Home on Apple Blossom Road (Life in Icicle Falls) (7 page)

She became shy and timid, nervous in new situations. The first day of school was no longer an adventure but something to worry about, to tie her tummy up in knots. Would her new teacher like her? Would her best friend be in her class or would she have to start over and find new friends to play with at recess? Would the kids tease her? She knew she wasn’t like the other little girls. Her mommy was in heaven and she had no idea where her daddy was. Why hadn’t he come for her when Mommy went to heaven?

She asked Aunt Beth once and her question made Aunt Beth frown. “Some daddies don’t deserve to be daddies. You just think of Uncle Mark as your daddy, sweetie.”

Uncle Mark was a nice man, and he laughed a lot. But he wasn’t really her daddy. She supposed she could pretend.

Pretending worked sometimes. She’d sit on his lap when they watched TV, and hold his hand when they walked to church. But deep down she knew it wasn’t the same as having her real daddy with her.

When she was ten, her real daddy came back into her life. He got a job at Swede’s garage and talked about the future. He’d buy a house in Icicle Falls. She could come and live with him. They’d make up for lost time.

He started out with the best of intentions, taking her to Italian Alps for pizza. “We’ll go every week, just the two of us,” he promised.

Every week turned into every other week or whenever he could “find the time,” which became a rare occurrence.

“He can always find time to go to that tavern in Wenatchee,” she once heard Aunt Beth say to Uncle Mark. She’d tried not to let it bother her, but those words sat at the back of her mind like a sore that never quite went away.

Aunt Beth was wrong, she decided, when Daddy got back on track and came to take her out to eat. Aunt Beth frowned at him, but Mia didn’t care. Her daddy was back and he loved her. She hung on to his arm with great pride as they walked into the pizzeria.

Her father was such a handsome man, tall and lean with a big smile and muscled arms. She saw how ladies looked at him, the same way girls at school looked at boys they liked. Sometimes, he smiled at them or stopped to talk. Until Mia would tug on his arm. Then he’d say, “I’d better pay attention to my date,” and the ladies would smile and talk about seeing him later.

This particular night they ordered their usual Cokes and a pepperoni pizza and settled at a corner table covered with a red-checked tablecloth. He asked about school, asked how many boys were chasing her.

“Daddy, I’m only ten,” she said with a giggle.

“But you’re a pretty girl, just like your mother was. I bet boys are following you all around,” he added with a wink.

Boys didn’t follow her. And when one did speak to her she’d get tongue-tied. The only boy she was comfortable talking to was Colin.

Their pizza arrived and they each took a slice. All that cheese and spicy pepperoni—yum!

She was starting on her second piece when he cleared his throat. “Mia, I’m not working at Swede’s anymore.”

“Are you going to work at the chocolate place?” If he did, maybe he’d bring her chocolates.

He shook his head. “No. I’m afraid I’m going to have to move.”

“Can I move with you?”

“Not yet. I have to find a good job.”

“Here in Icicle Falls, right?”

“Probably not, but don’t worry. I’ll write.”

The pepperoni pizza wasn’t sitting well in her tummy now, and she pushed away her plate. “You never wrote before.”

“Things happen, Mia. You’re just a kid. You don’t understand.”

She understood that he’d left her and her mother when Mama was sick and they needed him most. She understood that he was leaving again. She scowled at the half-eaten pizza sitting between them.

“Come on, now, don’t be like that,” he coaxed. “Finish your pizza.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Mia, I can’t help it if I have to go look for work.”

“Why don’t you work at the chocolate place?” she begged.

“Now, don’t worry. I’ll find something. I’m going down to California. I’ll send for you, take you to Disneyland.”

She’d rather he stayed here and took her out for pizza. “Don’t go, please.”

But his mind was made up. By the next week he was gone, leaving behind the promise to call her as soon as he got settled.

At least he’d kept his promise to call. For a while he checked in regularly, telling her all about San Diego and the zoo he’d take her to when he could afford to bring her down for a visit, but after a couple of months, the phone calls tapered off. Then he disappeared from her life once more.

Still, she’d been so sure he’d remember to send her a present for her thirteenth birthday. After all, it was a very important birthday, not like the last one, which he’d forgotten. She’d written him a letter reminding him. He hadn’t written, back but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t call or send a present. Maybe earrings. Aunt Beth had promised she could get her ears pierced when she turned thirteen and she’d told him all about that, too.

She’d checked the mailbox as soon as she got home from school on the big day. There was no present there, no card. Aunt Beth must have brought the mail in. That was it. There’d be a card waiting for Mia on the kitchen counter.

There hadn’t been.

Grandma Justine had baked her a German chocolate cake and given her the latest Harry Potter book, and Aunt Beth had bought her makeup and promised a trip to Gilded Lily’s the following day after school for the rite-of-passage ear piercing. And there’d been a pretty pair of earrings shaped like butterflies from Colin and Dylan. None of those treats, no matter how wonderful, could make up for the fact that there was nothing from her father.

She’d left Grandma Justine’s dinner table in tears and run to the orchard. Colin had followed her and found her under one of the apple trees, her knees pulled up to her chest, sobbing.

“I’m sorry your dad forgot your birthday,” he’d said.

“He’s left me again. I hate him!”

“You don’t need him, anyway,” Colin had said, putting an arm around her shoulders. “You’ve got us.”

* * *

You’ll always have a family
. Her mother’s prediction had come true. The Wrights had been her family all those years, helping her eventually find her footing, giving her a safe place to stretch and grow and work on climbing out of her shell.

Except now Grandma Justine was gone and all she had left were Aunt Beth and Uncle Mark. She didn’t count Colin’s dad. He’d never been a warm, fuzzy guy, and as she’d gotten older and more perceptive, she’d had the distinct impression that he didn’t care for her. The time he’d caught her and Colin together in the orchard had confirmed it with mortifying clarity.

Colin, on the other hand, had been her best friend and loyal defender and her true love...until he wasn’t.

* * *

“I bought some peaches while you were out,” Beth was saying, her words yanking Mia back into the present. “I thought it would be fun if we made peach upside-down cake for dinner.”

“I haven’t made that in years,” Mia said. “I’d love to.”

“And how does fried chicken and potato salad sound?” Aunt Beth asked, smiling at Colin. Of course, she’d make his favorites.

“Sounds good,” he said.

“I can help you with that, too,” Mia offered.

“Except we need to get this next clue,” Colin said.

“You also need to eat,” his aunt informed him. “I bet you didn’t even have lunch. Let’s have some dinner and then I’ll give you your clue.”

His phone signaled a new text message.

“Babe?” Mia guessed mockingly.

“Babe?” Aunt Beth echoed and cocked an eyebrow. “You said you weren’t with anyone.”

“I said I wasn’t engaged.”

“Then who are you texting?” Aunt Beth demanded.

He scowled. “Aunt Beth, do you mind?” he said irritably, thumbing his cell phone.

His aunt’s eyes narrowed. “As a matter of fact, I do. This is supposed to be family time.”

“I think you guys can manage making dessert without me.” Another text came in and he started replying.

“If you don’t lose that phone I swear I’m going to shove it in the oven along with the cake,” Aunt Beth threatened.

“Okay, okay,” he muttered. The phone alerted him to yet another text. “I’ll be back.”

“Don’t go far,” Aunt Beth called after him as he ducked out of the kitchen. “Whoever he’s with, it’s not serious,” she said to Mia.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Mia said. Who was she trying to convince, Aunt Beth or herself?

April 9, 1996

Dear Mother,

I hope you enjoyed the Sweet Dreams bunny-shaped truffles. Gerald bought me a box, too, which I’m savoring. I’m only allowing myself one a day. That way they’ll last longer.

Our Easter was lovely. After church we had our usual Easter dinner with ham and garlic mashed potatoes. I also made that lovely Peach Bavarian salad, which used up the last of my canned peaches. I’ll have to can more next time. In honor of Anna, Bethie baked our traditional bunny cake, which we’ve been making since she and Anna were girls. It gave us a few tearful moments, but I’m still glad she did it. It’s one more way we can keep our Anna with us.

Even though the ground was soggy, we still had our Easter basket hunt. As the children have gotten older, we’ve made the hunt bigger. This year we sent them all over the place looking for clues—the yard, the garden, the tree house, even the henhouse. Mia took a spill and muddied her dress, and Colin very chivalrously postponed the search while Bethie ran her home to change.

By the way, that living arrangement is working very well. Mia’s irresponsible father has no problem whatsoever with Bethie taking care of his daughter. And yes, I know what you’re going to tell me. I should try for more charity toward the man. But honestly, I can’t find anything about him to like. I worry that he’ll end up hurting little Mia just like he did her mother. I guess all I can do is pray and try to be a good grandma to her and Colin. I do so love those children.

Oh, and speaking of children, we got a sweet Easter card from little Jimmy Conner and his mommy. They’re doing well and want to come out and visit us this summer.

That’s all the news for now. Kiss Emmaline for me.

Love,

Justine

Chapter Six

C
olin finally turned off his phone and went for a walk. His steps took him to the downtown area. New shops had been added since he was a kid, as well as the skating rink, but the flavor of the place was exactly the same. A lot more people, though, that was for sure.

Of course, that was what Gram and all the other movers and shakers who’d reinvented the town over fifty years ago had wanted. They’d saved it from extinction, turning it into the American equivalent of a Bavarian village. With the mountains serving as a backdrop, the Maypole in the middle of town, all the murals and flower boxes on the buildings, it looked like something lifted right out of the Bavarian Alps. Between the German costumes the shop owners wore and the oompah bands playing in the gazebo, plus the yodeling and people playing alpenhorns every time there was a festival, Icicle Falls was probably more German than half the towns in Germany. Every year the place seemed to get more popular with tourists.

And newcomers kept moving in. You always used to see people you knew on the street. Not today. There were no old-timers in the throng of new faces.

Oh, here was someone he recognized, Hildy Johnson, coming out of Johnson’s Drugs. Getting stuck talking with the town gossip was the last thing he wanted to do. He ducked around a corner and jogged across the street, making his way to Bavarian Brews. He hadn’t had a Blended Bavarian since he hit town and was suddenly craving one, a drink featuring bits of chocolate and caramel swirls.

He’d barely gotten in line when Cecily, one of the Sterling sisters and part of the Sweet Dreams Chocolate Company empire, joined him. Except she wasn’t Cecily Sterling anymore. Now she was Cecily Goodman.

“Welcome home,” she said.

He’d always liked Cecily. She had a kind smile and a kind heart to go with it. She’d owned some kind of matchmaking service down in LA before she moved back to town. Hardly surprising since she’d had a rep as a matchmaking genius back when they were all teenagers. Not that he’d needed her help; he’d known who he belonged with. Or so he’d thought.

“Hey, how’s it going? I heard you had a kid,” he said.

She beamed. “Luke Junior. He’s adorable.”

That was hardly surprising, either, considering how gorgeous Cecily was.

“I’m sorry about your grandma,” she said.

His appetite for a Blended Bavarian died. “Thanks.”

Sensing his need to move away from that particular pain, she hurried on. “So, when are you moving back to Icicle Falls?”

At the rate he was going, never. “Good question.”

“You will come back, you know,” she teased. “We all do.”

“Yeah?” What would it be like if he did manage to come back? He’d heard the saying that you can’t go home again. Even if he did, he’d never be able to recapture what he’d had growing up.

“Oh, yeah. And, speaking of coming back, I had a chance to catch up with Mia at the memorial service.”

Oh, boy, here was a conversational land mine Colin didn’t want to step on. Never have conversations about an ex-girlfriend with a matchmaker. He pulled out his phone. “Sorry. I, uh, need to make a phone call.”

She nodded and gave him one of those knowing smiles women were so good at. “Sure you do.”

He beat it out of there and checked for texts. None from Lorelei. That was surprising. And a relief, actually. He was in no mood for another barrage of questions.

Before returning to the house, he stopped in at Lupine Floral. He always brought Aunt Beth and Gram flowers when he came to visit. This time he’d been too distracted. But hey, it was never too late to flower up.

“Oh, dear boy, how are you?” Heinrich, one of the owners, greeted him.

“I’m okay,” he lied. “How about bundling me up a bouquet for my aunt?”

“I have just what she’ll like in the cooler.” Heinrich pulled out a fat bouquet of orange, yellow and red flowers, all his aunt’s favorite colors. “We’re going to miss your grandmother,” he said as he rang up the sale. “She was one of a kind. Your poor aunt. This is going to be especially hard on her. You really should move back.”

Yep, that was the curse of a small town. People not only knew your business, they also felt entitled to run it. Colin decided he’d had enough of wandering around town. This killing time was killing him. He paid Heinrich and got out of there.

Back at Aunt Beth’s, dinner preparation was under way and all kinds of great smells greeted him. He came into the kitchen to see Mia taking the peach upside-down cake from the oven. Aunt Beth was at the stove, frying chicken.

“Oh, flowers. Thanks, Colin Cootie. Mia, put those in a vase, will you? And Colin, you’re just in time to set the table.”

Colin handed over the flowers, then started counting silverware. Once—when he was about ten—he’d argued that setting the table was girls’ work. “We don’t discriminate in this family,” his aunt had informed him. “Everyone pitches in where he’s needed, and right now you’re needed to set the table.” And that had been that.

Over the years he’d been needed for everything from taking out the compost to picking peas. He’d raked brush, driven the tractor, picked apples and helped Gramps plant new trees. All those country chores had woven themselves deeply into his psyche.

So what the heck was he doing still working at a grocery warehouse in Seattle and living in a pricey apartment where the closest he got to dumping compost was sending a bag of garbage down a chute? If he was going to work in a warehouse the rest of his life, he could just as easily work at Sweet Dreams. Or he could get a job with one of the fruit packers in Wenatchee. What was there in the city to hold him?

Oh, yeah. Lorelei.

He’d met Lorelei at the gym. He’d seen her training other guys, smiling and laughing with them, making their training session look like a real party. “Okay, now, give me twenty more sit-ups. Show me that six-pack.”

Then one day he found himself on a treadmill next to her. Her red hair was gathered into a ponytail that swung back and forth when she ran. She kept checking him out; he kept checking her out. He’d already run two miles before she came over, but he stayed on until she stopped, logging in five more. She toweled off, grabbed a bottle of water and smiled at him. “This is my laid-back day. How about you?”

“I’m a wimp,” he’d said.

She’d smiled some more. “Stick with me and I’ll get you buff. Although you look pretty buff. I think you’d make my job easy.”

A little flattery, that was all it took. Next thing he knew, he was working out under her careful supervision. Then he was running his first marathon and training to do the Seattle to Portland bike ride, along with ten thousand other participants. It felt great. Suddenly, his life had meaning. Well, sort of. Not on a par with being a doctor or missionary or something, but he was doing more than punching the clock at work and then going out for a beer with the guys or to the occasional Mariners game. Now he had a girlfriend who might just be a keeper, and he had lots to do.

So much to do that he began to find himself having, well, almost too much of a good thing. Lorelei liked to keep busy, which meant that Colin now liked to keep busy. Workouts, marathons, bike rides, restaurants, clubs, dancing, more workouts, not to mention a workout between the sheets. By Fridays he’d been starting to drag. By Sundays he’d been wishing it was Friday, so he wouldn’t have to go in to work. He began to wonder if he was running low on testosterone.

“You need iron,” Lorelei informed him one day when she was towing him around the mall. So into the health store they went, where they stocked up not only on iron but also on protein powder and pills guaranteed to give him adrenal support.

After a week of taking all that, plus an expensive multivitamin she’d recommended, he did feel better. It also helped that she caught a cold and was stuck at home sick for a couple of days, and he got a chance to recharge.

“I’m sorry we can’t be at the gym together,” she’d croaked.

“Me, too,” he’d said. He never told her that he’d skipped the gym.

Other than running him ragged, Lorelei was good for him. She inspired him. Yeah, they were pretty good together...when he didn’t need a break.

Wanting a break from your girlfriend. Was that normal?

Uncle Mark was home now, a big bear of a guy who wore jeans to work and covered his bald spot with a Mariners baseball cap.

“The women got you setting the table again?” he asked Colin with a grin.

“Don’t you be giving him a hard time,” scolded Aunt Beth from her post at the stove, “or I’ll tell him about those chocolate-cherry cupcakes you baked last month.”

Uncle Mark made a face and went to the fridge. “I’m starving. When’s dinner?”

“As soon as Dylan gets here. And if you’re going to drink all the lemonade, you’d better make some more.”

“I’m already on it,” Mark said, and took a can of frozen lemonade from the freezer.

By the time Dad wandered in, dinner was ready and everyone sat down at the table, taking the same places they had for years when they were together. Well, almost. There was no Gramps and now there was no Gram. Uncle Mark said grace and Aunt Beth, Mia and Colin echoed, “Amen” when he was done. Dad didn’t say anything. He and God hadn’t been on speaking terms in years. The only time Gram ever got him to church was Christmas Eve.

After some of his own disappointments, Colin understood how his dad felt. He’d said as much to his grandma once; she’d merely shaken her head and said, “God gives the same free will to everyone. Your father can’t blame Him when people misspend it and end up hurting others.”

Probably not. People did a good job of screwing up their lives without any help from God. Colin was a perfect example of that.

He took a chicken leg, even though he suddenly didn’t have much of an appetite.

“Have some potato salad,” Aunt Beth urged, passing him the bowl.

Nobody made potato salad like Aunt Beth. Colin took some and wished he felt more like eating.

Dinner was far from comfortable. There was Uncle Mark, who kept the conversation limping along with his running commentary on dinner. “Great chicken, Bethie.” “Hey, guys, these beans are straight from the garden.” And Dad, eating in silence. And Mia, not contributing much to the conversation, just picking at her food.

Uncle Mark was saying, “I’m ready for some of that peach upside-down cake,” when Colin’s cell phone rang.

“Don’t tell me, let me guess,” murmured Mia.

Yes, it was Lorelei again.

“If that’s the same person who’s been texting you all day, tell her you’re busy,” Aunt Beth said.

Colin ignored her and ducked away from the table. “Hey, what’s up?” he answered as he made his way through the living room.

“Surprise! I’m here.”

“Here.” Here?
As in...here? In Icicle Falls?

“I know you said I didn’t have to come, Col, but I think you need me.”

Like he needed a nail driven into his eye. “Where are you right now?”

“Colin, we’re dishing up dessert,” called Aunt Beth.

And meanwhile, Lorelei was dishing up a mess. He slipped out onto the front porch, half expecting to see her Kia sitting at the curb. Of course it wasn’t. She didn’t have Aunt Beth’s address. And she wasn’t tracking him, for crying out loud. Except that was what it felt like.

“I’m in the town square by that cute gazebo. So, where should I come?”

Not here!
“Uh.”

“Colin, Aunt Beth says to get back to the kitchen or she’s going to give Uncle Mark your piece of cake.”

He whirled around to see Mia standing at the screen door.

“I’ll be there in a minute.” Sheesh.

“All right,” said Lorelei.

“No, not there.”

“What?”

“I was talking to someone else.”

“That
friend
?”

Colin’s head hurt. “Let’s get you settled someplace.”

“Where are you staying?”

“With my dad. But you can’t stay there.”

“Gee, thanks.” Okay, that hadn’t come out right.

“No, I don’t mean it like that. It’s in the will.” Well, sort of. This was hard to explain.

“In the will,” she repeated slowly.

Yeah, that sounded nuts. This whole thing was nuts.

“Tell you what, go to Gerhardt’s Gasthaus and check in. It’s three blocks off the main street on Pine. I’ll come see you as soon as I can.” And the way his aunt was nagging him, that was going to be sooner rather than later.

“Okay.” Lorelei sounded a lot less happy than when she’d first called. “Then let’s meet up for dinner.”

Crap
. “Sorry, I just ate. I didn’t know you were coming.”

She sighed. “Okay, I guess I’ll get something to eat. By myself.”

Even though he wasn’t responsible for the fact that she was having to eat alone, he still felt as though he was. Lorelei didn’t cook, but the one dish she sure could serve up was guilt.

“I’ll see you in a little while,” he promised.

“If you want to go hang out with your girlfriend, I can take over,” Mia said as he ended the call.

Yeah, no ulterior motive there. She’d probably be happy to cut him out of his grandmother’s will, just like she’d been happy to cut him out of her life. “I don’t think so,” he said. “We’re in this together.”

“Suit yourself.”

“Colin, this friend of yours is becoming a nuisance,” Aunt Beth said as he and Mia came back to the kitchen table. “You know the conditions of the will.”

“I do, don’t worry,” he said.

His aunt didn’t say anything else, but she was frowning as she set a slice of cake in front of him.

Cake with a topping of peaches, melted brown sugar and butter, all smothered in whipped cream—it landed on his taste buds like some kind of magic potion, transporting him to happier times when Sunday supper always ended in some fabulous dessert. After dessert it was cards or, in the summer, croquet or badminton on the lawn or sitting on the front porch with Mia and his dog while the grown-ups visited with passing neighbors. When he hit adulthood, he’d envisioned himself with a family, enjoying apple crisp or peach upside-down cake, sitting on his own front porch or playing games with his kids. So far, he had no family and no front porch, only an apartment with a balcony and a barbecue. What the heck was he doing with his life?