Lee

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Rusty was not accepting this. His head swiveled as he pointedly gazed at the photo.

This mysterious explanation didn’t exactly make much sense to me either. “I think you’re right. Don’t you see? We didn’t meet by coincidence. This guy had everything to do with it. He sent you to me, Rusty. Weird as it may sound, I believe it.”

“I felt drawn to you too, but seeing him yesterday puts a whole new brand on the word eerie. I mean, I don’t know, Lee. How can that be?”

“I honestly can’t say.”

“Lee? Rusty? What are you two up to?” It was Mom. She stared at us curiously as we sat among the pile of pictures.

“Mom, you need to sit down and listen to this.”

“What is it? Is everything okay?”

I motioned toward the chair, saying, “Yeah, but just sit. We’ll explain.”

She took a seat and then I launched into my explanation of what happened. “Rusty saw him. Great-Granddad. At Neal’s woodworking shop.”

Mom took a deep breath. “Lee, honey, I think this is a marvelous story, but—”

“Mom, it’s not a story. We went to Neal’s shop and he was closed yesterday. How could Rusty have bought those items from him and how would he have been able to have described in intricate detail what that shop looked like inside if he hadn’t been in there?”

“You bought some things from him, Rusty?”

“Yes, ma’am. I purchased some wooden ducks and some painted fish. I can show you. They’re in my truck back at the inn.”

Mom tugged on her ear, something she did when she was thinking hard. “Hmm. This is unusual, to say the least.”

“That’s why we think Great-Granddad had something to do with us meeting. You know his story about the train depot and how I’m helping Jackson with the cafe. Now I’m thinking it had something to do with that. He wanted Rusty to meet me for some reason.”

Rusty grabbed my hand. “I already know the reason.”

Mom grinned. “It doesn’t really matter how you two met, does it. What matters is you did.”

“I guess. But isn’t it kind of cool it happened this way?” I asked.

“They do say that our loved ones watch over us from above. Maybe your great-granddad felt a special attachment to you, Lilou since you share a bond with him. And that was his way of doing so.”

Rusty piped in. “Whatever the case, I wish I could thank the man because he sure did me a solid.”

“He was an exceptional man,” Mom said.

“Ma’am, can I ask you. Did he do wood carvings?”

“He did. As a matter of fact, we have a few scattered around the house here.” Mom got up to go fetch them. I had forgotten about that, mainly because I’d taken them for granted having seen them every day growing up. When Mom returned, she was carrying two beautifully painted mallards. Rusty’s eyes widened when he saw them.

“Those are just like the ones I bought yesterday.”

“You’re kidding,” Mom said.

“Not at all. I fell in love with them because of the fine detail.” He asked to hold one and then he pointed a few things out. “See the feathering on the white ring around its neck? And how the paint carries that sheen in certain spots? It’s almost like the creature has come to life in your hand.”

“I’ve never thought of it that way, but yes, I suppose it does,” Mom said.

“They really are spectacular. As soon as he showed them to me, I knew I had to own them. And the fish are amazing too.”

“I’m not familiar with the fish.”

“I’ll bring them over so you can see.”

“Maybe he’s working some magic from above then, Lilou.”

“He must still be carving wood too,” I said. Then I told Mom about Glenn’s intervening and how we were going to be interviewed for the cafe.

“I’m happy he’s been hard at work doing something,” she said.

“Yeah, it may help Jackson with her business overall, not to mention the new name.”

“New name?”

“Yeah. He came up with this great idea to change the cafe’s name to I’ll Be Waiting in honor of Great-Granddad.”

“Lilou, that’s fantastic.”

“We thought so. Where is Glenn?”

“At a friend’s house.”

“Oh, I wanted Rusty to meet him.”

“Why don’t the two of you pick him up then? I told him I would get him at five.”

When I glanced at Rusty, he was already speaking. “We’d love to. I’d really like to meet him.”

“Great. And would you like to join us for dinner tonight, Rusty?”

“Uh, no, Mom. We have other plans,” I said. Mom’s disappointment was etched on her face. So I hastily added, “But we’ll stay until Dad gets home so Rusty can meet him.”

“Oh, good.” That seemed to appease her some.

“We’re going to the library now,” I said.

“The library?” Mom was more than a little surprised.

“Yeah, I want to look for old pictures of Great-Granddad at the train depot. I didn’t know if maybe the library had any on file.”

“I wonder if I do somewhere. What are you going to do with them?”

“We want to frame and hang them in the cafe.”

Mom pointed to the ceiling. “Ah, that’s a wonderful idea. Let me see what’s up in the attic. It might take a while.”

“That’s fine. In the meantime, we’ll still check at the library. Come on, Rusty.”

On the way, we stopped at the inn to pick up Rusty’s purchases from yesterday. When he showed me, I was totally blown away. “These are so much like the mallards Mom has, aren’t they?”

“Yes. And I can’t wait to show her the fish.”

I burst out laughing.

“What?”

“You. You’re like a kid with those fish.”

“My fish are awesome.”

“Yeah, they are. You’re proud of your fish, aren’t you?”

“You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?”

“Never. I would never make fun of a man and his fish.”

He poked his tongue against his cheek. “Uh huh. You seem like the type that would. I bet you’d make fun of a lot of things.”

“Like what?”

Before I could guess what was coming, I was on his lap and his mouth had taken command of mine. “I’m not going to give you the answer to that.” Then he kissed me some more.

“Maybe the library can wait for a little while.”

He pushed my hair behind my ear. “Mmm. Did you have something else in mind, Lee?”

“Maybe.”

“Such as.”

“Why don’t we go into your room and maybe you’ll find out.”

“Are you still going to make fun of my fish.”

“Huh uh. I wouldn’t dare.”

He opened the car door and I slid off his lap and out. Then he followed and we walked hand in hand inside. I didn’t care that people noticed us. I didn’t care if they knew who I was. I didn’t care that it was the middle of the afternoon. The only thing I did care about was that I was with Rusty and he made me feel like the most special person on the earth.