Laura's Big Win (26 page)

“Sort of. I found it a few years ago
and just never cleaned out the brush, but it’s passable and goes
where I want to go. We’ll have to single file part of the way, but
it isn’t real far. I don’t think anyone else knows about this
place; at least, I’ve never seen any sign that anyone else has been
here. Suits me just fine. I think everyone needs some place to go,
just by themselves, to think things over. Only a couple more
minutes now.”

The trail was reasonably passable,
single file, then suddenly they were in a clearing beside a small
pond. The old growth trees formed a canopy overhead, with only a
small opening for the sun to shine directly on the water. The lack
of direct sunlight had kept the surrounding area much like a forest
floor, with only a short growth of moss like ground cover. Adjacent
to the pond edge were several short sections of log on end that
served as places to sit. The dogs waded in to their knees and
lapped copiously to slake their thirst, then went about exploring
the rest of the clearing. Ryan stood for a moment or two just
taking in the surroundings, while Jack was somewhat transfixed by
the solitude it offered. At six, he had already seen more than he
needed of some things, and had experienced more stress than some
adults could handle. This new experience had a calming effect, and
whatever the reason for their being there, this was a good place to
be. Ryan walked over to the logs and propped up a foot while
looking at the clear pond surface, tiny dog induced ripples
smoothing themselves into a glass surface.

“Ever skip rocks, Jack?”

It sounded crazy to Jack. Rocks
couldn’t skip, could they? “No. Rocks just sink; I know better than
that.”

“Watch.” Ryan picked a smooth oval
stone from a small pile by the log, bent over so his arm would be
close to the ground, and sidearmed the stone across the water in a
hard throw. The stone hit, flew upward, and hit twice more before
finally disappearing under the surface. “Your turn. You should be
good at this; you’re closer to the ground than I am, and no doubt a
lot more limber. Remember, side arm it, and snap your wrist at the
mid-point of the throw; makes the stone come out
faster.”

Jack had watched the demonstration in
amazement; it didn’t seem reasonable that stones could fly like
that, but he was about to give it a try anyway. After sorting
through the small pile for just the right stone, Jack wound up and
gave it a mighty fling, into the dirt bank. Embarrassed by his poor
showing, it was made worse when Ryan started to chuckle. But Ryan
Williams was not a mean man, and he was intent on salvaging the
moment.

“Looks like the same thing I did when I
tried it the first time. You look like you’ve got a good arm; give
it another shot.” Jack was disarmed by what he had just heard. Here
he thought this guy was laughing at him, and he wasn’t; he was
somehow laughing at himself, and encouraging Jack at the same time.
It was a strange feeling to start considering this person as other
than a threat. Ryan sorted through the pile, selected a stone, and
passed it to Jack. “Try this one; it’s smooth and pretty oval; just
what you need. Remember, side arm, low, snap your wrist, right out
across the water.”

Jack took the stone, planted his feet
firmly in the soft dirt, and hurled the stone with all his might,
remembering to snap his wrist as he let go. It hit, and to Jack’s
surprise, rose from the surface and bounced again before sinking.
“I did it; I did it! Did you see it fly?” Whatever pain Jack might
have felt at missing the first throw had evaporated with the
skipping stone.

“I did. See, I knew you could do it.
Try this one.” Again the stone skipped, and Jack was hooked. “Okay,
you pick one. Oval, not round, and it has to feel right in your
hand.”

Jack threw again. The third bounce was
pretty tiny, not much elevation, but it did look like a third
bounce. Jack was elated. A handful of stones later, and Jack’s arm
needed a bit of a rest. The two of them sat on the logs, Jack
looking at a stone in his hand, while Ryan poked the dirt with a
stick he had picked up. The dogs had finished their survey and come
back to lay by the human’s feet, or on their feet, as the case may
be and dogs are prone to do.

Ryan considered what to say to Jack,
what the boy needed to hear to ease his fears. There was no obvious
answer staring at him. ‘Maybe’, Ryan thought, ‘I should just do
this unvarnished.’ “Know how I found this place, Jack?”

“No sir, but I like it.”

“So do I. You know, I was married to a
wonderful woman for about five years. She didn’t look like your mom
at all, but they had many of the same traits: compassionate,
caring, loving, trustful, all the great stuff that men should come
to appreciate in women. Then she got really sick one day. There was
nothing anyone could do. I tried everywhere to find something to
cure her, but one night, almost three years ago now, when I was
sitting by her bedside, she died. She was buried here on the
property so I could watch over her grave and keep it nice, but it
made me so sad I had to find some place private where I could let
all the sadness out of my heart. I don’t really know exactly how I
saw that overgrown path, but I did, and at the end of it, here I
was. So I came here every day for weeks and let the sadness out
until so much of it was gone that I could accept the rest and live
with it. I’ve never talked about it to anyone else, and it brings
back a lot of the memories, some good, some not so good. I guess
what I’m trying to say is that I understand how tough things can be
at times, and I know you have had some hard things to get through.
The thing is, my wife is gone, but her memory will always be with
me; I loved her a lot, but she’s not here, I am, and I have to go
on living life. Does that make any sense at all to you?”

“I remember when we had to leave our
house, and we had to leave most everything there, even most of our
toys and things; I heard mama cry when she thought us kids were
asleep. I don’t understand all those things, but I know I feel a
lot like crying myself. I think everything is better now and I
don’t feel bad about things anymore.”

Ryan realized the concept of loss
through death would have scant meaning to the little boy and wanted
to find some suitable means of comparison. At the mention of “us
kids” a way seemed to appear to explain better what may lie ahead
for them. “So, when you were in that house, you were your mother’s
son, right?”

“Yes sir, then Amanda was
borned.”

“Right, but you were still your
mother’s son, even though she now also had your sister to take care
of. Right?”

“I guess so.”

“And now you’re here, and she’s still
your mother and you’re still her son. Right?”

“Right, I think.”

“So, even though some things changed,
like living here instead of where you were, and even though you
have a sister, you will always be your mother’s son and she will
always love you like the day you were born. I’m sure she loves your
sister just as much. I know it can be confusing and a little hard
to understand. Here, how about this? Do you like these
dogs?”

“Sure, I like them, and I take care of
them in the morning; that’s my job.”

“And Franz says you do a good job. But
if there were three dogs, would you like each of these two a little
bit less so you could like the third dog equally well?”

“No, I don’t think so. I think I see
what you mean but it’s really hard to understand.”

“Jack, all you have to understand for
now is this: I like your mom a lot, and I’m pretty sure she likes
me a lot, but that doesn’t mean she loves you any less. You will
always be her son, and she will always love you. When I was your
age, and I can remember back that far believe it or not, I had a
good time playing and stuff; I think because a lot of things went
wrong, you’ve been holding things together for your family, sort of
being the man of the family so to speak. If I can, and if things
work out, I’d like to do that for you, and you go back to doing the
things a six year old should be doing, you know, being a kid again
and without the grown-up concerns to worry about. Can we agree on
that?”

“I think so, but I don’t understand a
lot of all that stuff. I know you showed me your secret place, and
how to skip stones, so I guess it’s okay.”

“Pretty much, that makes it okay. I
just need you to understand that I will never take your place in
your mother’s eyes, any more than your sister has, or anyone else
can. If your mother and I…..um…..things change, and I don’t know
what will happen next; I just don’t. So, how about a few more
stones, then we probably need to go back before they send out a
search party for us. Okay?”

“Okay.” Somehow, Jack felt better about
everything, even though he didn’t really understand much of what he
had just heard. He did know that when Ryan was talking about his
wife, Jack could hear the sadness in his voice. The other thing,
about being his mother’s son, that sort of made sense too. And if
his mom really liked this guy, that couldn’t be a bad thing, could
it? Anyway, he now knew of a secret place in which he could find
refuge if he needed time to think about things, and he knew how to
skip stones. Life was getting better by the day.

For all the small steps they had taken
in the past few weeks and months, the next few weeks would pick up
the pace. Ryan knew his path now, but there was still one thing not
in place, and he had no way to know when that would happen. His
wait would be short.

Chapter 15 - Full
Bloom

Monday morning brought the first new
duty Laura would experience as heir apparent to Alice Hamilton.
According to their earlier arrangement, Franz picked up Leslie
Friend and family, bringing them to Windmere and Laura’s office for
the interview at about 9 AM. The first part of the employment
interview consisted primarily of filling out the requisite forms
for job application, withholding, prior experience and similar
information. Leslie turned out to be in better spirits than at
their first meeting, probably because she sensed a little relief
from all she had endured the past few days, the rejection of her
lover and of her family, and a new life to care for, a
responsibility she had to undertake on her own. These Windmere
people were interested less in her history than what she could
contribute to their operations, and they seemed interested in her
well being and that of her newborn. Forms completed, Laura took her
into her office for the more verbal part of the process.

“First of all, let me welcome you to
Windmere. We’re both undergoing a new experience here, you being
interviewed and me doing the interviewing. It is quite a story but
my responsibilities here seem to have suddenly grown to include
staffing as well. At least I feel competent to do this, not because
I think housekeeping is that easy but because I have done it, at
least in my own house. You will find that Windmere seems much more
like a residence than a business, at least on the surface, but
underneath it is almost all business and has to be done to a very
high standard. As you saw Saturday, we do have our moments of fun,
and I don’t want to give you the impression this is like working in
a dungeon. If you are interested in progressing and openings occur,
we will give you the opportunity. Truthfully, that’s how I got
here, and from the same place you’re staying just now.”

Leslie was floored at the information
she had heard for the second time. “I know you told me Saturday you
stayed at the shelter, but I thought you were just trying to get
next to me. Do you mean you lived at the shelter, just like me? But
you’re so….I don’t know how to say it…..I mean, you know, so
professional, and you look great, and no one would believe you were
there. Really?”

“Yes, really. I was there, homeless
with children, but didn’t stay there overnight. I can’t take the
time just now to explain what happened that night, in fact, some
days I’m not even sure I believe it, but here I am. Now, back to
you. I know you told me a lot of things about yourself Saturday,
but what I want to know now is two things: what do you expect to
get out of working at Windmere, and what can you do that we need
done. Okay?”

“I think I understand. I was doing
housekeeping work at night because my family didn’t have money to
pay my tuition at the JC and I wanted to learn to be an EMT. I
think I did mention that Saturday. Anyway, I still want to do that,
learn to be an EMT, and….I’m sorry…..I just have to pick him up.
He’ll be okay. I’m sorry.”

“Feeding time? Go ahead. There’s no one
here but the two of us, and no one’s going to come in while my
door’s closed. Besides, you know how to do the cover-up job so no
one knows what’s going on anyway. See? Problem solved. We
understand you will need to stop work every so often and do this,
and we’ll make allowances. Really, it hasn’t been that long ago I
was doing the same thing myself….” Laura’s mind made a sharp turn
somewhere in mid sentence. She realized Ryan seemed to really like
her own kids, but what if he wanted children of his own, could she
do that, and what if he didn’t want kids but something happened and
she got pregnant, and this was all crazy to think about because all
he had ever done was kissed her and that was wonderful
but…..

“Is something wrong Laura? Did I say
something?”