confirm I was ready to go and said to Darcy, “So you need to run home. We’ll be back tonight.”
Darcy protested energetically, but Sarah scooted her out the door and jumped into the car. “So sorry,” Sarah said as we rounded the corner. “She should come with a bell so you know when she’s about to sneak up on you.”
“No, she didn’t sneak. She stomped. That girl doesn’t need a bell!” Sarah laughed and I assured her that Darcy didn’t bother me. As tactfully as possible I asked about her odd eyes.
“Her dad is half Japanese. He worked one of the boats for a year.”
“I knew it!” I said. “I thought she looked Asian. But that hair!”
“Strangest mix I ever saw,” Sarah agreed. “But beautiful. She is very striking.”
“Very,” I affirmed. I let the car grow silent before I gently asked, “So she and Nathan have different fathers?”
Sarah sighed and her jawline tightened. “Yes.” She said simply.
I tried to show her that didn’t mean anything to me with a shrug. I wasn’t judging anyone. The silence returned. I rubbed my hands on my legs and said “She told me that Nathan said I’m not pretty and I’m scared of crabs.”
“What!” Sarah cried in horror. “Oh, Jasper.”
“Who’s Jasper?”
“No. Not who. It’s just my expression. My word to use in utmost exasperation. My mother didn’t believe in girls cursing. It stuck”
“Jasper?”
“I can’t even remember how I came up with it. But back to Darcy - don’t believe her. Of course you’re beautiful and I don’t know about the crab thing. She’s five and … she’s Darcy.” Her words were not convincing, but still comforting. “Nathan is really botching this, isn’t he?” she said in frustration. “Just promise not to dislike him yet. Let me at least make a formal introduction.”
A little late for dislike , but I silently vowed not to despise him. Yet. After that the hours of the day flew by at a crazy pace. Sarah took me to the docks to catch the ferry, which sounded very old fashioned and romantic, but in reality felt a bit like an old city bus on water. Still, even a city bus seems exciting when it is chugging through the waves. The island, complete with storybook village and lighthouse, took me hours to explore. No trail along the high sea cliffs could go untred, no quaint shop along main street could be passed without my happy exclamation of “Look!” While Smithport felt like the dress rehearsal of New England with the dirty, hurried dock work and faces full of concern and distraction, Monteg Island felt like the performance. Even the fish in the windows of the seafood café sparkled silver in the sunlight. Here Maine put on her best show, the toil of the fishermen’s lives and the battle with the elements hidden behind the exaggerated beauty of nature and the charming touch of man.
The conversation never meandered back to my mother except for the unscarred tales of childhood that Sarah shared enthusiastically. She spoke of my mother without a trace of resentment, and I stilled my questions, waiting through the sunlit hours, the buzzing restaurants, the rolling ferry rides and finally the peaceful, tired drive back to Shelter Cove. After night pulled her veil over the world, I would ask, and this time, wait for the answer. Tonight Sarah would share the story I came two thousand miles to hear - the lost chapters of my mother’s life.
CHAPTER 13
We returned to home in the evening, slightly ill from eating so much good food all day, and thoroughly, deliciously, exhausted. The large cushions of the sofa caught me as I fell into them with a relieved sigh. I needed to call my Dad and Cleo, but I couldn’t convince myself to move. Instead, I scratched Charlie’s jaunty, black ear and he stretched his head backwards to give me a wet lick. Sarah yawned, patted my leg and said, “I guess we should pick our lines. Nathan usually comes over around 8:30, after he puts the girls to bed.”
“He
Darcy protested energetically, but Sarah scooted her out the door and jumped into the car. “So sorry,” Sarah said as we rounded the corner. “She should come with a bell so you know when she’s about to sneak up on you.”
“No, she didn’t sneak. She stomped. That girl doesn’t need a bell!” Sarah laughed and I assured her that Darcy didn’t bother me. As tactfully as possible I asked about her odd eyes.
“Her dad is half Japanese. He worked one of the boats for a year.”
“I knew it!” I said. “I thought she looked Asian. But that hair!”
“Strangest mix I ever saw,” Sarah agreed. “But beautiful. She is very striking.”
“Very,” I affirmed. I let the car grow silent before I gently asked, “So she and Nathan have different fathers?”
Sarah sighed and her jawline tightened. “Yes.” She said simply.
I tried to show her that didn’t mean anything to me with a shrug. I wasn’t judging anyone. The silence returned. I rubbed my hands on my legs and said “She told me that Nathan said I’m not pretty and I’m scared of crabs.”
“What!” Sarah cried in horror. “Oh, Jasper.”
“Who’s Jasper?”
“No. Not who. It’s just my expression. My word to use in utmost exasperation. My mother didn’t believe in girls cursing. It stuck”
“Jasper?”
“I can’t even remember how I came up with it. But back to Darcy - don’t believe her. Of course you’re beautiful and I don’t know about the crab thing. She’s five and … she’s Darcy.” Her words were not convincing, but still comforting. “Nathan is really botching this, isn’t he?” she said in frustration. “Just promise not to dislike him yet. Let me at least make a formal introduction.”
A little late for dislike , but I silently vowed not to despise him. Yet. After that the hours of the day flew by at a crazy pace. Sarah took me to the docks to catch the ferry, which sounded very old fashioned and romantic, but in reality felt a bit like an old city bus on water. Still, even a city bus seems exciting when it is chugging through the waves. The island, complete with storybook village and lighthouse, took me hours to explore. No trail along the high sea cliffs could go untred, no quaint shop along main street could be passed without my happy exclamation of “Look!” While Smithport felt like the dress rehearsal of New England with the dirty, hurried dock work and faces full of concern and distraction, Monteg Island felt like the performance. Even the fish in the windows of the seafood café sparkled silver in the sunlight. Here Maine put on her best show, the toil of the fishermen’s lives and the battle with the elements hidden behind the exaggerated beauty of nature and the charming touch of man.
The conversation never meandered back to my mother except for the unscarred tales of childhood that Sarah shared enthusiastically. She spoke of my mother without a trace of resentment, and I stilled my questions, waiting through the sunlit hours, the buzzing restaurants, the rolling ferry rides and finally the peaceful, tired drive back to Shelter Cove. After night pulled her veil over the world, I would ask, and this time, wait for the answer. Tonight Sarah would share the story I came two thousand miles to hear - the lost chapters of my mother’s life.
CHAPTER 13
We returned to home in the evening, slightly ill from eating so much good food all day, and thoroughly, deliciously, exhausted. The large cushions of the sofa caught me as I fell into them with a relieved sigh. I needed to call my Dad and Cleo, but I couldn’t convince myself to move. Instead, I scratched Charlie’s jaunty, black ear and he stretched his head backwards to give me a wet lick. Sarah yawned, patted my leg and said, “I guess we should pick our lines. Nathan usually comes over around 8:30, after he puts the girls to bed.”
“He
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