River's End (9781426761140) (31 page)

Brad agreed to this, and, before Anna got into the car, she hugged her daughter tightly. She wanted to tell Lauren that since Sarah was now going to school, Lauren could consider moving back to the river, but she knew that Lauren was making her own way, carving her own path, and Anna wouldn't be surprised if Brad was going to be a part of those plans. For Lauren's sake, she hoped so.

Fall came gently, and Anna and Clark fell into a slower speed. And to Anna's relief, Jewel and Skip continued to postpone what seemed to be the inevitable—moving to town. The baby wasn't due until after Christmas, and Jewel seemed determined to hang on at the river for as long as possible.

“I love Skip,” she confided to Anna one morning, “but his mother is insufferable.”

“But you won't be living with his mother,” Anna pointed out.

“Ha!” Jewel shook her head dismally. “Skip's parents want us to live in his grandma's old house. She's moving into a retirement center. But her house is right next door to Skip's parents. It'll feel like we're living with them.”

“Oh . . .” Anna reluctantly recalled her years of living too close to her first mother-in-law. While she didn't want to plant any more worrisome thoughts in Jewel's head, she hoped that Jewel wasn't about to get into something like that.

“I wish we could stay here.”

“You know you're more than welcome,” Anna assured her. Of course, they'd already made this clear to both of them—although they weren't trying to influence them one way or the other. This decision belonged to the young couple. “We'd love having a baby around,” she reminded Jewel. “And even if you do move to town, I hope you'll come out to visit sometimes.”

Lauren called Anna in October to share her good news. “We're engaged!” she cried into the phone.

“That's wonderful,” Anna told her. “I'm so happy for both of you!”

“He's my soul mate, Mom. I just know it.”

“He seems like a wonderful man, Lauren.”

“I told him I want the wedding to be at the river. Is that okay?”

“It's more than okay, Lauren, I'm thrilled. Have you set a date?”

“We thought sometime after Christmas. So I can be done with my classes. Or maybe New Year's Eve. That would be fun.”

“Well, either time is fine around here. You know how slow things are during December. We'll have plenty of room. And I assume he'll have family that will want to come.”

“Yes. We'll make a plan and let you know.”

“I'm really happy for you, Lauren. Brad is a good guy. Do you know where you'll live?”

“Brad has this really great house on one of the south hills over here. It's got vaulted open-beamed ceilings and lots of windows. You'd love it, Mom.”

“Hopefully I'll get to see it someday.”

“Someday soon!”

They talked a while longer, and Anna tried not to let the sadness she felt creep into her voice. She truly was thrilled for Lauren's sake, and she knew Lauren was over the moon with happiness. But she also knew this meant that Lauren would probably never move back home again. And, really, Anna should've known better than to expect that she would. Grown children weren't supposed to move back home. They were supposed to create their own way . . . and yet . . . Anna had hoped.

With Thanksgiving approaching, Anna longed to gather her family together and was delighted to hear that, besides Marshall and Joanna joining them, both Sarah and Lauren planned to come home as well.

“I want to stay here, too,” Jewel told her as they were folding towels together just a few days before the holiday, “but Skip thinks we should go to his sister's.”

“Well, know that you're welcome,” Anna said. “The more the merrier.”

“I'll try to talk Skip into it.” Jewel rubbed her enlarged midsection. “I can always tell him that I'm too tired to go to town and back.” She giggled. “Might as well use this while I can.”

Anna laughed. “It would be fun to have you and Skip, too. I thought maybe we'd all play games. I want to keep things lively so that Sarah and Lauren are too busy to worry about old baggage.”

“I don't see why Sarah has such a problem with Lauren. I mean my mom wasn't the greatest, but we're okay.”

Anna wasn't sure how much Jewel knew about Lauren and wasn't sure how much to tell her. “Well, it's complicated,” she said.

“It's not like Lauren was a drug addict or anything.” Jewel laughed.

“Actually . . .” Anna cleared her throat. “She was.”

“Oh?” Jewel's eyes got wide. “I had no idea.”

“Yes, well, it's not something I usually share. But Sarah has been through a lot. Lauren was never much of a mother. And Sarah's dad wasn't much better. I guess we shouldn't have been so shocked when she ran away at sixteen.”

“She was only sixteen?”

Anna nodded as she placed a towel on the growing stack. “In some ways she seemed much older, but she was only sixteen.”

“Wow, that is hard. I didn't realize. I was out of high school by the time I ran off. And that was hard enough for my mom.” Jewel rubbed her belly again. “Man, I hope my kid never does anything like that to me.”

“Hopefully, you'll be a good mother and your kid will never want to run away.”

Anna had already gotten groceries, baked some pies, and was planning on a full table of family for Thanksgiving when she got Sarah's call on Wednesday morning. It seemed that Sarah had run into Lauren at the bookstore and consequently discovered that Lauren was coming for Thanksgiving, too.

“So I think I'll just stay on campus,” Sarah said casually, “I'll catch up on my studies as well as my sleep.”

“But I want to see you,” Anna said.

“I promise I'll come home right after finals week,” Sarah assured her. “That's only three weeks off.”

“But it's Thanksgiving,” Anna told her. “It would be so nice to be together.”

“I'm sorry, Grandma. But, really, I think it's best. The truth is I'm kind of stressed out over school. I took some pretty hard classes, and I want to make good grades.”

Anna tried to talk her out of it, saying that a break might do her good, but Sarah could be awfully stubborn when she wanted to.

“Well, if you change your mind, you are more than welcome to join us, Sarah. You know that.”

“I know.” She apologized once more then said she had to go because someone else needed to use the phone.

It wasn't until that evening that she heard the rest of the disappointing news. “Lauren called this afternoon.” Skip told Anna as he stood just inside the door. The rain was pelting down behind him. “Jewel took the message and forgot to tell you. Anyway, Jewel said that Brad's got a bad cold so they won't be coming tomorrow.”

“A bad cold?” Anna was skeptical.

“That's what she said.” Skip shrugged. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”

Clark stood up from where he'd been reading the newspaper and came over to join them. “That reminds me.” He grimaced. “Although I'm sure you won't want to hear my news now.”

Anna frowned. “What is it?”

“Marshall and Joanna can't come either. Marshall said his mom was pressuring him to spend a holiday with her.”

Anna sighed. “Well, I can't blame her for that.”

“The upside is that Marshall said this gives them the green light to spend Christmas with us. And they really want to be here for Lauren's wedding.”

“That'll be nice.” She forced a smile and turned to Skip. “So how about you and Jewel? Have you changed your plans too?”

“Well, my mom is pretty peeved at me for turning down my sister's invite.” Skip shook his head. “Seems she was planning to make it part Thanksgiving and part baby shower for Jewel. As a surprise, you know? But no one told us.”

“Maybe you should join them,” Clark said.

“Yes,” Anna agreed. “I hate to think of Jewel missing out on a baby shower. And it's not as if there will be much going on here . . . not now that everyone has cancelled.”

“You really don't mind?”

Clark assured him that it was fine, and after Skip left, Anna went to give Lauren a call. Maybe she could entice her to come now that Sarah had backed out. But Lauren didn't seem to be home.

“I guess it's just going to be you and me tomorrow,” Anna told Clark as they were getting ready for bed.

“Are you terribly disappointed?”

“A little, but I'll be fine.” She continued braiding her hair, trying to act as if it didn't matter although she felt it deeply. “And we'll have lots of leftovers.”

“Leftovers are good.”

“Say, do you think Johnny Johnson would like to come over?” She tied off the braid and stood.

“Johnny's been invited to have dinner in town with Margie.” Clark took her in his arms and looked into her eyes. “But I don't mind having a nice quiet Thanksgiving for two, Anna. Think about it . . . just you and me. Might even be romantic.”

Despite her sadness, she couldn't help but smile. “Leave it to you to see the bright side, Clark.”

Jewel and Skip moved into his grandmother's house the week after Thanksgiving. Anna tried to be brave as she told them good-bye, but when she was alone she cried. She knew it was probably for the best—for Jewel and Skip and Skip's family—but Anna had longed to have them remain here on the river. She would've loved to have had a baby around again. Still, it wasn't her decision. And she knew she had to let go . . . again.

Lauren and Brad decided to get married on the Saturday after Christmas. “We want to keep it small and intimate,” Lauren told Anna when they finally connected by phone on the week after Thanksgiving. “Just family and close friends. Brad wants it to be in the evening . . . illuminated with nothing but candlelight.”

“That sounds lovely.”

“Do you think there's any chance that Sarah might come?”

“She's promised to be home for Christmas vacation. So as far as I know she'll be here.”