Chapter Thirty-Six
“I’m going to stretch my legs and walk down to the mailbox.” Kit grabbed Wally’s leash from its hook and called the dog. He came out from under the table, tail wagging. She’d just returned from a drive into town to leave the jewelry Greta had brought them in Banks’s wall safe.
“Why are you still putting a leash on him?” Beth asked. “Where do you think he’s going to go?”
“Yeah, Mom. Wally’s a country dog now. Country dogs don’t need no stinkin’ leash.”
“He’s enamored by all the enticing scents out here.
Bear. Moose. Deer. Rabbit.” Kit shrugged.
“All of the above. But I’m not taking any chances that he won’t take off after the wrong critter.
Not just yet, anyway. He hasn’t been here long enough to know the lay of the land.
He’ll learn to stay close when we’re out, but for now I need him to learn the boundaries.
Plus I’m trying to keep him out of the tall grass because of the ticks. ”
“Good point. I found one on Benny last night.” Abby raised her wooden spoon and pointed to the box of crispy rice cereal on the counter. “I’ll still be here, trying to stir a sticky mess of melted marshmallows, when you get back. Anything for the kid.”
“And I’ll be reading the greatest love story ever . . . well, once the dishes are done.” Beth followed Kit out of the room. “Why can’t I find a man like Miles? Handsome almost beyond words, intelligent, brilliant writer, and I’m sure if he’d lived, he’d have been a wealthy man.”
“You keep looking, sis. You never know what you’ll find or when.”
They reached the front door, and Kit opened it. Beth followed her out onto the front porch, where she leaned against the railing and took a deep breath.
“You’re going to want a sweater if you’re going to stay out for a while. The sun is already heading down behind the trees,” Kit pointed out.
“I know, but it’s just so pleasant out here right now. So peaceful, and it’s not as cold as it’s been. But I’ll be going back in. I’m on KP duty tonight.” Beth called after Kit, who’d taken off down the driveway, “Hey, do you have your bear spray?”
In reply, Kit held up the canister attached to her belt loop.
The mailbox was at the foot of the entrance to the camp, at the end of the long winding lane.
It was a walk Kit enjoyed taking, though mail was much lighter here than it had been in Bryn Mawr.
She’d forgotten to have her mail forwarded to her here in Maine, but Russ had put the request in for her when he’d put a stop on his mail before he left on his trip.
“So how’re things going up there?” Russ had asked when he’d called a short time earlier.
“Oh, hey, I was just about to call you,” Kit told him. “I wanted to wish you bon voyage.”
“Really?”
She’d laughed at the note of skepticism in his voice. “Yes, really. Why would I not? I hope your trip is everything you hoped it would be, and more.”
“I really appreciate that, Kit. Especially since I feel that my . . .” He paused as if searching for words he might not have wanted to say.
“My insistence on going, on not talking to you first, led to our splitting up. That if I hadn’t pushed so hard, if I hadn’t been so secretive, or I’d included you in my plans, maybe we wouldn’t be heading for a divorce. ”
“Don’t beat yourself up, Russ. If we’re honest, we have to admit it’s been brewing for some time now.”
His silence told her he concurred.
“I think the older we got, the more we realized that our lives were not headed in the same direction. Your planning your trip may have been the catalyst, but it isn’t the cause.”
“Thank you,” Russ said softly. “I’ve been hating myself for doing this to you.”
“You haven’t done anything to me, Russ. It’s just the way things have sorted out. I want and need to be here. You want and need to be somewhere else, doing other things with other people. Let’s leave it at that and move on.”
“I can if you can.”
“I can.” Kit took a deep breath. “So tomorrow’s the big day, huh?”
“Yup. Early flight, early arrival in Venice.”
“So much to see,” she said.
“Yeah. Can’t wait. I wish . . . well, no sense in going over that again.” He sighed softly. Then: “How’s Abby doing up there? And Benny? Wally?”
“They’re all fine. Wally loves it here, loves sniffing around the camp, trying, no doubt, to identify all those unfamiliar animal scents. Abby and Benny are both fine. Let me get them for you so you can say goodbye before you leave.”
“Okay. And thanks, Kit, for—for being who you are. I wish you much success with the camp. I hope you enjoy your new life.”
“Thanks. I already do.” She paused. “Safe travels, Russ. Happy great adventure.”
She took the phone out onto the porch, where Benny was racing his cars and Abby was making yet another of her endless lists. Kit handed her the phone. “Your father.”
“Hi, Dad,” Abby said as Kit went back inside the house, closing the door gently on her way to the kitchen to finish cleaning up from dinner.
“What did Russ have to say when he called?” Beth was at the sink rinsing the dishes as she washed them.
“Just wanted to say goodbye. He leaves in the morning.”
“Ah, the adventure begins.”
Kit laughed. “You sound like you’re narrating a sci-fi movie.”
“Nah. Something lighter. Maybe a rom-com. Handsome middle-age man off on the trip of a lifetime meets—” Beth’s hand flew to her mouth, splashing water on her shirt when she realized what she’d said. “Ouch. Sorry, Kit. I didn’t mean . . .”
Kit brushed her off with the wave of a hand and handed her a towel to dry off with.
“It’s fine. He’s setting off on the next phase of his life, so I hope he does find someone to share it with.
At this point, I don’t wish him any harm or an unhappy life or ill will or anything like that. I want him to get on with his life.”
“And are you going to do the same?”
“What do you mean? I am getting on with my life.”
“I mean finding someone to get on with it with.” Beth tossed the towel onto the back of a nearby chair and turned back to the sink.
“I haven’t thought about it.” Kit averted her eyes and reached for a dry dish towel.
“Oh, not much, you haven’t. I saw the way you were looking out the window when that police car pulled into the driveway yesterday afternoon.
” Beth laughed and Kit snapped the towel at her sister’s backside, hard enough to make Beth jump, but not enough to deter her.
“And that look of disappointment when you found it was only an officer coming out because he’d never been out to the camp because he wasn’t from here and he wanted to see what everyone was talking about. ”
“It was just odd seeing some stranger getting out of the police car, that’s all.”
“You’re so full of it, Katherine Porterfield.” Beth resumed washing the dishes. “Anyway, a little male company wouldn’t hurt, you know. And Hal certainly has had his eye on you. So don’t act like it’s out of the question.” She looked over her shoulder at her sister. “Don’t you like him?”
“I do. He’s really a nice guy.”
“Kit,” Beth began with infinite patience. “Hal is smart. Mannerly. Loves his job and his community. Good-looking, good sense of humor. Former FBI and a lawyer and God only knows what else. Oh, he apparently has some carpentry skills, too, so that’s a plus.”
“I know all those things. But stop. I’m in no hurry. I just got one man out of my life. I’m not looking for a replacement.”
“You don’t have to marry him, Kit. But I can tell by the way he looks at you that he’d like to get to know you better. Where’s the harm in that?”
“No harm,” Kit conceded. “And I wouldn’t mind getting to know him better.”
“Ha! I knew it! You are interested.”
“Okay, fine. Interested. Let’s leave it at that.”
“So are we really doing this tomorrow?” Beth came into the kitchen, where Kit and Abby were discussing phase one of the project—that being the initial clean-out of the cabins set for the following morning.
In her arms Beth held the manuscript.
“Yes, we are.” Kit looked up from her phone, where she’d been adding up the cost of the dumpsters she’d ordered online. “They’re going to be leaving the dumpsters in the driveway. They said they can’t get them down to the cabins. How are we going to get stuff from the cabins to the dumpsters?”
Beth shrugged her disinterest.
“What? I thought you were so hot to trot on this project,” Kit asked, and in reply, Beth held up the manuscript.
“I can’t stop reading this. Miles could really twist a sentence any way he wanted.
He was a genius. And the way he used words to paint a picture—honestly, some of his descriptions are lyrical.
Pure poetry. He’s making me see everything here at the camp through his eyes, and I’m loving it all even more.
” She looked down at the page in her hand and read, “‘I see God’s hand in the glory of the leaves this October, and I am breathless.’” She looked up at Kit. “Me too, Miles. Me too.”
“We haven’t been here in the fall to see the leaves changing colors, Beth,” Kit pointed out, “but I agree. It’s a glorious picture, and I’m looking forward to seeing those leaves turn color myself come October. But what does that have to do with cleaning out the cabins?”
“I need to read this to the end, Kit.” Beth stood behind Kit’s chair, her arms around her sister’s shoulders.
“Why? You already know how it ends,” Abby noted.
“Yes, but seeing their courtship and the life he’d dreamed for them through his eyes puts a whole new perspective on their story.
” Beth turned to Abby. “He was such a romantic. I’ve never read prose that sizzles the way his does, and I’m talking about scenes where they aren’t even touching. ” She pretended to fan herself.
“Yes, it was all that.” Kit smiled. “But you were the one—well, one of the ones—who pushed to clean up the cabins and try to get the camp up and running by July first. I’m sorry if our accelerated schedule interferes with your reading, but you’re on the A-team, Beth. Bright and early tomorrow morning.”