“As you can see, no worries about keeping up the lawn,” Jim joked. “That’s one job I scratched off my list long ago.”
“No real garden, either,” Elaine said, “though we do grow a few tomatoes and some other vegetables in a raised bed that Jim built out back.”
“How does that work out?” Liza asked curiously. “It has to be hard to grow anything in that climate.”
“You’d be surprised. We grow beans, squash, tomatoes, and even some corn. It’s a real treat when we can pick our own fresh vegetables. There’s really not much at the closest store, which is a good twenty miles away. It’s hard to find nutritious food there. I’ve been advocating for better quality groceries on the shelves, but it’s an uphill battle. I think there’s a photo of the local grocery store there someplace,” she added.
Daniel turned to another photo. This cinder-block building was larger, with several dusty, beat-up trucks and cars parked around it. Signs on the front advertised everything from ammunition to peanut butter to motor oil. Was that where the Mitchells shopped?
“But look at this,” Elaine said, showing them a photo of a sand-colored mesa against an endless deep blue sky.
“That’s amazing,” Daniel said, handing the phone back. “I’ve heard you talk about the place, but it’s been hard to imagine it. I’ve never been on a reservation. It seems like an entirely different world.”
It most definitely is, Liza thought, but she said nothing. She could see why Daniel admired Dr. Mitchell. Compared to her comfortable life on the island—or even working in a Boston hospital—the reservation seemed a harsh place. Only the most dedicated would choose to serve there, she thought.
Liza turned her attention to Elaine. “Are you in the medical field, too?” she asked her.
“No, I’m a teacher at a school on the reservation.”
“Was it hard to find a job there?”
“Well, yes and no. I wasn’t a teacher back here,” Elaine explained. “I did marketing for a publishing company. But when we moved out to Arizona, I realized I wanted to help, too. I started as a teacher’s aide and tutor while I worked on my certificate. It’s hard work. Many of the kids have very unstable homes—alcohol, drug abuse, divorce, and just plain poverty. But they’re terrific kids. Sometimes all they need is a steady support system, and they thrive.”
“That must be rewarding, when you see that you’re making a difference in a child’s life.”
“It doesn’t happen all the time. But when it does, it’s a good thing,” Elaine said simply.
Liza couldn’t help but be impressed. Running the inn was hard work, but it wasn’t a personal sacrifice. And it was filled with so many rewards, chief among them being able to live on this beautiful island in this gracious old inn. It wasn’t that Liza thought her life was frivolous. She and Claire provided a wonderful place for others to take a break from their routines, but it was very different from what Jim and Elaine were doing. They were living a life of service to others.
“How long have you been running the inn, Liza?” Elaine’s question drew Liza from her rambling thoughts. “Daniel said he worked for your aunt before you, and that’s how you met?”
“Yes, my aunt left the inn to me and my brother in her will. My brother wanted to sell it, but I persuaded him to let me fix it up and try to run it. I was in advertising before that . . . I knew nothing about innkeeping at all,” she admitted. “But somehow I muddled through, with Claire and Daniel helping me.” She glanced at Daniel. “I’m really not sure when Daniel and I first met. We once realized that we both spent summers here growing up, and may have even been building sand castles next to each other on the beach.”
“You two seem so in tune, I wouldn’t doubt it. It seems to me you were meant for each other,” Elaine said with a warm smile.
The two couples soon moved to the porch, where Claire served coffee and tea. Daniel and Jim wanted to take a quick ride around the island. Jim wanted to see some of Daniel’s renovations on big, grand old houses, as well as the old fishing colony and the cottage where Daniel lived. But Elaine couldn’t get enough of the view and preferred to sit on the porch and watch the sunset. Liza was happy to stay, too. She’d been racing around all day and she did enjoy Elaine’s company.
“If I lived here, I would never stop looking at the ocean,” Elaine said. “I’d want to be down on the beach all the time. Does it distract you from your work?”
“Sometimes, yes,” Liza confessed. “I do love seeing the water and sky the first thing when I get up in the morning, no matter what the weather is. I’m so used to it now, I don’t know if I could ever live anyplace else.”
Elaine smiled. “I can understand that. It’s a wonderful place. I’m so glad we had the time to come here and meet you.”
“I am, too,” Liza said sincerely. She was sorry the Mitchells couldn’t return for the wedding, but she hoped they would stay in touch, and that she and Daniel would see them again soon.
* * *
THE next morning, Jim and Elaine had to leave very early to catch a train from Cape Light that would connect in Boston to a train down to New York City, where Dr. Mitchell was going to visit a foundation that might give his clinic a grant. They would stay in New York for two nights and then leave for Arizona on Saturday.
When Daniel drove them to the train station, Liza went along for the ride. There were many fond good-byes and hugs exchanged at the station. Liza felt as if their visit had been too short; she had barely gotten to know them.
“I like your friends,” she told Daniel as they drove back to the inn. “I’m sorry they couldn’t stay longer.”
“They liked you, too. Jim thought you were great, and I think Elaine is already pining for a return visit.”
Liza smiled and put her hand on his shoulder. “I hope they will come back. I’m glad you got to spend some time with Jim. Did he like seeing the houses you worked on?”
“He’s pretty handy and does some carpentry himself. When he has the time. Turns out, I’m not the only one who put himself through med school renovating houses. Jim and I have more in common than I knew.”
“What did he think of you going back to medicine? You never told me,” Liza said curiously.
“He thinks it’s great, and that it’s the right time for me,” Daniel added. “He thinks that my living on the island has matured me, made me a deeper person.”
“Really? I always thought you were all that, but maybe I met you at the right time, too.”
“Maybe,” Daniel agreed, with his eyes fixed on the road. He drew in a breath, then said, “He offered me a job at the clinic, Liza. He thinks I have the right stuff—the values and temperament. And I’ve done a lot of emergency medicine and triage at the clinic here. I know how it goes when you’re the only game in town.”
Liza felt stunned by Daniel’s words. She wasn’t really that surprised that Jim had talked to him about a job. That made sense, considering he was looking for new doctors for his clinic. What surprised her was that Daniel sounded as if he was actually considering the idea.
She glanced out the window, collecting herself. She could tell he was waiting for her response. “How did you leave it with him?” she asked carefully. “Are you going to follow up?”
“I told him I’d think about it. It’s really a huge jump from any job I expected to land.”
“I’ll say.” Liza didn’t mean to sound sarcastic, but the only other opportunity Daniel was considering was a position at Matt Harding’s practice right in Cape Light. How opposite could you get?
“I do like the idea of practicing where doctors are needed, using my skills to really change lives,” he confessed. “That was part of the reason I liked working at the clinic on the island. It was something that kept the spark alive in me, Liza.”
Liza stared out the window, afraid to meet his eyes and let him see the conflicted emotion
s that were racing through her. His words were heartfelt; she knew he was only being honest. But they were getting married, and it was going to be her life, too. Every decision either of them made now deeply affected the other person. Didn’t he realize that?
But before she could find the words to voice her concerns he said, “The problem is, it’s so far from this island . . . and from you. I can’t expect you to just pick up and leave here. To leave the inn and everything you’ve worked so hard for.”
Liza turned to face him. “I have to be honest with you,” she said, choosing her words carefully. “I think Jim and Elaine are amazing people. I admire the work that they’re both doing. But for you to take a job with him there . . . that just seems impossible to me. It seems such a harsh and sad-looking place. I know I probably sound spoiled, but I could never imagine living there. I don’t know how they do it.”
She didn’t want to cry. They were having a talk about a serious topic, like married people do. And soon-to-be-married people. But Liza felt tears welling up in her eyes and choking her voice. She took a breath and turned away from him again.
“Liza . . . don’t worry. Please. Don’t be upset . . .” Daniel took her hand and coaxed her to look at him. “I was just thinking out loud, that’s all. Daydreaming a little, I guess. I didn’t mean to get you so stressed out. I am thinking of you,” he promised. “And your obligations here. I could never make a move like that if you weren’t one hundred percent on board. Please don’t worry about it. Maybe I shouldn’t have even told you.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’m glad you did. It won’t do to hide things from each other, Daniel, especially now.” She took another breath, and this time got control over her shaky voice. “Maybe once you get settled in a job here, you could go out there for a few weeks sometime, as a volunteer. It sounds like Jim can use all the help he can get.”
Daniel’s gaze was fixed on the road again. He nodded, taking in her suggestion. And taking her hand in his again. “Yes, maybe I could do that. First things first. We need to focus on our wedding right now; that’s the most important thing.”
“Yes, it is,” Liza agreed, feeling a little better. “And it’s coming up really quickly. I know we’re trying to keep it simple, but I hope everything will be ready in time.”
“It will be perfect, sweetheart. I have no worries. You’ll be the most beautiful bride anyone has ever set eyes on, and I’ll be the luckiest guy in the world. How can we miss?”
Liza had to smile at his description. When he put it that way, all her worries melted like ocean mist—even the idea of Daniel accepting a job at Jim Mitchell’s clinic.
They were going to focus on the wedding now, and everything else would fall into place. Gripping the strong, warm hand that held hers so tightly, Liza felt sure of that once again.
* * *
IT seemed to Liza that Daniel had just finished his courses and returned from Boston when the Labor Day weekend rushed up on them like a big wave that welled up on an otherwise calm day and drenched all the unsuspecting bathers.
She was entrenched in wedding preparations and felt overwhelmed by both—the wedding and the last big weekend of the summer season. Daniel’s test results were due to come the first week in September, and getting through Labor Day seemed like the last hurdle.
Everyone was working hard—Liza, Claire, Nolan, and Daniel. Guests began to check in early in the week, and by Thursday night the inn was full, right up to a few small rooms on the third floor that were hardly ever used. In fact, until that week, only Claire and Nolan had been using rooms up there.
“I feel guilty taking up saleable space,” Nolan said to Liza on Friday morning. “Maybe I should bunk out on my boat a few nights, so you can rent my room, too.”
“Nolan, don’t be silly. I don’t need your room. There are too many guests here as it is,” she added in a whisper.
The guests were assembling in the dining room and on the porch and patio, waiting to be served breakfast, while Liza and the others bustled in the kitchen, finishing the last of the breakfast preparations and grabbing quick bites of their own.
“Well, it’s the last weekend of the summer. Might as well go out in grand style,” Nolan said.
“We always do,” Claire assured him as she arranged strips of bacon on a platter.
Daniel gobbled down a muffin, then filled pitchers with iced water. “How’s the boat coming, Nolan?” he asked. “I was in the barn the other day. The outside looks great. Did you fix the interior yet?”
“It’s coming along,” Nolan replied. “I have more sanding and varnishing to do, of course. But any sailor will tell you that.”
Liza knew that Nolan had repaired the big hole in the hull and refinished the outside of the boat, so that you couldn’t even tell it had been in an accident. But there had been a lot of water damage in the cabin, and he had to throw out all the upholstery and refinish most of the wood interior. Though it seemed like an endless job, she guessed that someday he would be done and then move on.
She had been so distracted with everything going on in her own life, she hadn’t given much thought to Nolan’s progress. Now she suddenly realized that he might be leaving very soon.
“Nolan, you aren’t ready to sail away yet, are you? There’s plenty of work to do around here after this weekend, believe me. We really hope that you’ll stay through September. At least for the wedding,” Liza implored him. She and Daniel had already invited him, but he had never given them a solid answer.
Nolan smiled and cocked his head. He still didn’t answer.
Daniel put his coffee mug down on the table with a thud.
“You can’t go. Edison is going to be in the wedding party. He’ll be very disappointed . . . and I’ve already ordered his tuxedo.”
Nolan laughed and Claire did, too. She had been standing at the sink with her back to the table, and Liza had not been able to see her reaction to the conversation. She guessed that Claire didn’t want to see Nolan leave soon, either. It would be hard for her; she and Nolan had grown very close.
Liza’s heart went out to her dear friend. Claire, above all the people she knew, deserved a close and loving companion. She and Nolan seemed like such an unlikely match. And in many ways they were. But when they were together, it just worked. Even their differences seemed suited somehow, like salt is to pepper or a match to a flint. They brought out the best in each other.
Before they could press Nolan further, Claire turned from the open oven, hot mitts on both hands. “This French toast is ready . . . let’s get it out to the guests while it’s hot,” she urged the others, like a general on a battlefield.
It was all hands on deck, and they all hurried to serve breakfast. Just three more days of the long weekend. Liza counted them off in her head: Saturday, Sunday, Monday.
By Tuesday the inn would be relatively empty again. Liza looked forward to that day with a mixture of anticipation and dread. The results from Daniel’s exams were going to appear online at midnight. He’d hardly mentioned it, but she could tell it weighed heavily on his mind all weekend. They had already planned to stay up late Tuesday night and wait. They both knew that they wouldn’t sleep for a minute, wondering about the outcome.
But every time Liza caught herself worrying, she remembered Daniel’s assurances—the results of the exams wouldn’t change their plans. They were going to be married and start a new life together, whether Daniel returned to medicine or not. This was just one more milestone they would face together.
Chapter Eleven
“WHY is everyone so quiet?” Nolan asked with a laugh. He looked around the table at Liza, Daniel, and Claire.
They were eating dinner together in the kitchen. Labor Day weekend was over, and it was the first Tuesday in September. All of the guests had left but two, a couple from Pennsylvania, who had recently retired and were on a long road trip up the East Coast all the way
to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. They would be on their way tomorrow, and had chosen to dine up in Newburyport that evening.
It was a lucky break, Liza thought. She knew Claire felt the same, but perhaps for different reasons.
“Maybe we’re all just tired out from the weekend, Nolan,” Daniel replied. “But you’ll probably go out and work on your boat tonight,” he added with a smile.
“I might, after some Scrabble or gin rummy,” he said, glancing at Claire. “Energy is just in your head, young man. So is age.”
“I agree . . . but I’m just talked out,” Claire said. “I enjoy getting to know the guests, but with a full house like that, it’s hard to remember everyone’s name, much less learn where they’re from and what they do for a living. And admire pictures of their pets and grandchildren,” she added.
“You do a good job of it. You both do.” Nolan glanced at Liza. “That’s one reason people like this place so much. I met more than one family who came here twice this summer. That’s saying something.”
“Thank you, Nolan.” Liza took another bite of the roasted swordfish Claire had made. It tasted wonderful, with a delicious sauce of fresh tomatoes, corn, black beans, and herbs. But she was almost too nervous to eat. She noticed Daniel was not his voracious self tonight, either. “I am relieved the season is winding down. We have other things to focus on.”
Daniel smiled and reached over to cover her hand with his. “I’m going to rent out my cottage and start working on a master suite for us to live in here.”
“Good idea. I’d love to help you, if I can,” Nolan offered.
He picked up his dish and brought it to the sink. “When do you hear back about that test? Isn’t it soon?”
Liza was sure Nolan had heard this answer many times, but he could be forgetful about dates and times. The stereotypical absentminded professor.
“Yes, very soon.” Daniel glanced at his watch. “About five hours from now.”
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