Home for Love (An Adult Contemporary Romance)

by Price, Aneesa

  This feeling was different, less dramatic, but just as painful. It was the realization that she’d been disillusioned too often, that she’d allowed herself to fall to often and that she’d failed herself. She knew she needed to do something about it. She couldn’t carry on the way she was - it wasn’t fair to her grandparents or to Amber. She’d caught her grandparents sneaking worried looks at her and each other. When she did, she responded with cheerfulness, knowing that it came across as brittle and wouldn’t alleviate their concern. Her feelings of self-defeat remained, like a heavy chain hanging around her neck, pulling her forward and down. She knew all of that, but she didn’t know how to overcome it.

  She didn’t regret moving back to Alaska. It helped having her grandparents around and being part of a family again. Her grandparents seemed to thrive with the extra life in the farmhouse, having Amber and her to coddle and fret over. It was as though their energy was renewed. Amber, too, thrived here, having adapted to the extremes of Alaskan living naturally as though she’d been genetically made for it. Amber was doing well in school, had made new friends, loved the outdoor activities Alaska had to offer and mostly loved that she’d gone from being part of a two person family to a more extensive one with two grandparents and a father added.

  As far as she went, there were a few things going well in her own life. Her career at the school was progressing in a positive direction. She’d worked hard and had earned the respect and trust of her colleagues and the principal. When she’d enhanced the children’s aftercare program with a range of scheduled extra-curricular activities that nurtured and developed them creatively, physically, and mentally, the parents had begun to rave about it and her colleagues commended her. She now felt secure in her position at the school, no mean feat for a newly qualified teacher at her very first job. Thinking of her professional achievements lightened her heart a bit and Bree felt some of the ache dissipate.

  “Hey Bree,” a masculine voice interrupted her introspection.

  Shielding her eyes against the sun with her hand, she looked up and saw Jack from The Lodge. “Hi,” she returned the greeting.

  “Mind if I sit?” he asked, indicating the spot on the blanket next to her.

  She did mind, not really wanting the company, but couldn’t say no without being rude, so she nodded her head instead. “Sure,” she replied.

  “I haven’t seen you again at The Lodge,” he began the conversation. “I guess Todd’s been keeping you busy.”

  “Oh, Todd and I are not an item,” she clarified. “We had dinner at The Lodge because Amber, my daughter,” Bree waved an arm to where Amber was playing, “was sick so she couldn’t go with her dad for the daddy -daughter dinner he had planned. Instead of cancelling the reservation, I filled in at the insistence of my grandmother and Amber of course.”

  “As you weren’t a very willing participant,” he said, looking at her, “I hope you enjoyed your dinner nonetheless.”

  “I wasn’t unwilling,” Bree clarified again. At his skeptical look, she laughed, her fist real laugh since the fight with Todd, “Oh, okay, I was unwilling. And yes, the dinner didn’t disappoint. That’s an amazing place you have there. You should feel really proud of yourself.”

  “Thank you and yes, I am happy that I’ve managed to keep it floating since most new businesses go under in the first two years and this was such a new concept for this part of Alaska. But,” he waved his hand towards the many tourists intermixed with the locals at the lake, “as you can see, we’ve all embarked on a new journey in this town and it’s paying off for all of us. Being local born and bred helped ease some of the resistance. I got the feeling that they were impressed by the money I made when I went to Silicone Valley and indulged my ‘mad scheme’ as they referred to it behind my back. Then, when I employed locals to help with everything that I could during the building phase, it chipped a bit off their block of resistance. Opening the restaurant and training locals to run it, sending them off for training in Paris, New York, and Anchorage helped some too. Bringing in fresh blood in the form of the beauty salon with a view to up-skilling two local girls had them nearly convinced. But, what convinced them was the increase in tourists visiting the town because of the niche accommodation The Lodge offers. It proved that I wouldn’t steal away the other accommodation establishments’ customers.”

  Bree watched him while he spoke. He was passionate, it animated him, and from what she heard, although he was a shrewd businessman, he’d kept the good of the community in mind. “I’m very impressed,” she stated, warmly.

  Jack actually blushed and waved the compliment away. “Oh no, I didn’t say that to brag. My apologies, I get carried away sometimes and forget that it bores people.”

  “I didn’t find that boring at all,” she smiled at him. “Being back after a while, you see the changes and make assumptions about how they came about. It’s good to hear it explained.”

  “I hear that you’re doing great work at the school,” he said, eyes twinkling with appreciation of the conversation. “In fact, I was wondering if I could pick your brain.”

  “Oh?” she inquired, wondering what on earth he was going on about.

  “I have a mutually beneficial proposition to put forward to the school, but I don’t want to go in blindly. It would help to be able to bounce my ideas off of someone who understands the school and the town. Would you be interested in helping?”

  “That depends on what that help would entail,” Bree answered, truthfully. “While Amber has settled down well, as a mom, I’m weary of getting too busy.”

  “For now,” he said, “it would just be conversation. What do you say to brunch at The Lodge? I’ve got a meeting next Saturday, but am completely free the Saturday thereafter. I could come pick you up and we can have a meal and I can share my ideas with you - pick your brain?”

  Bree had enjoyed their conversation. It had taken her mind nearly off Todd - nearly, not entirely. Maybe she needed a bit more of it. “Sure, that sounds great,” she accepted, lips curving. “But don’t worry about picking me up - seems like a lot of trouble. I’ll just use Granddad’s truck and meet you there.” After they finalized the details of the meeting and said their goodbyes, she watched Jack walk off and she smiled to herself. The brunch idea did sound great and she found that she was looking forward to it.

  xxx

  While Bree was at the lake with Amber, the meddling busybodies of Devil’s Creek were assembled at the Ramsay farmhouse to discuss the current state of affairs between Bree and Todd and to agree on the best approach they should take to resolve the situation. They called themselves the Devil’s Peak Cares Association or DPC. They did a lot of good in the community. One Saturday a month, they sold pancakes at the local country market to fund their charity drives. They used the money to fund a number of youth programs, to provide frail care assistance to the elderly and they ran a bi-weekly soup kitchen. That was expected of them.

  What wasn’t expected, but appreciated was how they’d rallied in the past to raise funds for a local girl’s wedding and given money and support to a family whose cancer-stricken young daughter needed a bone marrow transplant. More controversially, they’d made Brick Smith’s life a living hell and ran him out of town after they’d found out that he was terrorizing his dear sweet wife and children. Though they’d vehemently deny it, they gave financial assistance to the woman and her brood to this day.

  It was for all of these good works, and unselfish intentions that the town forgave them their meddling. For meddling, was there biggest, collective talent. Romantics at heart, they also made it their informal, though generally agreed upon mission, to bring together the young and old in love and holy matrimony.

  “The polar bear swimming contest went well this year,” Moira shared, running her eyes over the figures neatly tabled in the DPC’s ‘black book’. “We’ve raised enough money to continue for a few months with the programs we have and have a little left over to get those giant inflatables over from
Fairbanks for the annual summer picnic.”

  “Let’s not use the money for that,” Mr. Stewart piped in. “As it is tourist season, let’s apply to some of the local businesses to contribute towards getting it in, then we can bank the money for a rainy day - they always seem to creep up on us when we’re broke and have no umbrellas.”

  “You’re speaking like an outsider,” Shelly chirped, drawing laughter from the others as she teased Mr. Stewart. “Alaskans never mind the weather. We deal with it. But, you do make a valid point. I could spring some cash from the boutique, use the opportunity for promotion. We’ll probably have the inflatables for a while anyway as we’ll have to fly them in. So, why don’t we put them up in the town square after the annual picnic? That’ll draw the tourists into town and give moms and dads a chance to shop and spend their money while the children play.”

  “Good idea,” agreed Paula. “If that’s the case, the grocery store could donate something too. We can round up some of the kids from the youth program and get them to watch over and entertain the little ones.”

  “Okay,” interrupted Moira, “now that we have the picnic and the inflatables sorted, let’s move onto Bree and Todd.” Her eyes darted to the clock above the mantle-place. “It won’t be long before she comes back.”

  “I’m stumped,” Shelly said, empathically. “We’ve pulled out all the stops for them and they don’t bite.”

  Mrs. Stewart’s head bobbed vigorously in agreement. “They’re a hard-headed couple, those two. In my day, you got together, got married, and dealt with whatever came your way. Nowadays, women want fairytales and men want superwoman. I don’t know what the youth are on about.”

  Paula patted Mrs. Stewart’s hand gently in consolation. “Now, now dear, don’t upset yourself.” Then looking at the other grim, flummoxed faces, she stated, “Sending Bree over with Todd’s coffee had worked out so well. They’d ended up spending the whole day together and were in good spirits with each other for quite some time.”

  “In my day,” interjected Mrs. Stewart, “the young people’s parents had a conversation, and married them. The older generation knows what’s best for the young ones. Now, that they have this freedom to choose, they keep buggering up.” The others nodded out of courtesy and respect rather than agreement while Paula continued to pat Mrs. Stewart’s hand.

  “Do you remember Delilah and Rod?” Shelly hurriedly changed the subject with a random question. “We got them together quickly. We gave them an opportunity to get together alone, their lips locked, and that was the end of it.”

  “They locked more than their lips dear,” Paula responded eliciting wicked grins and chuckles.

  “My part went well too,” added Mr. Stewart, bringing their attention back to the matter at hand. “Heck, I even played sick for a whole day so they could get locked up in the shed and from what mamma told me, they left the shed in a good way.”

  “It seemed to have gone wrong with my part,” Moira offered, taking off her spectacles and folding it on the black book that sat on her lap, “forcing them to go to dinner together. It was just, too good an opportunity to miss, but maybe the lack of planning was where it went wrong. Since that night, they’ve been like icicles. You’d swear that we were still in winter it’s so cold to be around them. And, what’s more, Amber’s a pretty perceptive child; she’ll pick up on it eventually. The only thing keeping it from affecting her is their dedication to her that’s making them put on a brave face in front of her.”

  Encouraged by the sympathetic looks thrown her way, Moira continued. “Maybe planning’s the answer. You all planned your interventions to the last detail. This time around, probably because I’m so emotionally involved, I threw caution to the wind and acted spontaneously. We need another intervention and we need to plan it in detail.”

  The nods of agreement and ensuing plotting were abruptly stopped by Daniel Ramsay’s booming voice as he entered the living room. “What you need,” he looked Moira squarely in the eye, “is to leave them be, - you all need to back off.”

  Moira’s head whipped back in surprise and Daniel felt a twinge of guilt. They’d been married for close to sixty years and she was still his darling girl, but sometimes her good intentions got in the way of her good mind. And, because she was as stubborn as he was, she wasn’t open to hints and manipulation, so he needed to say it straight off, as hard as it was for him to be firm with her.

  Taking a chair and placing it next to her, Daniel took Moira’s hand and gently placed it in hers. She looked at him from lowered lids, eyes reflecting confusion and a bit of shame. Good, he thought, squeezing her hand in reassurance, there was a glimmer of guilt so there was hope to stop the ‘Meddling Association’ as he secretly called them.

  He looked around at the unusually silent crowd, his friends, and neighbors, and said with as much feeling as he could muster, “Your intentions are good and I respect that. That you do so much good is honorable and kind. It makes you the best people I know.”

  The others in the room blushed or dipped their heads in embarrassment, because praise from the strong, stalwart Daniel did not come lightly or insincerely. Good, thought Daniel, things were going as he’d planned them to. “But sometimes, good intentions can lead to bad situations. And, although, you didn’t mean for it to be so, that’s what’s happened with my granddaughter and that fine, young man. All was going as it should, as the natural way of things needed them to go. They were becoming accustomed to being a family, to being parents working together. Maybe they would’ve sorted things out and gotten back together and maybe they still will.”

  “But,” the steel in his gaze stopped the conspiratorial gleams in their eyes, “if they get together, it’ll take them to make to be turning that into reality. Not you. For I reckon that, you’ve made that harder. There’s a rift between them now and no pushing them together is going to be fixing it. What’s more is that I’ve never seen my granddaughter this unhappy before. I can take tears and tantrums but I can’t take this martyred-type of happiness. That is killing her and it kills me to watch it. So, if you respect me and love me as I do all of you, then you’ll grant me this one wish and not meddle this once. But knowing you, you can’t sit back and just watch. So, I’ll ask that instead of meddling, you lend them care and support, give them strength to heal from whatever happened and move on so maybe they can find that happiness we want for them by themselves.”

  Leaving them with that to chew on, Daniel leaned over and kissed his wife’s forehead. “I better go check on my seedlings. I’ll see you later, my darling.” Moira grabbed his hand and squeezed it by way of apology. What he’d said had cut to the heart of things and because it wasn’t what any of them had wanted to hear, that he’d pressed on because they’d needed to hear it, made him a brave man. The Irish in her didn’t take to kindly to being ordered about and the squeeze was also meant to let him know that she forgave him for the set down.

  Nodding in understanding, Daniel looked down at her and winked, before leaving them to the chaos that was bound to erupt upon his departure.

  “Anyone for some more tea?” Shelly asked, breaking the ice.

  “To hell with tea,” grumbled Mrs. Stewart. “Moira, bring some of that Irish stuff you keep.”

  And like that, the atmosphere thawed. Drinking their ‘Irish stuff’, they smoothly, swiftly made a U-turn in the conversation and began merrily arguing and scheming on how to best support Todd and Bree.

  Chapter 12

  Her class dismissed and she was ready to go home, Bree walked down the hallway of the school to Amber’s classroom to pick her up. The kids were restless - blame it on a Friday afternoon. Having the annual town picnic the next day didn’t help temper down the excitement either. As adorable and understandable as that was, it had been tiring work to keep them calm enough to get through the day’s lessons. Eventually, Bree had given up on the usual curriculum and had taken the kids outside to go bug-hunting and berry-picking from the wild, heavily bedecked b
ushes that sprang up like weeds during the Alaskan summer. The day hadn’t then turned out to be a waste as the children received a very practical biology lesson under the open sky.

  Outside Amber’s class, waiting with the other parents of children who did not live on the bus routes, was her grandmother. “Hi gran,” she said, kissing her cheek in greeting. “What brings you here?”

  “I was in town,” Moira explained, “and finished what I was doing earlier than expected. So I thought I’d pop by and take Amber out for a treat - some Gran and Amber special time.”

  “That’s very sweet of you,” Bree beamed. “I’m sure Amber will love it.”

  “Oh, I’ll love it too,” Moira said smiling.

  “Hi Amber,” Bree waved her daughter over as she exited her classroom. It was really cute that Amber insisted that her mother call her by name whilst at school and not by a term of endearment. Bree observed her daughter hug another girl, who was fast becoming her best friend, before heading towards them. It wasn’t long ago that they were in Columbus and Amber ran towards her mom whenever she spotted her after school. Feeling the twinge of time gone by, Amber relished the fact that her little girl was growing up and establishing real roots in Devil’s Peak.

  “Hi Mom, hi grandma,” Amber scurried over and gave them each a peck on the cheek. “Why are you both here?”

  “I’ve got a surprise for you,” Moira leaned down and whispered conspiratorially in Amber’s ears. Bree watched Amber’s eyes pop wide then glisten with excitement at the treats her grandmother was promising.

  “I’ll leave the two of you then to go and enjoy yourselves. I’ll see you back home later,” Bree said. “I’ll start dinner in the meantime. Should I tell granddad that you’ll be a while?”