“I only got lost once.”
Sophie glanced at him in the mirror.
“Once was enough, Dad.”
He sighed dramatically.
“Both of you have
become terribly bossy.”
“That’s because we love you,” I answered.
He leaned forward and kissed my cheek.
“I know.”
—
The Lakeview Inn looked almost exactly as I remembered it.
The old white building.
The wraparound porch.
The rocking chairs.
The lake stretching beyond the windows.
When Mark gave his name at reception, the young woman behind the desk smiled warmly.
“Mr. Ellison. We’ve been expecting you.”
She handed him a key.
“Room 12 is ready.”
He looked down at it.
“Room 12,” he repeated quietly.
We walked upstairs together.
When he opened the door, I nearly cried.
The wallpaper had changed.
The television was newer.
But the old brass bed remained.
And the large window still overlooked the lake.
I walked toward it.
Mark came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
Exactly as he had on our honeymoon.
“Hi, Lee,” he whispered.
“Hi.”
He rested his
chin on my shoulder.
“I remember this room.”
I closed my eyes.
He continued.
“I remember everything about this place.”
I covered his hands with mine.
And silently wished that he could hold on to those memories for as long as possible.
—
The following afternoon, we walked down to the Gull’s Nest.
Carol waited near the deck stairs.
She was a sturdy older woman with short gray hair and an anchor tattoo on her forearm.
She wore a black dress and looked uncomfortable in it.
But when she saw me, her expression softened.
She opened her arms.
I walked straight into them.
“There she is,” she whispered. “The wife.”
I laughed through my tears.
“I’m still sorry about that phone call.”
“Oh, hush.”
She stepped back to admire my dress.
“Good heavens, honey. He’s going to cry the moment he sees you.”
Then she led me onto the deck.
White
daisies were everywhere.
They filled glass jars.
Decorated the railings.
And surrounded the little wooden aisle between the chairs.
Soft lights hung overhead.
Beyond the deck stretched the old dock.
The same dock where Mark had told me twenty-seven years earlier that he intended to marry me.
Our family and closest friends were waiting.
Dave.
Tommy.
Ray.
My sister and her husband.
Several longtime family friends.
Pastor Jim, who’d married us the first time.
