My Forever Love

by Wendy Lindstrom

  “Oh, Adam...” Rebecca turned to him, the look on her face telling him she needed this place. “It’s so beautiful and... peaceful here.” Her gaze swept across the river banks and surrounding woodland, returning to him with warmth radiating from her eyes. “Thank you.”

  He was glad he could give her this respite, however brief. And he knew it would be the perfect place for them to fall in love again.

  “I could sit here all day,” Grandma said.

  Standing beside her, Radford nodded. “I could, too, Mother, but I’m afraid I would sleep most of the day.”

  A smile tilted Rebecca’s lips. “I could stay here forever.”

  Her father put his arm around her and gave her a light squeeze, as if he was afraid too much affection would scare her off. “You’ll have several weeks to enjoy it, sprite.”

  If Adam read Rebecca’s expression correctly it wouldn’t be nearly enough time for her.

  A warm smile tilted Georgia Crane’s lips as she welcomed Rebecca and her family to their gorgeous estate. She and Mr. Crane greeted Adam as if he were their own son home for a visit.

  “Has Adam told you how we shamelessly lobbied for the two of you to settle here after you marry?” Georgia asked thirty minutes later as they began a multicourse dinner that made Rebecca’s eyes round in amazement.

  The thought of spending her days in the ocean-side town gave her an odd thrill. “I can’t recall if he mentioned it, but the idea certainly has merit,” she said, skirting the issue of their engagement and her memory loss as gracefully as possible.

  Adam cast a sideways glance at Mrs. Crane. “I’m afraid we’ve not had time to discuss it, but we certainly plan to enjoy our stay.”

  “I hope you will let us help make your stay memorable,” Mary, the Crane’s eldest, raven-haired, blue-eyed daughter, replied warmly. “I’m eager to hear about your life on the shores of Lake Erie.” Her gaze encompassed all of Rebecca’s family, but ended with Rebecca. “We have much to share with each other. In the morning Mama is sending the staff over to clean Cecily cottage. It’s not a cottage, of course, but that’s how we refer to the house you’ll be staying in. After you settle in we simply must meet for tea.”

  “I’d be honored,” Rebecca said. “I deeply appreciate everything you are all doing to make us welcome and comfortable during our stay.” She directed her reply to the Crane family, but she had felt the immediate friendship between herself and Mary Crane the instant she was welcomed into their stunning home. Adam had told her briefly before their visit that Mary was their age and a widow. The Cranes had lost two infants between Mary and Micah, who was seven years younger and seated across the table from Rebecca.

  “Yes, thank you ever so much,” her grandmother added. “It’s been many a year since I’ve traveled beyond Fredonia, and I couldn’t imagine a more wonderful place to stay or more delightful people to spend my time with.”

  And so the conversation was warm and friendships began during course after course of mouthwatering dishes served up by liveried footmen.

  Rebecca had never experienced such a meal and she had to remind herself not to gape at the heaping platters of roasted water-fowl and baked cod and haddock and many other dishes that smelled divine.

  Mary set aside her fork, after eating lightly of the delicious courses. “Did you know that the house you’ll be staying in was built for a princess?”

  “No,” Rebecca said, glancing at her grandmother to see if she had perhaps missed part of a conversation.

  “A legend about a princess sounds fascinating,” Grandma said, leaning in for more information.

  “The legend began with Daddy’s ancestors,” Mary said. She turned to her father. “You convey the story better than any of us, Daddy.”

  “He does,” Micah said, those being the second two words he’d uttered all evening. The first two were “thank you” to Adam. For what, Rebecca had no idea, but she supposed it was man stuff and involved their work because Adam had looked uncomfortable with Micah’s comment.

  The patriarch of the family set aside his glass of wine, seeming only too happy to step into the role of storyteller. “Nearly two hundred years ago the village Enlightsia, camped on the western border of the Adriatic Sea, came under attack. With ranges of ore-rich mountains in her far east, and crystal clear streams cutting through her lush woodlands and nourishing the farmlands of her interior, Enlightsia was a land of plenty and prosperity. Her greatest citizens were ‘philosophes,’ or intellectuals who called for the betterment of mankind. They welcomed visitors and encouraged trade with all... but it was this openness that led to their destruction.

  Rebecca leaned forward feeling as eager as her grandmother appeared.

  “The more the great minds of Enlightsia questioned values and truths long held to be doctrine, the more Enlightsia and her people became a threat to the dominant powers,” Elias continued. “By 1792 turbulence churned within the heart of the duchy. The royal family became endangered by a growing group of loyalists to a neighboring country encroaching on Enlightsia. The danger was so great that the duke summoned the most revered ship captain of the day to whisk his daughter and son from harm’s way and secret them and the duchy treasure in America. That captain was Gabriel Crane, and his charges were Princess Cecily and Prince Ian.”

  “They came to America?” Rebecca asked, entranced.

  Mary nodded, her expression distraught. “They fled under the cover of darkness with barely a moment to bid their father goodbye. Gabriel transported the princess and young prince aboard the Freedom.”

  “Oh, my,” murmured Rebecca, caught up in the saga of the young royals. “I can only imagine how they must have felt leaving their father behind and fleeing their homeland. Were they ever able to return to Enlightsia? Were they happy in America? What treasures were they protecting for their people?”

  Elias let out a pleased laugh at her many questions and at her keen interest in his story. “Much of their tale and what they endured is lost to the mists of time. I am simply sharing the legend, Miss Grayson. I only know that the treasures traveled with them from the heart of Enlightsia are of great value. A journal had been handed down from duchess to princess for more than a century until it rested in Cecily’s hands wherein she recorded her life and knowledge. The book supposedly contains the words and wisdom of her mother, grandmother, and so on. Its binding is worth a great fortune, embedded as it was with precious gems and edged in gold... but it was the knowledge within its pages that mattered so much to the people of Enlightsia. The mirror is crafted of rare wood, hand cut gems and a ribbon of pure silver that connects them. Those are the only treasures we know of.”

  Rebecca’s breath caught at Elias’s description of the mirror. “It sounds enchanting,” she whispered. “But what a sad story. The princess must have desperately mourned her lost past,” Rebecca said, understanding Cecily’s loss in the deepest part of her being.

  Mary nodded in agreement. “Every time I hear the story my heart aches for Princess Cecily. The poor woman had to pose as a widow with a young son. The crew immediately fell in love with her and the boy, and each man vowed to protect her and young Ian with his life. But no one was more smitten than Gabe Crane.”

  Rebecca sighed and her heart grew lighter knowing the princess would have found a confidant and love in Gabe Crane.

  Releasing a light laugh, Georgia Crane patted Rebecca’s hand. “I see you’re a romantic as well. I adore this story and never tire of hearing it.”

  She was a romantic? Had something in her expression suggested such? The idea intrigued Rebecca. With every experience she was learning something new about herself.

  Adam watched as Rebecca absorbed the tale. Doubtless she could relate to how the young princess must have felt in a foreign land. Since the accident, everything must feel foreign and strange to Rebecca.

  “Did she ever return home?” Rebecca asked.

  Elias leaned forward. “No one knows. But in the pages of her journal she a
pparently mentioned that her mirror and the truths in her diary helped keep her family close and that Gabe’s love gave her the courage to build a new life here in America.”

  “What were the truths?” Rebecca asked, looking so enthralled she apparently didn’t realize that her question might be intrusive.

  Elias chuckled. “Supposedly nuggets of truth about life passed down through generations that helped the princess cope with her loss.”

  “I would read that book cover to cover,” Rebecca said, her voice so dreamy it made Adam smile.

  “As would I,” Mary said in agreement, “but the journal has been missing for many years now.”

  Rebecca’s expression shifted as though she had lost something precious. “That’s a shame, especially knowing that the journal helped the princess to forge a new path in her life.”

  Mary, now fully engaged in conversing with Rebecca, sat forward with her fingers laced and propped on the table in front of her. “I think Gabe Crane found a way to whisk her back long enough to see her father before he died.”

  Elias flapped his hand. “Stuff and nonsense. Gabe wouldn’t have risked her life for a journey such as that.”

  “No, but the princess might have done so,” Mary argued sweetly. “According to the legend, that man would have moved a mountain for the princess.”

  Elias shrugged his shoulders. “All we know is that she and Gabe eventually married. The home in which you will be staying was built for her by Gabriel, or at least portions of it. Fire destroyed some of the original structure, but our family has tended it with care throughout the years. I believe you ladies will be quite comfortable there.”

  Adam glanced around the table, secretly pleased by Rebecca’s and their grandmother’s rapt expressions. Even Radford seemed to be engaged.

  “I felt at home there from the moment I entered,” Rebecca said. “I’m eagerly anticipating spending two whole months in that lovely home, and I deeply appreciate your generosity and invitation to stay there.”

  Georgia Crane smiled and patted Rebecca’s hand, her gesture warm and motherly. “It’s a pleasure to share it with you, my dear. I hope you find as much healing and happiness there as Princess Cecily found.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  After a lovely breakfast of rice with fig sauce and toasted wafers, Rebecca and her grandmother went with her father to the shipyard. He was concerned that the noise may upset her, but Rebecca felt quite well and assured him that she was prepared for the din and commotion.

  Adam met them in the bustling yard, looking quite handsome with his hair windblown and his shirtsleeves rolled up his forearms. That he’d been hard at work was apparent in the slight sheen of perspiration on his forehead.

  Rebecca couldn’t remember him from her past, but she could certainly understand her attraction to this man because it was still in full force.

  “Good morning,” he said, directing the greeting to all of them, but his eyes were on her. “Are you well enough for a tour?”

  His concern warmed her and brought a smile to her lips. “I’m quite well, and very eager to learn all about building ships.”

  He grinned. “That might take more than one tour, but let’s start inside,” he said, offering his arm.

  Surprised, she glanced at her father, but he was preoccupied with whatever was transpiring near the dock. “All right,” she said, welcoming his escort. “What has captured my father’s attention?”

  “The new building we are raising to accommodate our new shipbuilding process. Once it’s finished we will house our materials and tools there, which will be more accessible to our job site where we build our ships. Your father is keen to see the new operation.” Speaking over his shoulder to her father, Adam asked, “Would you like to join us inside, Radford?”

  “You three go ahead,” her father said. “I see Ben Oakley just yonder and I need to have a word with him.”

  With a nod, Adam escorted Rebecca and their grandmother to a huge, cavernous building that towered overhead and appeared to be built on pylons right over a deep channel of water. “We build our merchant vessels, schooners, dories, skiffs, sloops and other small wooden vessels right here on the shore or in this facility, which is determined by their size.”

  “Does the water run straight through the building?” Rebecca asked.

  “No, it ends a ways inside the building. You’ll see why when I show you how we build our vessels.”

  Inside, Adam paused to let their eyes adjust to the shadowed interior lit by rows of overhead lighting. The staccato sound of mallets striking wood echoed through the massive structure. Men talked or called to each other, their conversations and commands competing with rhythmic sanding and scraping sounds that were likely creating the haze and the powdery taste of wood in the air.

  “We launch our vessels straight out through this channel,” Adam said, “but I’ll tell you more about that later. We’ll start down at the far end. Stay with me and mind your step. There’s a good amount of scattered debris by this time of the morning.”

  “It smells divine in here,” their grandmother said, taking in the scope of the vast facility. “Hal would have loved this place.”

  “Now there’s a man I wish I’d met,” Adam said, moving ahead to lead the way. “It would have been an honor to know such a great man.” He moved right two steps. “It will be safer for you ladies to follow behind me.”

  “Hal would have loved you, Adam,” their grandmother said. She captured Rebecca’s arm and they trailed close behind him. “You’re so much like our own boys it’s like seeing them as young men again. That seems so long ago, I feel positively ancient.”

  “I doubt your sons would take kindly to being referred to as old men already.”

  Their grandmother whacked Adam’s shoulder with her sunshade. “Don’t you twist my words, young man.”

  The sound of Adam’s laughter fell nicely on Rebecca’s ears.

  “I’m deeply honored by the comparison, Grandmother. And you are still many years away from being ancient.”

  “Oh, how you young’uns love to tease. Makes me miss my boys at that age.”

  They walked for several minutes, mostly silent because of the surrounding noise, until they reached the opposite end of the building. As Rebecca’s vision adapted to the interior light, she looked around the cavernous building with her mouth hanging open. In the middle sat what looked like the skeleton of a gigantic whale. “Is that a ship?” she asked, truly astonished at the size.

  Adam paused and glanced back at her. “That’s a three-mast schooner. We build other vessels and ships far larger than this outside. Come on,” he said, catching her hand and guiding her closer to the front corner. “We’ll start over here.”

  Once she and her grandmother were standing beside him, he spoke above the noise, his voice assured and his knowledge deep.

  “This is where we store most of our supplies.”

  He pointed out barrels of pitch and oakum for caulking. Bins of nails, cables of rope, and crocks of linseed oil formed towering stacks.

  Rebecca felt a little dizzy as her eyes scaled the stacks of supplies.

  “Ho there!” a man called, approaching them with a slight limp. He stopped just outside the circle of their little group. He was a somewhat handsome man approximately her grandmother’s age with graying hair that poked from beneath a dusty cap. He didn’t smile, but his expression seemed warm and inviting. “Beg your pardon, ladies. May I borrow this young man for a minute? I’m in need of a strong back.”

  “Then Adam is your man,” Grandma said, patting Adam’s shoulder and wearing the proud grandmother look Rebecca was beginning to recognize.

  A smile blossomed on the man’s face and he pulled off his cap. “Dawson Crane at your service, my lady.”

  Surprised by his gallant introduction, Rebecca watched her grandmother’s face flush as Adam stepped in to introduce everyone. “Dawson, this is my grandmother, Nancy Grayson, and my intended, Miss Rebecca Grayson.�
�� To Rebecca he said, “Dawson is the elder brother of Elias and Ezra Crane.”

  Dawson executed a half bow. “I’m honored to meet you ladies.”

  “Likewise,” Rebecca said, casting a sideways glance at her grandmother to see why she wasn’t offering the man a proper greeting.

  Grandma, who was always in charge, seemed to have forgotten how to speak. To Rebecca’s surprise, Grandma bobbed her head in a slight greeting that made Dawson’s eyes sparkle.

  “What did you need help with?” Adam asked, turning Dawson’s attention back to the task at hand.

  “Need to load a barrel of pitch onto the dolly,” he said.

  An odd look crossed Adam’s face, but he gave Dawson a nod. Cautioning Rebecca and their grandmother to stay put for safety’s sake, Adam went to help the man.

  Fanning her face, their grandmother watched him and Dawson walk away.

  “What a charming man,” Rebecca said.

  Her grandmother exhaled loudly and pumped the fan a little faster. “I haven’t found myself speechless in nearly forty years.”

  Unable to hold back, Rebecca released a light laugh. “Then perhaps it’s time.”

  “Perhaps,” was all her grandmother said as they watched the men load the barrel of pitch onto a cart.

  Dawson may have solicited a younger man with a strong back to assist, but he seemed fit and strong and capable of managing the barrel on his own.

  The men returned together, Dawson pulling the cart behind him. “If you ladies won’t mind I’ll tag along for a minute.”

  Before they could answer, Adam continued with their tour. “We store our caulking irons, mallets, saws, planes and augers in this area,” Adam said, gesturing to a wall lined with pegs and hooks and nooks for storage. “All our lumber is rough cut and stored over at the mill. We bring it in and shape it as we need it. Our sailmaker prepares the sails and floats them to the dock when we’re ready to rig her.”