The Promise in Your Eyes

by Wendy Lindstrom

  Sarah took the strips of dough, and with a little help from Nancy, created the lattice top. The strips were uneven and even clumpy in places, and Sarah’s fingers were covered in flour, sugared apples, and cinnamon before they were done, but Nancy just smiled. She would choose these perfect moments over a perfect crust every time. For so many years her house had been filled with the roughhousing of raucous boys, and she’d loved every minute of it. Now she thoroughly enjoyed the teasing and laughter between her daughters and the giggling of little girls that filled her kitchen.

  Some of that playful banter and gossip going on at the table included her name, and Nancy heard Evelyn saying, “And then as Radford and I looked out the window we saw Dawson wrap his arm around Mom’s shoulders. It was quite romantic, wasn’t it Mother?” Evelyn cast a teasing grin at Nancy as she said those last words.

  The girls were having a little fun with her, Nancy knew that, and she loved their constant byplay. But she felt heat creep up her neck at Evelyn’s suggestion. “Nonsense,” she said, as if it had meant nothing. “Dawson just kept me from falling over my boots.”

  Evelyn grinned. “Hmmm… I believe that you were falling, but I think it was in love, Mother.”

  The girls laughed. “Are you having a romantic liaison with Mr. Crane?” Claire asked from the table, her blue eyes sparkling like a summer sky. “That’s splendid news, Mother.”

  “It’s gossip,” Nancy said to Boyd’s wife, laughing and playing along with their teasing.

  “I hope not,” Faith responded. “From what Adam tells us, Dawson Crane is a wonderful man.”

  “And incredibly handsome, too,” Amelia piped in, fanning her face as if she had the vapors, causing all of the ladies to giggle in amusement.

  Nancy’s heart swelled with love for her daughters, each of them so beautiful that she could easily understand why her sons fell in love with them. Amelia, with her chestnut red hair and playful spirit, had healed Kyle’s broken heart. Claire, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty, had challenged Boyd to embrace his talent and find his David— and in the process Boyd had found not only himself but the love of his life. Evelyn and Faith were dark-haired beauties. In Evelyn, Radford had found his healing, his home, and his heart—and Rebecca had found a loving mother. Faith had expanded Duke’s black and white view of the world and filled his life with colors as vibrant as the flowers she grew in her greenhouse. She gave Duke a ready-made family with Adam and Cora, who he’d adopted, and with her four outrageous aunts with whom the whole family had fallen in love. Duke and Faith also added two dark-haired little boys to Nancy’s growing number of grandchildren.

  Although Nancy’s family had suffered their share of trials and heartaches, they were stronger and happier for the hard lessons.

  “I think you girls have stars in your eyes,” she said to the girls who were all looking at her. “Dawson is indeed a wonderful man, and I agree that he’s incredibly handsome, but he is my friend. He’s also friends with Adam and Rebecca and Leo, lest you gals forget. Dawson is here to celebrate the holiday with us. Nothing more.”

  Faith and Claire exchanged a look and rolled their eyes as if they didn’t believe a word she said.

  “It looked like more than friendship when we were at Crane Landing,” Rebecca said, twitching her eyebrow in a manner that set them off.

  Nancy propped her hand on her waist. “Rebecca Jean! I thought you would set them straight.”

  “I just did,” she said, and popped an apple slice in her mouth.

  Mercifully the girls turned their conversation to other topics that Nancy could participate in without blushing.

  “You must all visit us,” Rebecca said. “There’s so much to show you! Crane Landing sits at the mouth of the most beautiful bay. Adam and I wake to the sunrise over the ocean and end our day admiring the orange and purple sun set over the marshes of Crane River. It’s simply breathtaking. We take the dogs, Scout and Blue, with us when we walk, and we spend most of our time laughing at those old hounds as they try to chase down seagulls.” Her laughter filled the kitchen. “They can’t get within ten feet of those birds, but they love the walks as much as we do.”

  Nancy remembered walking that same beach with Dawson, watching the seagulls swoop in front of them as they strolled arm-in-arm, their steps keeping rhythm with the waves crashing ashore.

  “Sometimes when my mind is fuzzy and I’m trying to decipher another memory, Adam takes me for a long walk along the shore,” Rebecca continued. “There’s something about the sound of the ocean and the rhythm of the waves that opens my mind. And on days when I’m feeling happy and whole, as I am most days, we love to walk the dogs and watch the shipping vessels coming and going from the harbor. It’s a beautiful, exciting place and I’d love to share it with all of you.”

  “Kyle and I want to take the kids to Crane Landing for a visit this summer. Tell me more about your lovely little cottage,” Amelia said. “I find its history utterly fascinating.”

  “It is! And it’s so romantic!” Rebecca said, launching into the amazing story Princess Cecily.

  Nancy listened as Rebecca shared tales of the early days of Crane Landing, and of Princess Cecily falling in love with Gabriel Crane, her ship’s captain, and making a home in that little cottage in Crane Landing. The ladies were as enthralled with the story as Nancy was the first time she’d heard it.

  “It’s such a lovely home,” Rebecca continued. “It’s right on Crane River. And it has an orchard beside it too, just like here. In fact, it’s Dawson’s orchard! And Dawson lives right across the river from us. With Dawson next door and Leo right in town it’s like having a bit family there with us,” Rebecca said. “But we miss you all terribly and hope you’ll come visit soon. Grandma is planning to visit this spring, aren’t you?”

  “I am indeed,” Nancy said, thinking about the beautiful little town and the wonderful days she’d spent there with Adam and Rebecca—and the romantic moments she’d shared with Dawson. For some reason she had felt free to enjoy his company and their romance while in Crane Landing. It felt like another place and time, as if she were an actor in a play and that it wasn’t real… that she wasn’t betraying Hal’s love. Each morning she woke happy that Rebecca was a day closer to healing and that Dawson would be part of her day. Each night she went to bed knowing she would soon go back home and her second chance romance would end.

  She and Dawson had so many adventures together, often with Adam and Rebecca, sometimes alone, and those private moments were rich and memorable. They had taken leisurely carriage rides to view his orchards and blueberry farms. On warm evenings he would row them upriver and then stow the paddles and let the rowboat drift on the current and carry them home as they relaxed in each other’s arms and talked or watched the sun set. One evening he took her out late enough to float downriver beneath the stars. He took her to the lighthouse with Adam and Rebecca, but while the kids climbed to the top, Nancy and Dawson lingered below, watching the ocean—and each other.

  For so long, Nancy had been alone, her days filled with being a mother and a grandmother, that she’d forgotten what it felt like to be romanced. But in Crane Landing, in the arms of Dawson Crane, she felt youthful again and her days and evenings were filled with laughter. She hadn’t felt like a woman in so long, she hardly recognized the feeling. But in Dawson’s eyes she saw companionship and passion and that there were still more adventures ahead for her. He made her laugh and he made her think and expand her world. He had kissed her and made her crave love again.

  That first kiss had surprised her… and shocked her… and awakened her.

  They were standing by the river in the shadow of the magnificent lighthouse the first time he kissed her. The second time was in the rowboat beneath a sky full of stars… and she knew in that moment she wanted all that Dawson’s eyes promised.

  Her lonely heart was telling her to take the leap, but her mind refused to even consider the possibility.

  * * *

 
Frosty clouds formed around Dawson’s face with each exhale as he walked with Adam out Liberty Street towards the sawmill. “Gads, it’s cold,” he said, hunching his shoulders against the wind.

  “It’s going to get a lot colder come January,” Adam said, seeming indifferent to the biting temperature.

  Dawson sighed, missing his youthful days and his ability to tolerate the cold as he had as a young man. Tugging his scarf more snuggly around his neck, he tucked his chin against the wind. This chill would settle clear through to his bones, if he didn’t keep moving.

  He had eagerly anticipated a lively walk and a few moments alone with his thoughts. It appeared Adam was of the same mind as he strolled beside Dawson in companionable silence. It seemed they were both glad to escape the house that had become overrun with the women that morning. When Rebecca told the ladies about Dawson’s cooking abilities, they jokingly invited him to stay and bake cookies with them.

  He had bolted from the house with Adam, both of them laughing and excited about the day ahead.

  Dawson was eager to see the mill that Hal had built and that his son’s continued after his death. Dawson had wanted to see it when he’d been in Fredonia for Adam and Rebecca’s wedding in August, and again when he came back with Leo for two days in October, but there just hadn’t been time on either visit. But this was an important part of Nancy’s life, and he wanted to see the mill that had sustained and shaped her and her family for more than forty-five years.

  When Dawson and Adam arrived at the yard, the mill was a hive of activity. Several men worked in the yard stacking lumber or moving timber with teams of massive horses. Leo was already there with the younger Grayson boys, loading slab wood onto a wagon with plank sides that could be raised or lowered depending on the size of the load. In another area of the yard, large planks were being lowered by chains onto a wagon, guided by strong men who were singularly focused on their task. Dawson knew the mill yard could be dangerous, as evidenced by Rebecca’s accident earlier this spring, so he kept his head up and his eyes sharp. Other men were shoveling piles of sawdust out of the narrow walkways and heaping it onto a towering pile.

  “Uncle Kyle is probably in the mill building,” Adam said, gesturing toward a large plank building ahead of them.

  Dawson stepped carefully over debris and stray trimmings on his way to the mill. Adam swung the door wide and headed inside.

  Although Dawson had been in the lumber yard in Crane Landing, he’d forgotten how loud it was inside the saw building. He pressed a finger to each ear and followed Adam across the plank floor. Plugging his ears helped, but the screaming saw was still loud as it chewed through a large piece of hemlock. Over the harsh sounds of the operating mill, he could hear the yells of the men. Some were laughing as they worked, and others were shouting orders as the shorn planks came off the end of the saw and were prepared for loading onto pallets to dry. The fresh scent of cut wood filled the building as Dawson took in the Grayson operation. The mill was more automated than he’d anticipated, but he wasn’t surprised. Adam told him that his father and uncles continually upgraded their mill with the newest equipment to guarantee they remained competitive and could safeguard jobs and improve safety for their crew.

  “We’re using a combination of steam and gas to power the mill and the rolls,” Adam yelled. “But I’ll let Uncle Kyle tell you all about that.” With a hand gesture, he led Dawson to a door on the opposite side of the mill.

  Dawson felt his chest swell with pride as he looked around the vast building and smart operation. Nancy and Hal Grayson had raised some amazing young men. And those men were raising their sons to be intelligent, forward-thinking boys with the same traits of integrity and compassion possessed by each of them.

  “Come on in the office where it’s not so loud,” Adam said, opening a door and beckoning Dawson inside.

  Dawson stepped into a large room with three oak desks, a wall of wood shelving filled with more gadgets and equipment than he could name, and another wall laden with all sorts of tools hanging from metal hooks. When the thick oak door swung shut behind him, Dawson sighed in relief and removed his fingers from his ears.

  Radford laughed and lowered a paper he’d been studying. “A little noisy out there for you?”

  “Loud enough to rattle my teeth,” Dawson replied, surveying the room to where Nancy’s sons were all working. Boyd and Kyle sat opposite each other at the two remaining desks. Duke leaned one hip on Kyle’s desk, the three of them in the midst of a discussion when Dawson had come inside.

  Boyd leaned back in his chair and crossed one booted foot over his knee. “Glad to see you made it out of the henhouse unscathed,” he joked.

  Dawson laughed. “Barely! I make pancakes one morning and now the women think I want to help them bake cookies!”

  His comment filled the office with laughter and good-natured heckling, which Adam assured him was just a normal day at the mill.

  With a grin, Kyle stood and rounded the desk he’d been working at. “Ready for that tour I promised you, Dawson?”

  “Sounds good, but you’ll have to speak up because my ears are still ringing.” Dawson was pleased that Nancy’s sons seemed so welcoming to him. It would go a long way towards convincing her to say yes to marrying him.

  Kyle took him out the office door. They spent half an hour touring the yard and outbuildings used for drying and storing lumber. Then they circled back to the office where Kyle grabbed a piece of paper off his desk before opening the door to the mill building. Dawson plugged his ears in preparation, but it was quiet.

  “Is it break time?” Dawson asked.

  Boyd glanced up from an ax he was sharpening. “What do you mean break time?” Boyd glanced at his brothers. “Did we agree to give the men a break? I don’t remember taking that vote.”

  Straight-faced, Radford assured him that under no circumstances was anyone to get a break at their mill.

  Duke folded his arms across his chest and gave an affirmative nod. “No breaks. We agreed.”

  “That’s right, Dawson,” Adam said. “No breaks for our crew. Not even for lunch.”

  Their straight-faced jesting made Dawson laugh, and he appreciated their shared humor and closeness of the brothers, and how Adam was clearly part of their fold. Even Leo was part of this family, which made Dawson feel a bit the outsider among them.

  “Come on, Dawson. Let’s head over to the saw while it’s quiet,” Kyle said.

  Dawson followed him to the huge circular saw in the middle of the building. Kyle tucked the sheet filled with numbers between two metal hand levers on the mill. “This work order tells our sawyer what to saw next.” With a sweep of his arm to encompass the building, Kyle said, “In 1843 my father and my Uncle John moved to Fredonia and bought The Depot. That’s what we call this mill to distinguish it from our other mill on Shumla Road. I don’t know if Mother told you much, but before my dad’s operation had barely gotten off the ground my Uncle John died in an accident. Tom Drake, my wife’s father, helped my dad keep the mill going after John’s death. It was rough going for a while, but Dad finally got a foothold here, and our mill has flourished since. Our daily output varies, but depending on what we’re cutting, we can turn upwards of twenty thousand board feet a day at The Depot and another ten thousand or so at the Shumla mill.”

  Dawson heard the pride in Kyle’s voice as he spoke about the mill. Nancy had told Dawson about her sons’ early struggles to keep the mill going and how the relationship between Radford and Kyle had once been broken over their love for Evelyn. Then Kyle bought Tom Drake’s sawmill after the man died, and he fell in love with the man’s daughter, Amelia. As their mills had grown, they’d become successful, amazing men and had created a solid family that Dawson longed to become part of.

  “We’ll be investing in more powerful saws and some secondary equipment to improve our cutting time in the next year or so,” Kyle continued. He explained the workings of the mill, why they used two saws and how they’d
found a way to use steam to power the rolls and log turners, a brilliant idea and something Dawson had never before seen. “The engine and the boiler are gas powered now, but my dad started with a single bandsaw powered by a waterwheel, thus the location on Canadaway Creek.” Kyle pointed out a few of the changes he and his brothers had made, and Dawson took in all in with silent appreciation for their ingenuity. As the crew began to drift back inside and take up their positions, the head sawyer retrieved the paper Kyle had left for him, and gave Kyle a nod. When he fired the mill back to life, Kyle directed Dawson back into the office.

  “I’m beyond impressed,” Dawson said to the boys, as the door shut behind them. “If your father and his brother started with a single bandsaw, and this is what you boys have done with the mill, then I can only imagine how proud your father would be.” Dawson gestured to a tall lifelike wooden statue of a handsome man leaning on a cane. “I suspect this is carved in your father’s likeness?”

  Kyle nodded. “Boyd carved it sixteen years ago.”

  Dawson raised his eyebrows. “You carved this?” he asked.

  Barely glancing up from sharpening the ax, Boyd said, “Yep, and it nearly killed me.”

  His unexpected comment made Dawson laugh.

  “That statue scared me the first time I stepped into the office,” Adam said. “I thought it was a real man!”

  “So did I for a minute,” Dawson said. He turned to Boyd. “This is a magnificent piece of work.”

  “Our father taught him the craft,” Radford said, heading toward the door. “Out of all the things Dad taught us, that’s about the only skill Boyd got.”

  Boyd cocked an eyebrow and grinned at Radford. “I cannot wait to see the look on Mom’s face when I tell her what you just said. I’m sure she’ll be pleased to know she’s been given no credit for birthing or raising us.”

  Radford arched a dark eyebrow. “I stand corrected. Boyd inherited his sense of humor and his smart mouth from our mother. And Kyle and Duke got their red hair from her.”