Chapter Fourteen
We spent the rest of the day getting lost in the canyon. Finally, we found the trail to the springs. We followed the smell of sulfur the last quarter mile. Kicking our shoes off, we both ran to the springs and I splashed in the shallowest ones. Mark took a more casual approach carefully sitting on a rock and dipping in his feet with his pant legs neatly rolled up.
It was a lazy afternoon, the warmth of the sun and the springs made the clearing especially pleasant. I dozed happily, watching the bright yellow and red of the sun through my eyelids. I even heard a small snore from Mark’s direction.
Unable to resist, I snuck up to him. I was careful not to block the sun on his face and wake him up. Then, I reached into the spring cupping my hands. He awoke with a start as the carefully aimed water hit his face. After that, I could expect little mercy and the water fight was on.
The sun was heading toward the west when we prepared to head back. “Next time, I am bringing my swimsuit,” he said, trying to dry himself off. Giggling like a child, I splashed him again. We both walked slowly along the trail listening to the crack of twigs and the other little sound of the woods. At least our shoes were dry, but the rest of us was dripping.
The water had started out warm, but by the time we reached the truck, we were both shivering because of our wet clothes. Mark cranked up the heater and then reached behind the seat. “Here,” he said, handing me a blanket. I snuggled down under it even though it smelled like metal. It must have been kept right next to a set of old tools or something. Still, I was grateful that he always seemed to be prepared.
“What do your finals look like?” he asked as we drove.
“Not too bad. I’ll be done with them by the 21st.”
“My last final is on the 20th, but I have to work on the 22nd. Do you mind hanging out for a day or so?”
“No, that works great. I can scout apartments for next year. I haven’t gotten to that yet.”
“Okay, then we will leave on the 23rd. Do you have a lot of stuff?”
“Not really, two suitcases, maybe four boxes, and my laptop. Oh, and my bike.”
“We should fit fine then. I guess with the computers, we shouldn’t pack the truck until Friday morning.”
“I hope your family likes me.”
“Are you kidding, you may have to beat Christian off with a stick.”
“That’s not exactly what I meant.”
“Megan, have you ever actually met anyone who didn’t like you?”
“Sure, everyone has.”
“Well, I just can’t imagine that.”
“Oh, what about Mr. Wallace?” I asked with a laugh.
“He doesn’t like anyone, but he does like you. Like I told you, he’s addicted.”
“I think he likes you too, Marky.”
“NO!! Please don’t call me that.” His face was earnest but there was humor there too.
“I’ll consider it.”
“Oh, it’s a deal is it? What do you want?”
“Dinner. I’m starving.”
He tilted his head to the side as if he were considering He smiled and said, “Deal. Where do you want to go?”
We ate in the car again, thanks to our wet, stinky clothes. Away from the hot springs we could once again smell the sulfur and it wasn’t good. When we got home, I thanked him for the fun day and excused myself so that I could get dry. The apartment was quiet. It had been that way a lot lately.
Jackie was in the kitchen making dinner. “Hey, where have you been, you smell kind of funny.”
“We hiked to the hot springs, it’s the sulfur.”
“And you’re wet.”
“Water fight.”
“I thought you weren’t dating anymore? Who did you go with?”
“Mark. He was just teaching me to drive his stick shift. It wasn’t a date.”
“Sure,” she said. “Dinner is almost done. I made enough if you want some, but go shower first.”
“It smells really good, but I just ate. The shower sounds like a good idea though. Want to watch a movie when I’m done?”
“Okay.”
It was the final week of school and cleaning was a big thing on the agenda, as we prepared to move out of our apartment. It was amazing how many phone messages and church bulletins I found underneath the refrigerator. The bathroom sparkled now. It was cleaner than it had been all year. Aside from the cleaning meeting we had Sunday night, I only caught glimpses of my roommates the next few days. Then, one by one, they all left for home and the apartment was empty except for me.
I no longer felt like I wanted to be alone, so I decided to visit Mr. Wallace. I hopped on my bike and rode through the residential streets of Provo heading for the hospital. There was a lot of activity as people loaded cars with boxes and piles of clothes on hangers. Another year was over already and what a year it had been. I had reached the end of my rope and yet somehow I was still hanging on. It was still hard, but my load was lightening.
Mr. Wallace was not exactly pleased to see me, but he was as pleased as he ever gets. I found him, dapper as always, looking out his window.
“Hi, Mr. Wallace. It’s beautiful outside isn’t it?”
“It’s okay, not green enough yet.”
“Would you like to go out in the courtyard for a walk?”
“Don’t you mean ride,” he said, grimacing at the wheelchair.
“Either way you still get some fresh air.”
“May as well. You’ll just talk me to death anyway.”
I smiled and helped him gently to the chair.
“All ready?”
“Better drive by the nurses’ station and let the warden know you’re springing me.”
“You've got it.” I pushed him down to the station, smiling at the residents sitting in the hallway. From the looks on their faces, Mr. Wallace was scowling at them. We passed the desk and I spoke up in a stage whisper, “Hey Mark, Mr. Wallace and I are running away from home. Don’t wait up.”
Mark grinned and hollered after us, “Watch out Mr. Wallace, Megan’s trouble.”
I headed out the glass doors that led to the courtyard. The sun was just starting to set and I was glad that I had grabbed a blanket throw as we left the room. Placing the blanket across Mr. Wallace’s lap, I began to stroll around the walk admiring the bright colored bulbs in the flowerbeds.
“You’re trying to freeze me,” Mr. Wallace complained as he pulled the blanket up tighter.
“Sorry about that. I guess the sun was making all the difference.” I stopped the chair for a moment so that we could watch a bird making a nest in one of the three trees in the courtyard. “Well, the birds seem to think the weather is nice,” I said, pointing to the twig laden bird in flight.
“Do you see any feathers?” Mr. Wallace said, gesturing with his arms as if he was flying. I couldn’t help myself, I laughed. To my surprise, Mr. Wallace laughed too. The smile stayed on his face for a moment and then quickly he assumed its normal frown. It was brief, but that was good enough for me. I could finally count a smile from Mr. Wallace. “Take me inside before I get too much fresh air.”
“As you wish,” I said, waving my hand with a flourish. I took the long way around, circling the building. I hummed a little to myself as I walked. It wasn’t quite a tune, just noise, but it gave me something to do while he held his quiet mood.
“Stop that,” he complained after a moment. “If you’re going to hum try not to sound like a buzz saw.”
I stopped immediately and chided, “Why don’t you start us off then.”
He began a soft melody that I recognized. I joined in and our hums of “I am a Child of God” filled the hallways. Those we passed did double takes as they saw the resident grump humming. I smiled widely because they weren’t the only ones surprised by Mr. Wallace tonight. When we came to his room, I pushed him inside and offered to help him to his bed or another chair.
Shaking his head, he said, “Just push that call button over th
ere.”
I obeyed and Mark appeared in the doorway two minutes later. “I see you’re back. What do you need Mr. Wallace?”
“Privacy,” he grumbled, looking pointedly at me.
I took the hint and gave Mr. Wallace a friendly wave. “I’ll go now. I’m going to miss you this summer, Mr. Wallace. Goodbye.”
“Oh, hey Megan. Wait for me, my shift is almost done,” Mark said. I nodded and he closed the door.
In the dining hall, there were a couple of ladies putting a puzzle together. One lady with thick glasses and a crown of soft white curls made an exasperated sound.
“I just can’t tell if that’s an eye or a pebble. How are your eyes?” She asked, looking me up and down.
“Pretty good, let me see.” I sat down next to her and we began to work.
About 20 minutes later, Mark found me. “Mr. Wallace says to tell you goodbye. Ready to go?”
“Sure,” I rose from the table. “Thanks for letting me help. Have a good night,” I said to the ladies. They smiled at me and I added three more smiles to my tally.
We walked out to the truck and I went to retrieve my bike from the pillar where I had chained it. Mark flung it into the back with one effortless movement. He was strong despite his thin appearance.
“Ice cream?” I asked when we were on our way.
He shivered, but said, “sure.” He drove across town to an ice cream and sandwich shop I’d eaten at a few times.
We lingered over our bowls just talking. I told him all about my visit the bewildering Mr. Wallace. Mark wasn’t at all surprised to hear that he had laughed or hummed. “He’s never told you?”
I gave him a puzzled look and begged, “Told me what?”
“Mr. Wallace taught music at a high school for many years. He is not lacking in a sense of humor or a love of music. You have to catch him in the right mood, but he has some great stories. He’s just lonely and unhappy.”
“That much I had gathered.” I said dryly and we both chuckled. “Long day tomorrow.” I was feeling excited for an adventure.
“Speaking of which, we had better get home if we want to get an early start. I still have some packing to do.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pulled you away from that.”
“Don’t be silly. This was fun and I love ice cream.”
“I can tell,” I said ,looking at his empty banana split bowl.
He lightheartedly complained, “Hey, this was dinner.”
“You hadn’t eaten yet?”
“Not since my lunch break at 2.” He looked as his watch as he spoke. “9 o’clock already?”
“They have sandwiches here too, you know. Do you want anything else?”
“No, I’m good. I need to get home, there’s lots left to do.”
I flagged down the waitress and ordered a sandwich to go. “This will just take a minute. If you’re going to have a late night you might want it.” His answering grin was almost blinding. “It’s just a sandwich. It isn’t like I gave you a kidney or anything,” I observed, but I happily counted his smile.
“I know. I just think it’s cool that you care.”
Well, of course, I cared. Had I been so awful this winter that people thought me heartless? How did I respond to that? We got the sandwich and left.
“I will knock about 6 in the morning and you can start bringing your stuff out.”
“Okay, I hope you get some sleep.”
I decided it would be easier in the morning if my stuff was all ready by the door. I moved it and then slept on the couch so I wouldn’t miss the knock in the morning.
I learned on the way to Idaho that Mark was a huge fan of a cappella music. His CD collection was extensive and listening to it was surprisingly fun. It was impossible not to sing along as we drove down the long highway. Again, I was reminded of times with George, but Mark was definitely a better singer. He carried on harmonies and I tried to keep up with the melodies. Smiling and laughing and singing felt so good. I wondered if his whole family was as cheerful. Perhaps they would be good for me in more ways than one.
Mark also asked me lots of questions about my business plan and my camp plans in general. He was very encouraging and it made me feel good. My roommates had rolled their eyes when I started talking about my plans, but Mark was really listening. There were still two years of school ahead of me, but the plans had been an important distraction and I was attached to them. The enthusiasm that had come from listening to others' experiences was still strong and it was nice that someone else seemed excited too.
“Where do you think you want your camp to be?”
“I’m not sure. I have been casually looking at real estate,” I admitted. This had been one part of the plan I hadn’t discussed with friends, because I was worried that they would laugh at my prematurity. “California, although beautiful, is just going to be too expensive. Arizona is so dry most of the time that campfires are often prohibited even in the forests. I was thinking about Utah, but it is getting expensive too, in a couple of years I am just not sure I could swing it.”
“Have you considered Idaho?”
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about it since your family invited me. I’m not sure about hiking and things there. Maybe I can get a better idea during my visit.”
“So much of Idaho I haven’t even seen. There must be a lot to explore,” he said. Stretching the muscles in his neck, he wiped his eyes with his hand. “Do you think you could drive for a while? That late night is creeping up on me.”
I shrunk at the idea, but agreed to take over. There were a few hesitations as I pulled away from the curb on the off ramp where we had stopped, but I managed to get us back on the highway. Once I was in fourth gear I relaxed.
“Good job! You’re getting better,” Mark offered, as he rolled his long legs to the side and laid his head against the window. “Just stay on this road we have about three hours left.”
The miles flew by and before long, we were nearing our destination. I reached over and shook Marks shoulder as we passed a sign indicating that Twin Falls was about 20 minutes away. The Coles lived in the country just outside of Twin Falls. I was completely unfamiliar with the area, so I felt better with him awake. This way he could navigate the last bit.
He sat up, stretched his neck and rolled his shoulders. Looking at his watch, he blinked. “I’m sorry I slept so long, Megan.”
“It’s okay. You must have needed it. You seem pretty good at sleeping on the road. I’m always wide awake, it gets a little annoying on long trips because then I arrive all tired out.”
“Trust me, the falling asleep can get annoying too. Once on a scout trip I fell asleep. When I woke up my legs were tied together with bandages. It took me twenty minutes to get through all the knots.”
“So many things I missed, not being a boy scout,” I complained with a smirk.
We passed another sign showing our destination was even closer. I started to feel a little nervous again, hoping that the Coles would like me. They were stuck with me for a month and a half. It would be horrible if I was a burden. I tried to distract myself by asking questions.
“So tell me more about your mom and dad. You haven’t said much about them.”
“Mom is short with long, curly, red hair. I was taller than she was by the time I was 12. The last I knew, Caleb was well on his way to being taller too. Anyway, Mom loves music and is always singing. She has a degree in the humanities and is always taking us to concerts and plays. But she is playful too. Once, when I was seven, she hustled me at arm wrestling.” He laughed at the memory.
“What? How did she do that?”
“I wanted to stay up late, so she said if I beat her at arm wrestling that I could stay up. I beat her so fast. I thought I was the strongest kid ever. She suggested we do it again. This time if I won, I got to stay up all week, and if she won, I had to take the trash out for a week. Well, you can guess what happened.”
“I think I am going to like your
mom.” I could almost see his little seven year old face, sad with defeat and disbelief.
“You’ve met my dad so you know how he is; upbeat and big hearted. He would growl like a big bear, reach for me, and tickle me until I couldn’t laugh anymore. He is also a master carpenter. It’s more of a hobby now, but it paid his way through school. He has taught each of us boys how to work with wood. He would have taught the girls too, but Rebekah wasn’t very interested and Anna and Ruth are still a bit young. I understand that they both help with clean up duties in the workshop now.”
“What does your dad do for a living?”
“He’s an accountant, that’s why our family is so good at saving. He keeps us on a tight budget.”
“Maybe I can take some lessons from him. I am going to need to save up a fair amount before a bank will even consider me for a business loan.”
“Saving is a part of life when you adopt. My parents have a special account just for adoptions. Over the years, we all contributed to the account. It got us excited about helping our new brother or sister come to live with us. Anna was the last adoption a little over seven years ago. We started saving again right after she came home, but we never needed the money. Mom and Dad were completely surprised when Ruth came along. It’s that savings that we are using for the vacation, there is probably close to $12,000 in it.”
My eyes bugged out at the amount and then I asked, “Why didn’t you need the money for Ruth. Oh, right she wasn’t adopted.”
“No, she is the only natural child in the family. Mom and Dad were told they would never have kids.”
“So is that weird or anything?” I paused. “Sorry, I guess that is kind of a personal question.”
“No worries. It actually doesn’t make one bit of difference. Mom and Dad love us all just as much. I will say this though, it does give Ruth the prettiest red curly hair.”
We had turned off the highway and were driving down a rural road, passing farm houses and barns. After about fifteen minutes, Mark had me pull into a long double driveway full of a big white van and two small cars.
The front yard was full of trees; most looked like they bore fruit of some kind, but it was too early in the season to tell what. There were bikes piled by the garage door and an abandoned doghouse just off of the driveway.
Mark leaned over and honked the horn. Kids poured through the front door. School had probably been out for about an hour and they looked like they hadn’t been doing anything but waiting. I recognized Ruth right away thanks to her red hair. Mark was right, it was definitely beautiful. Caleb, I assumed, was the tall dark skinned boy with the largest dimples I had ever seen. Anna, who was blind, was slowly making her way to the tree next to the drive. She held onto the trunk and waited. Mark jumped out and grabbed the two that had run up to the truck. He had both of them in a headlock within seconds.
Caleb fought against him and managed to twist out because Ruth was giggling so much that Mark started laughing too. Scooping Ruth up onto his hip, he hurried over to Anna and wrapped her in a big hug. She giggled and turned her smiling face up to her big brother.
It felt like I was intruding on this private scene, so I stayed where I was standing next to the truck. Mark whipped his head around looking for me. “Come on over, Megan. Meet the rug rats.”
Smiling, I ventured over to the small crowd. “This is Caleb, Anna and Ruth,” he said, giving each a squeeze as he said their name.
“Nice to meet you,” I said politely. Ruth grabbed my hand and held it while we walked into the house. She swung our hands back and forth, as we went, and it made me want to skip like I did when I was her age.
We walked through the front door into an entry way that was crowded with shoes and backpacks. Rebekah came in from the kitchen with an apple and Christian ran up the stairs when he heard all the noise. Rebekah and I hugged each other like old friends. She asked me about the trip, while I watched Mark and Christian wrestle, bumping into things in their exuberance. Sister Cole, who was sitting in the living room just off the entry with Micah, hollered for them to stop. She looked pointedly at Mark until he introduced me.
“Sorry, Mom. This is Megan.”
“It’s very nice to finally meet you, Megan,” Sister Cole said. “This is Micah.”
I walked closer so that Micah could see me, “Thank you so much for the invitation. I am very excited to spend this time with your family. Hi, Micah,” I reached out to hold his hand. Mark’s little brother was bent in a rigid pose that looked uncomfortable. His head, full of brassy blond hair, was turned to the side resting on the headrest of his chair.
“Well, we will see if you still feel that way in a month,” Sister Cole said. She was glaring at the boys again because Christian had started poking Mark’s side. Mark barely noticed Christian’s attempts. He just stood there with an expression on his face I couldn’t place. His look at me was so intense that I should have felt uncomfortable, but I wasn’t.
Mark shook his head and seemed then to notice Christian’s attack. “Oh, and this is Christian,” Mark said, putting his hand on the shoulder of his younger brother. He was a younger brother, but not a little brother. Christian had grown just a little taller than Mark, despite the fact that he was only 17. He had dark eyes and brown hair about the color of Marks, but without the red highlights. His skin was covered with the usual pimples of adolescence and his upper lip bore a large scar indicating a former cleft palette. Christian grinned wide and I thought in that moment that I could see a lot of resemblance between him and Mark. They were both just so happy.
He walked over to me and made a theatrical bow. “Hello, Megan, so glad to meet you.” He actually kissed my hand. I looked up to Mark for help and he gently shoved Christian off balance.
“Okay, give Megan her hand back.”
Sister Cole chuckled softly on the couch. Micah decided he had been ignored long enough and he made a loud whining noise. Mark went straight to him and touched his face. He made a shhhing sound and talked quietly to him about our trip home. I could hear the soft reassuring words. I talked to Micah about our trip too and about how Mark seemed to be able to sleep anywhere. This won a laugh from Sister Cole.
Rebekah pulled me away to show me her room. It was purple and the walls were covered with pictures of friends. She offered me her bed, but I was fine with sleeping of the floor. After all, she still had a month of school left and I was prepared for roughing it. She had emptied two drawers for me and cleared some space in the closet, too. It was such a welcoming thing to do even if it destroyed my plans for living out of a suitcase. I was going to have to get more settled in than that.
When I came out of her room, Mark was still talking to Micah. I didn’t want to disturb him so I went to unpack the truck. It had been decided that my things would be stored in the basement corner so I recruited Caleb and Christian to show me the way and to carry the boxes. They seemed happy to help when I gave them the left over cookies from the trip. “Hey,” Mark protested, when he saw them running past him with the bag. “I was going to eat those later.”
“Too late, I had to tip the bellboys.”
He looked at his truck and sighed, realizing that he also had to unload. “Do we have any more food to bribe them with? Some of this stuff is heavy.”
“Nope. That was the last of it, but I’ll help you.” I reached in for a box and then dropped it back into the bed. “What is in this? It weighs a ton.”
“My nursing books, some of them are pretty heavy. I probably shouldn’t have packed them all in one box. Just leave that one. I’ll get it.”
“I don’t think I have ever asked you why you want to be a nurse.” I grabbed a soft sided duffel, hoping that it would be lighter.
“Not really sure how it happened. You know that I took the CNA training so that I could help with Micah. Well, I got to help out in the hospital as part of my class and I really liked working with the patients. I guess it just seemed like a good way to go.”
“It suits you.
I just always think of nurses as women.”
“I’m not sure if there is an insult in there or not,” he said, laughing.
Flustered, I back tracked, “I’m sorry, I just meant that it is kind of an unusual job for a man, but you will make a really good nurse. You have a lot of compassion.”
“Actually, male nurses are not as unusual as you think. My mom even had a male maternity nurse when she had Ruth. The work is steady and it pays really well, so it is a good job for men to support their families on.”
“Your mom had a male maternity nurse? How embarrassing.”
“Not really, she seemed fine with it. I guess he was good at his job.”
My sleepy eyes popped open. “Are you going to go into maternity nursing?”
“I don’t think so,” he said, wrinkling his nose. “But I haven’t completely decided yet.”
“You would be good in any field, but watching you with your brothers and sister I’m thinking pediatrics.”
“Wow, that’s a long way from Mr. Wallace.”
“Good point. Don’t tell him I suggested it.” We laughed.
With the truck unloaded, it was time to pitch in and set the table for dinner. Brother Cole would be home soon. His arrival was hard to miss because Ruth went bursting through the front door, “Daddy’s home!”
“Wow! That was enthusiastic.” I said, looking after her.
“Yeah, it's that ‘I’m so glad when Daddy comes home’ song. Mom starts brainwashing us with that one while we are still in a bassinet.”
“I heard that,” Sister Cole called from the kitchen.
Anna appeared in the entryway and Mark scooped her up and went out into the yard so that they could greet their Dad, too. Reluctantly, I followed, not wanting to intrude. Brother Cole stepped out of his land barge and it shook. After he put Anna down, Mark received a big bear hug from the large, gentle man. Then the girls each grabbed onto their Daddy’s legs and he tried to walk towards the house.
“Megan,” a booming voice said and I waved shyly at him.
“You’re destined for a bear hug, Megan. You may as well get it over with,” Mark smirked.
I walked forward holding out my hand as if for a shake, but of course, Brother Cole hugged me. It wasn’t as powerful as the hug he had given Mark, but then, I barely knew him. He handed Mark his briefcase and scooped a girl up in each arm. They both kissed his cheeks. “Welcome to the Coles, Megan,” Brother Cole called over his shoulder as he walked toward the house.
“Thank you,” I called after him.
If I thought that Brother Cole was big before, I was shocked beyond coherent speech when I saw Brother and Sister Cole together. Brother Cole dropped both girls to their feet beside the table and walked over to his wife to give her a kiss. He bent down, he bent way down and she obligingly stood on tiptoe. Biting my lip, I tried to control my giggles, but I had never seen such a mismatched couple. Thankfully, they seemed rather focused on the kiss and oblivious to my reaction.
Collecting Smiles Page 14