“I love everything about being here. I feel like I fit in because of who I was, but it’s these people, this town, this place, that is informing me about who I really am. It’s completely reinvigorated me. And while Arlen and I might not seem the traditional newlyweds, even for a couple who ran off to elope, I assure you we fulfill things in each other that we both truly desire and cherish. The rest…that will come with time. Or it won’t. I can’t explain why that part, the part everyone looks to in order to define a couple, so completely doesn’t matter to either of us. What I do have already is a priceless treasure. Whether or not you understand it, I hope you can at least appreciate what it’s given me.” She squeezed Lauren’s hands. “And give me—us—your blessing.”
Tears swam in Charlene’s eyes, and in Lauren’s as well. “I do, Mom. I do want you to be happy. I’m sorry I doubted you. It was all just so shocking, so…not you. Maybe because I didn’t know you, this part of you, so I couldn’t possibly make sense of it.”
Charlene laughed even as she sniffled. She gently dabbed at the corners of her eyes so as not to disturb her always carefully applied makeup while whisking away the few tears that threatened to leak out. “I know. Which is precisely what makes it wonderful. It took this kind of shake-up, this monumental shift in my personal paradigm, to find what I was always missing. Or what I was missing now, anyway.”
Lauren pulled her mother into a hug. “I’m sorry I rained on your lovely new parade.”
“I’m just happy you’re here and that we finally had a chance to truly talk this out. I know you were just worried about me, and I love you for it.” She set her back. “I raised you right, Lauren Madigan Matthews. I knew you’d come around.”
Lauren hoped that in her relief and happiness at their reunion her mother couldn’t see the lingering threads of concern that Lauren simply couldn’t shake. It was all wonderful on the surface, but still pretty out there. At least for the woman who had raised her, anyway. It was such a monumental shift. It would take time for her to truly come to terms with what she thought about all of it. But there was one thing she did know for certain. “I want you to be happy. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“I know, honey.” She let go of Lauren’s hands, then patted her thighs before squaring her shoulders and standing up. She turned and pulled Lauren up with her. “Let’s continue our walk. We’ve now exhausted the very dramatic Story of Me, and now I need to catch up on everything about you. We’ve—I’ve hated not being able to keep up with you, with what you’ve been doing. It’s been a horrible gap in my days, in my life. My one and only true regret. It’s only been months but it feels like lifetimes. I worry, too, you know.”
“I know you do,” Lauren said, feeling somewhat comforted by the familiarity of the routines and rhythms they were naturally returning to.
“I want you to catch me up on every last detail of the past six months. What’s going on with Daphne and that Italian investment banker she was dating. Are they still together? Who are you seeing? Anyone? Have you talked to Todd about your schedule? I really think if you approach it as I mentioned, that—” She paused in the middle of the path and turned to look at Lauren. “Wait. Something just clicked inside my head. Back there…before we sat down…you said ‘used to shadow.’ What does that mean? Has something happened with Todd? Or, God forbid, his family? I have been completely out of the loop since coming here, which I confess has been mostly a relief. I’ve tried to keep up, somewhat, with Washington, just because we’ve been so disconnected, but it just made that more unbearable for me.”
Lauren silently cursed herself for the inadvertent slip. They were just renewing their bonds. Now was definitely not the time to get into another potentially divisive conversation. But she also knew it was pointless to try to divert her mother from the subject. She was going to have to divulge the latest turn in her life at some point. She’d just hoped it would be after she’d had more time to reconcile the latest sharp turn in her mother’s life. But maybe it was the very fact that her mother had made such a sharp turn that might give her the right insight to truly understand why her daughter had, more or less, done the same thing. “You know I’ve been unhappy. For some time now. So—”
“I know, sweetheart. But you’re here now and I just know we’re going to be fine now that we’ve patched things up. I hope you’ll stay long enough to get to spend some time with Arlen and get to know him better. Or, at the very least, agree to schedule some time in for a real vacation out here with us. If you could do that, I know you’ll feel even better about this change in my life. Arlen has just been beside himself with your impending visit. I know I’ve never seen him so nervous about anything. It was like you were a state dignitary or something. But I know it’s just because he wants that part of my life settled and me reconciled with my only child.”
“Does he have children? I didn’t think—”
“No, life didn’t favor him in that way. But he does understand my need to be connected to you, to keep our bond strong. That has to count for something, doesn’t it?”
“Of course it does. Mom, I might not fully understand about the suddenness of it all, or how completely you changed your life in such a short time. But I am happy that you’re happy.”
Her mother pulled her into another tight embrace. “Oh, sweetie, this all means more to me than you can know.”
Lauren could hear the thickness in her mother’s voice again and felt her own throat tighten, but for different reasons. Lauren realized that her mother hadn’t noticed she hadn’t gotten an answer to her question. And, for now, though she didn’t feel great about it, Lauren left it that way.
Charlene broke the hug and slipped her arm through Lauren’s. “The botanical gardens are just around the next bend. Care for a stroll? Arlen was a major force in getting this park built ten years ago. He really feels strongly about preserving the beauty of our town, of our mountain way of life. Which, I tell you, is a challenge with the resort holding an iron fist on our town’s revenue potential. It’s such a fascinating blend here politically, with all the demands of a small, very close-knit town balanced against what amounts to the huge corporate presence of the resort and all that goes with it. It’s an international draw, just as Aspen and Vail are, and it requires some pretty tricky maneuvering, let me tell you, to balance their needs with those of the year-round residents. Then there is the small college just outside of town, and the fact that part of the resort is used as an Olympic training ground; it’s really an amazing mosaic.”
“I never thought about it like that,” Lauren admitted. But it explained, at least in part, why there was enough here to spark her mother’s avid intellect and continued need to be dedicated to something. It was funny, but Lauren thought that it looked like Charlene had found a rather unique place to stretch her later-life wings, in a place where no one would have ever pictured her steel magnolia mother settling down.
However, the man her mother had chosen to settle down with, well, Lauren still didn’t entirely comprehend that part. Her mother’s love for Cedar Springs and her new way of life presented a strong possibility of what the draw might really have been, and yet she’d fallen for the man—married him in fact—before she’d even seen the town, so…go figure.
Lauren let herself be led through the iron gates into the park. It was quiet, with hardly anyone milling around the path that circled several small ponds. Various local varieties of plants and flowers were carefully tended along the trail, all clearly marked with signs detailing the information about the plant, as well as who was responsible for donating it. And almost every flower and twig had a sponsor. Not that it was unheard of for a county to expand its services on the foundation of private donations. Everyone benefited then.
But it did give her another place to continue her digging.
And she still had every intention of continuing with her private little investigation. Her heart was less heavy now that she’d talked to her mother, but…she couldn’t help it, her gut was still insisting that something wasn’t right. She might be able to better understand now why her mother had so abruptly changed her life to come to Cedar Springs with a man she hardly knew…but that didn’t mean she understood why Arlen had made the same choice. Not that her mother wasn’t the catch of the century for any man, but given the lack of any obvious passion between the two, and what she knew of the man thus far, it made her wonder what his motives might have been.
She made a mental note to tour the park again later, alone. With a camera and a notepad. Where she could start compiling a donor list. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. And one that hopefully wouldn’t so easily trigger the town radar where she was concerned. She’d known she’d have to be discreet in her digging, once in town, but she’d had no idea the level of scrutiny her every move would command. She didn’t want to disturb or in any way threaten the peace her mother had apparently found here, but until she felt more certain that the man who was living under the same roof as her mother also had her best interests at heart…she’d continue to learn as much as she could about the man, professionally and personally.
“It’s a lovely park,” Lauren said as they made their way to the front gate, which opened onto Main Street, on the east side of her motel.
“Do you have any plans for dinner?” her mother asked as they stepped back onto the sidewalk.
Lauren smiled. “What plans could I possibly have?”
“Well,” her mother smiled now, too, and in that moment, it felt like old times. “You did seem rather…animated when I saw you talking with Jake earlier. I just didn’t know if, perhaps, the two of you—”
“He’s taking me for an aerial tour this weekend.”
“That’s wonderful! So you two are hitting it off.”
“I think his sister asked him to do it. As a favor to the mayor.” She didn’t know that for certain, but she had a hunch the chauffer service and tour had been a package request. What remained to be seen was whether or not it still felt like a favor after they’d spent the afternoon together.
“I wouldn’t doubt that’s where the idea originated,” Charlene said, the gleam still in her eye. “She’s a wonder, Ruby Jean is. I don’t know what Arlen would do without her. That was nice of her, to think of that. You’ll be in awe, when you fly over. You’ll see why I love it here so much.”
There was no denying the grand majesty of the mountains, or how awe inspiring the scenery. Still…“Do you, Mom? Really love it here? I mean, not the political landscape or the small town embrace, but the mountains and…well, it’s just so different from Virginia and Florida.”
“The thinner air took some getting used to, and I definitely had to readjust my thoughts about snow,” Charlene said more frankly than Lauren had expected. “We get a lot of it here. But it’s just so stunning, this view. It gives a person a different perspective. I can’t really explain it, but I feel like I better understand myself here.”
“Jake said something similar…about looking at the mountains and understanding where you fit into the scheme of life.”
“He’s absolutely right. I didn’t know this was where I belonged until I got here.” She shifted her view from the mountains back to her daughter. “It’s different, and I won’t say it’s come without compromises, but in a new relationship, there are countless give and takes.”
“What is Arlen compromising?”
Her mother just gave her an admonishing look. “I’ve managed to come this far in my life without making any disastrous decisions. So you’ll have to trust me, and, if I make foolish mistakes, now or in the future, you’ll have to allow me to endure them, the old-fashioned way.” She touched Lauren’s hair and smiled. “Just like I do with you.”
Lauren laughed. “I love you. And I worry because I do love you. But I do trust that you’re here because you want to be. Seeing you, listening to you, there is no doubt about that.” What Lauren didn’t add was that while she’d heard the rhapsody and joy her mother professed to have in her life now when talking about the town, and the mountains that surrounded it, she hadn’t heard that at all in her voice when she’d talked about her husband. In fact, other than to call him a catalyst, and reference his good deeds toward the community, she really hadn’t talked about him much at all.
Lauren wondered if it was just as Charlene had said, that even though their impulsiveness about marrying suggested a grand passion, or at least highly engaged hormones, they’d connected on a more intellectual level and were content with growing their relationship slowly.
Charlene pulled her into another hug. “I’ve missed you so. I’m so glad you’re back, that we’re back.” She slid her hands down Lauren’s arms and squeezed her hands before letting her go. “I’m so thankful we had the chance to spend some time together. I really hate this, but I have a meeting with the women’s council, and then—”
“It’s okay, Mom.”
“Arlen has asked if you’d come out to the house for dinner. Casual. We’re cooking barbecue on the patio.”
“What time?”
“Is seven okay?”
“Sounds good.”
Charlene clasped her hands together, looking almost ridiculously pleased. “Good! Now, will you be okay on your own the rest of the day? Because I’m sure Ruby Jean—”
“Has done enough,” Lauren said with a laugh. “I’m fine. I’m going to knock around a bit, maybe take my bike out again. The path we were just on looks like it might be good for a bike ride. In fact, if you’re serious about it being casual, I’ll bike over to your place this evening. That way you won’t have to pick me up.”
“Perfect! Debbie can give you directions. It’s just outside of town, but not much of a climb. We’ll see you at seven.” She paused for a moment, then added, “Of course, if you’d like to ask someone along, we have more than enough.”
Some things never changed. “I’m happy you’re happy, Mom. And I’m perfectly happy flying solo.”
“Okay. But the invitation stands if you change your mind at the last minute. I’m sure Arlen would love the additional company. We’re used to entertaining. Wait until you taste the fruit salad I’ve put together. I even made a centerpiece.”