by Judy Baer
As soon as Nick took it, Bentley started trotting happily in front of us, past the fire hydrant and even past a motorcycle parked in the street.
Nick and I were quiet, mostly because neither of us could think of a thing to say about the strange turn of events. Bentley had become practically macho!
We walked onto my patio and sat down. Bentley sat down beside Nick and started licking his shoe.
“Okay, Bentley, why are you kissing up to him and not to me? Are you trying to win him over all of a sudden? What about me?”
“What about you, Norah?” Nick said softly, still staring at my dog with a bewildered expression on his face. “What happens if he does ‘win me over’?”
“Then we…you and I…we can…” I trailed off in a flood of embarrassment and pleasure.
“Can what?” To my astonishment, Nick dropped his hand down and stroked the top of Bentley’s head.
“Can, you know…be friends again.”
“Just friends?”
“Good friends. The kind of friends we would have been already if Bentley hadn’t been standing in the way.”
“Tell me what kind of friends that would be.” His blue eyes were on me now and I felt helpless as a bug on a pin.
“Close friends?” Now I was asking the questions!
“How close?”
“Really close, I guess.” As close as two people can get without hearing bells.
At that moment a small gust of wind shuffled the leaves on the trees in my yard and set my wind chimes in motion.
Wind chimes?
Comprehension dawned like a blinding sunrise.
Bells have been ringing in a chorus all around me. I simply haven’t been paying attention. Could they be the bells I’ve been waiting to hear?
The change in Nick’s pocket that he’s constantly jingling, the ice-cream truck, the doorbell each time he walked into my shop, the wind chimes around his house, the sound of the ice-cream truck coming down the street, Auntie Lou’s sleigh bell on Sarge’s headstall…bells, chimes, a whole carillon! All pealing, ringing and clanging around me every time I saw Nick—and I’d missed it all.
Never, when I was with Joe or Connor, had I noticed the ice-cream truck’s melody. Not once had my heart quickened when the doorbell rang and one of them was standing in the doorway to my shop. Never once had I noticed either of them jingling the coins in their pockets. And Sarge—he was decked out in sleigh bells! What could be more obvious than that?
Chapter Thirty-Six
It’s been three months now since Bentley took on the responsibility of getting Nick and me together. He’s grown bolder every month. Last week he even used a fire hydrant for the purpose for which it was created—other than providing water to put out fires, of course.
Nick has changed, too. He and Bentley sit on my couch together eating crackers and watching television. Sometimes they fall asleep together, Bentley’s head and paws on Nick’s lap. In fact, Nick’s even started talking fondly about dogs from his youth, before the accident soured him.
I’ve been collecting wind chimes and hanging them in every free spot around my yard and I never get tired of listening to them.
Lilly and Joe are still dating and the jury is still out. We have, however, been able to get together as couples—Lilly and Joe, Nick and me—and laugh and have fun.
Auntie Lou and the Morrises are just like family now, although she tells me that even though she loves Bryce like a grandson, she’s still waiting for me to provide her with a beautiful new granddaughter. She also tells me to get busy about it.
I hear from Connor regularly. He is so entranced with Winky that his e-mails sound like those of a young father proud of his firstborn. “Winky does this…Winky does that…Winky says…You should have seen Winky…The people love Winky….” The logo for the ferry line is amazing—brilliant parrot colors in a fluid circle with Winky’s face peering out of the middle. Connor also sends digital photos. In one, Connor had a bright kerchief tied around his head, an eye patch and Winky sitting on his shoulder. I’m afraid he’s gone as bonkers over Winky as I am over Bentley.
Fortunately for me, Nick has decided that it is possible to love me and my dog.
God does honor and answer prayers—in His own time and in His own way. Fortunately His way is always smarter and better and more wonderful than mine. Without Him, Joe, Lilly and I would be at loggerheads, Connor and I would probably not be friends and…I wouldn’t be marrying Nick next month at our little church here in Shoreside. We can hardly wait.
Oh, I did make one concession. Bentley is not going on the honeymoon. He, Hoppy and Asia Mynah will stay at the Bed and Biscuit with Annie and I think they’ll like it.
And I’ve picked out Nick’s wedding present, I can hardly wait to give it to him.
Epilogue
“That’s an awfully big box for a wedding gift.” Nick pulled me toward him and planted a kiss on my lips. “Why did I have to wait until we got back from the honeymoon to open it?”
“You’ll see.”
Bentley, Hoppy and Asia Mynah sat in a row in the living room waiting for the unveiling. Bentley has a particular interest in this because he got to make the final choice in the selection of options we had.
“I’m not sure what to think, Norah. You’ve been awfully secretive about this.”
“I wanted it to be special. Like your wedding gift was to me.”
And special it was—a beautiful dun gelding to join Cocoa at the stable. And with him came full tack including a lightweight Western saddle that I can put on the horse without knocking myself unconscious. We named the gelding together. His name is Miracle because that’s what this marriage feels like for Nick and me. I don’t know how God manages these things but He knew Nick and I needed to be together and He let nothing stand in the way. It took a while, of course, and it wasn’t without trauma, but the results are definitely worth the wait.
“Well, are you going to open it?”
“For some reason I feel nervous,” Nick admitted. “Life is one surprise after another with you.”
“I’ll give you a hint. It is something you’d expect from me. And, like Miracle, it’s an ‘us’ present. We’ll care for it together.”
“Care for it? You mean it’s going to be work?”
I bit my tongue and stayed quiet.
“Okay, here goes.”
He lifted the big box up to reveal a kennel. Inside was a small brown wrinkled lump snoring slightly.
“What on earth?” Nick bent down and fished the lump out of the kennel and held it close to him.
“What is it?”
“A Shar-pei puppy, of course. A dog you can train yourself.”
“His skin is too big for his body.”
“That’s what makes him cute. Besides, I thought you needed a fresh start with a dog of your own.”
“What about Bentley?”
“He picked him out of the litter. They get along beautifully. Finally Bentley has someone more innocent than he to teach.”
Nick cuddled the dog close to him and leaned over and kissed me. “He’s perfect. I know that with all your quirks you and Bentley will give me gray hair someday soon. Now I’m guaranteed wrinkles, too.”
“I am so proud of you, Nick. You’ve made me feel like a princess. Overcoming your dislike of dogs is like slaying dragons for me.” I wanted to be light but my throat constricted. I love him so much and I know how much he loves me.
“Does he have a name yet? Wrinkles? Crinkle? Crease?”
“Actually, I did have something in mind, but only with your permission, of course.”
“What is it?”
“Beau-tox.”
When he laughed out loud, little Beau-tox snuffled and buried himself deeper into Nick’s shirt.
Nick gathered me in with his free arm. “Norah, if I’m going to be set adrift at sea on an ark, there’s no one I’d rather travel with than you.” Then he kissed me in that way he has, the way he wipes every
sane thought out of my head and leaves me seeing stars.
Auntie Lou, you’ll get that granddaughter of yours yet!
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Do you relate to Norah’s affection for animals? Is there a favorite animal or pet in your life? Please describe.
Though Lilly is a close friend of Norah’s, it turns out that Lilly is also jealous of Norah’s friendship with Joe. Have you ever been jealous of someone’s friendship or relationship? Would you address it? How?
Norah says, “I want the elderly to be given the chance to make their own decisions as long as they can…so I’d better start now to make sure that’s in place when I get on the far side of the far side of over the hill.” What steps will Norah make to ensure that happens? What about you?
Should Auntie Lou have been put in a nursing home? Do you have someone in your family who is aging and needs help? How will you handle it?
Three wonderful men—Joe, Connor and Nick—pursue Norah in the book. Is this a problem or a blessing? What would you do if you were in her shoes?
Norah doesn’t tell her best friend, Lilly, that Connor has asked her out to dinner, knowing full well Lilly has a huge crush on him. Was this wrong of her? Would you have told Lilly right away, or held off to spare her feelings?
Auntie Lou allows troubled teen Bryce to hang out in her store and play the old pinball machine. Was it naive of her to trust him when no one else did? Why or why not?
Norah discovers that Nick doesn’t like or trust Bentley. Is there a way to come to terms with loving someone who disagrees with you on something very important, as Nick does with Norah where Bentley is concerned?
The reason Norah gives for not wanting to marry Joe is that she doesn’t hear “bells” when she’s with him. Does this seem logical or silly to you? Do you or someone you know create reasons to date or not date someone?
STEEPLE HILL BOOKS
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5762-1
NORAH’S ARK
Copyright © 2006 by Judy Duenow
All biblical citations are taken from the NRSV Life Application Bible.
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