The Charm Bracelet(46)

Lolly finally studied the boy. Yes, he was gangly. Yes, he was a bit green. Yes, he was a college boy.

But there was no denying, he was very cute.

Suddenly, Lolly’s face flushed, as if everything she just thought had been said aloud, for the entire world to hear.

“Now, you try casting,” Vern said.

Les picked up the pole, moved to the edge of the dock, hitched up the rod, and flicked his arm like a robot. The lure sailed the wrong way, screaming backward, where it hooked Lolly directly in the charm bracelet.

“Lolly! Are you okay?” her father yelled, rushing toward his daughter.

“Oh, my gosh! No! I’m so sorry!” Les yelled, following suit.

“Mom was watching over me,” Lolly laughed, holding up her bracelet and beginning the process of untangling the lure from amongst the knot of charms it had hooked. “As for you,” she continued, staring at Les, “I think the only thing you might catch is a cold … or a lawsuit from one of the guests.”

Les gave a wobbly smile, his humiliation giving way to the comforting fact that at least his boss’s daughter had not been injured.

“What are all those?” Les asked, moving forward to help Lolly untangle the mess he’d created.

“Charms,” she said. “Most from my mom, who died. All of them have a story.”

“I think I just added a new one to your bracelet,” Les said, blushing.

“A charm or a story?” Lolly asked, cocking her head. “I’m guessing story, since that lure is too dangerous to add to my bracelet.”

“My mom and grandma have charm bracelets,” Les said, finally fishing the lure free from her bracelet. “They are just so … beautiful, aren’t they? They have so much history. Your mother was protecting you.”

Lolly stared in shock at Les. She had never heard someone so young, much less a boy, say something so profound about her bracelet.

“Does your girlfriend have a charm bracelet, too?” Lolly managed to ask, her mouth suddenly feeling as if it were filled with cotton.

Les smiled. “I haven’t hooked one yet.”

“We gotta get going, Les,” Vern said from the dock. “You just observe today, got it?”

Les ducked his head and nodded, his hair flopping.

“I love you, Lolly,” Vern called. “See you tonight.”

“Okay, Dad. Catch a lot of fish to fry for dinner!”

Vern got into the back of the boat and lowered the engine into the water.

“So? You never answered me,” Les said to Lolly, before he turned to leave.

“About what?” Lolly asked.

“What are the names of your loons?”

“Oh! Well, they’re new here,” Lolly said. “And they’re loud. They sort of squabble, but in a nice way. The old loons were named Lucy and Ricky. Got any ideas?”

“What about Fred and Ethel?” Les said. “They squawk at each other, but you know they couldn’t live without the other one.”

Lolly’s face beamed. I Love Lucy was the one TV show that could always make her laugh.

“That’s perfect,” she said.

“You know what I learned about loons in college?” Les asked.

Lolly shook her head.

“They mate for life,” he said. “And they always return home, to the same lake, every summer.”

Vern revved the engine on the boat, and Les left Lolly standing dumbfounded on the dock. Les climbed into the boat unsteadily and took a seat with a big thud. As the boat left the dock and zipped across Lost Land Lake, Lolly waved goodbye, her bracelet jangling, as Fred and Ethel, alarmed by the commotion, ran across the top of the lake after each other, their legs churning, until they took flight into the morning sky, craning their necks to look at one another. Lolly strained her eyes to watch them fly; she could swear they were smiling.

And just like Fred and Ethel, Les returned to Lost Land every summer for Lolly and, eventually, he never left home, either.





Twenty-two




“You can’t leave me hanging like that, Grandma,” Lauren said, her eyes wide. “When did he finally ask you out? How long did you date? When did he propose?”

Lolly laughed and took a big gulp of her second beer as another Sinatra song ended.

“Your grandfather, Les, asked me out the next summer, and we went steady long distance until he finished college. The summer after he graduated, he secured a job with the state parks department and helped my father on weekends, before taking over his guide business,” Lolly said. “He proposed to me that summer at the end of the dock on my birthday in the midst of the Fourth of July fireworks. It was so romantic and so thoughtful. He told me he had asked my dad—and my mom—for their permission. Les gave me the most beautiful engagement ring, and then he pulled out another box.”

“What was in it?” Lauren asked, on the edge of her seat.

“The charm of the loon,” she said, holding up her bracelet and finding the silver bird instantly. “I was so happy and honored that any man would value my past so beautifully. I asked him what the charm meant, and he said, ‘This is to a forever love that always calls you home.’”

Lauren was now weeping uncontrollably, sloshing beer out of the mug she was holding. “That’s the most beautiful love story I’ve ever heard, Grandma.”