River's Call

by Melody Carlson

He handed her a key. "You go on up to our room and I'll fetch our bags. Then, I don't know about you, but I'm starving. They'll still be serving dinner for about an hour."

  Anna's feet felt light as she went up the stairs. This was all so unexpected—and so fun—it reminded her of being a child at Christmas. Really, all things considered, today had turned out to be a perfect day!

  21

  Anna experienced mixed feelings when she first learned that Donald and Lauren had gotten back together. For one thing, it seemed to have happened far too quickly. Lauren had only been with Eunice for a week before Donald was somehow enticed, more likely pressured, to move back in with them. Now, according to Lauren, Eunice had just hired an architect to design a smaller, more modern house. "It'll be built out back," Lauren explained over the telephone. "Somewhere out past the swimming pool."

  "There's plenty of room on the estate for it," Anna said. She remembered how often she'd dreamed of Eunice doing something like that for her and Lauren . . . long ago.

  "So Grandmother will live in the new house," Lauren continued. "And she has promised that as long as Donald and I remain married, we can have the run of this house." She laughed. "At least Grandmother didn't stipulate 'happily married.' "

  "Are you happy?"

  "Oh, Mom." Lauren sounded exactly the same as when she was fourteen.

  Anna looked out the rain-speckled window toward the gunmetal gray river. It was mid-November and stormy out. As a result, the inn had only three guests this week. "So, tell me, how is little Sarah Pearl?"

  "She's fine."

  "Is she crawling yet?"

  "I don't think so."

  "You don't think so?"

  "Well, it's not like I spend every breathing moment with her, Mom. She does have her nanny, you know."

  "Yes . . . I know."

  "Anyway, Grandmother says her house should be ready by the end of next summer. Can you imagine, Mom? Donald and me with this whole big house all to ourselves?"

  "You mean Donald and you and Sarah."

  "Well, yes, of course."

  "And the housekeeper and the nanny? I imagine they will continue with you as well?"

  "They better. Otherwise Grandmother will be living here all by her little lonesome."

  Anna considered questioning this but thought better of it. Instead she asked about the upcoming holidays. "Clark and I would love it if you could come visit us," she told her. "Either for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I would love to see you . . . and Sarah."

  "I'd love to see you, too, Mom."

  "Really? You think you might come?"

  "I'll ask Donald about it."

  "We'll close the inn," Anna promised. "Not that we'd be too busy anyway. But if you kids could come, we'd make it all about you and the baby. It could be such fun."

  "Yeah. And it would give us a break from Grandmother." Lauren made a dramatic groan. "Honestly, it won't be one day too soon when she gets moved into the mother-in-law house."

  "Mother-in-law house?"

  "Yeah, Mom, that's what they call it."

  Anna considered pointing out that Eunice was not Lauren's mother-in-law and that she would still own all the property.

  "Speaking of Grandmother, it's almost time for our bridge club. Honestly, when Grandmother first told me about that I was over the moon. I mean who wouldn't rather play cards and eat goodies than change diapers and sterilize baby bottles? But these old ladies are starting to wear thin on me. One of these days, maybe after Grandmother gets all settled in her new house, I will have to send the old bags packing." She laughed. "But for now I need to go and make sure that Mabel has the sandwiches fixed properly. Last time she actually left the crusts on. Can you imagine?" She sighed loudly.

  "Then I won't keep you, dear. Do give Sarah my love. And don't forget to talk to Donald about the holidays. We'd really love to have you."

  Lauren promised, but as Anna hung up, she wondered how likely it was that they'd actually come. Except that Lauren had mentioned that it would be an escape from Eunice. That alone might motivate them to come. Anna could only hope.

  Just days before Thanksgiving, and after Anna had already ordered their food, Lauren called to say that Donald couldn't get the time off to come. Then Christmas came . . . and the only thing Anna got from Lauren was more excuses. Fortunately Clark and she had already invited Marshall and Hazel and Babette and several others from the river. And, really, they had a lovely time. Even though Anna did miss Sarah and wished that Lauren might've thought to send a photo of her granddaughter. Anna had sent a large box of gifts for Lauren and Donald—mostly for Sarah. Certainly, they were homemade gifts, but they'd been sewn and carved and baked with love. Anna hadn't really expected Lauren to write a thank-you note, but a phone call might've been nice.

  So it went for the next several months, but as summer drew near, Anna decided to try again. This time she invited Lauren to bring Sarah out for her first birthday. "We'll have a big party for her," she said with enthusiasm, going into all the details of a June celebration. Again, Lauren promised to think about it, but June rolled around and when Anna called Lauren to find out if they were coming, once again she was disappointed.

  "Grandmother has already gone to so much trouble," Lauren explained. "She's sent out invitations and hired a clown and a pony." She made an exasperated sigh. "As if Sarah will even know what to do with a clown or a pony. But you know Grandmother, she gets her mind set and there's no turning her back."

  "Sarah seems rather young for a pony."

  "It's only here for the day, Mom."

  "And how are the plans for the mother-in-law house coming?"

  "They seem to be stuck. I'm not sure what it is this time. But nothing is happening. I told Grandmother she should hire Clark to come out here and build it. I saw how fast he got those cabins up."

  "Well, those were just rustic little cabins, Lauren."

  "Yes, that's what Grandmother said too."

  "Besides, Clark is busy helping with the inn. He couldn't possibly spend that much time in Pine Ridge." Anna wanted to add that it would only be over her dead body, but controlled herself. "I'm sorry we'll miss Sarah's birthday, Lauren. But perhaps you and she would still come for a visit. Anytime this summer. You know we'd love to have you."

  "I'll think about it."

  "Yes, I'm sure you will." Anna felt like this conversation was turning into a broken record. Yet, because of her love for Sarah and her daughter, she refused to give up.

  During the first four years of Sarah's life, Anna could count the amount of times she actually saw her granddaughter on one hand. And each time had only occurred because of Anna's willingness to make it happen and trekking to Pine Ridge. Besides the few weeks when Sarah was a newborn, Lauren had never kept her promise to return to the river for a visit. Not once. Oh, she always had excuses. Some, like when Sarah got the measles at Easter, were believable. Others were simply excuses.

  It wasn't until Sarah's fifth birthday was approaching that Anna thought that perhaps this would be the year. Lauren called one evening in early June, bitterly complaining that her entire life had been turned completely upsidedown.

  "What's going on?" Anna asked as she sat down on the sofa. Fortunately, it was nearly nine and the guests had all turned in.

  "The building project has turned into a nightmare."

  "You mean the mother-in-law house?" Anna knew that Eunice had managed to postpone the building of the additional house for years. Not that this surprised her much. But last winter, according to Lauren, Eunice agreed to start the process after Donald threatened to quit the mill, leave town, and possibly take Lauren and Sarah with him. Apparently that had gotten her attention.

  "Yes. Grandmother and I were having such fun picking out new things for her little house that I got to thinking it would be a kick to spruce up this place too. You know how rundown things are around here. And there are such lovely new kinds of carpets and floorings and modern light fixtures and just all sorts of things these
days—so many fun colors to choose from. Even for appliances. I've decided to have the whole kitchen redone in avocado. Have you see avocado yet, Mom?"

  "Well, I've eaten an avocado." Anna wasn't quite sure what Lauren meant. Was she planning on using avocados to decorate her kitchen?

  Lauren laughed. "It's a color, Mom. Keep up with the times. Anyway it's just yummy and all the appliances and the floor and even the countertops will be avocado."

  Anna imagined a sea of dark green. "Goodness, that's a lot of avocado."

  "Grandmother is doing her little kitchen in harvest gold. I told her it wasn't fair that I was getting stuck with the old-fashioned junk when she was getting everything all brand new. So, of course, I was able to talk her into it. But, oh my, what a headache!"

  "Why is it a headache?"

  "Because we thought it would be smart to have the workers do both her house and my house at the same time. Now everything is all torn up in here, plus Grandmother's house isn't nearly finished and everything is a perfect mess. And on top of all that, I was forced to let Sarah's nanny go. I am beside myself!"

  "Why did you let the nanny go?"

  "Grandmother said that if I got new carpet and appliances and everything, I'd have to give up the nanny. You know, because of money. At the time, it sounded like a good deal to me. I mean Sarah is almost five. How much trouble can a five-year-old be?" She groaned. "I had no idea."

  "So why don't you bring Sarah out here to visit me?" Anna suggested. "You can escape the chaos at your house. If you stay long enough, we could celebrate her fifth birthday. It would be loads of fun. And, compared to how you're living, it might feel like a real vacation."

  "I need a vacation."

  "Then come, Lauren. We had a gorgeous day here today. Sarah would have such fun. There are some other children here to play with. Clark put up a nice play area with swings and slides and things." As usual, she listed all the other fun things they could do. "And I'll bet Sarah has never even seen the beach yet."

  "That's true."

  "Then come!" Anna insisted.

  "Okay." Lauren said this with the kind of conviction that made Anna believe she might actually do it. "I'd love to escape this mess, Mom. We'll come. Is tomorrow too soon?"

  Anna was not terribly surprised when Lauren didn't come as soon as the next day, but she was pleased when Lauren called to say they would arrive in Florence on Tuesday afternoon. Thanks to publicity from Hazel's travel magazine articles and Margaret's book about western lodges, the Shining Waters Inn had gotten so busy that Anna had taken to hiring her old friend Dorothy's teenaged daughters, Jill and Joanna, during the busy season. The first summer the girls had only been fourteen and sixteen and somewhat insecure. This year they were eighteen and twenty and practically ran the housekeeping part of the business all by themselves. Dorothy always seemed glad to get rid of her girls during the summers, plus they were earning college money, and Anna didn't know what she'd do without their help. It was the perfect setup for everyone. Besides, it meant that Dorothy came to visit Anna more often since Dorothy really didn't last too long without her girls.

  "I'm going to pick up my daughter and granddaughter," Anna told Joanna as they were cleaning up after fixing lunch. "I'll bring back the grocery order as well. Is there anything else you need?"

  "I don't think so." Joanna checked the menu roster. "Well, unless you want to get some crabs for tomorrow night. Henry forgot to bring those out yesterday."

  Anna wrote it down. "I'll pick up a few more things I think kids might like to eat too," she told Joanna. "You know, it's been almost a year since I've seen Sarah. I can hardly wait."

  "It's about time they made it out here." Joanna set a large mixing bowl on the counter. "I'm looking forward to meeting them both."

  As she scrubbed the kitchen table, Anna still found it hard to believe that Lauren hadn't been out here since Sarah was an infant. This visit was well overdue.

  "Feel free to take off whenever you like," Joanna said cheerfully. "I've got it under control here."

  Anna set the dishcloth by the sink. "I know you do. And I greatly appreciate it."

  As Anna went to the dock and untied her boat, a new model that Clark had surprised her with last spring, she marveled at how the inn continued to grow and improve . . . and yet the important things remained the same. More than anything, Anna strived to keep the feeling of peace and tranquility in this place.

  She had been relieved that this new boat actually had a relatively quiet motor. It wasn't that she discouraged noise in general. Certainly the laughter of children's voices, people singing around a campfire, or the playful splashing sounds of kids playing in the river . . . all that was more than welcome here. But she put her foot down to the intrusion of things like blaring radios, record players, televisions, or overly loud motorboats.

  Although they did have half a dozen smaller boats with outboard motors, they were mostly used for fishing and river exploration. They also had a number of canoes and rowboats. But early on she decided to discourage water skiing. Not only did that come with noise, but it was also rather dangerous since logs were known to escape from the floating barges and lurk beneath the surface of the water, catching boaters unaware.

  As a result of her commitment to peace and quiet, she managed to attract the kinds of guests who were looking for a calmer sort of river experience. More and more it seemed that guests came here in search of a healing sort of retreat, an escape from the hustle and bustle of "modern civilization."

  As she guided her boat downriver, Anna felt almost perfectly happy. The only shadow over her day was the realization that there was a chance, a small chance, that Lauren might not have made it to town as planned. It was entirely possible that Eunice might've thrown a wrench into the works, or Donald might've put his foot down, or Lauren might've gotten halfway to Florence and suddenly changed her mind. It wouldn't even be all that surprising. But as Anna looked out over the sparkling surface of the blue water, and as she watched a white egret soaring gracefully over the green marsh grass, she realized this disappointment wouldn't completely devastate her. At the end of the day, she had Clark and all her other loved ones to go home to. She had the inn. She had the river. She had her health and she had peace. That was far more than she'd ever dreamed of having a few years ago. Truly, she should be perfectly happy . . . and she very nearly was.

  In the grocery store she picked up her order as well as a few more things. She wasn't really sure what kinds of things Sarah liked to eat, but she remembered what a fussy eater Lauren had been at four . . . of course, she had other things to fuss over now. She was just leading the box-boy outside when she saw a brassy-looking blond woman in big black sunglasses waving vigorously at her. Wearing a tight, bright-pink top that revealed her midriff and equally tight white pants that were cut like clam diggers, she walked toward Anna in a pair of high-heeled sandals. Then Anna saw the little dark-haired girl alongside this flashy-looking woman and realized it was Lauren and Sarah.

  "Hello," Anna called out. She paused to give the box-boy a tip, asking him to take the groceries on down to her boat, then hurried on over to exchange hugs with Lauren and with a somewhat reluctant Sarah.

  "Maybe you don't remember me." Worried that it had been too long, Anna squatted to get down to Sarah's level, looking directly into her serious dark eyes. "But I'm your other grandma. The one who lives on the river."

  "You live on the river?" Sarah frowned then tugged at her lower lip. "Like a duck?"

  "You're right. I don't actually live on the water part of the river," Anna explained. "I live next to the river."

  Sarah pressed her lips together and nodded.

  Anna tussled Sarah's short-cropped hair. "Last time I saw you, you had long hair." She looked up at Lauren.

  "I don't know how on earth Nanny Lou ever got a comb to go through that rat's nest," Lauren said. "I took Sarah to my beautician yesterday morning. The cut is called a pixie. Isn't it cute?"

  Anna smiled
at Sarah. "You look very pretty, Sarah. Do you like your new haircut?"

  Sarah shook her head no.

  "Don't worry, it will grow back," Anna assured her. "Now, have you ever been in a boat before, Sarah?"

  "A real boat?"

  "Yes. It's not a big boat, but it's real. And it really does live on the water. Would you like to have a boat ride?"

  With wide eyes, Sarah looked unsure.

  "Well, boats are really fun, and it's how we get to my house on the river. I think you're going to love it. But you'll have to wear a life jacket."

  "What's a life jacket?"

  "It's a vest that kids have to wear when they're in boats. In case they accidentally fall into the water. It makes them float."

  "If it's a vest, why's it called a jacket?"

  Anna laughed and reached for Sarah's hand. "You are a very smart little girl."

  "We have some bags in the car," Lauren said as they walked through the parking lot. "I tried to pack light, but I wasn't sure how long we'd be here."

  Anna looked up to see the box-boy just coming back from the dock now. She waved him over to them. "Could you give us a hand?" she asked.

  "You bet, Mrs. Richards." He grinned. "By the way, I like your new boat. Bet she goes fast."

  Anna laughed. "Well, I wouldn't really know about that. But she is a nice boat."

  Soon they were loaded into the boat, and Anna was helping Sarah into her life "vest" and explaining what the safety rules were. Meanwhile, Lauren seated herself in the back and lit up a cigarette. Anna knew that Lauren had taken up smoking and she wasn't completely opposed to the habit, but she didn't like the way that Lauren seemed more interested in puffing on her cigarette than anything else.

  "Want to help me drive?" Anna asked Sarah.

  Sarah's eyes lit up. "Can I?"

  "Sure." Anna led her to the front, explained how she turned the boat on and how the engine was in back, and how the controls worked. Then, once they were out in the middle of the river, she let Sarah stand on the seat and steer the boat. "We always have to keep a lookout for stray logs," she said as Sarah's little hands clutched the wheel.