by Geeta Kakade
He had done a great deal of planning thought Laurel.
She watched him talk to Jacob as they sat opposite her and Mr. Kemp in the train. Laurel liked the fact he was so interested in what the twelve year old had to say. She turned to Mr. Kemp and he said, “Jacob’s amazingly intuitive. Mark and Andrew say he’s a damn good psychiatrist. Did you know he was retiring from the Navy at Christmas? His twenty years are up.”
Laurel was surprised. He hadn’t mentioned it.
“Wants to dedicate himself to that non-profit group he belongs to.”
So he wasn’t taking care of her in the hope of favors he might get from Uncle Paul. The next instant she knew she ought to be ashamed of herself for even thinking that.
“Bea is a people watcher and she’s very astute. She says Jacob is a platinum person.”
Laurel smiled at Mr. Kemp. “I second that.”
Mr. Kemp smiled back. “I’m glad you like trains too.”
“I do.” Laurel looked at Frank’s rapt expression as he looked out of the window. “I remember doing a Eurail trip with a friend on mid-tour leave. From Germany we travelled to 5 countries and really enjoyed ourselves.”
Her eyes widened as she realized she could visualize scenes from the trip and see her friend’s face clearly though she couldn’t recall her name.
“That must have been fun.” Mr. Kemp beamed as if getting bits of her memory back was a normal everyday occurrence.
A member of the crew came up to talk with Jacob about the cruise that followed the train ride and tell him where he could get the tickets.
The music added to the atmosphere in the Spookomotive and they topped it off with a spook themed Halloween River Cruise that took them on the Sacramento River for an hour and they could see the buildings of Old Town.
By the time they got back to the motel it was ten and Frank texted his Mom, Christy and Mark, Bridget and Andrew to tell them he’d had a wonderful day and sent them a picture of the Spookomotive before he turned in.
Sunday morning they left right after breakfast for Pismo Beach. Frank was overjoyed as Jacob gave him his phone to send e-mails home and then told him he could download one free game to play on the way. Laurel asked Mr. Kemp to sit in the back telling an overjoyed Frank they could play games on the drive.
Frank asked for tips for taking the best pictures. He said he’d taken a hundred pictures already and asked how many more he could take. Laurel told him he could take at least another hundred to a hundred and fifty if he started deleting the ones he had no use for.
“What kind of camera did you take pictures with when you were on active duty?” he asked Laurel out of the blue.
“A Nikon first and then a Canon. They both had amazing auto focus. I had another camera strapped to my helmet that was an ordinary digital camera and I was trying to use a cell phone to take pictures from the pocket of my Kevlar vest but it wasn’t working too well. That technology is still in development.”
“What kind of work did you do?”
“I was a Navy COMCAM which stands for combat cameramen. We are trained to cover air, sea, underwater, and ground actions of armed forces engaged in combat, combat support operations, humanitarian efforts, scientific research, and related peacetime activities such as exercises and war games.”
“Go on,” Frank seemed enthralled.
“I was based in Germany and from there I went to disaster areas all over the world to take pictures and provide information so relief aid could be rushed to the spot in the world that needed it.”
It wasn’t till she’d been selected for a special ops team had been formed in D.C with cameramen and women from all the Forces that she had come into her own.
“Later I was stationed in Korea and got to take pictures from helicopters of combat support operations.”
“Cool.”
After six years of what she considered ‘safe’ positions, she had gotten the position she had worked for.
“My last two deployments in Afghanistan were the best because I was in the frontline on my first deployment taking pictures as the actual fighting was going on and on the second I was attached to a unit helping train Afghani soldiers.”
Still pictures chased each other through her mind.
She was behind a barrier firing as a medic dragged a corporal to safety.
She saw a ceremony and a bronze star being handed to her.
Uncle Paul was telling her he was so damned proud of her for providing covering fire and saving those two men.
“Was it very difficult work?”
Laurel blinked. Jacob was watching her in the rear view mirror.
“I loved it so it wasn’t difficult for me. The hours were long as after each mission when we got back to base I still had work to do on my laptop to submit the photos I’d taken with brief reports to my CO and HQ.”
A picture of herself working in a small tent, someone calling her on her cell and saying, “Ma’am I have to talk with you.”
Frank’s next question drove the scene out of her mind. “Did you like what you did?”
“Very much.” Laurel nodded. “There was something different and interesting to do every day.”
“What was the best part of your job?”
“The children. The last deployment we were close to a village and the Afghani children would come out in the evenings and we would talk to them. They had no school and I got some slates and started teaching them the alphabet.”
Laurel saw a few of them around her and she was handing out candy that Aunt Grace had sent her from home.
“There was this little boy, Mitra and he said he was going to be a soldier and take pictures just like me when he grew up. I took a picture of him for his family.”
A huge truck whizzed by noisily on her side of the road and the pictures vanished.
The silence in the car made her look at Jacob. He was staring at the road ahead but he was smiling.
She looked at Frank. Judging from the pings per second, he was playing a game on Jacob’s phone so he must have received and understood the no-more-questions rule look Mr. Kemp had probably given him.
Laurel ran her fingers through her hair. It was the most she had remembered about her job these last few month.
Effortless recall.
That’s what her conversation with Frank had been.
She wished there was more of it but there wasn’t.
They arrived at Pismo Beach at lunchtime and headed for a Mexican Restaurant to Frank’s delight. Then they went to the Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove.
The sight of the butterflies on the trees stunned them. The masses of butterflies all hanging wings down on the eucalyptus trees looked like a giant bunch of orange and black grapes from the distance.
“Each butterfly’s wings shield the butterfly below it. They stay warm that way and shelter from the cold,” the docent with them said. “Together each cluster weighs so much they don’t get dislodged from the branches by the wind or the rain.”
The docent’s voice faded as Laurel concentrated on her photographs.
Frank’s hand went up in the air and he wanted to know how many butterflies there were in each cluster.
“Good question,” said the docent. “At the peak of the season in December we would say a thousand in each approximately. Right now they are still coming in so I guess the ones we’re looking at have about 5-700 right now.”
“Stay with us,” Laurel heard Jacob say and she became aware that she had moved away from them.
“It’s easy to get lost,” smiled the docent. “There’s a crowd at the Grove every afternoon from late October to February to see them, take pictures or study their migration patterns. The monarchs that come to Pismo Beach live for six months, longer than other butterflies even longer than other monarchs because of the way they can store fat in their bodies. These butterflies will never return here but their children will come back next year.”
“Sorry.” Laurel moved back to Jacob’s side
and he put an arm around her shoulders. She hadn’t heard him sound so sharp, ever.
“After the talk,” he turned his head to whisper into her ear. “We’ll get all the pictures you want, okay? Just stay close to me now.”
She nodded wondering how it was possible to feel so stirred up by the feeling of his mouth close to her ear. Laurel realized his sharpness stemmed from the worry that he was responsible for her safety.
I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.
Only she wasn’t well enough to yet, if she ever would be.
What happened to vets who never regained their memory? Medical Discharge?
Even if she did she doubted they would have her back at the work she’d done before she’d lost her memory. She’d read a lot about combat cameramen in special op units. They were the crème de la crème of the group not rehabilitated soldiers.
Someone brushed past her and Laurel moved closer to Jacob.
It was frustration that had her thinking these thoughts.
No matter how much distance she tried to put between her Jacob she was more aware of him each day than ever before. Her emotions made her vulnerable and she felt she was skating on thin ice. If she fell through she could have a bad accident; one he couldn’t help her recover from this time around.
A new mantra had to be added to the ones she already kept reciting.
She was technically Jacob’s patient; nothing more, nothing less.
Bridget couldn’t bear the excitement that had her heart thumping. Andrew and Mark had gone to San Francisco International Airport to get Pops and Emma while she and Christy had driven to the Convent after lunch. Andrew’s decision to pick them up at San Francisco International Airport would reduce Pops and Emma’s travel time.
Mother Superior had told her they could use the living room reserved for special guests and dignitaries of the Church for their meeting.
The flight from Sydney arrived mid-morning. Andrew had said it took forty five minutes to an hour to clear Customs and Immigration and then there was the three and a half hour drive, so they ought to be here by 3. Sister Winifred watched Bridget pace in the living room and told her she would wear out the floor if she didn’t sit down. Bridget apologized and went outside to pace the drive. She’d wanted to meet Pops and Bridget at the Convent with Sister Winfred and Christy so they could get to know the nun who had taken the place of her parents. Since her first call Pops had e-mailed her every night and she could tell he was burdened with guilt about her early life.
The sight of Mark’s SUV coming up the drive made her heart skip a beat.
“They’re here!” she announced.
The man who got out first looked fit, tanned and very young.
“Bridget!” he said in a choked voice and then she was in his embrace.
“How are you?” He scanned her face and she saw the tears in his eyes.
Bridget kissed his cheek and said, “Fine.”
Emma came out next and hugged her as if she would never let her go.
“I love you,” she said.
Her sister had the same dark hair and dark eyes she did except her hair was cut really short. Emma was a couple of inches taller than her.
“Let’s go in,” Bridget knew Christy hadn’t come out so she could have some time with Pops and Emma.
She introduced them to Sister Winfred and Christy as Andrew and Mark came in. Bridget kissed Andrew and said thank you to Mark.
“How was your flight?” asked Christy.
“Perfect,” Pops smiled at her. “Except Emma needed another couple of seat belts to keep her quiet. She couldn’t sit still.”
Bridget’s eyes were on Emma’s hand. She had taken out a doll from her hand luggage who could have been the twin of the doll Bridget had since she was three.
“This is Bridget,” Emma held the doll out to her. “Mama bought both of us the exact same doll all those years ago.”
Bridget couldn’t hold her tears back. “She sent me my doll? It had the name Emma in the box.”
The tears overflowed and Emma got up and hugged her. “She loved you so much. She would never have left you if she wasn’t ill and terribly afraid.”
“I know. I was happy here.”
Bridget looked over at her father talking with Christy.
“You have Dad’s way of looking at people,” Christy told Brian.
“And his smile,” added Mark.
They’d been talking about Jake’s return to Cupid Lodge and his life there.
“And you have his eyes,” Brian told Christy.
His gaze went back to his older daughter’s face wondering if she felt differently about her past now that she had met him.
Bridget smiled at him from where she sat next to Sister Winifred. “Mama did the right thing leaving me at St. Mary’s. I had a good childhood here and never lacked for anything, Pops. You’ve got to believe I was happy here.”
Aware his eyes flooded with tears, she got up to hug him.
“After Bridget showed me the letter your wife wrote to your mother,” Sister Winifred said. “I remembered this very young, extremely pretty girl who came in one day. She had told Mother Superior that she wanted to make a donation to the Orphanage after she was shown around but we both knew something was wrong. She was no wealthy visitor. Her eyes were red rimmed, the lids swollen and she was extremely pale. When she looked at baby Bridget her heart seemed to be breaking. Mother Superior told me later the young girl looked like a mother who wanted one last look at the child she’d had to give up.”
Emma put hands around Bridget and hugged her while their father wiped his eyes.
“I don’t know why the incident slipped out of my mind till I saw the letter. Mother Superior at the time passed away when Bridget was ten or she might have said something.”
The present Mother Superior joined them for a while and Brian repeated his thanks for all the Convent of St. Mary’s had done for his daughter. Sister Winifred eventually suggested they eat and they washed up and had tea and the cake Bridget had baked before she took them around the Orphanage and showed them her favorite spots as a child.
It was six before they headed back to Silver Lake City. Christy and Mark had gone ahead to make sure everything was ready for dinner.
Moira had been over at Bridget’s place and the table was laid beautifully and the meal ready. Christy and Bridget had agreed it would be best to spend the first evening at Bridget’s house and get together at Cupid Lodge the next day.
Andrew looked at his wife’s face as he handed her a mug of hot chocolate.
“You handled everything like a pro.” His compliment made her blush. “How are you feeling?”
“Glad that’s over,” Bridget told him. “I only hope he believes me.”
“He will as he gets to know you and sees how well you’ve turned out.”
Bridget took a sip of her drink as he continued. “How do you feel about finally meeting him?”
“At one time I would have said it was the only thing I wanted in the world but since I married you all that has changed.” She looked at her husband as she ran her hand over his cheek and across his mouth. He caught her hand kissing her palm. “Our love for each other is the center of my world now. I’m deeply thankful for Pops and Emma, Alex and her family and I’m really glad our children will know their grandparents and have relatives.”
“Would you consider going and living in Australia as he wants?”
“Of course not. I’d love to visit but my life is here with you.”
She looked at Andrew and he leaned over and switched the bedside lamp off.
There was no more need for words.
Brian and Bridget had a long talk the next morning and re-read the letters from Lucy. Emma showed her the few pieces of their mother’s jewelry and insisted Bridget have half of it and their mother’s journal.
Alex had sent her a set of black opals as a gift. They had a deep blue background and a range of colors that were amazing.
/> “Everyone loves Mum,” Emma told Bridget and the latter knew she meant Alex. She was glad for Emma’s sake that Alex had stepped into the six year olds life and married their father.
The next few days were a kaleidoscope of experiences and catching up on the missed years. Bridget’s calm acceptance of whatever had happened years ago helped Brian reconcile to the past and start enjoying the present.
Brian told Andrew and Bridget he would pay for any piece of land they wanted and a house of their design to be built on it. Nothing was too much for his older daughter.
He also told Andrew that Alex and he had changed their living trust to include Bridget immediately after discovering Lucy’s letter. Lucy’s half interest in the original business would now be shared by Emma and Bridget as their mother would have wanted and Bridget would also get a sixth of their current properties and money and equal shares of LB wines as the other children. He and Alex were determined she would have everything due to her.
They spent every morning at Cupid Lodge, taking walks by the lakeshore, looking at the things Christy had found, talking with everyone. Brian told them everything he could remember about his childhood and his parents. Being ten years younger than Jake and six years younger than Victoria, he had been spoiled. Having always got whatever he wanted he had never thought his father would disown him for falling in love with Lucy. Now with children of his own he understood his father’s concern better. He told Christy he was glad Jake’s daughter lived at Cupid Lodge now and that she was happy.
Emma was so easy to get on with and so friendly that everyone loved her. They said she looked like Bridget’s twin except for the hair and her height. She told them about the small orchard that was now part of a fifty acre farm that included horses and cattle and ten dogs. Queensland’s tropical climate made it ideal exotic fruit growing country. The original house was the wine production area now as Pops and Alex had built a huge new house that would accommodate all of them when they visited.
She described the trips to the coast and the beauty of the Great Barrier Reef. Alex had sent an opal pendant for Christy and Emma gave Mrs. Kemp and Moira opal brooches. Queensland, she said, was one of the biggest producers of opals.
