The Country Guesthouse

by Robyn Carr

  He could tell Hannah didn’t know how beautiful she was. Her brown hair was so thick and soft it begged for a man’s touch. Her eyes were dark with small flecks of gold. She wasn’t very tall next to him; he towered over her. She was always concerned about other people—him, Noah, her friends back home, literally everyone she was in contact with. She was thoughtful and kind. And her humor snapped like a whip. She was so tender with Noah. He knew in one day Noah was in good hands with her.

  Maybe you shouldn’t let them get away.

  I love the man that can smile in trouble,

  that can gather strength from distress,

  and grow brave by reflection.

  —Thomas Paine

  5

  Hannah was doing laundry when Owen found her. “Hannah, Helen Culver just called. She asked me to invite you to meet her for lunch at the pub. She would like you to meet her niece, Leigh.”

  “The niece she raised?” Hannah asked.

  “There’s only one,” Owen said. “I think you and Leigh are about the same age. Why don’t you go? Noah and I can stay out of trouble without your supervision.”

  “Don’t you have work to do? I hate to impose. Helen probably wouldn’t mind if I brought him along.”

  “I will always have work to do,” he said. “And I will always have great excuses to avoid it. I bet Noah would rather have PB&J with me than go to the pub with a bunch of women. But would you stop at the market? I have a short list.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely. We’ll have some chicken and grilled veggies tonight. And if you think Noah would rather have something else, get it. Okay? Helen said to meet her at noon.”

  “Should I call her back and accept?”

  He grinned. “I already accepted.”

  Her expression was momentarily shocked. She looked at her watch. “I have to shower! Where’s Noah?”

  “He’s waiting for me on the porch,” Owen said. “I told Romeo not to let him off the porch till I get back.”

  “Oh, you and that silly dog! Get back out there and make sure Noah’s safe,” she said, rushing off to the master bath.

  “I won’t tell him you said that,” Owen said.

  “Just be sure you watch Noah and aren’t just giving orders to Romeo!”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said.

  Hannah hurried to shower, change and spruce up a little, finding herself really looking forward to this lunch. It would be great to see the adult version of the little girl Helen had inherited. A doctor, no less. What if Noah wanted to be a doctor? How in the world would she manage that? Her salary was good right now but if she had to change jobs to travel less, that could mean earning less. There was a trust to help—Erin’s estate and insurance money. The more she used now, the less there would be for college. Hannah realized once again she was going to have to plan carefully.

  When she got to the pub, she found that Helen and her niece were already there, seated in a roomy booth.

  “I’m sorry if I’m a bit late,” she said. “I was in the middle of laundry and—”

  “You’re not late,” Helen said. “Sit here beside me. This is my niece, Leigh, and she is holding my great-niece, Lily Culver Shandon.”

  “Happy to meet you, Hannah. How do you like our little town?” Leigh asked.

  “The whole area is wonderful. It’s been a perfect escape for me and Noah.”

  “I told Leigh all about your situation. I hope you don’t mind,” Helen said. “It so closely resembles our own. Leigh’s mother was my sister, but she was ten years younger so we weren’t exactly best friends. But like you, I suddenly found myself a single mother.”

  “And I nearly found myself in the same position,” Leigh said.

  “How’s that?” Hannah asked.

  “Well, I had barely started seeing Rob when I found myself pregnant.” She took a sip of her water. “It was a little ahead of the marriage. I was looking at being a single mom but fortunately he wore me down and I did marry the most wonderful man in the world. A man with two teenage boys and a business. And I’m the primary care physician at the local urgent care. My hours are not short and I’m afraid his are often worse. Keeping an eye on a business that’s open seven days a week is demanding.”

  “How do you manage with a baby? Does Helen help out a lot?”

  “No,” they both said in unison. Then they laughed.

  “I help out a little bit, but I have a job,” Helen said. “I told Leigh to start interviewing babysitters.”

  “Right now, while Lily is still so young, we’re shuffling her back and forth. She’s very portable. Rob is home in the mornings, she comes to the clinic with me some afternoons, and her brother Sean, a junior in high school, helps out when he can. Sean and his older brother, Finn, will not admit it but they’re putty in her little hands. When she’s moving around faster, we’re going to have to make adjustments.”

  “The hardest part is trying to remember to enjoy these days when you’re so busy just getting through them,” Helen said.

  “Who is your support, Hannah?” Leigh asked.

  “Right now, it’s Owen. He’s wonderful with Noah and I’m sure he’s enjoying every second. Back in Minneapolis I have a couple of girlfriends who were also close to Noah’s mom and they’ve promised to help me as much as possible. But they’re working mothers. I’m going to have to reach a little further. I’m on family leave right now. I have a little more time to think. And if I need to, I can extend my leave, without pay.”

  “Then you should stay here awhile longer,” Leigh said.

  “I wish I could,” she said. “But I’ve got a house in Minneapolis and with that house comes a mortgage. Noah has to get established with new doctors—he and his mom lived in Madison. I have to keep up with his therapy, although,” she added with a laugh, “I think Owen has taken on that challenge. He bought himself and Noah wet suits so they can swim in that cold lake every day. Noah is five and he told Sully the wet suit was so he wouldn’t freeze his nuts off.”

  “Oh, Lord, that’s going to be Lily,” Leigh said, leaning her head into her hand. “I have the worst mouth.”

  “And she got it from me,” Helen admitted. “We’re doomed.”

  Rob Shandon was beside their booth. “What can I bring you beautiful women today?”

  “You know what to bring me,” Leigh said. “And I’ll have the diaper bag when you get a minute.”

  “I’ll have the chicken Caesar,” Helen said.

  “I guess I’ll have that, too,” Hannah said.

  “Try the chicken Caesar wrap,” Rob suggested. “It’s a big seller.”

  “Whatever you recommend,” Hannah said.

  “I hate to brag,” Leigh said, “but I was smart enough to marry a man who cooks. For the past ten years he’s been going home at dinnertime to eat with the boys, to make sure they get nutritious meals. Now he’s taking care of me.”

  Owen cooks, Hannah thought.

  “What if you’re called to work?” Hannah asked.

  “That doesn’t happen too often, but I have Sean as a backup when he’s around, and Rob has a good assistant management crew. Most of the time he can sneak away from the pub if I need him. And there’s always Helen in a pinch, but she has been firm—I’m not allowed to take advantage of her.”

  Helen shrugged. “I’m afraid I’m not that flexible,” she said. “Ask Sully. I like a schedule. I’m a slave to routine. It’s what helped me survive when Leigh was young and I was working two jobs. Old dogs, you know.”

  They talked and laughed all through lunch. Hannah learned sudden single motherhood wasn’t all they had in common. Leigh and Helen were also transplants from the Midwest area, having made their home in Chicago. Leigh wanted a slower pace after years of being on call and fighting traffic to put in long hours. She had accepted the contract in Timbe
rlake as an experiment but it turned out to be such an improvement over her city lifestyle. “Don’t let the size of the town mislead you—everything you’ll ever need is at least nearby. The views are pretty, the air is clean, the people are helpful. It’s a healthy place. Now that I have Lily, I’m so happy to be raising her in a place like this.”

  It was one of the best girlfriend lunches she’d had in a long time. She was astonished by the success of these two women—Helen, a bestselling author, and Leigh, a physician. Both of them had found true love in the year they’d been here. As hard as they worked, they had satisfying personal lives.

  “And so will you,” Helen said.

  “I don’t know about that,” Hannah said. “True love seems doubtful, except for my true love with Noah. I’m pretty reluctant to try a man again after calling off two weddings! And now I have a child to think about.”

  “I think you should stay a little longer,” Leigh said. “Just until you feel like you have your sea legs in this new life you’re taking on.”

  “That would be great, but every night when I close my eyes I dream about that list of things I have to settle before Noah and I can get on with our lives—registering for school, returning to physical therapy, establishing with a good doctor, finding the right sitter, getting back to work...”

  “When Rob was married to his first wife, he had a big job in a big city. He was an assistant manager in a five-star restaurant. After her death, his sons were just five and seven years old and he decided the best thing he could do to make his life manageable was find a small, safe, friendly town where he could open a restaurant. A place that was close to home and school so he could keep an eye on his boys. Now here we are with a little girl and he’s doing it again, very comfortable with the baby in her swing or napping in his office or in her carrier on his back. I think business has picked up since Lily came along. Everyone wants to see the baby. And it’s the same at the clinic. My nurses love helping me care for her—she’s become a fixture around there. This wouldn’t have been possible in a big Chicago hospital. I can’t imagine how the senior staff in the city emergency room would have reacted if I said I had to go home because the baby has a fever. But here? Fifteen people would offer to back me up. My patients would happily wait while I checked on the baby.”

  It was definitely food for thought.

  * * *

  Later that night, after dinner, when Hannah was telling Owen about her lunch, he said, “Why don’t you think about staying awhile longer? It kind of sounds like you’re not sure how this is all going to work out. I don’t mean to project, but if you have some anxiety about it, take your time. Here, every day is a good day for Noah and it’s one more day you have to put the pieces of the puzzle together in your head. You’ll still have the whole summer.”

  “Owen, I need to face this. I have to get back to earning some money rather than just spending it. I love your house but...”

  “Hannah, I think you know having you here has been good for me, too. I wouldn’t charge you to stay in the house. In fact, if you hadn’t already paid the rental in advance, I’d tear up the bill.”

  “Why, Owen? Why is this good for you?”

  “It must be the timing, that’s all I can think of. It’s been a little over ten years since my divorce. I can honestly say I haven’t been too lonely. My relationships with women were few and brief. I haven’t spent this much time with a woman and child in all that time. My wife remarried. A very nice fellow. I like him. They have a couple of little girls.” He laughed with some embarrassment. “I talked to her a couple of days ago and she suggested bringing the family out here for a visit and I asked her what kind of woman visits her ex-husband.” He shook his head. “But from the day you and Noah got here, it’s felt so ridiculously normal. I understand if you need to go. Maybe we’ll stay in touch. Maybe you’ll come back. I think it’s less odd if you and Noah visit than if my ex-wife and her new family visits, don’t you?”

  She laughed a little. “I suppose.”

  “I’m used to feeling odd,” he said. “I’m known around here as that skinny guy with the camera. For some reason, I don’t feel that odd with you.”

  “But you’re not odd. You’re the most real person I’ve met in too long. And I don’t think you’re skinny at all.”

  “I could get things off the top shelf for my mother when I was twelve. I can get things off the top shelf for you. I can swim with Noah. He’s thriving here.”

  “I think it’s my responsibility to help him thrive in his forever home, in the place we’re going to live from now on. I have a plan. I should stick to the plan, no matter how uncertain I might feel.”

  “This is usually an uncomplicated place,” he said. “You have a couple of days before your plan says it’s time to go. Think about it, okay? Think about giving yourself this gift of time. It’s working for all of us.”

  “Please tell me you won’t hold it against me if I feel I have to go,” she said.

  “Of course not,” he said. “We’ve become good friends. I only want you to be happy, to be doing exactly what’s best for you.”

  She smiled at him. “Why do I have the strangest feeling those were your words when you decided to divorce? Were you polite and supportive even then?”

  His shoulders shook with a silent chuckle. “Found me out,” he said. “It was very much like that. Poor Sheila, she has so much energy, has so much to say, so much to give. She’s a total people person. She said that sometimes I was quiet for days. I never thought it was that bad but I didn’t crave large groups of people. It’s true I began seeing more of my world through a lens. I’m afraid I enjoy quiet dinners, sunsets, long walks, campfires, people who don’t have five hundred friends but only a few good ones and count me as one of them. I walked around the Colorado countryside for months and then stumbled on this place, where I could be as quiet, slow and easy as I wanted to be.”

  “But you travel to so many exotic places,” she said.

  “I know. I have an insatiable curiosity about things I haven’t seen and I do have to make a living. Not always in exotic places, though. I’ve traveled to many ordinary towns to witness a soldier coming home from deployment or being released from a hospital on his new legs. I shot some amazing soup kitchens and some real raw homelessness. But I love places few people get to go. I think that, like you, there’s a puzzle in my head and I’m putting the pieces in place.”

  “I don’t know how I can ever thank you for your kindness and generosity to me and Noah,” she said. “It’s been such a privilege to see some of your work.”

  “Now you’re just flattering me,” he said.

  “Ha! Not at all. I envy you that talent and drive. I have no idea what to do with my life! My job is a good job. The company is a good company. It pays well but it’s only rewarding to me in the area of income. Everything else about it has worn me down.”

  “Hannah, that happens to most people, I think. No matter what field. I was a different kind of photographer before my divorce. I shot weddings, ball games, school photos, babies and Christmas card photos. Then I had this uncomfortable freedom and I started to change.”

  “Did I tell you when I was here last? Did I tell you about our team building exercise?”

  “Well, that you were here for a company retreat. Right? I was away.”

  She told him about the trust exercises, about the sexy moderator, about her male colleagues getting stoned, about going home to find her fiancé boinking her administrative assistant.

  And he laughed. “Oh my God, I apologize. That wasn’t really funny. Was it?”

  “It’s getting a little funnier as time passes. By the time Noah is older, I might tell the story at his wedding...”

  “I hope I’m there,” Owen said. “That sounds like something in a sitcom.”

  “I picked the lock on your closet door to get my phone and laptop,”
she said. “The moderator took our devices away so we’d have to communicate the old-fashioned way. I should’ve picked the lock on the wine cellar...”

  “Ah, but then you wouldn’t have caught the fiancé and the admin.”

  They looked at each other and burst out laughing. They enjoyed another glass of wine. When they said good-night, Owen kissed her on the forehead. “This is a slow, safe place. If you think it would be good for you and Noah, you can stay longer.”

  “You’re such a kind man.”

  “Sometimes I’m a little bit selfish.”

  * * *

  “Kate,” Hannah said into the phone. “Can your life change in two weeks? Completely? Can everything you once wanted become things you’d like to be free of and things you thought you’d never want mean everything?”

  “Hannah, Hannah. That can happen in two minutes, haven’t we learned that much? Are you okay?”

  “This place is like heaven and I dread going back to Minneapolis,” she said. “I’m afraid I’ll be so lonely. I’m afraid Noah will somehow slip through my fingers, that I won’t be able to do my job and keep tabs on him. What if I can’t find a good babysitter? What if I find out I got a bad—”

  “You don’t have to rush back to work,” Kate said. “You can take all the time you need to make adjustments. Sharon and I will help you as much as we can. We’re pretty well connected in the kids’ arena. Experienced, too. We can help you find the right support system. But you don’t have to rush back if you don’t want to. It’s only been two weeks.”

  “Owen offered me another two weeks, if I want it. He said that our being here is working for him, too.”

  “Why don’t you take it?” Kate asked. “It’s not that long. You’ll still have the whole summer to settle in. Does Noah need any medical attention?”