Tumbledown Page #5

Ah.

Dad, can you do me a favor

and just set another place?

- I brought a friend along.

- What, what?

You couldn't tell me?

I hope I have enough food.

- No, it's fine.

- Everybody pretend to be normal.

You know what?

Better still, just sit her next to me.

Yeah, actually, it's--

he's a he.

- Andrew.

- Andrew?

Mm-hmm.

He's a friend of a friend

and from LA.

He's doing research

on lakefront property in western Maine.

- He's a contractor.

- Well, where is he?

Is he incredibly thin

or something?

- He's in the car on the phone.

- Yeah, that's LA.

So LA. So LA.

- Oh!

- No, Mom, I'll get the door!

I'll get the door.

No, no, I'll get it, I'll get it.

I'll get it.

No, no, no. No.

- Oh, hello! Hi!

- I'll get the door.

- Welcome! Come in here.

- Oh, hi!

- Hello. How you doing?

- Oh!

Hi. Nice to meet you.

I'm Andrew.

Happy Easter.

Uh, no. Not Easter.

Uh, Passover.

Both?

Well, I'm Linda, real estate holder

in the state of Maine.

- Great. Great.

- Oh, my God.

Are you really working

all over the holiday?

Isn't your family sore?

What family?

No, I'm joining yours.

You didn't hear that?

- It smells great in here.

- Oh!

Well, it's our pleasure

having you.

- Nice to be had.

- Whoa!

Cheer, cheers,

the gang's all here!

This is my other

lovely girl Shannon.

- This is my lovely boy Seth.

- Andrew:
Hey.

- Nice to meet you.

- And this is his special friend Megan.

Come on, guys.

Let the man wipe his boots off.

Bruce Jespersen.

Pleasure.

- Nice to meet you.

- Welcome.

Shannon, will you give Andrew

a tour of the place?

But don't take him into my office.

It's very, very messy.

She just says that

because she thinks

messy means creative

and spontaneous.

- Linda:
Oh, you're so hilarious.

- Nice meeting you all.

I'll see you after the tour.

All right, Shannon...

How could you not tell us?

You know how overjoyed I am?

- Well, happy Easter.

- How long is he here?

Ooh, ooh, can he come with us

to the Bogars'

maple syrup barn party?

Ooh! And what about

Matt Frost's band is playing,

so all of Farmington will be there.

Whoa, whoa, Mom.

Just, you know, get all the joy

that you want out of him tonight,

because after his business is done,

he'll be long gone.

Oh, sweetheart.

Oh, there, there.

This is our wall of shame!

- Yes.

- Yes.

My parents love to frame the best

and worst thing we've ever done.

- Huh.

- Yeah, it's constantly challenging us.

- Andrew:
Yes.

- Shannon:
And up for revision.

Wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

Hannah wrote a book?

Mm-hmm.

Seasonal motifs, poem stuff.

It's a very long title.

I can't really--

plus, she has two best prizes

for some reason.

Yes, like she never did

anything wrong.

- P-H-frigging-D.

- Mm-hmm.

From Brown.

Couldn't get into Harvard.

- Oh.

- Ha!

And Seth's room is upstairs.

- It's sort of creepy.

- Hmm.

Seth:
Great, Mom.

It's awesome.

Andrew:

All right, look at this.

Right over here, Andrew.

This is you.

Who needs more sauce?

Everyone good for...

Hello, Doctor.

Bruce:
Andrew, right here.

This is you.

- Linda:
Yeah.

- Mm.

Let's all take our seats.

Here we go.

Smells delicious, Dad.

- Let's join paws for a sec here.

- Seth:
Ah.

Bruce:
We are grateful today

to Mother Nature

and Mother Nurture for

the abundant food on this table

and the not entirely unattractive

family around it.

Amen.

We remember those who are

with us in spirit.

Mm-hmm, and a special welcome

to our new friend Andrew.

- Thank you.

- Well, let's dig in, everybody.

- Enjoy your food.

- All right.

- Hannah:
Great. Here we go!

- Looks amazing.

So, Andrew, what's the inside scoop

on lakefront prices?

You think Maine's going to explode

like the Boston suburbs after the crash?

- Is Maine going to explode?

- Yeah.

I'm such a sucker.

I'm 29 and still renting.

What do you think, Andrew?

You think I should buy?

Or is the market still softening?

You know, actually,

I think Andrew's specialty

is in commercial real estate, right?

Mm-hmm.

And who wants to talk about work

over Easter dinner?

- Oh, I do.

- I was just curious, man.

Andrew:

Me, yeah. I would love to.

Talk about it anytime,

you know?

Breakfast, lunch,

snack time, dinner.

I mean, I'm a realtor, you know?

It's my passion.

How'd you catch

the real estate bug, Andrew, huh?

Your folks big landholders?

Mmm. Sure.

Mm-hmm.

You ever heard of Wyoming?

Okay.

All right, all right, all right.

- Linda:
Kidder.

- Hold your horses.

But I care. I care.

Yeah, she's curious.

It's all right.

No, actually, Mom,

Andrew's research

is for more personal reasons.

He's an associate professor for

American Studies at Hofstra University

and he's here researching

a paper about Hunter.

And when I say paper,

I mean more like a biography

that I have hired him to write,

with me, about Hunter.

Oh, really? So there's nothing

going on here, you mean?

- No.

- No, and he ha-- not that it matters.

- He has a girlfriend...

- Mm-hmm. Finley.

...and can we not talk about this

while he's sitting right here?

- Well, f***-a-doodle-doo.

- Ooh.

And here I thought

maybe the clouds were lifting.

You know, Mom, it's not actually

any of your business.

So you're just eating my manicotti

and happily lying to my face?

Oh, jeez.

Okay, I'm sorry.

Can we start again

with this, please?

My real name

is still Andrew McCabe.

I'm just-- I'm just the help.

I wasn't briefed on the classified

nature of my employment.

No, I am really hoping to interview

each and every one of you

if you're willing to contribute

to what I believe will be

a very beautiful book someday.

That is, unless I just got fired.

My food got cold.

Meatball?

Yes.

Yes, sir. Thank you.

- There's a spoon in the bowl.

- You're absolutely right.

- No, leave it on.

- No.

- You didn't have to do that.

- Spoon's better way to go.

Bruce:

It's all right.

- Need any help?

- No.

Well, I wanted to thank you

for including me

in such a delicious feast,

Mrs. Jespersen.

The manicotti was dry.

Well, I gobbled it right up.

You sure did.

Hey, uh, so are you a fan

of Hunter's music?

So what is this?

The interview portion

of the program?

Sorry, but I don't support

the whole project.

Gotcha.

Back to Balderdash it is.

Not a problem.

No, see, it is.

She will never break this endless cycle

of keeping Hunter around.

Well, you know, maybe this is her way

of ending that chapter of her life.

Oh! No, no, no.

She does care a great deal

about his legacy, you know.

His legacy is 12 songs.

Does the world care that much?

You'd be surprised.

Yeah, and what do you

care about, huh?

Is this your golden ticket

to tenure at some school

where there's ivy on the walls?

A fan?

He was my son.

That's what he was to me.

No, of course.

I'm sorry.

Well, what was he like?

It's kind of hard to tell

from just listening to the music.

There was darkness in the man,

but, oh, he was one of a kind.

And she felt lucky

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