cheap. Neither of them made big salaries and it was easy for them. Without children, they had no need for a bigger place.
Her parents loved it when Alex and Eleanor came to visit. Louise loved seeing her daughter, and Charles enjoyed male company with Alex. They went fishing together, and drove the boats on the lake. They came up every few months. Charles and Louise hadn’t been back to the city in ten years. He said he wasn’t interested, and Louise knew it would be too painful for him to visit his lost world as an outsider. He had no desire to see the few old friends who were left, most of whom were depressed. Most of his generation had not fared well, those who were even alive. Alex hadn’t seen his brothers either since they left San Francisco, which he regretted, but he had no opportunity or desire to travel East, and his brothers had no intention of coming West again, even to see their older brother. They had drifted too far apart by then, and felt disconnected, although they stayed in touch by writing to each other. Both of Charles’s brothers had married, and had children whom Alex had never met. Phillip was in charge of a stable of racehorses in Kentucky, and Harry had married a girl with some money in North Carolina, and was leading the life of a Southern gentleman, with a wife who was willing to indulge him. She had inherited a successful textile mill from her father. Alex’s younger brothers had lost their connection to each other as well, and only saw each other once every few years. Alex was part of a lost life to them. The Depression had not only destroyed fortunes, but families as well. Alex had no idea when he’d see them again, if ever, and it didn’t seem likely. He hadn’t traveled anywhere in ten years since the crash, and their honeymoon in Italy. He couldn’t afford to. He was careful with the money he had left, invested it wisely, and they lived on their meager salaries and had no extravagant needs. Considering how they had both grown up, they had limited themselves severely for the past ten years, but weren’t unhappy. When they needed a change of scene, they went to Tahoe to see her parents. Being in the outdoors for a short time always cheered them.
Several times when they’d been there, Eleanor had tried to convince her mother to empty the barn and sell what was there. They were never going to furnish a large home again, and she and Alex didn’t need it. It seemed silly to hang on to their old furniture and paintings, and there was so much of it. Eleanor wondered if they might fetch better prices at auction now, ten years later, but Louise always insisted she was saving it all “for better days,” which Eleanor doubted would ever come again, and surely not to the degree they knew before.
When they came up to the lake for a weekend in September, Alex and Charles had much to talk about. War had just been declared in Europe, and as disturbing as it was, Charles believed, as he had for years, that factories brought back into service for products needed to supply a war would create jobs and help the world and national economy and positively affect the stock market along with it. The increased productivity would eventually boost the economy and reduce unemployment.
They discussed the likelihood of the United States getting into the war, which Charles thought was unlikely, but Alex wasn’t so sure. They both enjoyed talking about it, and each other’s company.
Despite the talk of war between the two men, they enjoyed other more pleasant conversations, and beautiful weather. Alex and Eleanor managed some private romantic moments in the cottage when her parents were busy. The romance hadn’t gone out of their marriage in ten years. They loved each other as passionately as ever. They had passed the honeymoon phase, particularly with all that had happened to them, but they shared a deep love, which nourished both of them. They were always in good spirits when they went home to the city. It reminded Eleanor of the days when they had their own train when she was younger. It was strange sometimes to think of the extreme luxury she had grown up in, and now they lived in a tiny apartment in Chinatown, and were dependent on their jobs.