Donners Bend (40 page)

Phillip
Browning became Jamie’s business partner for a few years, and they worked on the orchard together
, but
he soon found that
Donners Bend
just wasn’t the town for him and moved away to another little city called Covington
. 
There, he spent quite a few years courting numerous women before finding the perfect one for him.

Jon
Smithton
, true to his word, really wasn’t a marrying man
. 
He never found that special someone, nor did he ever even involve himself in a courtship
. 
He and
Ellie
stayed friends forever though
, and
he became a fairly good companion of Jamie
. 
Many days, he’d show up at
Ellie
’s and look after the children for her; he’d always loved children
. 
He stayed in that little house of his in the hills of
Donners Bend
until the day he died
,
without a regret in the world
. 

S
o, the rainy days of
Donners Bend
continued, and with them the years passed by
;
a
nd when Jamie and
Ellie
’s oldest daughter, Mae, turned thirteen
,
Ellie
passed on to her the pearl earrings she’d received that Christmas from Jamie so long ago
. 
She told Mae how she’d told Jamie she hated him that night and how mad she’d gotten when she opened up the box to reveal the beautiful earrings
. 

“But why did you become
so
angry, mother?” asked Mae as she gazed at the lovely pearls, “How could you not like these
? 
They’re beautiful.”

“Yes, they are beautiful,”
Ellie
agreed.

“Then why did you yell at father?” Mae questioned, her dark brown eyes resemb
ling
Jamie’s almost exactly as she looked up to her mother.

Tears came to
Ellie
’s eyes as she answered, “I don’t know, dear
. 
I just don’t know.”

Mae smiled, “You must have been quite
the
f
ickle
girl to refuse him.”

Ellie
wiped away a tear, trying not to let her daughter see, “Yes, yes I was
somewhat of a
f
ickle
girl
,
indeed.”

Jamie entered the room as
Ellie
spoke
. 
He came to stand behind her, placing his hands upon her shoulders and kissing the top of her head.

“Your mother
was
,
and still is,
a very
beautiful
girl, and a very uncertain one at that,” Jamie told Mae with a grin, “But for some crazy reason
,
I fell in love with her.”

Mae giggled.

Ellie
smiled and added “And then one day he stole my heart away
...
”

-THE END-