"Kate tells me you have a wine store."
"Small, yes. But we do all right. People in this country are discovering wine."
"Hey Joe, is this one of your father's?" Max was standing in front of an oil painting at the far end of the living room. Gino and Joe went over.
"For sure," Joe said. He hadn't seen it before.
"Wedding present!" Kate called from the kitchen. "We brought it over to make the house seem more like home." It was a Deer Isle scene. An apple tree in full bloom, crowded by woods behind it, leaned over the edge of a field and a stock car that was missing its hood and engine. The car's wheels were twisted strangely in the grass. A large yellow 90 was painted on a blue door. White blossoms lay scattered on the wreck. "'Memorial Day' is the name of the painting," Kate said coming closer. "You like it?"
"Pretty good," Max said.
"I think he's getting better," Joe said. "Is he coming, Kate, by the way?"
"No. He said he wanted to but he wasn't feeling up to the trip."
"Very artistic," Gino said. "And this too." He held up a knight from
Jackson's chess set which was laid out on a table beneath the painting.
He spun the piece slowly between his thumb and forefinger.
"Jackson made those," Joe said.