First Come Twins

by Helen Brenna

  “Now, you’re carrying it too far.”

  “Am I?” Jim said. “This island is not the same island of my childhood. The last five years have brought changes. While not big enough to have required council approval, those changes have altered the feel and culture of Mirabelle.”

  “Name one.”

  “Delores Kowalski, you added a video-game room to your restaurant. Shirley Gilbert, you added a business center to your bed-and-breakfast. Carl Andersen, you added a wine bar.”

  “Yes, but all of those changes,” Sally McGregor, one of the most vocal opponents to Marty’s plan, yelled out, “were made to accommodate changing interests and tastes.”

  “Exactly. This island treads a thin line between maintaining our identity and meeting the needs of our visitors. As much as some of us want Mirabelle to stay exactly as it is, change is inevitable. If we fall too far behind the rest of the world, we will lose business.”

  “Why, Jim Bennett, you of all people.”

  “So you’re approving Marty’s proposal?”

  “I don’t have the right anymore,” Jim said. “One way or another to approve or deny.”

  Carl Andersen glanced at Jim. “What are you saying?”

  “This is as good a time as any to make this announcement. I’m retiring, and I’ll likely be spending the winters down south somewhere.” That stirred a new round of murmurs from the crowd. “You don’t need to worry. We’ll find a good replacement before I leave. In fact, I’ve already put some feelers out and there’s a Chicago police detective showing some interest. The point is that my opinion here doesn’t hold a lot of water. Still, there are a few more things I’d like to say.”

  He took a deep breath. “Sometimes we hold on to the past so tightly, that we can’t breathe. We want everything to stay the same because we’re scared of change. We can’t see the opportunities right in front of us. We don’t know we’re not living in the present.” He glanced directly at Sophie. “Sometimes, all we gotta do is make one step away from the past. For our vision to clear. We take a deep, full breath and trust ourselves. Trust the people we love. Trust the people who love us and jump into the future. Because if we’re not moving forward, we’re very likely standing awfully, damned still.”

  The room was quiet.

  “Sophie,” Jim said, an understanding smile on his face. “You haven’t said much during all these meetings. What do you think?”

  There was no doubt in her mind that Jim had been talking to the whole island, but he was thinking of her. How had she gotten here? So entrenched on this island that she’d lost sight of what had once been her dreams? How had she stopped moving without even realizing it?

  Marty leaned over and whispered, “Have you figured out what you’re holding on to, Sophie?”

  “No.” She shook her head.

  Marty sighed and stood. “I’m going to leave now, and I want you all to know that what’s said in this room stays in this room. One way or another.” He squeezed Sophie’s shoulder and walked out. Every face in the room turned toward Sophie.

  “Well?” Jim urged.

  She closed her eyes. Her childhood flashed in bits and pieces through her memory. Birthdays and holidays, weddings and funerals. The faces changed, by age and death, marriage and birth, but the background always stayed the same. She supposed that’s how she kept her memories alive. Change the surroundings and her memories might fade. In most of the snapshots in her mind, Noah played a part. Nothing significant in her life had happened outside of Mirabelle, except for the days she’d spent in that Bayfield motel with Noah before he’d left.

  Noah, Noah, Noah.

  That was it. She was holding on to Noah. Because that’s the only way she could keep him. In her memories. She was living in the past. While the present was slipping through her fingers. She’d been standing still.

  Oh, God, what had she done?

  “Sophie?” Jim’s voice drew her back.

  Trembling, she stood, walked to the council’s table and picked up the microphone. This island was as evenly divided as it could possibly get. Whatever she said at this moment would likely sway the decision one way or the other.

  “I think…” she said, looking out over the audience. “That we can purposefully change Mirabelle, or set out to keep her exactly the same as she’s been year after year. In the end, what we do or don’t do won’t matter. She’s going to change whether we like it or not. In the end, only our memories stay the same.”

  “Your parents would disagree,” Sally said. “The important things are exactly the way they’ve always been here on this island.”

  “Maybe, Sally. Maybe not,” Sophie said. “To me, Mirabelle isn’t just about Main Street, our Victorian houses or our carriage rides. Mirabelle isn’t the old and quaint buildings. She isn’t the land, the trees, the water surrounding us.” Sophie looked around at all the faces of the people she’d known for as long as she could remember. “Mirabelle is the people on this island. All of you are her heart and soul.

  “Without Arlo Duffy’s ‘Ayep’ from the bench of his carriage, without Doc Welinsky’s thumbs-up, and Sally, without your gruff manner at the post office window…Mirabelle isn’t Mirabelle.

  “Each of us has put who we are into our businesses. We’ve laid ourselves out there because we love our jobs, we love our island and we’d like to make a little bit of a profit. But I can promise you that if we don’t grow and change, we die. It’ll be a slow death. We might be able to resuscitate with a well-placed ad or article, like Noah’s. In the end, we’ll still die.

  “Building a new hotel, golf course or pool doesn’t change who we are. When all the tourists leave, it’s still just us. We’re still here. We’re still the same. Making changes that today’s tourist wants, needs, insists upon, keeps us alive and vital.”

  Sophie glanced around at all the faces, envisioned herself staying here on Mirabelle. The only problem was that vision without Noah at her side no longer seemed whole. She had to leave Mirabelle. For herself. For Lauren. Even for Kurt. He needed to know there was life outside Mirabelle.

  “And now, you can toss out everything I’ve just said because like Jim, I may, if I’m very, very lucky, be leaving Mirabelle.”

  “What?”

  “I can’t believe it.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s that Bennett boy, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it’s Noah Bennett.” She nodded. “It’s always been Noah.” She set down the microphone and, with one quick look back at a smiling Jim, she walked out of the meeting. Amidst an uproar of voices, the door closed behind her. She hit fresh air and found Kurt and Lauren sitting on the curb talking with Marty. “What are you guys doing here?”

  “He left,” Lauren said with a frown.

  “Who?” Sophie asked.

  “Noah,” Marty said.

  “After you went into your meeting,” Kurt said, “we saw him heading to the ferry pier.”

  “How long ago?”

  Lauren shrugged. “Ten minutes?”

  She glanced at her watch. He may have caught the top of the hour ferry. Then again he might’ve missed it. Oh, God. Oh, God. She had to move. Fast. Her heart was breaking all over again at the thought of Noah leaving. “Kurt.” She bent down, doing her damnedest to not get mushy. He hated mushy. “What do you want to do?”

  He looked away, thinking. “I’ll miss Ben. Can we come back in the summer?”

  “We’ll be back every summer, with or without Noah.” But I hope it’s with.

  “Then let’s go.”

  “Lauren? What do you think?”

  Her daughter grinned. “You have to ask?”

  Sophie turned to Marty. “I’m ready to pass the Rousseau baton. You want it?” It was time for her to live her own dreams.

  “You betcha!” Laughing, Marty stood up and gave her a quick hug. “Now, go!”

  “Okay, kids. Let’s see if we can catch Noah!” Sophie ran as fast as she could toward the pier, but she couldn’
t keep up with Kurt and Lauren. When they looked back, she yelled, “Run! Don’t let him get on that ferry, and if he’s on it tell him to get off.”

  She turned the corner, across the street from the Bayside Café and stopped. Kurt and Lauren were standing at the end of the pier, watching after a ferry that had long ago left the pier and was already on its return trip.

  Noah was long gone. She’d succeeded in pushing him out of her life. Every word she’d used, every attack she’d thrown in his face came back to her like a foghorn over the water. She’d pushed him, but he’d left her again. He’d left. Sophie bent her head and cried. Then the kids were there, wrapping their arms around her.

  “It’s okay, Mom,” Lauren said.

  Kurt squeezed her shoulder. When had he gotten so tall? He was suddenly eye-to-eye with her. “We’ll go after him.”

  No. She couldn’t. What would be the point? He would always be leaving her.

  “Mom,” Lauren whispered. “He loves you. You love him. It’s not that complicated.”

  Sophie’s heartbeat quickened. “You’re right, both of you.” The ferry was already docking and people were filing off and onto the pier. She had to move fast. With the kids right behind her, she ran into the ferry office and bought a ticket to the mainland. “I’m going to get Noah.”

  “We want to come, too,” Lauren said.

  “Yeah.” Kurt grinned. “We can help.”

  “You’re sure?”

  They both nodded. She bought two more tickets, and they ran outside. They turned toward the ferry and Sophie stopped. Noah was walking toward them on the sidewalk amidst a crowd of tourists, a pack slung over his shoulder. It was all she could do not to leap into his arms.

  He nodded at the tickets in her hand. “Going somewhere?”

  “To find you,” she said, rubbing at the tears streaming down her cheek.

  Noah glanced at Lauren and Kurt. “Do you mind if your mom and I have a few minutes alone to talk?”

  Kurt and Lauren looked at each other.

  “First, we both have something to say,” Lauren said.

  “Just so you know, I’m okay if we leave Mirabelle,” Kurt said. “I’d like to come back in the summer.”

  “I reminded him that if we got off this island he’d be able to get a driver’s license.” Lauren grinned. “But I’m okay if we stay, as long as we get away on more vacations.”

  “I think you’re both jumping the gun a bit,” Sophie said.

  “No.” Noah shook his head. “I think they’re right on target.”

  Lauren tugged on Kurt’s sleeve. “Come on, they need to talk.” The kids walked a short distance away, leaving Sophie alone with Noah.

  Sophie wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep from falling apart. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “What I said back at your house was wrong and unfair. I wanted to hurt you, the way you’d hurt me. I was scared and trying to push you away.”

  “Well, it almost worked.” He stepped toward her and ran his fingertips over her cheek, drying her tears. “Only I’m not going anywhere ever again, Sophie. You can fight me tooth and nail. Pretend to ignore me. Turn the whole island against me. None of it will matter. You can’t turn me away ever again.” He smiled a little sadly. “I learned my lesson the last time I left Mirabelle. This time, I’m fighting back. I’m not leaving. You. The island. The kids. Unless you’re all with me.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “We go. We stay. I don’t care. As long as we’re together, that’s all that matters.” He opened his arms as if in surrender. “If you’ll have me, I’m yours. I will never leave you again.”

  She leapt at him, almost knocking him over.

  “I love you, Sophie.” He buried his face in her neck. “I don’t ever want to be without you.”

  “I thought you’d left.”

  “I did.” He set her down, but left his hands at her waist. “I got on the ferry and looked back at the town and realized nothing had changed. Once again, there was nothing for me on Mirabelle except for you and the kids. If you didn’t want me here, I had to go. As the ferry left the pier I looked forward to Bayfield but, this time, I realized there was absolutely nothing ahead of me. There’s nothing more important to me in this entire world than you.” He leaned toward her, rested his forehead against hers. “You, Sophie, you’re my world.”

  “And you’re mine. You and the kids. I’ll go anywhere,” she said against his mouth. “Well, almost anywhere,” she clarified with a chuckle, “as long as it’s with you.” She tilted forward, and, as the kids looked on, she kissed him, thoroughly, completely, rejoicing in the knowledge she would never again have to let him go.

  “So are we staying or going?” he asked with a smile.

  “How ’bout both?”

  “Both?”

  “I want to go, Noah. I want to experience the world off Mirabelle with you and the kids. Let’s go to Rhode Island during the school year and come back here for the summers. And maybe during school breaks we can do some traveling.”

  “As in New York, L.A., London, Tokyo?”

  A little thrill of anticipation ran through her. “Yeah.”

  He nodded. “I’d like that.”

  “What do you want to do about Kurt and Lauren?” she asked.

  “You mean DNA testing?”

  She nodded.

  “It’s not necessary.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to ruin one single memory Kurt and Lauren have of Isaac. My brother deserves to be remembered as their dad, their one and only.” Noah shook his head. “Uncle and stepdad is good enough for me.”

  Sophie swallowed. She’d never loved Noah more than in this moment. “You’re sure?”

  “Positive.” He drew her close. “Lauren and Kurt? Is it okay with you two if I marry your mom?”

  They grinned back and yelled in unison, “It’s about time!”

  EPILOGUE

  A BITTER WIND BLEW ACROSS the vast expanse of a frozen Lake Superior. Snow fell hard and fast, and sheets of white swirled into foot-high drifts against doorways and coated street signs and evergreens. Sheltered from the blizzard wreaking havoc on Mirabelle Island’s landscape, Noah waited in the inn library listening to gusty winds rattle the windowpanes and whistle down the flue of the nearby fireplace.

  “January in Wisconsin.” He rubbed his hands together warming them. “What am I doing here?”

  “Getting married,” Marty said, poking his head through the doorway.

  “I thought Rousseaus were supposed to get married in June.” Noah chuckled.

  “Sophie’s been breaking some traditions lately, hasn’t she?”

  “Yes, she has.” Including traveling around the country showing her photographs at art galleries and living with Noah in Rhode Island.

  She and the kids loved his beach house. It was far enough away from the neighboring town to be peaceful, and close enough for the kids to bike to their new friends’ houses. Within a few short months, Sophie had turned his sparsely furnished house into a living, breathing home. She and the kids had brought some of their favorite things from their apartment at the inn, but she’d had fun buying new things, too. Life with limited traditions was good.

  “Smile, man. You look like you’re headed to a firing squad,” Marty said, looking, in his black suit and tie, every inch the island business leader.

  As it turned out, as soon as Marty decided to take over the Mirabelle Island Inn rather than build a big, new hotel, the islanders, with only a few exceptions, jumped wholeheartedly behind him and his plans for building two pools—an indoor and an outdoor—and an eighteen-hole municipal golf course on state land.

  He’d also fronted a comprehensive ad campaign and the entire island was at full capacity for the next two seasons. There were some holdouts complaining Mirabelle was going to be too busy, but, overall, the reaction from the residents had been positive.

  The only thing worrying Noah about today was whether or not the islanders would come to the wedding
. They loved Sophie, but she was marrying Noah. He’d taken her away from them, from Mirabelle. They’d be back over the summer months, living at Grandma Bennett’s since Marty and Brittany had taken over and were remodeling the Mirabelle Inn, but everyone knew things wouldn’t be the same.

  The chapel was too small to fit the entire island, so they’d decided to have the ceremony at the inn’s banquet hall. Sophie would be crushed if her favorite people didn’t come out and celebrate this day with her, Lauren and Kurt.

  “Is she doing okay?” Noah asked.

  Marty grinned. “Never seen her happier.”

  “She was worried about the storm. Whether folks would end up staying home because of it.”

  “They’ll come.”

  Again, Noah glanced out the window. The wind swirled in front of their window creating patterns in the snow. Something about the crisscrossing lines of the patterns seemed familiar. It looked like the shape of a snowshoe forming in the drift outside their window. “Do you see that?” He pointed.

  Marty looked outside. “Who would be out snowshoeing in this mess?”

  Noah smiled. He could think of one person. Imagined or not, he liked to think Isaac was putting his blessing on the day. Thanks, bro. For being here.

  “You ready?” Marty asked.

  Noah blew out a controlled breath and headed toward the hall. “I’ve never been more ready for anything.” A sense of deep contentment flooded through him. No more wars. No more world traveling. No more running away from anything.

  He opened the door to the banquet hall, was immediately hit with a gust of warm air, and was astounded to see so many faces turn to look at him and smile. They’d come. From the looks of it, the whole island was here. Four hundred or so people in one room warmed a big, cold space up real fast. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  Marty stood next to him. “Standing room only. Pretty good turnout for this crappy weather.”

  “That’s good. They came for Sophie.”

  “And you,” Marty countered. “Whether you can accept that or not. They’ll be talking about this wedding for years to come. Noah Bennett and Sophie Rousseau. It isn’t every day two of Mirabelle’s own get married.”