East of the Sun: a 20th century inspirational romance.

by Hope Franke Strauss

  “Thanks for the ice cream,” Eden said. A trickle of chocolate ran down her chin. Justin ceremoniously wiped it away with his finger. His touch made her quiver.

  “My pleasure.” He looked at the door, but to Eden’s relief, he showed no signs of wanting to go in. “How about I call ya?”

  “Sure. That would be great.”

  Eden managed to get everyone into bed without the circus act of the previous night. Sophie prayed for her daddy, tagging a quick blessing on for Eden and Eleanor, and cuddled her dolly. Eden, on the other hand, fell asleep with images of Justin Kipper floating through her head.

  The next day, Eden had the urge to call Hillary, her good friend from up north, but decorum kept her from doing it. Hillary lived in Landers and was Cade’s friend, too. It would be unfair to make her the middle-man. Besides, Hillary already told her that she felt Eden was making a mistake she would one day regret.

  Eden did miss their coffee times together though—girl talk, gossip, the ridiculous story lines of the soap operas they both watched.

  Instead, she called Marti. Eden needed a fix of sane adult conversation, and any familiar face would do. Thankfully, Marti was free and seemed to welcome Eden’s invitation. She arrived at the end of another trying day, shortly after Eleanor and Sophie fell asleep.

  Eden barely recognised Marti. She had lost at least twenty pounds. Eden remembered how she had endured endless cruel teasing about her red hair and thick glasses. Red hair was now the trend—thanks to Sarah Ferguson’s rise to royal fame—and hers was cut short and sassy. Instead of glasses she wore terrific, green-tinted contact lenses. Though she remained somewhat boyish, Marti looked very vogue in her comfy jeans and white cotton T-shirt. She had a row of silver studs and hoops in each ear.

  “Wow, Marti. You look great!”

  “Thanks. You, too.”

  Eden knew she was just being polite. She ran her hand through her unkempt curls and brushed at her sweat pants as if that would class her up a bit.

  Marti sat on the couch, leaving, to Eden’s satisfaction, the overstuffed chair that was nestled in the corner for her. It had become her favourite spot to think and drink coffee, and she was warmed by the picturesque view of the birches and their recent explosion of fall colour.

  “Can I get you something to drink?” Eden asked. “Coffee, tea, juice?”

  “Coffee’s fine.”

  Eden returned from the kitchen with two steaming mugs of coffee. She handed one to Marti, then returned to her chair.

  “It’s been so long,” Eden said. “What have you been up to?”

  Marti took a sip and paused in reflection. “Where should I start?”

  “Last time I saw you, you had just gotten hired by a radio station.”

  “Oh yeah. I worked for them for a couple years. The working conditions there were, well, not great. Then I traveled for a year, Europe mostly, and when I returned I got a job with a different station as a DJ as a talk show host.”

  “You traveled Europe?” A great career and time to travel? Lucky her. “Tell me about it.”

  Marti launched into an enthralling account of London, Paris and other more challenging travels into Hungary and Romania. Eden felt her skin glow green.

  “What about men?” Eden said, teasing her, yet curious if Marti had bypassed her in that area, too. “I don’t suppose you have time for them.”

  Marti shaded a deeper pink and smirked. “No. No one special yet.”

  Eden nodded, shamed by her feeling of relief.

  “But enough about me,” she said. “What’s going on with you?”

  “Nothing nearly as exciting. As I mentioned before, Cade and I split up. I just arrived a couple days ago to find my mother has lost her memory. Apparently she has Alzheimer’s disease.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Yeah. So I’m trying to adjust to whatever that means. She needs a lot of care—care I’m not sure I can give her.”

  “You need to give yourself more time to get settled. Things always look better after some rest. Hey, how’s your little girl?”

  “Not so little anymore. She’s four now. Really sweet. She makes my life worth living.”

  “It must be hard on her to leave her daddy. What happened between you and Cade anyway, if you don’t mind me asking? You seemed like the perfect couple.”

  Eden cupped her hands around her coffee mug. She didn’t know how much she wanted to divulge. Yet, Marti was the same easy-going person she remembered. She could trust her. And she really needed to talk to someone.

  “Cade did sweep me off my feet. He had that effect on all the girls, didn’t he? Coming to Central Van High for grade twelve, he was new meat on the market. I mean, I’d known most of the guys at school since kindergarten, but I didn’t know anything about Cade. He was mysterious. He was also very cute, his eyes so dark and intense, they captivated my infatuation. As did his shy smile. He was a jock, too, the top player on the senior boys basketball team. What was there not to love?” she added sardonically.

  “I remember his arrival, too. He never said two words to me the whole year. But he sure had eyes for you, Eden.”

  It was funny how deeply high school memories could affect you, Eden thought. It was such a passionate, impressionable, confusing time of life. So many decisions were made with such little wisdom, often determining the outcome of your whole life.

  “I really loved him then, Marti, but…”

  “Did he cheat on you?”

  Eden answered quickly, “No.” Cade had never given her reason to suspect he’d been unfaithful.

  “Did he, you know…. Was he physically abusive?”

  “Oh, no. He’s not a violent man.”

  “Then?”

  Eden sighed. “Cade wanted to open his own sporting store, and for that he needed a lot of money. He couldn’t make that if he stayed in the city with his mom. He had a better chance logging with his dad. At first it was exciting and romantic to take off up north after grad and live together. It was an adventure. I wanted to get away from my parents, too. They were suffocating.

  “But after a while, it grew old. The money’s good up there, but the cost of living is high. And then Sophie came along, and I stopped working, and next thing we’re in the same rut as everyone else. It hit me one day. We were never going to leave. Cade didn’t hate it like I did. He’d made a life for himself, hunting, fishing, and skidooing. Cade would go out with the boys and I’d be left alone. I was ready to leave him after the first year, but then I got pregnant.

  “My parents insisted that we get married, you know, for the baby’s sake, and between them and Cade, the pressure was too much. I gave in. It was a mistake. We have nothing in common. To be honest, I’m bored. It sounds callous, but that’s the truth of it. I need more excitement in my life.”

  Marti just hummed and nodded, that “oh-I-see” type of nod. Eden could tell she wanted to say something, but she was holding back.

  “Come on, Marti, say it. It’s okay. My friend Hillary thinks I’ve made a mistake, too.”

  “Eden, you have a man, a handsome man I might add, who loves you and a precious daughter who deserves a full-time daddy. You’re young and beautiful with lots of potential to find fulfilment in many different ways. It’s too big of a sacrifice for the sake of excitement. Can’t you and Cade find some middle ground?”

  “It makes sense the way you say it, Marti, but it’s not that easy. I just don’t love him anymore. Nothing is going to change that. If we stay together, we’ll all be miserable. If I’m happy, Sophie will be happy, right? And right now, I’m just not happy. It really is better this way. He’ll find a northern girl who loves all that outdoorsy stuff and me… who knows?”

  Justin Kipper’s name was on the tip of her tongue.

  9

  Eden

  AN EARLY autumn breeze blew through the thin sweater Eden wore. The sunshine had deceived her into believing it was warmer outside than it actually was, and unfortun
ately, this chill would only aggravate the cold she had been nursing. Eleanor as usual wore several layers, and Sophie had on her fall coat, so they didn’t feel the cold. Sophie skipped ahead as they drew near the drive, turning the corner before Eden did.

  She saw something that made her shout and run. Eden spotted the red four-by-four pickup truck, the sides of which were caked in mud.

  It was Cade.

  Shouts of “Daddy, Daddy!” filled the neighbourhood. Cade swung Sophie around enough times to make Eden dizzy. Sophie clung to his neck with all her might.

  A solid lump filled Eden’s throat, and she pinched her eyes to ward off the threat of tears. She really hadn’t understood her daughter’s pain until that moment. She hadn’t grasped how desperately Sophie missed her father.

  “Hi Eden,” Cade said casually. He looked good, better than Eden remembered, though not at all like Justin. Where Justin was slim and wore a goatee, Cade was muscular and clean-shaven. Justin had long hair, usually tied back; Cade’s hair was short and neat.

  “Hi,” Eden replied. “What a surprise.”

  “I wanted to see my daughter.” Sophie still held on to his neck almost choking him. “It’s just a quick trip. I have to be back at work on Wednesday.”

  “I see,” Eden said, and she promptly sneezed. Stupid cold. “Excuse me.”

  Cade turned to greet Eleanor. “Hi, Mom.”

  “Hello, young man. Do you work with my Josh? He’s been gone for...”

  “Mom,” Eden interrupted. “This is Cade, remember? My husb…”

  Eden stopped cold. Cade’s gaze narrowed, challenging her. He was her husband, even if she wasn’t treating him like a spouse. “Why don’t we go inside?” Eden said in an awkward attempt to redeem herself. She felt the glare of Cade’s anger sear through her back.

  She turned up the thermostat, wanting to warm the house, but no measure of heat could thaw the icy coldness of a broken relationship. She went through the motions of making lunch for Sophie and her mother. Cade had declined Eden’s offer to feed him and she had lost her appetite.

  “Daddy, I made a macaroni picture today. It looks like a dog, but the noodles keep sliding off ‘cause I used too much white glue, but that’s okay, ‘cause my teacher said it would dry, but I have to leave it flat on my table overnight and then I can paint it tomorrow. Can you come to my school tomorrow?”

  Cade chuckled at her exuberance. “Sure, sweetheart.”

  “Oh, yeah!” Sophie bounced up and down like a rubber ball. “And then you can see my friends, and I can show you for show-and-tell!”

  “I don’t know if they will think I’m as interesting as all that, pumpkin.”

  “Oh, Daddy. Grandma has the biggest garden, but it’s not really like a garden, not with carrots and tomatoes, just a lot of bushes and things. I pretend it’s Hundred Acre Wood, you know, where Winnie the Pooh lives and Tigger and Christopher Robin.”

  Cade glanced over at Eden. She could see the humour in Cade was fading. It was obvious that Sophie really missed her father.

  “And,” Sophie said, her voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper, but still loud enough for Eden to hear, “I have secret places there, special places for just me and the cats, and Winnie the Pooh of course.”

  “Of course.” Cade nodded.

  “I can show you them. You wanna see my secret places?”

  Cade reached for her small hand. “Lead the way.”

  Eden winced. She didn’t know about Sophie’s secret places. Her daughter was shutting her out.

  Eden went upstairs to freshen up. The reflection in the mirror deflated her ego. Her eyes were swollen and her nose was red, not exactly the thriving beauty she had wanted Cade to see. She popped a decongestant, washed her face, reapplied her makeup and brushed her hair. It made a nominal improvement.

  She hesitated at the top of the stairs. She didn’t want to interfere with Cade and Sophie’s reunion. An uncomfortable feeling of being left out and unwelcome in the circle left her short of breath. She turned around, went to her room, and lay down on her bed.

  She thought about her life since leaving Landers. Eventually, the three of them had settled into a routine: breakfast, lunch, supper, bedtime. As long as Eleanor didn’t catch Eden cleaning up after her, she was fine. Eden encouraged her mother to spend a lot of time in the garden and watching TV so she could keep up with the housework undetected. Eden chose to ignore Eleanor’s strange makeup and excessive layers of clothing, as well as the fact that she continued to bathe in her underwear.

  Her calls to Aunt Lillian were never answered. After a trip to her apartment found it vacant, Eden filed a missing persons report. It turned out they already had her on file. She wasn’t missing; she was in the hospital. Apparently, she’d had a stroke in the mall, and had been transported directly to the emergency room. Someone had called to inform Eleanor, but she, of course, had no recollection of it. So the mystery of Aunt Lillian’s disappearance was solved. Bad timing though. If only Eden had come down a couple of weeks earlier, she could have had a lot of her questions answered.

  Eden felt terrible that she hadn’t even gone to the hospital to visit her aunt, but the nurse she spoke with said that Aunt Lillian wasn’t able to talk anymore, and she slept most of the time. Still, she should make an effort, soon, when she wasn’t so tired…

  A horrible racket coming from below awakened her from her unscheduled nap some time later. Sophie was screaming. Eden bolted from her bed.

  “What’s going on?” she shouted.

  Eleanor and Sophie were having a serious tug-of-war over Sophie’s doll. Cade seemed at a loss as to how to mediate.

  “Let go of my dolly, Grandma!”

  Eleanor tugged back.“Give me my baby!”

  “Sophie! Mom! Stop it this instant!”

  “She’s got my dolly, Mommy! Why won’t she give it to me?”

  Eleanor held the offending toy tightly to her chest, bouncing it up and down as if to bring it comfort. Eden gave Cade a “see-what-I-mean” look. “Why don’t you two go do something fun together,” she said. “I’ll get your dolly back for you, Sophie, while you’re gone, okay?”

  Sophie sniffed and ran into Cade’s arms. “I’ll have her back in time for bed,” he said.

  “Sure. Have fun.” Eden watched through the window as Cade helped Sophie into the passenger side of the truck. She chewed on her lower lip as they drove away.

  10

  Eleanor

  “HEY, Ellie, wait up!” Joshua’s long legs made quick strides and soon kept pace with Ellie Williams. “What’s your hurry? Got a beau waiting for you at home?”

  “Oh, stop that, Joshua! I had to buy a few things at the market, and I need to get home before Pa does. That’s all.”

  “Just teasin’ you. How’s your ma?”

  “Not too good today.”

  “Is that why you weren’t in school?”

  “Uh-huh, but I do a lot of homework so I don’t get behind.”

  “That’s good, ‘cause with graduation coming up it would be a shame if you weren’t standing there in those funny robes with the rest of us.”

  The sparkle in Joshua’s eyes seemed to shed light into Ellie’s grim world.

  “Grad forty-six,” he added. “Has a ring to it now, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah, it does,” she said, smiling.

  “Well, I hope you can make it to school tomorrow.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Gotta run, now. See ya later.”

  “See ya.” And as quickly as he had come he was gone. Ellie’s legs just about gave out from under her. Joshua Emerson had run to catch up to her! He was worried about her! After the heaviness of her life over the last couple years, she almost floated off the ground. Her heart leaped and her feet skipped all the way home. If only she could always be this happy.

  Ellie quickly put the grocery items away. They bought most of their needs from Kippers Market, except of course for eggs, milk and pork. Their lot was small
, only one and a half acres, but big enough for a cow, two pigs and a pen full of chickens.

  She put the kettle on the gas stove and twisted the knob on the transistor radio. Frank Sinatra’s smooth melodies warmed up the dreary atmosphere. Ellie hummed along, …love will not die... Josh joined her in her dreams, an invisible partner, …east of the sun and west of the moon…, twirling around the kitchen in an imaginary world more magical than Snow White’s, until the whistle blew, evaporating the dream like the steam from the kettle.

  Ellie carefully made her mother a cup of tea just the way she liked it, one sugar and a lot of milk, humming softly on her way up the stairs.

  “Ma, I brought your tea.”

  “Hello, dear. Thank you.”

  Ellie set it on the table beside the large bed. “How are you feeling today?”

  “Okay.” Her ma never complained. “Could you please…open the window a bit more? I want to…smell the spring air.” Her voice was low and her breathing shallow.

  Ellie hurried to the window and opened it wider. She was afraid her mother might catch a chill, but she knew the fresh air would do her good.

  “That’s better. Oh, I can smell…the sweetness of the roses. Can’t you?”

  “Yes, Ma. They smell lovely.”

  “As soon as I’m a bit stronger I must go out into my gardens again.”

  “I’ll go pick some for you, Ma. I’ll be right back.” Ellie blocked out the mounting anxiety she felt for her mother, and bounded down the steps to the gardens.

  Ellie brought her mother fresh flowers from the gardens daily, but it had slipped her mind today. Intruding thoughts of Joshua Emerson were stealing her concentration. Soon she was back in her mother’s room arranging the pastel roses in a vase.

  “Those are beautiful.”

  “They are, Ma, ‘cause they’re from your garden.”

  Ellie sat in the chair beside the bed. Often they would go for long periods of time before speaking, just content to be in each other’s presence, but at this moment, Ellie couldn’t contain her joy.