Sunrise Point (Virgin River #19)(65)

“How’d you get stranded here?” Nora asked.

“The usual way, darling. I was following a man. A logger. He was killed in a logjam and I had no way to get home, not that home had much to offer anyway. So—I asked for work here. The old man didn’t want to hire me, but his wife took me on. I started picking apples but ended up working in the house.”

“Like me?”

All three women hummed and laughed under their smothered chuckles.

“Like you,” she said. “Now, are you going to bring the children this weekend? Between the four of us here, we can make sure they’re watched every minute.”

“I thought I should ask Noah and his wife if they could help out, since I’ll be needed here all weekend. And on Sunday afternoon, my father will bring them. I’m so anxious for him to meet everyone.”

“And we’re all looking forward to meeting him. Tell Rosalie and Penny that story, darling—of how your father came back into your life recently.”

Nora gave them the quick version, trying not to make her mother look too terrible in the telling. It wasn’t long past that story that Tom came into the kitchen, ready for dinner and the family atmosphere resumed around the big kitchen table.

It was still drizzling on Friday and Tom and Junior pulled out tarps they’d erect as tents on the weekend if the weather didn’t improve. On Friday afternoon Darla arrived and as the Fridays before, it was like the arrival of royalty. Tom carried her luggage up the stairs while Maxie introduced her to everyone. The women had been sitting around the table fashioning sachets out of dried apples, cinnamon sticks and cloves. They’d be given out to anyone who wanted them over the weekend festival.

“It was a long drive,” she said after meeting all the women. “I’m going to change into something more comfortable.”

Maxie said nothing, though she peered at her friends from under lifted brows.

Momentarily Darla returned with a rather surprised look on her face. “There seems to be a child in my bedroom.”

“Oh!” Nora said, jumping to her feet. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize—”

“Is she asleep, Darla?” Maxie asked, cutting Nora off.

“On my bed,” Darla said, clearly shocked.

“Then perhaps you can change clothes in my bedroom,” Maxie suggested. “That’s Nora’s two-year-old, Berry. She’s napping. The baby is in a port-a-crib in Tom’s room. Also napping.”

“Will I be sharing my room with someone?” Darla asked uncomfortably.

“No, dear, Nora lives in town and will be going home after dinner. Tomorrow at naptime, I’ll put Berry on my bed. I told you, we have a full house and demanding schedule during the festival weekends. It’s pretty much every man for himself.”

And then Darla did something that positively stunned Nora. When Nora would have expected her to ask how she could help or pull up a chair to visit, she said, “I’ll grab a book and go to the other room to read. Will you tell me when the child no longer needs my room?”

“Certainly, dear,” Maxie said. Then with sarcasm Darla clearly did not hear, she asked, “Can I get you anything?”

“No, thank you. I’ll be fine.” And she left the kitchen.

* * *

Saturday dawned bright and clear, the sun burning off the morning mist early. Nora had arrived at the orchard to help set up, having left Adie at her house until the children woke. The plan had been for her to go into town and fetch Adie and the little girls after they’d had a chance to wake up and have breakfast, but Nora was not feeling right about it.

“Maxie,” she whispered, “I have a feeling my girls are going to be an imposition. It might not be too late for me to get help from Ellie Kincaid. Her daughter is nearly old enough to babysit and she loves playing with the girls.”

“I want them here,” Maxie said. “They are not the imposition.”

“We all want them to come,” Penny said. “And Adie looks forward to this. She’s counting on being here both days this weekend and next.”

“Are you absolutely sure?”

“Absolutely. Sure.”

Nora actually winced. Having the kids here both days would put her in the house often, checking on them to be sure they weren’t getting in the way. While that wasn’t ordinarily an issue, she couldn’t help feeling like a beat-up old shoe next to Darla.

On the upside, she didn’t have much time to indulge her feelings of inferiority—crowds began to descend on the orchard at once. The minute Nora got Adie and the little ones back, she was needed to hand out bushel baskets, help people with ladders, pull out crates and bags for them to take their apples home.

More and more familiar faces appeared, many of them clearly intending to stay for hours. She saw some boys throwing a Frisbee through the trees and others throwing one for the dogs. The wraparound porch on the big old house was full of people and Nora caught sight of Maxie and her friends holding court. Great thermoses of tea and lemonade were set up, gallons of fresh cider opened up and tables of baked goods stood in the yard. People spread blankets in the yard to sit on and lawn chairs were pulled out of truck beds. A couple of big grills were set up and Nora saw that it was the team from Jack’s bar serving up hamburgers and hot dogs while Rosalie and Penny were busily opening huge bags of chips.