Remember (16 page)

“Another successful picnic,” John gazed at the little ones playing tag at the water’s edge.

“Yes,” Elizabeth sighed. “Another summer behind us.”

John ran his thumb along the back of his wife’s hand. “You always loved summer.”

“Always.” She smiled and shaded her eyes. “Schedules and school and even time stands still for summer.”

Every year since Brooke was born, John and Elizabeth had spent Labor Day here at Lake Monroe. Some years they had a fish fry. On others they barbecued. But always they spent part of the day on the water, soaking up enough sunshine to get them through the winter.

Over time, the summer’s-end gathering of the Baxter family had grown. John scanned the beach and smiled as he took in each of his loved ones. Brooke and Peter played on the shore near the children, Maddie, Hayley, and Cole. Ashley and Kari sat nearby in beach chairs, with baby Jessie cradled in Kari’s lap. Erin and Sam tossed a Frisbee with Luke and his girlfriend, Reagan.

John watched as little Maddie separated herself from the group and climbed the sloped beach toward them. “Grandma,” she called. Her small voice was nearly lost on the breeze.

“Yes, sweetie, what’s wrong?” Elizabeth was on her feet, meeting their small blonde granddaughter halfway. The two of them turned and finished the rest of the walk hand in hand until they reached the picnic tables where John’s and Elizabeth’s chairs were set up.

“I don’t feel good.” Maddie’s cheeks were flushed.

“Come here, darling; let Papa feel your head.” John touched her brow. “Hmmm. Not too hot.” He patted a towel beside his chair. “Why don’t you come lie down for a while? A little rest will help you feel better.”

Maddie did as she was told and spread out beside him. Elizabeth covered her with a clean towel from a stack on the table. “There, sweetheart. Get some rest before dinner. Papa’s making his famous hamburgers, okay?”

“Okay.” Maddie smiled, and it led to a yawn.

She was out before Elizabeth was back in her chair. “Poor darling.” She smiled at the child’s sleeping form. “Must be exhausted.”

A soothing quiet fell between them, and John reached once more for his wife’s hand. “We have so much to be thankful for.”

Elizabeth smiled. “Especially this week.” She gave John a half-smile. “I was more worried about the tests than I let on.”

“Me too.” John squeezed her fingers. It was something they lived with, the fact that Elizabeth had survived cancer years ago. Back then her doctors had been straight with them: They hadn’t gotten all the bad cells from her lymph nodes. It wasn’t a matter of whether the cancer would return. It was a matter of when. So each time she went in for tests, there was always a chance the news would be bad.

Lately Elizabeth had felt more tired than usual, and John had been particularly concerned. But the good news had come back Friday afternoon.

“Look at them.” John narrowed his eyes, watching the way his family played and loved and laughed together. “You’d never know they had a problem in the world.”

“Kari’s doing well with Jessie.” Elizabeth’s expression was wistful. “I always knew she’d make a good mother.”

“She misses Tim.”

“And Ryan.” Elizabeth angled her head and gave John a knowing look. “She doesn’t fool me with all that talk about ‘learning to be on her own.’ ”

“It’s an important part of the grieving process, don’t you think?” John shifted his jaw. “She’s got to come to terms with losing Tim.”

“I know.” Elizabeth smiled. “But there’s still a place in her heart that beats for Ryan Taylor. Even if he’s a thousand miles away.”

John studied his middle daughters. From the back they looked almost like twins. Ashley’s hair was shorter, of course, and even darker than Kari’s, but they had the same delicate features. And now that they were both single moms they had more in common than ever. “Wonder what she and Ashley are talking about.”

“Landon Blake.”

John chuckled. “You act as though you know.”

Elizabeth grinned. “I do.”

“Well . . .” John cocked his head for a moment. “Ashley and Landon have been together a lot lately.”

“He’s back to work now, moving to New York—did Ashley tell you?” Elizabeth leaned forward in her seat and rested her elbows on her knees. “He wants to fight fires with a friend of his there.”

John pursed his lips. “That’s too bad. I always thought he and Ashley might wind up together someday.”

“He’ll be back.” Elizabeth stood and crossed in front of him. She stooped down and felt Maddie’s forehead. “She feels cooler. Poor dear probably just needed to rest.”

John folded his arms. “What do you mean he’ll be back?”

“My sweet love . . .” Elizabeth flashed him a knowing smile. “The boy’s been crazy about Ashley since the first day they met in middle school. Nothing could keep him away from her—certainly not a few New York City fires.”

“Ashley said he might come by later.” John looked behind him at the parking lot. “They took off his cast last week.”

“So I heard.”

John shook his head. “The burns have healed well, too—much faster than I would have expected. It’s a miracle the boy’s alive.”

“It’s all part of God’s plan.” Elizabeth shifted so she was facing John.

“Plan?” John leaned on one elbow. He cherished times like this, afternoons when everyone he loved was well and happy and together in one place. Times when he and Elizabeth could take stock of all they had to be grateful for.

“The one I pray for every night.” Elizabeth’s gaze rested on Ashley. “That someday Ashley will remember the truth she believed as a child. That Jesus loves her.”

“Oh, you mean the one we
both
pray for.” He smiled. “And you think Landon’s part of the plan, huh?”

“I think he might be.” Elizabeth tilted her head. “God has something up those mighty sleeves of his.”

“He always does.”

“Same thing for Luke and Reagan.”

John let his eyes drift down the beach to the place where his son was swinging Reagan near the water, threatening to toss her in. “They seem pretty friendly.”

Elizabeth was quiet. He turned to her, seeing the uncertainty in her eyes. Their hearts were so connected, he had always been able to feel her smile before her mouth had time to act it out. This was no different. “What?”

“She won’t stay in Bloomington forever. ”

“She’s close to her family.”

“Soon as she has her degree, she’ll move to New York City.” Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed. “And it won’t surprise me if she takes Luke with her.”

John gazed at their son. “He’s still talking about Reagan’s father.”

“And his office in the World Trade Center.”

John stared at the sky. What must it be like working nearly ninety floors off the ground, looking eye level at the clouds? Seeing all of New York City and the harbor from an office window. “Reagan says Luke and her dad hit it off pretty well.” John smiled. “You think he could get Luke a job?”

Elizabeth uttered a light huff. “From the sound of it, he practically hired him on the spot.”

“That worries you?” John studied his wife, struck as always by her delicate features and still-dark hair. Every year he was more in love with her.

“I’d like to keep him closer.” Elizabeth gave him a sad smile. “But Erin’s moving away soon, and one day we’re bound to be spread out. That’s the way of life.”

“Ah, honey, listen to you.” John ran his fingers up her arm. “You’d think God had given you a blueprint for the next decade. Luke and Reagan aren’t moving out next week.”

“He’s our only son, John.” She narrowed her eyes, her gaze fixed on the sight of Luke playing near the water. “Wherever he goes, I’ll miss him.” She looked back at him again, her smile wistful. “Life is so uncertain.”

“With one exception, my love.”

“What’s that?” She waited. There was no fear or worry in this conversation, just a parent’s desire to keep close those children they’d spent a lifetime loving.

“Wherever Luke goes, he’ll take God with him.” John moved his fingers gently along the base of his wife’s neck.

“Yes.” Elizabeth’s smile spread further up her face, as though the thought brought her deep comfort. “He does love the Lord, doesn’t he?”

“With all his heart. I don’t think anything could shake that boy’s faith.” John stood and stretched. “Not even a job overlooking New York City.”

* * *

Kari leaned back in her beach chair and laid Jessie along her legs. The air was still warm, but it was cooling some, and she didn’t want her daughter getting chilled. “Grab me a blanket from the diaper bag, will you, Ash?”

“Sure.” Ashley reached for the pink-and-white blanket and handed it to Kari. As she did, they spotted Landon Blake walking toward them from the parking lot. Cole shouted his name and ran to him.

Silently, Kari and Ashley watched the boy jump into Landon’s arms. Landon tossed him into the air and hugged him close. Then he set the boy down, grabbed his hand, and started toward Ashley.

“Cole’s crazy about Landon.” Kari kept her tone free of innuendo. The statement was merely an observation anyone could have made.

“I know it.” Ashley looked away. She picked a rock up from near her feet and tossed it toward the water.

“Don’t get mad at me for saying this . . .”

Ashley met her gaze. “Saying what?”

“I don’t think Cole’s the only one.”

Landon and Cole were only a few feet away, and Ashley waved, ignoring Kari’s comment. “You’re not limping.”

“I feel great.” He waved to Kari and then came to stand next to Ashley. “Like I’ve been set free.”

“Landon wants to take a walk.” Cole bounced up and down a few times. “Come with us, Mommy. Please!”

Ashley pulled Cole onto her lap and kissed his cheek. “How could I tell my two best guys no?” She laughed and stood up,  setting Cole down beside her and dusting the dirt from her shorts. “Let’s see who can find the prettiest rock.”

“Okay!” Cole’s eyes lit up. He slipped one hand in Landon’s, the other in Ashley’s. “Let’s go before Papa’s burgers are ready.”

Kari watched them set off, walking toward the setting sun. She smoothed a finger over Jessie’s silky forehead. Ashley was out of her mind if she let Landon go now, after the two of them had clearly found something other people waited a lifetime for.

A heavy sigh made its way between Kari’s lips as she stared out at the lake. This was the first time she’d been back since that fall day when she and Ryan came here. Had it really been almost a year ago? Kari let her mind wander aimlessly down the dusty roads of yesterday to that November afternoon when time had stood still.

Despite the cold, they’d fished for hours and built a campfire. Then they’d done something they should have done years earlier. They talked about why—after a lifetime of caring for each other—they had let their relationship fall away. The answer felt as painful and unbelievable now as it had that November day.

A series of misunderstandings had caused her to believe that Ryan was in love with someone else. As a result, Kari had done everything she could to get on with her life—even marrying Tim Jacobs.

Jessie stirred, and Kari adjusted the blanket so it sheltered her daughter’s face. Her whole life, it seemed, had been a series of badly timed events.

That November night, she’d felt lonelier than she’d ever been. Tim had admitted his affair and moved in with his student lover. And though Kari had been determined to fight for her marriage, being alone with Ryan on this very beach had tested her resolve. She’d needed every ounce of her strength not to run off with him and never speak to her husband again.

But it had taken just one kiss, one moment of longing for what might have been, to snap Kari back to reality. She could still see the understanding in Ryan’s eyes when she told him she couldn’t—couldn’t kiss him, couldn’t fall in love with him—no matter how much she wanted to. Not when her marriage hung in the balance.

That day together had led to a time of soul-searching for Ryan. In the end, he had decided that if she wanted to make things work with Tim, he would not stand in the way; his love for her wouldn’t allow it. In fact, his decision to love her had led him to take the coaching job in New York.

Who’d have thought that three months later Tim would be dead?

And now here she was, alone again—she and Jessie. She looked down the beach at the faces of her family. It could be worse. How would she have survived without her parents and the others, especially Ashley? Her younger sister had been the family member most frustrated with Kari’s determination to remain married to Tim. But now that he was gone, Ashley was the most supportive, the most sympathetic.

Maybe it was because Ashley, too, understood loneliness.

“Come and get ’em!” Her father’s voice carried down the beach, and Kari smiled. How many Labor Days had they gathered at this same spot, played on this same beach, and heard their father make that same announcement?

No, she wasn’t alone at all.

Besides, she had God, his presence, his Word alive within her. That was more than she could say for poor Ashley.

“Save some for me, Papa!” Cole came darting into view from behind a band of trees. Kari was making her way toward the picnic tables as Landon and Ashley appeared, hand in hand and laughing.

Landon’s part of your plan, isn’t he, Lord?
Kari waved in their direction. From across the beach, the others headed for the barbecue pit. Luke was careful to steer Reagan away from Ashley. His differences with his sister hadn’t eased with time, that much was sure.

Kari was the last to reach the tables. As she made her way up the shore, holding Jessie against her shoulder, she watched Ashley and Landon—the way Ashley’s eyes sparkled when he spoke, the way he seemed in tune to everything she said, every move she made. It was finally happening. Landon had figured out how to squeeze his way into Ashley’s heart.

Yes, Landon was part of God’s plan for Ashley—Kari was certain of it. And if things went the way she hoped they would for her sister, one of these days very soon Ashley would welcome more than Landon Blake into her heart.

She’d welcome God himself.