Ruth Scofield - Love Came Unexpectedly

He turned to look at her, his eyes serious. “He was a fine man. People liked him a lot.”

Feeling warmed suddenly, she was grateful for Grant’s friendship. She gazed at him, experiencing an emotion she couldn’t name…but it was a welcome one.

“I…suppose they did. Thanks for that, Grant,” she said softly. “And I wouldn’t dream of making any quick judgments. Thanks for the ride into town, too. I owe you one.”

His hand on the wheel, he spread it wide. “You don’t owe me a thing, Sunny. But I’d welcome another invitation to lunch anytime.”

“Sure.” she said lightly, getting out of the car. “I’ll let you know.”

Grant drove on down the road. Sunny let herself into the small cabin, thinking about how sweet Grant had been. Sweet men made her a little suspicious—she didn’t know what to think about Grant.

She refused to give her feelings about him any room to blossom. That would interfere with business.

She immediately turned on the air-conditioning unit. Old though it was, it was the only thing she had to cool off her room. She stood near it, raising her shirt slightly to get the cool air against her bare skin.

Heavenly…

The phone rang, and she dodged back into the office to answer it. It was a customer from Kansas City.

“Yes, that weekend is open for cabin number four. Hmm…what color is the cabin? Um, I think it’s the, um, green one. In the middle. All right, from Friday night to Sunday. And the name?”

She was feeling quite comfortable with this. Her nurse’s training had prepared her to deal with all kinds of people, and this was little different. She wondered what the nursing situation was down here, in this resort town. What was the small hospital like? Was it short of staff, as so many were?

By the time she’d taken a couple of more calls, and answered the ones from her answering machine, the sun was low. She left the cabin and wandered down the concrete path to the covered wooden dock.

She noted the remnants of her grandmother’s flower beds that Grant had mentioned. She imagined them in full splendor. She’d sometimes helped Jessica plant flowers. She should do something about them. They would make the place much more colorful, make the place stand out a bit, make it more attractive.

Grant’s boat lolled in the water, using one slip. It was a small runabout. She looked at it, noticing its wear, then moved on to inspect the other, now-empty boat slips.

She folded herself down on the dock’s end, leaned back on her hands, and stared out. The day was losing its heat, and she lifted her face. A few boaters were out on the main body of water, which she could see. But her cove was quiet and serene. What would it be like with every cabin taken? And every boat slip filled?

The sun hovered above the water with its last blasting rays of the day. She watched it sink behind the hills, feeling peaceful. She sighed and strolled back to her cabin in the fading light.

She wouldn’t admit to feeling lonely. Not even a tiny bit.

Going inside, she settled down in the office chair to make a very important long-distance phone call.

Dialing the Larsons, she leaned back and waited for an answer. They were as close to family as anyone she had. “Hi, Jessica, it’s me, Sunny.”

“Hi, honey. I’m so glad you’ve called. I’ve been a little worried about you.” Her foster mother was a small woman with thin brown hair, but her heart was as big as all outdoors. “How’s the heiress? Everything as good as you hoped?”

“Both better and worse…no, that isn’t right. It’s just different than I expected, that’s all. And more work than I’d thought, but that’s good. I mean, it’s keeping me busy. But I’ve learned I really have to remain on the property and run the resort for a full year. There’s no way to get around that.”

“No kidding? So what are you going to do about your apartment? And your job?”

“I can’t afford to keep them. I’ll have to give them up. Can you and Mark go over and close the apartment for me? I’ll write a letter to the manager, but I need someone to take care of what’s there. Will you send me some of my clothes and put everything else into storage?”

“Sure, we’ll do it, Sunny. You can count on us. You don’t have all that much furniture anyway. Do you want me to ship you anything?”

“Only a few things. I’ll send you a list. Tell me, how is Lori?” Lori was the five-year-old mixed-race child she’d taken a shine to, the Larsons only current foster child. The child was adorable, with deep dimples and a smile that charmed everyone.

“Lori is just fine. She’s asked about you several times. Wondered why you haven’t been by lately.”

Sunny chatted for twenty minutes, arranging the pack-up and storage of her things, then, mindful of the cost, she said goodbye and hung up. She sat a moment, praying for her foster family. Mark’s job loss a few months back and his inability to find work again worried her. And Jessica’s asthma made it hard for her to work full-time. How were they going to keep paying their bills?

Could they keep going until she sold the resort?

Her thoughts were unclear about selling. Surprisingly, she felt somewhat glad of the stipulation of spending a year here. She wanted to hold on for a while.

She rose, noting it was ten o’clock. She let her concerns go. Like Scarlett O’Hara, she’d have plenty of time to think of them tomorrow.

She enumerated what she’d have to do the next day. Calling her apartment manager in Minneapolis was first, to let him know the Larsons were coming to pack and ship her few things. Then check the cabins one last time before guests arrived. And so on…

She locked the cabin door and turned off her air conditioner, but she opened the bedroom window to let in air and kept her overhead fan going. The window air conditioner wasn’t giving her much help. Getting into bed, she sorted through the books at her bedside. Choosing one, she started reading a Western.

She’d never before had time for fiction…

Long after she’d turned out the light, she awoke holding her breath, shooting straight up in bed. She had no idea what time it was. What was that sound? Footsteps? It couldn’t be, the resort was empty…

Wasn’t it?

Listening for a long moment, she heard nothing more than the whispering trees and faint lapping of water. She must be dreaming.

Breathing again, she began to relax.

But the sound of the lake lapping against the shore sounded louder than it should. As though something—a boat possibly—had disturbed the water.

The sound receded. Her eyelids drooped. She just wasn’t used to the lake sounds yet, that was all, she reasoned. She’d become used to it…as of tomorrow, the resort would reopen and she expected three families and a couple of singles to occupy the cabins. There would be people here.

The next day, she was startled at how busy she was kept. Boy, were there people! Starting at ten, when the first family arrived, she heard the shouts and calls of children. She answered a dozen questions. She found herself busy in six different directions. When she saw two boats launched and occupying the slips, she unexpectedly felt relieved.

She was in business.

Then, when she had a quiet moment about seven that evening, she felt flat-out tired. But it was a good tired, a satisfying exhaustion.

Obviously, running a resort was no piece of cake.

On Sunday morning, she turned the television on to a TV preacher and listened to his sermon, but she found the preacher unsatisfying. Then her morning was interrupted by two phone calls, and someone wanting to find somewhere to eat Sunday dinner. She tried to accommodate them with brochures, then had to admit she hadn’t a clue about what those restaurants really were like.