River's End (9781426761140) (28 page)

“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. Apparently 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.

“What about the party?” Anna asked.

“My presence there would just spoil it . . . for Sarah.” Lauren stood a bit straighter. “Really, I need to get back. I have homework.”

“Oh, Lauren, one day won't—”

“Please, Mom. I'm an adult.” Her tone sharpened. “I know what I need to do.”

Anna just nodded.

“I'm sorry.” Lauren pressed her lips tightly together.

“I'm sorry, too.” Anna shook her head. “I wish this could be different.”

Lauren shrugged then opened her handbag and fished out a set of car keys. “You've done a great job with her, Mom. She looks beautiful . . . and healthy.” Lauren's eyes were filling with tears now. “You're a much better mother than I could ever be.”

“Oh, Lauren.”

Lauren hugged Anna and Clark. “I've got to go.” And then she hurriedly turned, pushing her way through the crowd.

As they went home, Sarah never mentioned Lauren. And during the graduation party, which seemed to be a surprise, Sarah never asked about her mother's quick departure. Anna decided to just let it go for now. Especially since Sarah was doing such a lovely job of playing both host and honored
guest. She was mingling with everyone, acting so comfortable and natural that Anna could barely believe this was the same moody girl that had been here so briefly last summer.

Anna listened as Sarah enthusiastically thanked Johnny Johnson for his gift, a golden locket with her initials and graduation date engraved on the back. It really was thoughtfully sweet.

“Well, if I'd had a granddaughter, I would've wanted her to be just like you,” Johnny said as Anna helped Sarah with the clasp, adjusting the small golden heart around her neck.

“You'd make a wonderful grandpa,” Sarah told him. “And I only have one grandpa so maybe I should adopt you.”

He laughed. “I'd be pleased and proud to be your grandpa.”

“Then I say we should make him an honorary grandpa,” Anna told Sarah.

Sarah nodded. “How about it, Grandpa Johnny? Do you agree?” She stuck her hand out and shook Johnny's.

“I accept.” He beamed at both of them. Now Sarah excused herself and went over to speak to someone else, and Johnny turned to Anna. “Well, I already felt like you folks were kin, but I guess I'm really part of the family now.”

“And we're happy to have you. Honestly, I don't know what Clark would do without you,” she told him. “You guys are thicker than thieves.”

He laughed. “Hopefully we won't end up in jail.”

“Sometimes I wonder what you two are up to.” She tilted her head to one side. “Tell me, do you really fish all day long? Or do you have a secret poker group in the back of Greeley's store?”

He laughed harder now. “We always bring home fish, don't we?”

Now Clark joined them, and he and Johnny started telling her fish stories and jesting about some of their recent wild adventures, and Anna truly didn't know if they were joking or not.

Then, just a week later, Clark came home with the biggest fish tale Anna had ever heard. Unfortunately, this one was true. A pod of sperm whales had beached themselves along the Florence beach. Disturbed by what seemed a hopeless situation, Anna and Sarah went with Clark, along with some of the guests who wanted to see this strange phenomenon for themselves. Hoping they could help, they went equipped with shovels and buckets and ropes, joining dozens of others down at the beach.

But what they saw was so disturbing . . . so sad . . . Anna could barely stand to look at the mounds of dark shining bodies. More than forty sperm whales of various sizes were lying motionless on the sand. To think that only yesterday they'd been swimming freely in the Pacific, and today they were trapped and dying on land . . . it was too painful to witness. They soon realized there was no way to save the enormous mammals. Anna felt sickened by it. Sickened and confused. How did this happen? Why?

But when Sarah burst into uncontrollable sobs, Anna knew she needed to remove her from the beach. “Come on,” she told her. “There's nothing we can do.”

“But it's so wrong!” Sarah cried. “Why can't someone help them?”

“It's impossible,” Anna said as she guided her back to the parking lot. Away from the beach and the dying whales, Anna held Sarah in her arms and they both cried freely. Finally when they were both cried out, Sarah told Anna that it reminded her of what had happened in Jonestown.

“You know about that?” Anna asked.

“I found an old
Newsweek
magazine when I was cleaning a cabin,” she admitted. “It had photos . . . really gruesome photos. I read the article and couldn't believe it.”

“You never told me.”

Sarah shrugged. “I don't think I knew what to say . . . what to think.” She looked at Anna with sad eyes. “That could've been me.”

Anna moved a strand of hair away from Anna's eyes. “Thank God it wasn't.”

Sarah sniffed. “But seeing those whales like that . . . it's just so wrong.”

Anna just nodded, but she could see the similarities of Jonestown and the dying whales today. Unexplainable sadness. Senseless waste. So wrong.

As usual, summer was busy at the inn. But this year was different in that the store was up and running and the only meals being served were breakfast and dinner. And breakfast was only offered five days a week and dinner was only served three. Plus they had a full staff of young people from town. Still, Anna felt like she was running herself ragged to keep up. Diane had been a good manager last summer, but this year she was distracted with her fiancé and making wedding plans. Sometimes Anna thought she'd be better off having Janelle in charge, but how could she change gears in mid-season.

One thing that was going fairly smoothly was the store. Sarah had asked to be in charge of it, and, although Anna had been unsure if it was too much, she was pleasantly surprised to see that Sarah was a natural. “You take after your great-grandmother,” Anna told Sarah one afternoon. She'd brought
a box of candy bars down that had mistakenly been placed in the house.

“Your mother?” Sarah paused from stacking the bars into the rack.

“Yes. She and my father ran the store, but my mother was really quite good at a lot of the details and bookkeeping. My father was great at socializing with the customers and that was important, but it was my mother who made sure the orders were made and the bills got paid. Without her, I'm sure my father would've been overwhelmed.”

“Do you have any old photos of them?” Sarah set the empty box on the counter. “And the store?”

“Sure. There's a few of them. Do you want to see them?”

“I thought it would be fun to frame some of them and hang them in here.” Sarah pointed to the wall behind the register. “Kind of a history thing.”

“That's a wonderful idea.” Anna nodded. “I'll see what I can find.”

“Did you see Mrs. Smyth today?” Sarah asked. But before Anna could answer, a couple of young teen boys set bags of chips and soda cans on the counter. They were both looking nervously at Sarah, in the way that young boys sometimes do when around a pretty girl. Anna couldn't help but chuckle as Sarah rang up their purchases, pleasantly chatting with them.

After they left, Anna asked why she would've seen Mrs. Smyth today.

“She came by to tell me that I'd been accepted at the university.”

“Really?” Anna blinked. She'd almost forgotten that Mrs. Smyth had been helping Sarah to apply to some local colleges.

Sarah grinned. “So I guess it's final. I'll be going to the U of O this fall. I think I want to major in anthropology or sociology . . . or something like that.”

“Oh, sweetheart, Hazel would be so proud of you.”

Sarah shook her head with an amazed expression. “It's still kind of hard to believe. I mean when I think about where I was at . . . just last fall. Pretty weird.”

“You've come a long way.”

She nodded, calling out a cheery greeting to an older couple who'd just come into the store. “What a trip, huh?”

Several more customers came into the store now, and Anna knew that Sarah needed to give them her attention. So, congratulating her on the college acceptance, Anna left. But as she walked up to the house, she felt an unexpected sadness come over her. Oh, certainly, it was bittersweet . . . but it was still there. Sarah would be leaving in the fall. Once again, she would be removed from Anna's life. And, really, Anna wouldn't have it any other way. Sarah was too brilliant not to continue her education. And to think she was interested in the same things Hazel had studied and taught, well, it was beyond wonderful. Still, it would be hard to say good-bye . . . again.