Every Storm

by Lori Wick

  Ruth cut off when she heard movement behind her. Leonard had come to the kitchen. He got mugs down from the cupboard and brought the cream from the refrigerator.

  "This was kind of you, Ruth," he said simply, preparing a cup of coffee for his wife.

  Ruth didn't comment, but Leonard still looked at her.

  "You know all about grief, don't you?" he said.

  Feeling helpless, Ruth shrugged a little.

  "It doesn't matter, does it?" Leonard went on. "A tiny unborn person or a grown daughter-it's still so painful."

  "I was just thinking that same thing."

  Leonard smiled at her. "Join us with your cup, Ruth."

  "Thank you, Leonard," she said, watching him head back to the living room. She did fix her own cup and returned to her friends, thankful to be there. When all three were settled in the living room, Leonard began to pray.

  "What's the matter?" Max asked when Lorri suddenly grabbed her arm.

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  "He's here!" Lorri said, her voice low, even though the service was over.

  "Who's here?" Max said and then realized. "Where? Where is he?"

  "Coming this way," Lorri got out just before Rigg slipped into the empty pew ahead of them, stayed standing, and greeted them.

  "Hello, Miss Archer."

  "Hello, Lieutenant. How are you?"

  "I'm fine," Rigg answered, smiling and wondering how many times their conversations would start this way. His eyes darted to the younger woman beside Lorri, and Lorri caught it.

  "This is my sister, Maxine. Max, this is Lieutenant Riggs."

  Both women stood, and Max put her hand out to shake the lieutenant's.

  "It's nice to meet you, Lieutenant."

  "Do you prefer Max or Maxine?" Rigg asked, deciding to cut all formality.

  "Max," that young woman told him, smiling at his relaxed manner.

  "Max it is," Rigg said, thinking that she was as beautiful as her sister. "Are you by any chance still in high school?"

  "I'm a senior."

  "I have a brother who's a junior."

  "Does he go to Harmony Hills?"

  "No, most of my family lives up north in Santa Rosa."

  Lorri hadn't known that and found herself listening closely. Max was relaxed with the lieutenant, and Lorri wished her heart was not pounding so hard, a pounding that only grew worse when she spotted her mother across the way. She knew what she must do and waited only for a lull in the conversation to do it.

  "Lieutenant?" Lorri began.

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  Rigg turned to her immediately, almost as if he'd been waiting for her to address him.

  "Yes."

  "Would you mind terribly if I introduced my mother to you? I know she would wish to meet you."

  "I would be happy to meet your mother," he said with all the kindness he could muster. She was looking very strained over the question-far worse than Friday sfternobn-and he felt almost desperate to put her at ease.

  "She's talking to someone right now, but maybe if you-" Lorri floundered to a halt.

  "I'm in no hurry." Rigg understood the unspoken words. "I can wait as long as you like." :

  Lorri glanced over to find Max watching her. The younger girl gave her a sympathetic smile, and Lorri knew she looked as lost and flustered as she felt. She knew nothing but relief when Rigg began a conversation with Max again.

  It took some minutes, but Ruth finally came their way. Many folks had cleared out, and Lorri was glad for that. Lorri watched as her mother approached and saw the very moment when she spotted the man in uniform. Her eyes darted to her daughter, who spoke right up.

  "Mother, I want you to meet someone," Lorri began, letting her mother get a little closer. "Mother, this is Lieutenant Riggs, the gentleman who rescued me from the island. Lieutenant, this is my mother, Ruth Archer."

  "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Archer. Thank you for the note."

  Ruth had shaken his hand, but she didn't let go. Tears she could not control filled her eyes. Rigg stood patiently, his eyes respectful and not darting away.

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  "I'm sorry," Ruth whispered.

  "It's all right," Rigg assured her, wishing there was some way for her to know it truly was.

  "Are you all right, Ruth?" Dean had come up, and his voice was just what Ruth needed. She nodded, let the lieutenant reclaim his hand, and took a moment to compose herself. Still, she was not going to let this opportunity pass.

  "Lieutenant Riggs," Ruth jumped in without letting herself think too much. "Are you by any chance free for dinner this Friday evening? We're going td barbecue chicken on the grill if that sounds good to you."

  "It's sounds delicious. What time would you like me to come?"

  "Any time after 5:30. We'll probably eat at 6:00."

  "Ill plan on that."

  The family said their goodbyes then, Rigg speaking to everyone but Lorri. For her he waited until last, stopping and catching her eye.

  "I'll see you Friday."

  "Okay." Lorri nodded and managed a small smile. She moved off with her family, asking herself if he meant Friday afternoon or evening. And then she realized it didn't matter. Friday was just five days away.

  "She's going to marry him, isn't she?"

  Ruth was changing her clothes before starting on lunch but turned from her closet to look at her youngest daughter, who had taken up residence on the bed.

  "I don't know, Max."

  Max looked at her mother, desperate for answers, and Ruth sat down on the bed, telling herself that lunch could wait.

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  "What is it you're thinking, Max?"

  "He's wonderful," Max said simply. "And he looks at her, Mother, you know, in that special way. He's unbelievably kind; I've never met anyone so kind. I guess Ken is kind too," Max said as an afterthought. "I think that's why Jo loved him, and that's probably why Raine will love the lieutenant.*'

  Ruth just listened. She didn't know what to think, but she certainly understood what Max was talking about. She had stood holding his hand-a total stranger-and then she had cried. His eyes had never left her face. As if he'd been ordered to do so, he stood still and waited for her to make the next move.

  "What did you think of him?" Max asked.

  "He's seems to be very special, but your sister isn't quite at ease, Max, and that's why I'm not going to start looking for wedding dress patterns."

  "You should have seen her before you came over. I've never known her to be like that. She was so nervous, but when he looked at her..." Max searched for the words. "He was just so sweet and patient and kind! I don't know how else to say it."

  But Ruth didn't need to hear it any other way. She knew just what Max had seen. The lieutenant's face flashed through her mind, swiftly followed by her daughter's. Ruth knew the least she could do was pray; in fact, that was the most she could do as well.

  "Was I seeing things, or did you seem a little flustered around the lieutenant?"

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  "You weren't seeing things, Grandpa," Lorri had to admit, starting lunch when her mother didn't come from upstairs. "I'm nervous around him, and I'm not sure why."

  "Would it help if the two of you could talk about your rescue?"

  "I don't know, but at any rate, that's not likely to happen."

  "I wouldn't bank on that," Dean said boldly, not ready to tell her what he'd done. "I'm asking God to give you that opportunity. I think it's just what you need."

  Lorri turned to look at him, the salad fixings momentarily forgotten.

  "Why do you feel it's so important?"

  "It could have been any boat to stop at that island, but it wasn't. It was theEvery Storm.The skipper could have been married with three kids, but he wasn't. He was a single man who shares our faith in Christ and who now seems interested in my granddaughter.

  "None of those things are a coincidence, Lorri. I'm not sayi
ng we should book the church, but you and Rigg have some type of future together. Maybe it's only to talk about the island and what that was like for you, but this man is not out of our lives just yet."

  Lorri hadn't thought about it that way. It was true that she would like to discuss the island. It came to mind often, and she was tired of pushing it away for fear of mentioning it and upsetting her family, not to mention she would like to hear the lieutenant's side of the story. She was not herself during that time. What could he tell her that she might have missed? What had he thought of the whole ordeal?

  Previously the thought of speaking to him about the island caused her to blush in her tracks, but not now. Now she wanted to talk to the lieutenant about it She wanted to know what he thought.

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  "Well, Donovan." Dorothy Riggs greeted her brother-in-law with pleasant surprise and a hug just as they sat down to Sunday dinner. "Come in. Have you eaten?"

  "No, but don't feel like you have to feed me."

  "We have plenty."

  "Hey, Donovan," Jim greeted him. "Have a seat."

  Donovan did so as soon as he hugged Violet and pressed a kiss to William's small brow.

  "How was church?" Jim asked.

  "Good. We're still in Matthew. How about you?"

  "One of our missionaries is in town, so he spoke this morning."

  "Violet mentioned that you gave sorfieone a ride home again on Friday," Dorothy wasted no time in saying.

  "That's true," Rigg said, smiling a little. "She's a bang-up little reporter."

  "I give her cookies," Dorothy replied cheekily, causing her husband and brother-in-law to laugh.

  "Well, as a matter of fact," Rigg continued, "that's part of the reason I'm here. I'm going to the Archers' for dinner on Friday night."

  "She invited you?"

  "Her mother did I'm sure it's her way of thanking me."

  "What do you think Lorri thought of that?"

  "I don't know. She's so nervous around me that I can't quite read her."

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  Dorothy, who had been ready to make all kinds of suggestions about the future, was struck with compassion. This woman, Lorraine Archer, had been through an awful lot.

  "Are you willing to give her time?" Jim suddenly asked, causing both Dorothy and Rigg to look at him.

  "If you recall, Ralph met Elsie under uncomfortable circumstances," he continued, speaking of their cousin. "And Ralph had to move pretty slowly during courtship."

  "I'd forgotten about that," Rigg said, thinking that Ralph would say it had been worth every moment. He and Elsie were very much in love, their first child due in the summer.

  "I have time," Violet said quietly, and the adults realized that she'd been hearing every word.

  "I'm glad to hear that," Rigg told her, "because right after lunch we can play a game or go outside. What do you think of that?"

  The adoration that always showed in the first grader's eyes for her Uncle Donovan only deepened. The adults knew the conversation was over. And that was probably for the best.

  "Do you think we could be any lazier?" Ruth asked of the girls, covering a yawn at the same time. All three of them lounged around the family room and shared the newspaper. Dean was sound asleep in his chair, oblivious to them all.

  "Listen to this," Max said, reading from an article. "It says here that an honest army vet paid $20,000 in taxes after winning in a crap game. He'd won $53,000."

  "That was honest," Ruth commented.

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  "Why do you suppose we're so surprised by that?" Lorri asked. "Why don't we expect people to be honest?"

  Her mother and sister didn't have an answer. Lorri went back to the Sunday funnies, but her thoughts remained on honesty. If she had been forced to be honest about wanting to see more of the lieutenant, could she have been? She wasn't sure. Considering she rarely put two intelligent words together in his presence, he was being exceptionally patient.

  "The funnies are supposed to make you laugh, not frown."

  Lorri looked over to find Max smiling at her. Lorri shook her head, much like her mother was wont to dp.

  "I was thinking about what a bumbling idiot I am around the lieutenant. Friday night is sure to be delightful." Lorri didn't bother to veil her sarcasm.

  "It won't be like that"

  "I wish I could believe you, Max. You saw me this morning."

  "But the more time you spend with him, the better it will be."

  "I don't know if there will bemore timeafter Friday night."

  "I do:'

  Lorri looked at her tolerantly,

  "Raine." Her sister's voice was the most patient she'd ever heard. "You're going to fall in love with him."

  "That may very well be, but it helps when both people are in love/1

  "He's going to fall too. He won't be able to help himself."

  "I wish I shared your confidence."

  "You don't have to. Just ask me, and I'll keep telling you what to do."

  Ruth loved this. She laughed so hard that Dean shifted in his sleep. The girls started to laugh at their mother but didn't want

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  to wake their grandfather. By silent agreement, everyone went back to the newspaper.

  The phone rang that night in Rigg's room not many minutes after he returned from church. The admiral, Lorri, and Max had attended the service, but there had been no sign of Mrs. Archer.

  Rigg got to the phone on the fifth ring, assuming that Dorothy was calling to ask him to watch the kids sometime that week. He was wrong. It was his mother.

  "Dorothy wrote to me," she wasted no time in saying. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

  Rigg had to laugh. "Hello, Mom."

  "Well?" Her voice was full of teasing. "Who is this girl?"

  "Dorothy didn't fill you in?" he teased right back.

  "No, she just asked if I had talked to my son lately. She hinted that there might be a female in his life."

  "A female, yes. In my life, riot quite."

  "Can you tell me about it?" Virginia Riggs asked, this time very serious.

  "It's rather unbelievable, but the woman I rescued off that island lives here in Harmony Hills. She works at Violet's school."

  "What are the odds of that?"

  "I don't know, but I never dreamt I would see her again."

  "What is her name-I can't recall if you told me."

  "Lorraine Archer."

  "How is she doing?"

  "I think well. We haven't talked past generalities, but when I met her mother in church on Sunday, I was invited to dinner Friday."

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  "Are you going?"

  "Yes. I'm looking forward.to it."

  "You wrote that you were trying another church closer to the base. Is that the church?"

  "Yes. I just got home."

  "Did you see Lorraine and her family tonight?"

  "Not to speak to, and I didn't see her mother."

  "How is it going at the new church?"

  "I like it. The preaching from the Word is very sound. Pastor Higgins addresses the men a lot. It's convicting, but it reminds me of the church there at home."

  "I'm glad to hear it."

  Rigg heard a small commotion on the other end, and then his mother came back on.

  "Your father wants to talk to you. I'll write this week."

  "Okay."

  "I love you."

  "Have you too."

  Rigg spent a few minutes with his father, keeping it brief but glad to have talked to them both. He thought about their conversation for a while. A few words from Dorothy in a letter, and his mother makes a phone call. It must have shook her up a bit.

  Rigg smiled at the thought. He would write this week as well, but there wasn't a whole lot to report. He could see the words in his head.

  I've met a woman I want to get to know. At times she seems terrified of me. Her grandfather is an admira
l. At times I'm terrified of him. If we ever get over our fears, I'll write more.

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  "Max?" Arlene said for the third time, finally reaching out and touching her friend's hand.

  "What?"

  "I've been calling your name."

  "Oh, sorry."

  "You've been distracted all day."

  "I'm sorry" Max said again but didn't elaborate.:

  "What's up?"

  Max looked as" indecisive as she felt. After a moment she sighed.

  "For two girls who have sworn off boys, we suite manage to talk about them enough."

  "Is that what this is about?" Arlene made a face; She'd been ready to have boys back in her life for weeks, but Max had not gone along.

  "Not about me. It's about Raine."

  "Tell me."

  Max did, sharing the way their mother had invited the lieutenant to dinner.

  "Tonight?" Arlene clarified. "He's coming tonight? No wonder you're distracted."

  "I keep thinking about Raine. I don't want her to be embarrassed or anything."

  Arlene had been on the verge of asking all about this man, but she held off. Max's sad, distracted face was about her sister, and for these two friends, that was no joking matter.

  "We'll pray, Max," Arlene encouraged her.

  "What will we pray?"

  Arlene remembered something from the sermon the week before.

  "That all hearts will be humble."

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  Max felt as though a weight had suddenly been lifted. Her grandfather had told her at one time that worry was a prideful thing.We want to be in charge, and when we can't be, we worry. We need to humble ourselves before God and let Him have His way.

  "Thanks, Arlene " Max said with heartfelt honesty. She spent the rest of the day asking God to give them humble hearts during dinner. Each time she started to worry, she confessed it and thought of something else. She was able to report to Arlene at the end of the day that it had gone very well.

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  "You're here," Lorri said quietly.

  "Where am I supposed to be?" Rigg asked, having already hugged and kissed his niece, who was now playing with a small ball she'd pulled from the pocket of her dress.

  "I just didn't think I would see you until tonight."

  Rigg nodded: thoughtfully, trying to gauge if she was pleased or disappointed.