearly they can still hear us.“I’d like to finish this out.”Besides, after hisremarkabledisplay of favoritism, I’d rather not give any of the other moms, mothers who might not already hate me, any legitimate reasons.
“Alright.”He lifts a pumpkin up on the counter.“Then you can check me out.My kids are really excited to carve this.”
“Will it be carved into something cute or something scary?”I ask.
“Only Americans do cute pumpkins,” Naomi says.“We always carve scary.”
“Actually, I saw something online that my daughter’s pretty keen to try.”He pulls cash out of his wallet and plonks it down.It still looks a little bit like funny money to me with all the bright colors, but I take it and start to make change.“It’s a pumpkin that’s blowing a bubble, and you use a pink balloon for the bubble gum.”
“That sounds really cute,” I say.“And I imagine scary spirits would be put off by the happy attitude, so it might still protect the house.”
Maeve rolls her eyes.
