"You're telling me."
"Looks like you and Sarah might be able to catch a little nap before dinnertime."
"I'm trying to keep her awake." Lauren jiggled the baby now. "Hazel said she might start sleeping the night if I don't let her nap too much during the day."
Anna continued to chop carrots. She wasn't sure that theory would really work, but she wasn't sure it wouldn't either.
"Donald is supposed to call me at five o'clock," Lauren said as she sat down on the kitchen stool.
"How is he doing?" Anna kept her eyes on her knife. She knew that Lauren had called him several times during the past few days.
"Okay . . . I guess. I think he wants me to come home."
"Oh . . ." Anna slowly nodded. "What do you want, Lauren?"
"I don't know . . . . I mean I want to be with Donald. But I'm just not sure I'm ready. What do you think I should do, Mom?"
Anna sighed, laid down the knife, and turned to face her daughter. "I'm not sure, Lauren. But I do think you should listen to your heart."
"How do you do that?" Lauren licked her finger then used it to clean something from Sarah's cheek.
"It's not easy. But it helps if you get really quiet. Sometimes I go out in my canoe . . . in the morning."
"Uh-huh."
"And then I just wait, trying to listen to that quiet inner voice. I can't always hear it, but when I do, I like to think it's God's spirit whispering to me."
"Do you really think God can tell me what to do?"
"I think so. If you're willing to listen."
"Maybe I should take the canoe out and try it."
"Anytime you want to, Lauren. And if I'm not busy, I'm happy to watch Sarah for you."
Just then the phone rang. "That's probably Donald. Can you watch her now?"
Anna glanced at the clock as she reached for the baby. "Sure. But can you try to keep the call short?"
"Yeah." Lauren took off and, as she'd been doing lately, answered the extension in Anna and Clark's bedroom. Anna wasn't thrilled about this, but she knew Lauren needed her privacy when speaking to Donald.
"What do you want?" Anna asked Sarah. "Would you like to go home to your daddy? Or would you like to remain here on the river with all these people who love you?" Anna knew that if she could make this decision, she would have Lauren and Sarah stay with them indefinitely. However, it was not her choice. Lauren had to paddle her own canoe . . . and someday Sarah would have to do the same. Anna kissed the top of Sarah's head. "I pray your mommy makes the best choice, my little princess. I pray that you are as cherished and loved, valued more than a precious pearl."
With the baby cradled in one arm, Anna attempted to do some of the dinner preparations, removing things from the refrigerator, setting out the utensils and ingredients she needed, filling a pot with water.
"Mom!" cried Lauren. "I'm going home!"
Anna forced a smile to her lips, trying not to bristle at Lauren's use of the word home. Naturally, Lauren would think of Pine Ridge as her home; she had spent most of her life there.
"Donald is driving over here to pick Sarah and me up on Saturday. I told him he can spend the night and we can drive home on Sunday. Isn't that great?"
Anna handed Sarah back to her. "If that's what you want, sweetie."
"Or course it's what I want. Donald is my husband. He's Sarah's daddy. And he's coming to get us!" Lauren was dancing around the kitchen, rocking Sarah in her arms. "Daddy is coming, Daddy is coming," she sang to the baby.
"I'm glad you're happy," Anna said as she turned her attention back to dinner preparations. "But I need to get these vegetables cooking."
"Donald said the duplex is all set up for us," Lauren continued. "And he even painted Sarah's room pink, Mom. Just like I wanted."
Anna turned, this time giving her a genuine smile. "That's wonderful." Perhaps both Donald and Lauren really were finally maturing. Sarah deserved an adult set of parents.
"He said Grandmother was in a perfect snit when he picked up the baby furniture. She acted like it belonged to her. But Donald had Jimmy and a couple of his friends with pickups helping him and they moved it right out." She laughed. "And then they picked up the bedroom furniture and all our things and Grandmother threatened to call the police."
"Oh, my!" Anna grimaced.
"But she was just bluffing." Lauren rolled her eyes. "I don't know why she's such an ogre."
"She has a need to be in control," Anna said as she poured some chopped vegetables into the boiling water. "Although I'm not sure why it's such an obsession."
"Well, she can't control me," Lauren declared. "Or Donald."
"I hope you'll still try to remain friendly with her," Anna said cautiously. "In her own way, I know she loves you, Lauren."
"She has some strange ways of showing it."
"I know."
"I won't go out of my way to be friendly to her," Lauren said as she plucked a stray carrot wheel from the countertop and popped it into her mouth. "But if she's nice to me, I'll be nice to her."
Anna just nodded. Sarah was starting to fuss now, but Lauren seemed slightly oblivious. "Do you think she should have a bottle before dinnertime?"
"Yeah, maybe so." Lauren took a roll from a breadbasket. "See you later."
The kitchen seemed extra quiet with Lauren and Sarah gone. A part of Anna appreciated the peace, but another part of her felt very sad. She would miss them more than she wanted to admit to anyone.
The next two days passed sweetly and sadly. Anna spent as much time as she could with Lauren and Sarah, savoring every moment. Although Anna didn't voice her emotions, Clark was very understanding. Hazel and Babette even helped out so Anna had more time to devote to Lauren and the baby. On Saturday morning Hazel offered to watch the baby while Anna took Lauren out for a walk.
"I want you to know," Anna said as they sat on a handhewn log bench by the river, "that Clark and I will always be here for you and Sarah. If you need anything, you know you can call us, Lauren, no matter what it is. Do you understand?"
She nodded in a slightly absent sort of way. "Thanks, Mom."
"Now, I have something very important to tell you." Anna paused. "I need you to listen carefully."
"Sure." Lauren turned to look at her.
"Mr. Joseph P. Miller is my attorney in Pine Ridge."
"I thought he was Grandmother's lawyer."
"He used to be. But he's the one who helped me to figure some things out with your dad's estate. Remember what happened last summer?"
"Oh, yeah. Grandmother was pretty mad."
"Well, your father had left a considerable amount of money to me . . . money that your grandmother, well, she sort of used and invested some of it."
"So that's what the fight was about?"
"It wasn't really a fight, Lauren. At least not in my mind. But at the time I told Mr. Miller to put it on hold. Actually, Clark communicated with him for me. You know Clark went to law school."
"I didn't know that."
"Yes, but he loves building. Anyway, back to Mr. Miller." Now she explained about her most recent conversation with him. "And I told him the time might come when you need some money, Lauren. I don't mean for having fun with or buying luxuries—and Mr. Miller knows that. But I mean if things get rough for you . . . if for any reason you ever find yourself supporting Sarah on your own and—"
"Oh, that'll never happen."
"I hope it never does, sweetie, but I know what it's like when it does. I know firsthand how hard it was to be dependent on your grandmother for all those years. I still regret it, Lauren. I think you and I have both paid a high price for her, uh, assistance."
Lauren sighed. "So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying if you should ever need financial help, go to Mr. Miller, Lauren. Or to his nephew who will be working there too. And, of course, you can call us too. Never think that you're all alone and on your own."
Lauren nodded. "Okay."
"And I hope we can stay in
touch," Anna said quietly. "I'll probably keep writing you letters. It's an old habit." She told Lauren how she and her mother used to write so regularly.
"But I'm a terrible letter writer."
"I know. But even if you could just write a postcard. Or if you could send a photo of Sarah. I would appreciate it so much, sweetie."
"I'll try. And I'll call you on the phone sometimes, too, if Donald doesn't mind, that is."
"Reverse the charges," Anna suggested. "Just keep in mind what time of day it is and whether or not I'll be too busy to talk." She touched Lauren's cheek. "I wish I could keep you here with me," she confessed. "I wish you and Sarah Pearl could stay on the river always. But I do understand."
"You know, Mom, I really do love this river too. I never thought that I'd feel that way. But being here this summer has been different. Don't get me wrong, it's been really hard too. And I know that I was a brat for a while. But I've really liked having you and Hazel and Babette around to help me with Sarah and stuff. I'm going to miss all of you."
"Well, you'll have Ardelle to help you. And, if you play your cards right, maybe Grandmother too. Just don't let her reel you in."
Lauren laughed. "Oh, don't worry. I know how to handle the old lady."
Anna hoped so.
Lauren reached over to hug Anna now. "Thanks for everything you've done for me, Mom. And I promise I'll bring Sarah out to visit you whenever I can."
"Really?" Anna blinked tears from her eyes. "I would love that. And, if it helps, I'd gladly pay for your bus fare."
"I want Sarah to experience this place, too, I mean when she gets older."
"I'm so happy to hear that, Lauren."
Lauren stood now. "Speaking of Sarah, I should go finish making her bottles. I got them all sterilized, but I still need to make the formula. And I want to get the cabin all sparkly clean before Donald arrives." She grinned. "I want to impress him with my fancy housekeeping skills."
"Good for you." Anna reached for Lauren's hand, holding it in hers as they walked back to the inn. "I'm very proud of you, Lauren. You have really done a great job these past couple of weeks."
With all her heart, Anna hoped her daughter would continue this maturation process. And she hoped that Donald had changed as well. Almost as much as that, she hoped Donald would fully appreciate Lauren's progress and that their marriage would become strong as a result. Really, hope was all Anna had right now . . . hope and prayers.
18
Life seemed to settle into a quieter routine with Lauren and Sarah gone. Even so, Anna missed them. Still, she told herself, it was for their best. Donald and Lauren and Sarah could become a family now. To her surprise and delight, a postcard came from Lauren about two weeks after they'd left. Anna had already written her twice.
Dear Mom,
I'm trying hard to be a good wife and mom, but it is NOT easy. Donald isn't exactly Mr. PERFECT either. Sometimes I feel like I have TWO children. I haven't spoken to Grandmother yet, and Ardelle is more of a pain than anything else. I wish you would move back to Pine Ridge and help me, but I know you won't do that. Do you think Hazel would come?
Love and kisses,
Lauren
Anna sighed as she slipped the postcard into her desk drawer and reached for a clean sheet of stationary. The inn was quiet now. Even Clark had gone to bed. But it was in the evening, like this, that she was able to think and to write.
Dear Lauren,
I was so pleased to hear from you. We are all well. The weather has been more like winter than spring this week. So far the guests are not complaining too much. The forecast is for sunshine to return by the last week of July. I certainly hope so. I would like to hear about how our little Sarah is doing. Has she gained some weight? Is she sleeping through the night yet? How do you like your new little house? Have you made any curtains yet?
Anna paused, remembering when Lauren was a baby and how she'd sewn blue-and-white gingham curtains for the kitchen window. She'd found a little blue pitcher the same color as the fabric and she used to fill it with wildflowers and place it on the windowsill. She wanted to encourage Lauren to do something like that, but stopped herself. She realized that she and her daughter were two different people. Instead, she wrote about the pair of baby moccasins that she'd meant to send home for Sarah to wear, asking if Lauren would appreciate it. Then she told about the progress Clark was making on the next set of cabins and how Marshall had been helping the electrician and thought perhaps he'd like to become an electrician himself. She wrote about all the comings and goings of the inn, filling three pages, before she finally stopped. She knew she wouldn't get anywhere near that much information from Lauren, but she could hope.
Anna gave the dying fire a poke, watching as the red sparks flew up the dark chimney. Clark had felt it was a cool enough evening for a fire. Anna looked around the comfortable living room and smiled. So homey, so inviting. Just being in this room made her smile. She just wished that her daughter would figure out how to make a home for her little family—and how to become comfortable in it.
Anna tried not to nurse too many regrets, but if there was one thing she could go back and change about her life, she would undo her choice of letting Eunice run their lives. It had hurt Lauren far more than Anna had ever realized. Still, there was no point in dwelling on the past. At least Lauren seemed determined to distance herself from her grandmother now.
Summer days were filled with guests, picnics, fishing expeditions, river tours, and beach trips, and before Anna knew it, September was upon them, Marshall had returned to school, and only half the rooms were filled with guests.
"Do we need to be concerned?" she asked Clark one evening in late September. It was only about eight, but thanks to the chilly weather, all the guests had already called it a night.
"Not at all," he assured her. "I keep telling you that, honey."
She snuggled a little closer to him on the sofa. "I know, but after a lifetime of worrying about money, it's hard to believe I don't need to fret about it now."
He gave her a squeeze. "The reason I started doing the books was so you wouldn't worry. But if it would make you feel better, take a look at our finances and you'll see that we are doing just fine."
Anna knew this was partly because Clark had combined his own accounts with hers. At first she objected to this, worried that his money might be unfairly pulled into the inn. But he assured her that they were a team now, what was his was hers, and hers was his. "I'm the one who comes out ahead," he'd teased. "All you get is my money, but I get to participate in this amazing business venture."
"I don't want to look at the books," she told him. "I just want to know that if the inn isn't full of guests this winter, we won't go hungry."
He laughed. "I assure you, we will not go hungry. For one thing, I've seen all the preserves you ladies have been putting up lately. Besides that, if we ever did run out of funds, which I don't think is likely, I could simply go out and contract to build some houses."
"Or you could practice law."
He groaned. "That would require some work on my part. I'd have to study up and take the exams."
"You wouldn't want to do that?"
"Maybe someday." He flexed his arm muscle for her with a grin. "When I need to rely on my brain instead of my brawn."
She laughed.
"How about you? What if you get too old to run this inn? What then?"
She thought hard. "Do you think I'll ever get that old?"
"No," he told her. "Never."
"I see how your mother and Babette keep going and it gives me lots of hope. I'm not sure how old Babette is—it's her deep, dark secret—but I know she must be at least eighty, maybe ninety."
"You must be joking."
Anna shook her head. "I remember hearing she was older than my father. I couldn't believe it at the time, but I think it's true."
"She does not look a day over seventy."
"It's all those wonderful beauty products she's alway
s concocting."
"That reminds me." He pointed to the notebook on her desk. "I had Mrs. Fischer write down the lavender products she wanted to buy. We were out of a couple of things."
"I'll let Babette know."
"What will you do if, well, if Babette gets too old to keep providing the inn with her lavender goodies?"
"She's already given me her recipes and this winter she plans to teach me how to make them. You know, some of them she learned from my grandmother."
"There really is a heritage of traditions here, isn't there?"
"I'd like to think so." She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. "You know what I wish more than anything, Clark?"
"What?"
"I wish that Lauren and Sarah would be able to continue these traditions. I wish that they'd come to love the river as much as I do."
He sighed. "That's a big wish. At least where Lauren is concerned. She doesn't seem to have quite the same temperament as her mother. But who knows, maybe it will skip a generation and Sarah will turn out to be just like you."
Anna smiled. "Speaking of them, it's been weeks since I've heard from Lauren. It's not that I'm worried exactly, but I've been thinking I should call her."
"What's stopping you?"
She shrugged.
"Is it too late?"
She looked at the clock to see that it wasn't quite 8:30. "I don't know."
"Surely they'd still be up. They're young."
"Young people with a baby."
"Lauren always liked staying up later than this." He stood, going over to the bookshelf. "Why not give it a try? I have a book I've been itching to start. I don't mind."
Anna stood too. "All right, I will." She went into the bedroom so that Clark could read in the living room without being disturbed, and placed the call.
"Hello?" Lauren's voice sounded on the verge of anger.
"It's me, darling," Anna said. "I hope I'm not calling too late."
"No, it's not too late," Lauren said sharply. "I just thought maybe it was my no-good husband."
Anna braced herself. "Is something wrong?"
River's Call Page 14