by Marisa Logan
Mandy turned her attention to the Range Rover parked next to it. Pushing the door lock button, she and Katie got in and put on their seatbelts.
“Uh,” Mandy said as she looked around at the controls.
“What?”
“I don’t know how to drive a stick shift,” Mandy confessed weakly. “I never learned. I never needed to learn.”
She turned to find Katie staring at her in disbelief. The two of them took off their seatbelts and got out of the SUV. Mandy noticed a small tarp covering something with two wheels against the wall.
“What’s this,” she asked as she pulled the tarp away. “A Vespa! You have a Vespa!”
“Um, yeah, but its Dad’s and he never lets me drive it.”
“I’m sure if he was okay with me driving his SUV, he’ll be okay with me driving his Vespa. We’ll go to the grocery store on this!”
“Okay, but we’re not going to be able to get a lot of groceries. I’ve only got two hands and unless you’re a great driver, I’d like to have at least one to hang on to you with,” Katie said.
“No worries! I’ve got this under control. Trust me,” Mandy said as she wheeled the Vespa out of the garage. “Don’t forget to grab the shopping bags and the garage remote.”
Spying a pair of helmets on a shelf, she grabbed them and put one of them on. Handing the other to Katie, she ignored the doubts playing across the girl’s face. She might not know how to drive a stick shift, but she was a pro at scootering. The two of them got on and made it to the end of the driveway without mishap. Mandy stopped and turned around to look at Katie.
“Which way is the grocery store?”
Katie laughed and pointed to the left. Her spirits lifted as a sense of adventure overtook her doubts. They might not get a lot of groceries, but this was going to be fun.
The grocery store wasn’t more than a few miles away and by the time they arrived, Katie was confident Mandy knew her way around on a scooter. A moose standing on the side of the road only caused her to wobble a little bit. Katie was glad it wasn’t a bear. Finding a parking space near the front door, she parked the Vespa. As they walked into the store, Mandy was amazed at the shiny new expanse of the superstore and even more so when she saw the produce department with every kind of fruit and vegetable imaginable.
“This is as nice as anything we have in Atlanta,” Mandy said. “I didn’t expect this.”
Grabbing a large cart, she started picking out strawberries and oranges and grapes by the bagful. Katie watched in surprise as she threw in milk and butter and bread. Her eyes grew even wider when Mandy picked out large cartons of juice and yogurt. The cart was soon piled with all kinds of food.
“How are we going to get all of this home on the Vespa,” Katie asked as they were standing in the checkout line. “You do remember we came here on a scooter, don’t you.” This last bit was said with more than a hint of sarcasm.
“I told you. I have this under control. You just have to trust me.”
“Okay,” said Katie as she threw a couple of chocolate bars and some gum in the pile. She watched Mandy pay for the groceries in silence and then followed her outside.
Mandy stopped at the front door and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed a number and handed the phone to Katie.
“Get us a cab,” she said.
Katie asked for a cab to come to the store as she realized Mandy’s plan to get the groceries home. She had to admit, her new nanny caught on pretty fast. She started to laugh as Mandy gave her a wink.
***
Over the next couple of days, Darren checked in with Katie frequently, but he wasn’t able to come home. He made several suggestions of things for them to do while he was away. Katie had her own ideas.
On this particular day, it was rainy and too cold for the Vespa so the two of them decided to stay at home. Katie was in her room putting some of her clothes away when Mandy came in to see what she wanted for lunch.
“What are all these for,” Mandy asked, pointing at a large pile of brightly colored t-shirts.
Katie looked at the pile sadly. With a shrug she pulled it off the shelf and brought it over to her bed. Spreading the shirts out across the bed, she started explaining the importance of each one.
“This is from my soccer team in the first grade and this is from a relay race at the park. This one is from the swim team in third grade…they’re all just old shirts from every sports thing I was ever a part of…” Her voice trailed off as she toyed with the pile of shirts absently.
Mandy picked up one of the shirts and looked at it carefully.
“So, there’s a 2nd place ribbon sewed onto this one. What’s that about?”
“That’s from my mom. She was really into all this stuff and she wanted to remember what all the shirts and all the ribbons were about so when I won a ribbon, she would embroider it to the t-shirt that matched.”
“What a great idea,” Mandy said. “Did you have a plan for these since you’ve kept them all?”
“A plan? There was no plan. We just kept them and then she died and I…”
Katie looked so sad that Mandy wanted to cry. Her heart ached for the little girl’s loss.
“Did you ever consider making them into a quilt or a wall hanging,” Mandy asked. They would make a beautiful quilt and I can help you make it. My grandmother taught me how to quilt when I was about your age. It’s really fun and easy to learn.”
Katie’s eyes brightened at the thought and she looked at the t-shirts with surprise. The idea of a quilt seemed like a great way to use them. She was sure her mother would approve as she loved making repurposed things herself. Maybe this was even what she had in mind when she started saving all of these t-shirts while Katie was still little.
“What do we need to make a quilt,” Katie asked. “We have a sewing machine and some sewing stuff in the storeroom. We can use that. It was my mom’s.”
The two of them gathered all the shirts and some loose ribbons and hurried downstairs to the dining room. The large table would make a great workspace. Mandy carefully spread a blanket over the top of it as Katie ran to get the sewing machine and other stuff from the storeroom. Soon, the two of them were happily engaged in their project and forgot all about lunch.
While they worked, Mandy told Katie stories about her grandmother. She had many happy memories and stories to share about growing up. Her grandmother had been very important in Mandy’s life and influenced her to become a teacher.
When she asked about Katie’s grandparents, the child confessed she didn’t have the chance to know any of hers. Her father’s parents died when he was a teenager. He stayed with an uncle on his ranch in Texas learning to be a wildcatter. That was where he met Katie’s mother. The two of them eloped and ran away to Alaska against her parents’ will.
“They never recod…recond….uh, got back together,” Katie finished sadly.
Mandy quickly changed the subject back to the tasks at hand.
Stopping to eat a quick supper, the two kept talking about their design plans and ideas. Katie had learned how to cut blocks from each shirt as Mandy worked on embroidering the stray ribbons in the right places. By the time they were ready for bed, they had an entire quilt top laid out on the living room floor waiting to be sewn together. The side of the t-shirt without writing was reserved for the backside of the quilt. With all the bright colors, their project looked like a work of art to Katie. She took dozens of pictures in her excitement.
“I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep,” Katie yawned. “This is so fun. I don’t want to go to bed.”
Mandy laughed at her and started turning off lights. Together, the two of them headed upstairs.
As Mandy tucked Katie into bed, the young girl reached out and took her hand.
“Thanks for coming to Alaska,” was all she managed to say before her eyes slipped shut.
Mandy nodded as she turned off the light and went to her own room. Something inside her tried to warn her not to ge
t too attached. This is a summer job and soon, you’ll go back to Atlanta, she reminded herself.
Chapter 6
The next morning, both of them were up early and hurried downstairs to admire their work from the day before. To their surprise, Darren was already in the kitchen making pancakes. He’d cleared his schedule and made plans for them to spend the day playing tourist for Mandy’s sake. Katie was overjoyed with this idea, but first she dragged him into the dining room to see what they’d been doing.
Katie bubbled over with enthusiasm as she showed him each quilt block and explained the importance of every one. He listened carefully and Mandy caught the look of pure gratitude he gave her when Katie wasn’t looking. She even noticed him wiping an occasional tear from the corner of his eye when he thought no one was watching. She pretended not to notice, but inside she was happy for him.
Katie was on her second plate of pancakes before she realized her father’s plans meant they wouldn’t be able to work on her quilt. She looked upset.
“Don’t worry,” Mandy laughed. “We’ll get it done. We need some things from the fabric store to finish it anyway. We have to buy some batting and a few other items. Quilts don’t get done in a day.”
“Sure, it’s no problem,” Darren added. “We can stop and get what you need while we’re out. Now where do you think we should take Mandy today?”
“I know! I know! Let’s take her to the Chena Hot Springs! We can visit the ice house and swim in the springs. It’ll be fun!”
“Swim? I didn’t bring a swimsuit,” Mandy said.
“I was thinking about the riverboat tour,” Darren said, “but it’s up to you two. We could also call Max and see if he’s available to fly us around in his float plane.”
Mandy quickly shook her head no at that suggestion.
“I think I’ve had enough flying for a while,” she said with a frown.
“So, it’s the riverboat tour,” Darren said.
“That sounds interesting,” Mandy looked over at Katie.
Katie nodded her agreement and the three of them finished their pancakes and then made quick work of cleaning up in the kitchen together.
***
The riverboat tour didn’t leave until 2:00 so they hopped in the Rover to make a trip to the fabric store. Katie took on the role of tour guide and pointed out some of the places they could visit in the coming days. Mandy was happy to have a chance to get a better look. It was hard to see everything while she was driving the scooter.
“How do you like driving the Rover,” Darren asked. “I was thinking you might like to try the Hummer.”
He said this last part with a grin as he snuck a look at Mandy’s face. He was surprised to see her face had turned bright red and she was carefully avoiding looking at him. Katie started laughing in the back seat.
“We haven’t been driving the Rover,” Mandy said.
“What? How have you two been getting around,” he asked.
“We’ve been scootering!” Katie shouted and burst out laughing.
“You been riding my Vespa?”
He looked at the two of them in astonishment.
“I don’t know how to drive a stick shift,” Mandy confessed.
“So how did you buy all those groceries on my Vespa,” Darren asked confused.
“Oh, Dad! That’s easy. We just called a cab to take the stuff home for us when we were done shopping.”
Darren thought about this as he negotiated an intersection and shrugged.
“Good thinking,” was all he said.
Pulling into the parking lot of the fabric store, he told the ladies he’d wait for them outside. He needed to make a couple of calls to make arrangements for the riverboat. They hurried inside to do their shopping.
***
As they came into view of the riverboat, Mandy gasped in surprise. She’d never have guessed she’d find such a boat in Alaska. These kinds of boats she normally associated with the Mississippi River and stories about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. It was clearly a popular attraction as the large parking area was filled with tour buses already disengaging their passengers.
Darren took care of their tickets while Katie showed Mandy around the large gift shop. They stopped to take pictures with the large moose on display and the dog sled and were busy trying on hats when Darren caught up to them. He joined in the fun with some moose antlers and bear feet slippers to make them laugh.
Lunch was part of the tour package and they sat together at long tables and ate beef stew with the other passengers. Theirs was a lively table and soon everyone was sharing where they were from and what they liked best about Alaska so far.
One of the women made a comment about what a lovely family they were and Katie quickly looked down at the table. Mandy didn’t catch what was said, but she noted Katie’s discomfort and took her hand under the table. Katie smiled at her gratefully. No one thought to explain that Mandy was only the nanny.
***
When it was time to board the riverboat, Katie skipped ahead and hurried to the top deck. Darren took charge of Mandy as he kept a careful eye on his daughter. The three of them found seats together near the front of the boat. Katie resumed her role of tour guide and carefully explained their itinerary.
“How many times have you been on this trip,” Mandy asked. “You appear to be an expert!”
“Only a couple of times,” Katie admitted. “I know the route because this boat goes right past our house every day, and the places we’re going and the people we’ll see along the river are our neighbors. You just haven’t seen it because we haven’t been out in the backyard when it went by. It’s an unwritten rule that we all have to wave when the boat goes by, so most of us try to stay inside until it’s past otherwise, we find our pictures scattered across Facebook.”
Mandy laughed.
“I hope you two aren’t going to be bored with this,” she said.
“Oh, no,” the two of them chimed together. “We’re going to enjoy this as much as you do. Especially the salmon spread on the way back!”
The two of them looked at each other licking their lips and began to laugh.
***
Darren spent the next few days in Fairbanks and the three of them enjoyed spending their evenings making dinner and eating on the patio. Sometimes they’d watch a movie or play video games together. The house was filled with the sound of their happy chatter as the three of them got to know each other. Katie always stayed up as late as she could trying to make the day last as long as possible, but inevitably she’d start nodding off and Darren would shoo her to bed. He told her she was much too big to be carried upstairs.
With Katie asleep, Darren and Mandy would sit on the patio and talk until it was very late and they were both yawning. The two of them soon found it easy just to sit and watch the river traffic go by in silence. When the occasional moose walked through the yard, Mandy would retreat to the back door while Darren laughed at her. She reminded him he wouldn’t be laughing if it was a bear.
One evening, they were sitting there quietly when Mandy asked about Karen. Katie didn’t talk about her mother very much and Mandy wanted to fill in the missing pieces.
Darren explained how they’d struggled when they first came to Alaska. He quickly got a job on the North Slope, but there was no place for his wife. She stayed here in Fairbanks alone most of the time until Katie was born. His job forced him to be away for weeks at a time.
At first they were happy and they adored Katie. They lived in a ‘Twinkie’ house in North Pole and Karen stayed busy being a wife and mom.
“What’s a ‘Twinkie” house,” Mandy interjected.
“Cheap Alaskan housing,” Darren laughed. “Actually, it was a house trailer, but with the extreme cold up here, they coat the outside of the trailer with a thick layer of insulating foam. It dries brown and makes the trailer look like a ‘Twinkie’.”
Mandy laughed at his description.
Darren was silent as he considered ho
w to finish his story.
“One of the hardest parts of living up here are the long, dark winters. Depression and suicide are a big problem. Each winter, Karen would get really sad and nothing seemed to help her. When Katie was nine, that year was especially hard. I was promoted to management, more money, but again, longer times away from home.”
Darren paused.
“We went to see this doctor and he wrote out a prescription. We thought the drugs were safe. Karen started taking them and for a little while she seemed better, but then her mind started slipping. She complained that it was like being trapped in a fog. She couldn’t think straight or remember large blocks of time. We were trying to settle a deal to purchase this house, but she wasn’t able to focus or enjoy the idea of moving here.”
Darren’s voice choked and Mandy reached out to touch his hand.
“You don’t have to tell me the rest if you don’t want to,” she said.
“No, I think it’s better that you know for Katie’s sake. She doesn’t fully understand what happened and if she wants to talk about it, I would feel better that you know the truth.”
He took a deep breath and went on.
“One day, I was at work and I got a call from the hospital. A neighbor found Karen lying in the snow in front of our house. She wasn’t breathing. When they checked for drugs or alcohol, they found she’d overdosed on this drug. I think she just forgot she’d already taken it and took it again three or four times that day. I don’t think she was trying to kill herself. The bottle of pills was more than half full when the police came to check the house. They were going to take Katie away from me, but I fought them in court. There weren’t any grounds to do that. Soon after, I finished the deal on this house and the two of us moved here. I hired Mrs. Wilson as the housekeeper and she’s kept us going ever since.”
The two of them sat there in silence for a long time.
Chapter 7
The summer solstice was nearly upon them and Fairbanks was packed with tourists. Scattered across the city were all kinds of celebrations focused on the longest day of the year. Katie had the newspaper spread across the kitchen counter, marking her favorites with a highlighter.
