wanted to do while he could. Rock climb the Grand Canyon. Ski a glacier. See the Pacific Coast from a mountaintop…”
The Olympic Mountains. Where Amy currently sat. “Did he get to do those things in time?”
Her mom was quiet, not answering.
“Mom?”
“You haven’t called me in two years. Two years, Amy.”
She sighed. “Yeah.”
“It’d have been nice to know you’re alive.”
The last time Amy had called, her mother had been having marital problems with husband number five—shock—and she’d wanted to play the place-the-blame game. Amy hadn’t wanted to go there. So it’d been easier not to call. “What happened to Jonathon, Mom? And do you know where it was exactly that Grandma Rose ended her journey? Her journal is clear on the first two legs of their trek in the Olympic Mountains, but it’s vague on the last stop.” Where Rose had found heart… “Do you—”
“I’m fine, you know. Thanks for asking.”
Amy grimaced. “Mom—”
“Is this your cell phone? This number you called me from?”
“Yes,” Amy said.
“You have enough minutes in your phone plan to make a few extra calls?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Call me again sometime, and you can ask me another question. I’ll answer a question with each call. How’s that sound?”
Amy blinked. “You
want
me to call you?”
“You always were a quick study.”
“But—”
Click.
Amy stared at the phone. This was almost too much information for her brain to process. Her Grandma Rose had made this journey when she’d been seventeen years old.
Seventeen.
And she’d been a newlywed, in love with someone who’d died young and tragically.
How had that brought her hope?
Or peace? Or her own heart…?
Amy pulled out the journal. She’d read it a hundred times. She knew that there was no mention of Jonathon.
Just the elusive and misleading “we.”
It’s been a rough week. The roughest of the summer so far.
Well, that made sense now. Jonathon had been sick. Dying. Amy flipped to the next entry.
Lucky Harbor’s small and quirky, and the people are friendly. We’ve been here all week resting, but today was a good day so we went back up the mountain. To a place called Four Lakes this time. All around us the forest vibrated with life and energy, especially the water.
I never realized how much weight the water can remove from one’s shoulders. Swimming in the water was joy. Sheer joy.
I could hear the call of gulls, and caught the occasional bald eagle in our peripheral. The sheer, vast beauty was staggering.
Afterward, we lay beneath a two-hundred-foot-tall old spruce and stared up through the tangle of branches to the sky beyond. I’d always been a city girl through and through, but this… out here… it was magic. Healing.
I carved our initials on the tree trunk. It felt like a promise. I had my hope, but now I had something else, too, peace. Four Lakes had given me peace.
A little shocked to find her eyes stinging, her knees weak with emotion, Amy sank to the grass, emotion churning through her. As odd as it seemed, she’d found the teeniest, tiniest bit of hope for herself after all. Maybe her own peace was next…
“Phone’s for you!” Jan yelled to Amy across the diner. “You need to let people know that I’m not you’re damn answering service!”
Amy had gotten to work on time, and though she was still reeling from the afternoon and all she’d learned, she managed to set it aside for now. That was a particularly defined talent of hers. Setting things aside. Living in Denial City.
For now, she had to work; that’s what kept a roof over her head and food in her belly. She had no idea who’d possibly be calling her here at the diner, but she finished serving a customer his dinner and then picked up the phone in the kitchen. “Hello?”
Nothing but a dial tone. She turned to Jan. “Who was it?”
“Some guy.” Jan shrugged. “He wanted to talk to the waitress who’d been seen with
The Olympic Mountains. Where Amy currently sat. “Did he get to do those things in time?”
Her mom was quiet, not answering.
“Mom?”
“You haven’t called me in two years. Two years, Amy.”
She sighed. “Yeah.”
“It’d have been nice to know you’re alive.”
The last time Amy had called, her mother had been having marital problems with husband number five—shock—and she’d wanted to play the place-the-blame game. Amy hadn’t wanted to go there. So it’d been easier not to call. “What happened to Jonathon, Mom? And do you know where it was exactly that Grandma Rose ended her journey? Her journal is clear on the first two legs of their trek in the Olympic Mountains, but it’s vague on the last stop.” Where Rose had found heart… “Do you—”
“I’m fine, you know. Thanks for asking.”
Amy grimaced. “Mom—”
“Is this your cell phone? This number you called me from?”
“Yes,” Amy said.
“You have enough minutes in your phone plan to make a few extra calls?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Call me again sometime, and you can ask me another question. I’ll answer a question with each call. How’s that sound?”
Amy blinked. “You
want
me to call you?”
“You always were a quick study.”
“But—”
Click.
Amy stared at the phone. This was almost too much information for her brain to process. Her Grandma Rose had made this journey when she’d been seventeen years old.
Seventeen.
And she’d been a newlywed, in love with someone who’d died young and tragically.
How had that brought her hope?
Or peace? Or her own heart…?
Amy pulled out the journal. She’d read it a hundred times. She knew that there was no mention of Jonathon.
Just the elusive and misleading “we.”
It’s been a rough week. The roughest of the summer so far.
Well, that made sense now. Jonathon had been sick. Dying. Amy flipped to the next entry.
Lucky Harbor’s small and quirky, and the people are friendly. We’ve been here all week resting, but today was a good day so we went back up the mountain. To a place called Four Lakes this time. All around us the forest vibrated with life and energy, especially the water.
I never realized how much weight the water can remove from one’s shoulders. Swimming in the water was joy. Sheer joy.
I could hear the call of gulls, and caught the occasional bald eagle in our peripheral. The sheer, vast beauty was staggering.
Afterward, we lay beneath a two-hundred-foot-tall old spruce and stared up through the tangle of branches to the sky beyond. I’d always been a city girl through and through, but this… out here… it was magic. Healing.
I carved our initials on the tree trunk. It felt like a promise. I had my hope, but now I had something else, too, peace. Four Lakes had given me peace.
A little shocked to find her eyes stinging, her knees weak with emotion, Amy sank to the grass, emotion churning through her. As odd as it seemed, she’d found the teeniest, tiniest bit of hope for herself after all. Maybe her own peace was next…
“Phone’s for you!” Jan yelled to Amy across the diner. “You need to let people know that I’m not you’re damn answering service!”
Amy had gotten to work on time, and though she was still reeling from the afternoon and all she’d learned, she managed to set it aside for now. That was a particularly defined talent of hers. Setting things aside. Living in Denial City.
For now, she had to work; that’s what kept a roof over her head and food in her belly. She had no idea who’d possibly be calling her here at the diner, but she finished serving a customer his dinner and then picked up the phone in the kitchen. “Hello?”
Nothing but a dial tone. She turned to Jan. “Who was it?”
“Some guy.” Jan shrugged. “He wanted to talk to the waitress who’d been seen with
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