The Charm Bracelet(48)

“Did?”

“I stopped.”

“Why?”

The room again spun, this time as Arden was suddenly reminded of her failed marriage and stalled writing career.

“Life,” she finally said, looking into Jake’s stormy eyes.

Jake seemed to sense the sadness in Arden’s voice, and he tightened his grip around her waist.

Again, the room spun as Jake began to twirl Arden. She laughed suddenly, a small yelp falling from her mouth as she twirled.

Jake slowed as the song ended and another began.

“How about you?” Arden asked. “Why are you here? In Scoops?”

Jake flashed Arden a smile that was seemingly filled with as many secrets and as much depth as the waters of Lost Land Lake.

“Well, the Reader’s Digest version of my life is that I grew up in Green Bay, and my parents were both factory workers. I saw the toll that took on their health, so I always wanted to be a doctor. I was the first to graduate college, but I could never afford med school, so I became a geriatric nurse. It’s a calling to me. I moved here from Chicago because I came here on my honeymoon with my ex-wife…”

“Ex-wife?” Arden asked, stopping in the middle of the floor, her jaw dropping like an anchor.

“Yes,” Jake said with a rolling laugh, like thunder across the lake. “Ex! I knew it was over before it began, really. I grew up with her. She was my high school sweetheart. But she never liked what I did. She always wanted to live in Chicago, or New York. She wanted bigger, I wanted smaller. She never left the cabin when I brought her here on our honeymoon.”

“That’s a bad thing?” Arden laughed.

“Not usually on a honeymoon, but, for us, it was. We had nothing in common but our past. I’ve learned as a geriatric nurse that if you only focus on your past, you’re doomed. You have to honor your past but be focused on the future. You have to believe that there are always happier days to come.”

The words struck Arden in the heart, and she shut her eyes as Jake moved her across the small floor.

“I’m an ‘ex,’ too,” Arden whispered into his ear.

“Can’t spell ‘next’ without it,” he whispered back, holding her closely, until the music stopped. “Band’s taking a break.”

“Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry,” Arden said, breaking free from his embrace. “I didn’t realize.”

“Seems like you enjoyed dancing,” Jake chuckled.

“Actually,” Arden said. “I did.”

Jake led Arden back to Lolly and Lauren’s table. “Thanks for letting me steal her. It was a lovely evening. I hope we can do it again soon.”

Silence gripped the table. “Tomorrow!” Lolly finally said. “You’re coming by Friday to make sure I’m alive, right? Even though it’s the start of the holiday weekend?”

Jake laughed heartily. “Wouldn’t miss it. Ladies, drive safely. And, Arden? I had a wonderful night.”

Arden’s face flushed, and she fidgeted with her eyeglasses.

“Me, too,” she replied softly.

The ride home was quiet, save for the chorus of early summer peepers that lived in the surrounding farms, fields, and ponds.

Another chorus greeted the Lindsey ladies as soon as they returned to the cabin and Lolly had turned off the Woodie’s engine.

Whooo-dooo-ooooh-ooooh!

Lolly smiled in the darkness and thought of her husband. “I’m wiped out, girls. Off to bed. I love you dearly.”

“Good night, Mom.”

“Good night, Grandma. Thanks for sharing your love story,” Lauren said, hugging her grandmother.

“My pleasure. Night night.”

A few seconds later, Arden and Lauren saw the lights in Lolly’s bedroom come on. The two remained quiet, watching the lake dance in the moonlight, until they could see Lolly crawl into bed and turn off the lights.

“She told you about your grandfather? And the loons?”

“She did. It is so beautiful, Mom. I hope we can both find that one day.”

Whooo-dooo-ooooh-ooooh!

“I’m sorry about my reaction today,” Arden said. “I just want to protect you.”

Her voice surprised the loons, and they took off running across the lake, before awkwardly lifting into the air.

“I know,” Lauren said, nodding at the loons. “But at some point, I just have to take off, like them, no matter how hard it might be to watch. I’ll either fall or fly.”

Arden took her daughter’s hand, Lauren’s bracelet jangling, and the two walked to the end of the dock and dangled their feet into the water, where they talked about first love, risk, and an ache that still called, like the haunting sounds of Fred and Ethel.





part seven




The Ice Cream Cone Charm

To a Sweet Life Filled with a Passion for What You Do





Twenty-four




“Good morning! Happy Memorial Day weekend!”

Lolly pulled an old ceramic mug dotted with blueberries from an open cupboard overflowing with mismatched cups and saucers, and filled Arden’s mug to the brim with coffee.

“How’d you sleep?” Lolly asked, looking at Arden and her white sweatshirt emblazoned with the slogan WE GIVE YOU THE STARS AND THE SWOON underneath the famed Paparazzi logo.