River's End (9781426761140)

by Carlson, Melody

  Jewel made a very pretty bride. Sarah and Anna had made her dress for her. Using several different kinds of white fabric and a variety of white lace trims and ribbons, they had created a patchwork sort of bridal gown with three tiers to create the full gathered skirt. Then Sarah had made a wreath of flowers for her hair, with lots of white ribbons trailing down the back like a veil of sorts. The total effect was sweet.

  Sarah, the maid of honor, wore her pretty patchwork dress, Janelle wore a rose-colored long dress, and Anna wore a light blue dress. Clark, looking handsome in his dark gray suit, played the role of father, walking Jewel down the aisle. To everyone’s surprise, Jewel’s mother had made the trip all the way from New Jersey. But it was obvious to Anna that Jewel and her mother’s relationship was strained at best. Even so, Anna did all she could to make Virginia at home.

  “When Jewel told me about the wedding, I assumed she was living at another one of those crazy communes,” Virginia confided to Anna after the wedding. “But this seems like a pretty nice place.” She looked around the dining hall where they were holding the reception. “I guess she’s lucky to have a job here.”

  “I feel lucky to have her,” Anna said. “And Skip.”

  “He seems like a nice boy.” Virginia looked over to where Skip and Jewel were visiting with Johnny Johnson. “I guess she could’ve done worse.”

  Anna had to bite her tongue as she wondered if Virginia had any idea what kind of place Jewel had been living at before coming here. Perhaps it didn’t matter.

  By the end of the day, Anna was reassured to know that both Janelle and Diane wanted to return to the inn to work for the summer. “But this might have to be my last year,” Diane told her as she held up her hand to show off a diamond ring.

  “You’re engaged?” Anna looked at the young man Diane had brought as her date.

  Diane giggled. “Surprise!”

  Anna congratulated them both but immediately began to wonder who she would get to replace Diane next year.

  “You seem deep in thought,” Clark said as they sat down to eat a piece of wedding cake together. “Remembering the day when we did this?”

  She chuckled. “I should be. That would be better.”

  “Better than what?” He peered curiously at her.

  She shrugged. “Oh, I was just thinking about how the staff keeps turning over.” She told him about Diane. “I’m happy for her. But sometimes I just wish I could freeze everyone and everything.” She laughed at her silliness. “No, that’s nonsense. Just like the river has to go and flow . . . I need to let my workers go, too. It’s just not easy.”

  He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “At least I’m still here.”

  She smiled at him. “Yes, and for that I am eternally grateful.”

  Even though Anna knew Clark was “still here,” she couldn’t help but notice he was starting to go out in the boat with Johnny more often again. She couldn’t really complain since this was still the slow season. But when he was gone two days in a row during Jewel and Skip’s honeymoon, she had to question it.

  “We’re a little short-handed,” she pointed out on a Friday morning. “And we have guests coming in at noon.”

  “Right.” He nodded. “How about if I make a short day of it.”

  “Of what?”

  He gave her his usual mysterious grin. “Just river stuff.”

  She frowned.

  “Johnny and I will be back by two, okay?”

  “I guess it’s okay.”

  “And I’ll ask Johnny to stick around and help,” he promised. “Will that make up for it?”

  “And you’ll bring home some fish for dinner?”

  “Of course.” He nodded eagerly.

  Well, at least that was something. She wasn’t sure how they’d turned into such good fishermen, but they never came home empty-handed. Whether it was salmon or trout and sometimes crabs and clams, they always had something to contribute to the menu. And she had to admit, the guests really seemed to appreciate it. Not only that, but also it had been fun to see Johnny happy again. It seemed that Clark was truly good medicine for him. That was worth a lot.

  Johnny wasn’t the only one experiencing a renewal and healing. To Anna’s delight, Sarah really seemed to be settling into life on the river again. She’d already made some changes to the cabin, including new curtains and a couple of patchwork throw pillows. Also, she was helping out more at the inn. Not in the dining room, since Anna was still had concerns about the contagious factor. But Sarah had taken over the laundry room and seemed to love taking care of the linens. Also, as spring came on, she asked if she could start to work in the garden.

  “As long as you don’t overdo yourself,” Anna reminded her.

  “But I’m perfectly fine,” Sarah assured her.

  “Yes, I know you feel fine. But you need to keep building your strength up slowly. Give yourself time. It hasn’t even been three months yet.”

  Sarah rolled her eyes but agreed to take it easy. Even so, Anna kept a close eye on her, and if it seemed like Sarah was pushing herself too hard, Anna would encourage her to go take a reading break. Fortunately, Sarah’s love of reading had returned in full force. She seemed to be working her way through Hazel’s library.

  “I was talking to a guest,” Anna told Sarah one afternoon in late March. “She told me her daughter took a GED test.”

  “Oh?” Sarah stood up from where she’d been thinning a row of carrots in the garden.

  “I wondered if you’d like to get a high school degree. So that you can go on to college. Well, some colleges anyway. I guess not all will accept a GED. And, according to the guest, you’d still have to take SATs and a college entrance exam.”

  “That sounds hard.” Sarah frowned.

  “But you’ve always been an excellent student,” Anna reminded her.

  “But that was years ago.”

  “Yes, but you’ve been reading a lot lately, Sarah. Including some college-level books. You have a good brain.” Anna decided it was time to tell Sarah about Hazel’s Shining Waters Scholarship Fund. “And you were the main reason she established it.”

  Sarah squinted in the sunlight. “Really?”

  “Hazel hoped you’d come home someday and want to finish your education.”

  “But that would mean having to leave.” Sarah frowned. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

  Anna put a hand on her shoulder. “And no one will make you do it. You’ll have to figure that out for yourself. But in the meantime, it probably wouldn’t hurt to look into a GED. Wouldn’t it be nice to feel like you finished high school after all?”

  She shrugged. “I guess so.”

  So it was that Anna started asking around town and was given the phone number of a retired teacher who sometimes tutored students in preparation for taking a GED test. Mrs. Smyth turned out to be a sweet old lady who lived less than a mile downriver from the inn. When Anna asked her if Sarah could come down to her house, Mrs. Smyth said she would rather come to the inn to give her lessons.

  “That’s not too much trouble for you?”

  “I’ve always wanted an excuse to come there,” Mrs. Smyth told her. “It looks like such a pretty place when I pass by. I’ve admired it for years.”

  “You should’ve come by,” Anna told her.

  “Oh, I didn’t want to intrude. Not without an invitation.”

  “Consider yourself invited.”

  After a month of tutoring, Mrs. Smyth was so impressed with Sarah’s intelligence that she requested her school records from her old high school. Then she spoke to the local high school, inquiring to the possibility of Sarah attaining a diploma from there. Thanks to the help from some of Mrs. Smyth’s teacher friends, Sarah was allowed to join some classes and turn in some work and take some tests, and, by the end of May, Sarah was invited to graduate with the other high school seniors and receive a high school diploma.

  “I can’t believe it,” she told Anna that evening. “I thought
it’d be pretty cool just to get a GED, and now I get a real high school diploma instead.”

  “That’s because you’ve worked hard, Sarah, and because you’re so smart.”

  “Thanks for believing in me, Grandma.”

  Because of Sarah’s studies, and because the inn was getting busier, Anna had decided to hire a couple more workers. This way they would be trained before summer when the inn was booked full for three months. She also began to plan a surprise graduation party for Sarah. This meant inviting Sarah’s father and paternal grandparents. Anna considered calling Donald but wasn’t eager to speak to him since the last time she’d called, to let him know that Sarah had been found and was living at the river. Donald had seemed uninterested, or maybe he was simply distracted by his new family.

  Whatever the case, it had hurt Anna—or perhaps she’d simply been offended for Sarah’s sake. Anyway, it had taken her several days to get over the sting. But she eventually forgave him, reminding herself that Donald’s life wasn’t exactly a happy one. Instead of calling him, she decided to send out invitations with an RSVP. That should keep everything slightly formal and as a result more comfortable. But first, she decided to call Lauren. Lately, they’d had a prearranged phone call appointment every Wednesday afternoon, while Sarah was taking classes in town, and Lauren was finished with her last class of the day.

  “I told you about how Sarah gets to graduate with the senior class in town,” Anna reminded her. “But I thought we should use this as an excuse to celebrate.” She told Lauren of her idea about how she planned to send out invitations. “Please, tell me, you’ll come.”

  “I don’t know, Mom.” Lauren’s voice got that flat sound to it again.

  “You have to come,” Anna urged her. “You’re her mother.”

  “But I’m pretty sure Sarah doesn’t want me there.”

  “Don’t be so sure.”

  “Did you ask her about this?”

  “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

  “Then maybe you should ask her how she feels about me, Mom. If she’s still angry at me, I don’t want to come. It wouldn’t be any fun for me, and if it spoiled it for her . . . well, I just don’t want that.”

  “All right,” Anna agreed. “I will sound her out on it. Okay?”

  “Thank you.”

  Anna told her more of the latest news, not that there was much, but Lauren always seemed eager to hear everything.

  “And now I have some news for you,” Lauren announced.

  “What?” Anna asked eagerly.

  “Well, it’s not really news . . . but I met a guy, Mom.”

  Anna could tell by Lauren’s voice that this was more than just an ordinary guy. “Tell me about him.”

  “Well, he’s just very nice. A very nice man.”

  “And . . . ?”

  “And that’s all there is to it, Mom.”

  “Are you seeing him?”

  Lauren giggled. “I see him whenever he comes into the coffee shop.”

  “But you haven’t gone on a date?”

  “No. I wouldn’t even know what to do on a date, Mom.” She laughed. “Do you realize how long it’s been? Even back when Donald and I were dating, it didn’t last for long. And then we were married.” She let out a little groan. “And pregnant. What a stupid way to start a marriage.”

  Anna chuckled. “Well, hopefully you won’t make that same mistake again.”

  “Oh, Mom!” But Lauren was laughing even harder now. And Anna couldn’t believe what a relief it was to hear her daughter happy again. Maybe this fellow was good medicine.

  “I wish I could meet him, Lauren.”

  “Well, don’t hold your breath. He may never even ask me out. Although I do know he’s not married.”

  “Did you ask him?”

  “Of course not. I got someone else to sleuth on him for me.”

  Anna laughed. “Good for you. Now you better keep me posted on him. And if it begins to develop into something, maybe I’ll have to think of an excuse to run on over to Eugene . . . and check him out.”

  “Please, Mom.” Lauren actually sounded worried now.

  “I’m just kidding, dear. I wouldn’t do that. But perhaps you could bring him out here to the graduation party with you.”

  “Oh, I seriously doubt that will happen.”

  Still, after she hung up, Anna said a prayer for Lauren’s mysterious fellow. She didn’t even know his name, but she hoped he was a good guy . . . someone who would be good for Lauren. Because, really, it had been so encouraging to hear Lauren’s voice laced with happiness again. It gave Anna hope.

  24

  A few days before Sarah’s graduation, Anna still hadn’t heard from Donald. Did he not care that his only daughter, after all she’d been through, was about to get her high school diploma? Didn’t he want to see her? Finally, Anna could stand it no longer, and while Sarah was busy in the dining hall, Anna called Donald’s number and, after a formal greeting, asked if he’d received the invitation.

  “Sure, I got it,” he told her in an offhanded way.

  “But you didn’t respond . . . I still don’t know if you’re coming or not.”

  “Can’t see any reason to come.”

  “Because she’s your daughter?”

  He made a harrumph followed by a long pause. “Sarah wrote me off a long time ago, Anna, back when she took off with her no-good boyfriend. As far as I’m concerned I have no daughter.”

  Anna felt a ripple of rage surging through her, but instead of speaking her mind, she took in a slow deep breath.

  “I’m sure you think I’m a monster,” he continued. “But Sarah’s got her life, and I’ve got mine. I don’t wish her any ill . . . I just don’t want to be involved. It’s not worth it.”

  “Not worth what?”

  There was another long pause then Donald cleared his throat. “Here’s the deal, Anna. Sarah and I used to be close. Remember back when Lauren was a useless mess. Well, Sarah and I got by. We helped each other, and, despite her lousy excuse for a mother, Sarah was doing all right. But then she took off like that . . . and, well, I just don’t need that.”

  “I see . . .” And Anna did see. “Sarah has hurt you, Donald.”

  He coughed in a way that suggested he was still smoking more than a pack a day. “I’m not saying she hurt me. I’m just saying I got my own life . . . my own problems. I don’t need hers.”

  “I understand. But she is your daughter, Donald.” Anna kept her voice gentle, hoping to get to the heart of the matter. “Someday you might wake up and realize that she’s your flesh and blood, and you might want to be part of her life. I hope you won’t let her juvenile mistakes keep you from that. Remember you made a few mistakes of your own back when you were her age. We all did.”

  “Maybe so. Anyway, sorry we didn’t get back to you on the invitation, Anna. Give Sarah my best. My supper’s on and I gotta go now.”

  Jewel and Skip had been in their newly built cabin for several weeks now, and Jewel was as happy as a clam. Anna had hoped that Lauren would be back in Babette’s house for the summer, but with her enrolled in summer classes, the little house now sat vacant. And so Anna decided to use it to house some of the female staff, this way they wouldn’t have to go back and forth to town. She put Diane in charge of it and hoped that the old house was strong enough to withstand the energy of four lively young women.

  If Lauren came for the graduation party, which still sounded uncertain, Anna planned to put her in the spare room in the house. That would put a little space between her and Sarah. But Anna hoped that space wouldn’t be needed. Sarah was making such great strides, becoming more and more like her old self, it seemed reasonable to think she would be ready to move on with her relationship with her mother as well.

  Anna had made Sarah another patchwork dress for graduation. Sarah had picked out the fabrics and trims, all in earth-tone colors, and when the garment was finished, something about it reminded Anna of Grandma Pearl. Appare
ntly she wasn’t the only one who thought this, because when they picked up Mrs. Smyth to go with them, her eyes grew wide. “You look like a Siuslaw princess,” she told Sarah as Clark helped her into the boat. “A beautiful Siuslaw princess.”

  As they went downriver, Anna remembered her own graduation day more than forty years ago. How proud her parents had been of her. Especially her father who never graduated from high school. But she didn’t think they could’ve been as proud as she was of Sarah right now.

  It wasn’t until they were seated in the bleachers that Anna spotted Lauren coming into the gymnasium. Anna stood and waved, making room for Lauren to join them. “I wasn’t going to come,” Lauren said as she slid onto the bench.

  “Oh, I’m so glad you did.” Anna reached for Lauren’s hand, squeezing it. “You look so pretty. New hairstyle?”

  Lauren patted her short coifed hair and nodded. “Like it?”

  “It makes you look younger.”

  “My hairdresser puts a rinse on it,” Lauren whispered, “to make the gray look like it’s really blond.”

  Anna wanted to ask if the man from the coffee shop had asked her out yet, but the ceremony was starting. Both Anna and Lauren cried when Sarah went up to receive her diploma. Even Clark pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose.

  But when Sarah joined them afterwards, she became quiet and chilly when she saw that Lauren was there. She accepted Lauren’s congratulations but then left with an excuse that she needed to use the restroom.

  “I’m going to head back home,” Lauren told Anna.

  “To the inn?”

  “No, I mean home to my apartment.” Lauren’s eyes were filled with sadness.