Love Came Unexpectedly. Ruth Scofield

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.

      Sunday night when the first family left, she immediately cleaned the cabin. She changed sheets, scrubbed the bathroom and kitchen, vacuumed the place down. There would be new occupants on Monday, and she wanted everything to be clean.

      She tried washing the sheets in the washer, but found the machine not up to the job. For the first time, she wondered what the health department would dictate. Were there any health-related regulations at all? She’d have to find out. Meantime, she’d have to take the sheets into town.

      Another trip to town. What would she do with the customers when she went to town? What if someone wanted something while she was gone?

      She’d have to take that chance.

      By Tuesday, she wondered what Grant was doing. She’d seen his car drive past on Sunday evening. His employee was in the passenger seat, but all she saw of him was a gray head. He’d had his head turned. Where were they heading? She hadn’t spoken with Grant since he’d taken her to turn in her rental car.

      Thursday morning, she grabbed the phone as it rang on her way to clean another cabin. Thankfully, she heard Mark’s and Jessica’s voices.

      “Hello, you two,” her spirits lifted. “How are you? I’m so glad to hear a couple of familiar voices! I’ve been so busy, I can hardly even think.”

      “Are you busy? I wanted to tell you, we talked to your apartment manager today and closed the apartment. By the end of the month, you’ll be free of it.”

      “Oh, thanks a million, Jessica. I owe you and Mark…”

      She recalled saying that to Grant. Someone else she owed a favor.

      Grant came into the office before she hung up. “Hi.” She waggled her fingers at him, hiding her quickly beating heart. “Um, Jessica, I gotta go. Thanks a million for taking care of that matter. I’ll talk to you soon.”

      She hung up. She missed Mark and Jessica and little Lori more than she could say. Perhaps they could come for a visit soon.

      “Hi, Grant. What can I do for you?”

      “Nothing important. I was just taking the boat out for a ride and wondered if you’d like to come along?”

      She had yet to be out on the lake, and the idea excited her. “You bet! I’d love to go. But I’m worried about leaving the office empty before nine o’clock in case one of my customers needs something.”

      “You don’t have to baby-sit them, Sunny.” He said it as if that was a dumb idea—and, she had to admit, it was a little wacky. “If they need anything, you’ll be back later. Put a sign in the window.”

      Still, she hesitated.

      “You think that would be okay? I have to go into town tomorrow and I’ve been wondering how to do it. You, know, run some errands, find a laundry and things. I—I haven’t left this place since Thursday of last week.”

      It seemed like an eon ago.

      “Sure, it’s okay, Sunny. The customers don’t expect you to be at their beck and call every minute of the day. You’re not a prisoner, you have a life. Now let’s go. The sunset is wasting.”

      “All right.” That made sense. She grabbed a pair of sunglasses, a straw hat she’d found in the closet that she suspected had been her granddad’s, and her keys. A tumble of things came down from the closet shelf, but she glanced briefly at it, then decided it could wait until she returned. She shoved it to the back of the closet.

      A boat ride was just what she needed.

      She’d never been on a boat before. She stepped in carefully, Grant’s hand at her elbow.

      Though there were people down at the boat dock, they merely waved to her. No one questioned her. After she donned the life jacket he pointed to, he started the engine and she relaxed against the back seat.

      Grant steered the boat quietly out to the main channel, then pushed the speed higher. The wind whipped her hair behind her, cooling her warm cheeks and drying the perspiration against her neck. She placed a hand to hold her hat on, feeling the wind against her face.

      What bliss!

      Grant pointed out some of the more beautiful homes and buildings built into the hills and cliffs.

      Staring at them, she noted that these homes ranged from luxurious to humble, and all the way between. Sunny felt stunned. Before this, she had seen little of her community. Did people really live this kind of life?

      “Grant, do you live here all year?”

      He appeared strong at the helm, sitting with relaxed purpose, the late sunshine shining on his face. He turned from staring ahead of him. “I do now. I didn’t before starting the stable. But I’ve been here two years.”

      “In the winter, too?”

      “Sure. That’s my quiet time. The lake is much more peaceful then.”

      “I imagine so, but…don’t you get lonely?”

      “Not a bit. There’s things to do in winter. Catching-up things.