Laura's Big Win (45 page)

“Yes, I was. I got in a lot of trouble
for that; we’re not supposed to interfere, but I didn’t know then
what I know now, and I wanted so much to protect Jack and Amanda
for Ryan, and for you. I have to go now. You won’t see me again for
a long time, when I come for you. Be happy. Goodbye”

“Goodbye Mary; and Mary, we love
you.”

Laura stood in the middle of the room,
arms wrapped around herself, unsure of what was real and what was
not, unsure if this had happened or not, not knowing if she was
having a fever or had just spoken with someone not of her
world.

Ryan had returned from his meeting, and
was informed by Marcia that Laura had not been feeling well and had
gone to lie down. Old fears bit at him; this is how it had started
out with Mary; surely this was not happening again. His heart was
heavy as he made his way quickly to the White House and up the
stairs two at a time, to find his Laura standing in the middle of
their bedroom, her arms still wrapped around herself, perfectly
still, but with a look of confusion and disbelief on her
face.

“Laura, what is it? What’s
wrong?”

“Ryan, just hold me. Please, hold me
close.”

Ryan wrapped his strong arms around
her, over the top of her arms, holding her against his own body,
his strength serving as her strength; Laura trembled slightly as
though taking a chill. Finally, when the trembling had subsided,
she spoke in a quiet voice while still safely in his
arms.

“I have to tell you something, and I
want to tell all of it before you say anything, because I don’t
know if it’s real or not, and I hope it is real, for both of us.
Mary was here, just now. I came to lie down because I didn’t feel
good, and when I came into the room, she was just here; I don’t
know how. She said she had three things to tell me, and they are
these three things: first, I’m six weeks pregnant, with fraternal
twins, your twins, and she thinks there may be more after they’re
born; secondly, the remote for the flat screen, the one you
couldn’t find, she hid in the Ficas plant so you would see the
local channel, with me and the kids in the shelter; and finally,
she said there is a letter for you in a secret place. I asked her
about the car accident with Mr. Collins; Ryan, she was the one who
turned the wheel. I just know she was here, I’m sure of it. And
Ryan, as she was leaving, I told her we loved her, and I meant it.
And that’s it; that’s all. I don’t know if I’m awake or dreaming,
but I am so sure that happened.”

“Wait here.” With that, Ryan walked
over to a large picture decorating one wall of the room; pulling it
gently from one side, the picture swung out on hinges to reveal a
small wall safe Laura had never before seen. Ryan had actually
forgotten about the existence of the safe, but quickly recalled the
combination and spun it open. Inside was a solitary letter,
addressed to him. “Laura, come, please sit by me. I want us to see
this together.”

“My Dearest Ryan; I know I will not be
here much longer, even if you don’t want to admit that to me. My
strength is almost gone. I have asked Marcia to write this for me,
and I want you to thank her for me. She is helping me say what I
have to say. You know how much I love you, and if it is possible, I
will continue to love you even in the next world. I can’t give you
what you so deserve, a child to love; that was never to be. I want
you to know, that if there is any way possible that I can have
anything to do with making that come true, even in the next world,
then I will do anything and everything I can, to the extent of
trading my own well being, to see that come true. You are and
always have been my one and only love, and I know you have loved me
truly. I don’t know why this has happened to me, but it has and
there is nothing any of us can do about it. I want you to go on, to
find another someone you can truly love; you have so much of that
to give, and deserve so much in return. I regret I will not be here
to be that person, but when you find her, love her as you have
loved me, and that will be all she can ever ask of you; it will be
more than enough. I am tired now, and the end is closer. I love
you. Mary.”

Laura gently put her arms around Ryan
and held him until the great sobs subsided into an occasional sharp
intake of breath. Finally, with the same difficulty speaking that
Laura had trying to tell him what had happened, Ryan spoke: “I know
you saw her, and talked with her. I wish I had been here, but you
are whom she wanted to see; you are doing what she wanted to do,
and it’s very clear to me, you are her choice for me. She is very
wise, and I am doing as she asked: I am loving you with all my
being. I think she had guided the both of us to this end. And
there’s something else; do you notice the scent of roses in the
air?”

“I do, now that you mention it.
Strangely, that night in the shelter, when I had to make the
decision to stay there or come here, I remember thinking just
briefly someone had rose perfume on; I think she was there,
guiding.”

“And the day we got married, I went for
a run but turned off and went to the pond instead; when I was
unsure, not of you, but of myself, and whether I could be what you
wanted, I smelled the scent of roses, and the thought came to me
that I was being given a second chance, you were my second
chance.”

“I told her we loved her; I think she
has done this for us. I don’t pretend to understand it, but I do
believe it. This may sound silly, but do you have a picture of her
somewhere that we could put maybe in the great room; she would have
loved that room, and it seems only right. I think it’s the least we
could do; I am proud to have met her.”

“There is a painting I had done. I had
it removed, because I thought it might be a problem for you. But, I
think you’re right; the great room would be perfect. I’ll find it,
if you’ll help.”

And that’s how it came to pass that the
picture of Mary Williams was placed with loving care in the great
room of the White house, to watch over the home she had loved. Ryan
and Laura had just finished placing the picture in a place of
honor, when Jack and Amanda bounded in from school, full of their
usual energy and wanting to tell their parents about their day. It
wasn’t usual that Laura or Ryan would be in the great room, so
Laura called to the kids when they came in the back door. Entering
the great room, the kids paused only for a second to glance at the
picture now on the wall. Jack commented, almost just in passing,
“Look, Mandy, it’s the lady who steered the car. Who is she,
mom?”

“It’s a long story, Jack, but someday
we’ll talk about it. I think you’ll like the story.”

That fall, almost exactly nine months
to the day after they were married, Ryan and Laura Williams became
parents of twins. It was a fairly uneventful birth, but just as the
second child was born, both Ryan and Laura caught the scent of
roses in the air. It happened again two years later when the second
set of twins was born.

Three days after their birth, Ryan and
Laura had taken their new babies home to Windmere and the White
House; Ryan had returned to his office to keep things moving along
while Laura recuperated. That afternoon, Dennis Anderson darkened
the doorway to Ryan’s office, knocking lightly. Ryan looked up,
seeing Dennis, and noticing that the big man looked very strange:
“Come in Dennis; what’s up? Is something wrong?”

“No, sir. I mean, I…..hell, I don’t
know. Can you come with me for a minute? I can’t tell you about
this; you have to see it. Out in the garden, by the
cemetery.”

Ryan rose and followed Dennis into the
garden. Rounding the corner of the house, as the cemetery came into
view, Ryan understood why Dennis was floundering for words. There
in the cemetery, at the head of Mary’s grave, stood the American
Beauty rose, in full leaf, with six perfect flowers, the first time
it had ever bloomed.

Dennis was still at a loss for words,
but tried his best: “It just isn’t right; I mean, it should be
dormant this time of year, and it’s never done very well anyway;
never has bloomed. I’ve done everything I know how, and it just
sort of sits there. Now this. I don’t know what to make of it. I
had to show somebody.”

“You did right, Dennis. I can’t exactly
explain it either. We planted this to honor Mary; instead, I think
she’s telling us everything is okay now. Six great kids, six great
roses. More than a coincidence I think. My guess is, tomorrow the
rose will be done; Mary has what she wanted. I might be nuts, but I
think that’s the deal. And Dennis, if you’ve never believed in the
hereafter, start.”

The next day, Dennis Anderson removed
the dry stalk that the day before had been in bloom. In what would
have seemed strange to anyone else, he carefully burned the remains
and sprinkled them over the grave. Mary had what she
wanted.

In the years that followed, many things
came to pass at Windmere, but none like the orchestrated events
that brought Ryan and Laura together as one. Some things did happen
as an eventual result: Dennis and Angie Anderson would have one
son, and adopt a daughter. Franz and Bernice Smith married and
lived in the carriage house; they would have no children but were
great surrogates for watching the children of others. Judge Harry
would finally retire from the bench for good on his 80th birthday,
and pass away quietly into the night on his 87
^th
. Father
James Jesse retired but stayed in residence at St. Matthews as sort
of a bench player; he and Harry would continue to make guest
appearances at weddings, and Fr. Jim did recruit a substantial
number of parishioners. Leslie Friend became Mrs. Jason Jefferson,
graduated from EMT school, and had a second child, a girl named
Laura. Doris Cook and Marie Hernandes, along with some other
associates, published a Windmere cookbook, including a section on
the proper digging of roasting pits. Roger Brown retired, again,
and with his wife, became a traveler for Windmere. Some years
later, Calvin Harrison, with his wife, would do the same. The
Christmas vacation of his senior year in college, Jackson Williams
saw the beautiful Victoria Hernandes for the first time in several
years; they would be married within a years’ time. Amanda loved her
doll house so much, she redecorated it several times, growing into
a highly successful interior designer. In his later years, after a
continuing succession of failures at about everything, Richard
Nessing developed early onset Alzheimers disease; his last days in
a locked treatment unit were paid for by Jack and Amanda for the
sole reason that it was the right thing to do; Jack had never
forgotten the talk at the pond. The state allowed Windmere to
expand the little cemetery behind the White House, but it was
restricted to former employees of Windmere and their spouses;
others need not apply. In a local law firm, the principles met,
called in one of their associates, and terminated him point blank
for his reprehensible treatment of a young, impressionable, and
pregnant housekeeper; he never discovered how they found out, but
Harry didn’t like unfinished business. And in the end, all other
things aside, Mary did indeed have what she wanted.

Epilogue

Ryan had been gone for almost two years
now. They had moved out of the “White House” some years ago when
Ryan had proposed that Jack should become Windmere Corporation CEO;
the Board of Directors agreed. Ryan and Laura became travelers for
a few years after that, but only for new facilities where they were
not known, finally retiring to their cottage for most of the year.
Their golden years goal was to spoil first grandchildren, then
great grandchildren as often and as much as possible, and they were
successful to a level not unacceptable to the children’s
parents.

Now, Jack was considering retirement,
so quickly had the years gone by. Laura was not tired of life, but
without Ryan, things just did not hold the interest they once had.
The grand’s and great-grand’s couldn’t offset the loneliness in the
quiet hours. She did not long for death, but neither was she afraid
of it, and she looked forward to the promised reunion in the
afterlife she believed in. It was a warm fall evening, and she
dozed a little in her favorite rocker, comfortable and satisfied
that she had led a complete life as her thoughts wandered back over
the years, to Ryan, and to their life together.

“Laura……Laura? It’s Mary. Ryan asked me
to come for you; he’s busy watching over some of the great grand
kids just now. Besides, you know how men are about all this girl
talk stuff, and we do have a lot to catch up on. Remember, I told
you I would come for you, but I can’t stay here very long. Are you
ready to go?”

“Yes, I’m ready. I remember your
promise, and I’ve been waiting. I can smell the roses.” Looking
back as she walked out of the cottage, Laura saw herself still
sitting in the chair, but realized her spirit was free.

The End