by Geeta Kakade
There were woolen scarves for all the men.
Christy and Bridget took turns hosting dinner, Jacob invited them out to South Lake’s best restaurant and Moira and Mrs. Kemp cooked up the most wonderful meals. Everyone looked forward to the Halloween Party on Sunday and Emma helped decorate and carved pumpkins with Toby and Frank till they had enough to line the path up to the front door. Brian offered to have the party catered but nobody agreed to that.
Two days after they arrived, cases of LB wines were delivered. Mark said there were so many he didn’t think they’d ever need to buy wine ever. They like the fruit wines with their meals and the label Mango Nectar won the popular vote.
Laurel had been surprised to hear when they came back from their trip that Moira’s jams and jellies had sold out in a day and there was now a big order from Cora for as much as they could spare.
To give the family space, Jacob and Laurel focused on their new program at the Reservation. He’d been right about attendance. There were three people in Laurel’s photography class, and one in her writing class. Aunt Mary had the most success with five girls in her cooking class. Two boys showed up for Toby’s first gardening class and didn’t come back the second time.
It was challenging Laurel knew but they had to keep plugging on. She told the teens in her photography class they could have the cameras she lent them if they could each persuade another teen to sign up for any class. That worked and Laurel told Jacob she had no qualms of resorting to bribery if it would get her the results she wanted.
All the calendars were ready and she had made a few for Brian, Emma and Bridget with candid shots of them and the family here, shots from the Halloween Party and at Cupid Lodge and Bridget’s place.
Frank had produced a unique photo of the Monarchs at Pismo Beach and had produced his own calendar to surprise Moira with.
Moira and Holt planned to get married a week before Thanksgiving as Christy and Mark had convinced her taking two weeks off then would be perfect. Uncle Brian had insisted on a catered dinner for Thanksgiving and with everyone helping Mrs. Kemp and Sue Tinsley coming in all day, Moira would not be missed for those two weeks. Christy had closed the kitchen at night to guests for the entire month.
Moira had finally given in and she and Holt were married at St. Andrew’s church in Silver Lake City followed by lunch and a reception hosted by Mark and Christy, Andrew and Bridget and the Kemps and paid for by Brian at Cupid Lodge.
Moira had been married in a designer dress of light purple chiffon, sent by Christy’s mother. Christy had insisted she borrow a brooch and matching earrings from the jewelry collection for the occasion. Toby had given her away and Frank had been ring bearer.
Bridget had a flair for decorations and she and Laurel had transformed the house showcasing Toby’s wonderful flowers set among his amazing ferns.
Mark, Andrew, Jacob and Holt had set up a huge canopy in the backyard for the lunch and a hundred people had attended.
Moira had left for her honeymoon telling them this was the happiest day of her life after the one when Frank had been born.
As soon as their car was out of sight, Frank asked Mark and Christy if he could have Holt’s old room as he was almost a teenager and needed his own place.
The wedding marked the midway point of Brian and Emma’s visit.
Andrew borrowed Mark’s SUV and he and Bridget took them to Sacramento, Napa Valley and San Francisco for a week. Besides all the shopping and sightseeing Brian loved meeting the vineyard owners he was in contact with in Napa and discussing wine production in Australia with them. In San Francisco they attended a special dinner arranged by the distributors of LB wines in the USA. Emma bought so much for family and friends in Australia and Bridget shopped for gifts to send back to the rest of the family. Christy and Mark, Jacob and Laurel and the Kemps had given Bridget money asking her to consult with Emma and then shop for things to send back with her as family gifts so they were kept really busy. Brian urged them to fill suitcases and think before they bought more stuff but Emma kept telling him things were so inexpensive in California she wasn’t going to err on the side of caution and regret it later. Luckily she kept reminding him they had come out with just hand luggage and had four suitcases to fill. One of the marketing executives who seemed very impressed with Emma had said his firm could have their excess baggage shipped to Queensland and that made Emma extremely happy.
The first three days of the last week after they got home sped by.
Christy had planned a special lunch for two days before Thanksgiving. Frank was at a friend’s as he’d had the week off from school. The Kemps were in Tahoe for a pre-Thanksgiving Bridge marathon. Laurel had suggested she and Jacob go out that evening but he told her Christy wanted them to be there. She and Mark had picked up the food from Pollos and they had told everyone there was going to be a pre and post lunch meeting.
By the time they sat down to the first meeting, Mark had a fire lit in the living room and promised Emma they would roast chestnuts and marshmallows later.
Christy looked at everyone and cleared her throat. “Mark and I have thought what we are about to say very carefully so please hear us out before you say anything. First of all we are so happy to have Emma, Uncle Brian and his family in our lives. We are also delighted to have Jacob and Laurel discover their connection to Cupid Lodge and us. We feel very blessed to have you all in our lives. When I first came here all I wanted was a place to belong. I discovered the extent of my Dad’s love for me, fell in love with Mark and realized Cupid Lodge was where I want to spend the rest of my life. In Bridget I found a younger sister and now I have two more people who mean a great deal to me; Emma and Laurel.”
“The first item on the agenda is the jewelry,” Mark brought a new jewelry box forward and she opened it. “I want Bridget, Laurel and Emma to have a bracelet and earrings each. Also please pick a brooch and a string of stones. We had a reputed jeweler come here and he said all the stone necklaces are genuine.”
No one moved.
“Please,” Christy coaxed them. “I will still have a lot left.”
Bridget came forward and picked a cameo. “This is the only thing I’ll use,” she said.
Emma followed suit and picked a jeweled bird. “Me too. Thanks.”
Laurel didn’t move. “I have an idea. Why don’t you keep the rest of the jewelry and we borrow and use it as the occasion arises?”
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Bridget said.
“We’ll give it some more thought,” Christy replied. “If we can agree on dividing the jewelry we’ll tell you our plan for the rest. Just pick what you think you would like from this lot.”
They did and Mark gave them each a bag with their name on it to put the stuff into.
Christy brought out the watches and said, “Uncle Brian I want you to pick the first one. The other three are for Mark, Andrew and Jacob.”
He reached forward and took the one had belonged to his father and had his name engraved on the back. “I will treasure this. Thank you Christy and Mark for your generosity.”
“Let’s eat,” Mark said when that was done.
Andrew nodded. “Perfect break,” he said.
After lunch Christy said, “The house has given us so much and Mark and I feel that whatever we have found is to be shared not kept just for us. I talked with Uncle Brian and he finally agreed to what I’m going to say. Mark and I have the house and the backyard is huge. We want to divide the land behind into three parts, one for Bridget and Emma so Bridget can build her house here if she likes the idea. The second part is for us, the third is for Jacob.”
She paused for breath and Jacob said, “There’s no need to give me a thing. I don’t need land.”
“We were hoping that like Bridget, you too would build a house here as you plan on working with the Washoe Americans of the Tahoe area,” Mark told him.
Bridget looked at Andrew, her tears overflowing, “I don’t know what to say.”
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sp; Christy smiled through her own. “I offered the land to Uncle Brian first and he said he would never live here, so you and Emma are getting his share now.”
“I don’t believe it,” Bridget looked at her father and sister and then back at Christy. “You don’t have to give us anything.”
“I know in my heart that this is the right thing to do.” Christy had the firm note in her voice that told them she wouldn’t change her mind.
“Thank you,” Emma sounded very subdued.
“Let me tell you what Mark and I are planning with our acre. We are putting up cabins and an Activity area for guests.”
“More guests?” Bridget asked.
“As the land slopes starting with the orchard, you can have your houses higher up and cut a few trees for a good view of Silver Lake. Behind your homes we are going to build the cabins and the Activity area which will be like a Club House with a dining room, kitchen, heated swimming pool, gym, indoor walking track and game room. We thought Moira and Holt might like a cabin and the Kemps too if they want it. We are going to deed them and Toby a cabin each whether they live in it or choose to rent it out and continue to live here. Moira, Toby and the Kemps deserve that for what they’ve done and are doing for us.”
“You are like Grandmother Christabel in more ways than you know,” Brian told his niece. “She was so generous and always thinking up schemes to help people.”
Christy looked pleased. “Each cabin will have its own kitchenette so guests can fix their own food. Sue Tinsley and her husband want to manage the cabins for us full time. They’ve agreed to live in one of the cabins, manage the bookings, hire the help needed and take care of the guests’ needs. Mr. Kemp wants to keep on doing the accounting and we know he’s the best person for the job. Moira will have more time for Holt and Frank and her business. Mrs. Kemps says she and Moira could keep up with the baking and they suggested a snack bar set up in the Activity center where guests could buy a few things. They both said they had to keep their hand in or they would forget their baking skills. ”
“You’ve really been busy,” Emma said.
“We had a pre-meeting meeting with them as we knew they wouldn’t be here for this one.”
“When the cabins are ready,” added Mark, “We won’t have any guests in the house except for the Kemps who are like family. If Moira and Holt want to stay in the apartment at the back we’ll renovate the whole thing to give them a three bedroom place of their own. If Toby doesn’t want to stay in a cabin by himself we could add a bathroom to the fourth bedroom at the back and make a place for him here. His eyes are bothering him and he needs to move in here permanently now.”
“And Frank wants to move into the old study downstairs so he has his own place,” Christy smiled.
“You’ve put a lot of thought into all this,” Jacob said.
Mark nodded. “Christy’s been thinking this out ever since Laurel found the jewelry.”
“We want to start a family in a couple of years and I want to be able to have time for our children,” added Christy. “The builder we talked with said he could have the cabins done in a year.”
“Christy wants to rent some of the cabins and invite disabled veterans who cannot afford a holiday with their families, to come and use the other cabins for three weeks at a time each year. Joe and Amy Garrison are starting a program to help veterans with disabilities ride at their stables. Says it’s working great in other parts of the country.”
Christy announced a break for dessert and coffee and then re-convening.
It gave the others a chance to think. Bridget asked Andrew to go into the Kemps’ sitting room with her to discuss a few things.
“We only need enough land for a house and a small backyard,” Bridget said when everyone was back in the living room. “We’ll have the orchard and your backyard in front of our houses and if we share that area for the dogs and future swing sets and sand boxes instead of rows of trees for privacy in front, you can put up more cabins on the rest of the land.”
“That’s a good idea,” said Jacob. “I’ll accept the same amount of land as Bridget and Andrew. Build cabins on my extra land too.”
“Only if you both take the profits from your cabins after expenses,” said Mark. “That’s your inheritance.”
“We can put it back into the Veterans programs or help the orphans at St. Mary’s with scholarships,” Andrew pointed out. “And Jacob can use his share for Medic America programs on the Reservations.”
Bridget nodded. The nuns had been thrilled with the check Brian had given them and told him they would re-roof the Orphanage and the Convent with the money.
Christy said, “We are giving each of the men a bottle of whiskey to do as they want with. We are also giving Uncle Paul a bottle of whiskey and opening one at Thanksgiving. The rest of the whiskey and the gold and the jewelry we are sure none of us want, we plan to sell. I’m keeping the emerald set for the time being. The extra long set of pearls has already been divided four ways by the jeweler in town. I told him Emma would be leaving soon and he said he would string hers in any pattern of strands she chose, in a day. As for the dishes pick a set each. I’ll keep it here till you are ready to take them. The odd dishes and figurines are on the kitchen table. We’ll draw numbers and pick by turns. I plan on giving Mrs. Kemp and Moira a figurine each. With the money from the sales we want to start on the cabin project as soon as we can.”
“Andrew and I would like to start on the house right away too,” Bridget looked at her husband and he nodded. “As soon as we can get an architect to draw up the plans.”
“Alex and I have decided we would like to pay for your house and the furnishings,” Pops announced. “We were going to pay for the land too but Christy and Mark’s generosity has made that unnecessary so we’ll foot the bill to furnish your house for you when it’s ready.” Bridget opened her mouth and he held up a hand. “As Christy said, hear me out. I want to make up to you for all the years I missed out on and your mother would want me to do nothing less. This makes me feel a little better.”
“Use my share of the land for cabins too,” Emma was as quick and decisive as ever. “I will stay with Bridget and Andrew or you and Mark when I visit and there’s no point in the land being unused.”
“We’ll put your share of the profits into an account for you here,” Mark said. “You can decide later what you want to do with the money.”
A pause and he looked around the room. “By the way has Christy told you what she’s calling the project?”
They shook their heads.
“The Cupid Legacy.” Christy said.
“That’s a great name,” Laurel endorsed.
“Very nice,” added Bridget and Emma nodded.
“We are going to contribute our share of the whiskey profits to the project,” Andrew said.
“I’ll match that,” said Jacob.
“I don’t need any part of the whiskey either,” Brian added.
“Mr. Brigham’s going to have to hire a couple of people to sort all this out,” Mark grinned. “But when we first met and talked with him he said he would have it all ready by Christmas so work could commence as soon as the snow melts. The developer seems to think if we pick two and three bedroomed cabins from the plans he already has he can have the first eight at least done by Christmas 2014.”
The evening seemed like Christmas had come early Laurel thought. She looked at her emerald bracelet and matching earrings and wondered when she would use them. The necklace of emeralds winked back at her in the light from her nightstand and as she waited for her medicine to take effect she knew she would leave the jewelry with Christy when she left Cupid Lodge forever.
Her generosity was truly amazing and Laurel was glad for Jacob’s sake that he had accepted the land. White Feather’s spirit could rest in peace now and so would his father’s.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“How’s that for planning Ma?” Phillip asked. He hadn’t stopped smiling since the meeting t
wo days ago.
“Christy and Mark have done us proud, Pa.” Agnes loved the name they had chosen for their project. ‘The Cupid Legacy’ would keep on giving for years to come.
“Brian chose to have my watch,” Stephen added smiling himself. “Said he would love to wear it.”
“It means he wants a part of you with him forever,” Ma elaborated. “And he’s forgiven any mistakes you and he made in the past.”
“Forgive and forget works both ways.” Phillip sounded serious. “Never thought there could be two sweeter words in the English language. I needed to be sent down to understand those words, realize the importance of love and humility.”
The Thanksgiving Party was a huge success. Moira and Holt had returned from the South of France looking tanned and happy. The culinary tour Holt had surprised his wife with had filled her with recipes and ideas for new dishes that she was longing to try out. Frank had made them a welcome home banner with Mr. Kemp’s help and Moira was surprised he was ensconced in Holt’s old room and determined to stay there.
They and the Kemps were jubilant to hear about the final plans for The Cupid Legacy Project. Both couples said they wanted to stay where they were and Toby opted for the fourth bedroom ‘seeing as he was here most of the time anyway these days.’
There was so much to be thankful for including as Mr. Kemp said, ‘the best whiskey he had ever had in all his seventy two years.’
The parting with Briana and Emma loomed over them but the former announced he would fly the whole family out next summer. Bridget and Andrew were visiting them end of May/ early June for their first anniversary. Brian had booked their tickets with Andrew’s help and that gave everyone something to be happy about. He had also booked tickets for Mark and Christy at the same time but that was their Christmas present and he didn’t want to give the surprise away. He’d told Andrew he couldn’t wait for his family and friends to meet his daughter and his niece and their husbands.
