Love Letters: A Rose Harbor Novel (3 page)

Her mistake, she realized, was telling her mother about Tom. The instant Virginia Reynolds heard that Ellie planned to meet this man she’d met through Facebook, she had become rattled and unglued, certain Ellie was about to make the worst mistake of her life. After constant badgering from her mother, Ellie had given in and canceled the trip. When she’d told Tom she’d changed her mind, he’d offered to contact her mother and reassure her that his intentions were honorable. Ellie was touched, but thought it ridiculous that at her age she had to justify to her mother what she did and who she met. Eager to prove she was capable of making her own decisions, Ellie rebooked the inn a short while later. Tom stood by his offer. He’d be happy to chat with her mother, answer her questions, and give character references if needed.

Ellie’s cell phone dinged, indicating she had a text message. Hoping it was from Tom, she dug her phone out of her purse and sighed with frustration when she saw it was from her mother.

Please let me know you’re OK
, Virginia Reynolds had written.

Landed. Am safe.
Ellie quickly typed back.

Thank God. You don’t know how worried I am.

I’m fine, Mom.
Ellie sighed and returned her cell to her purse, ignoring the next ping, certain it was her mother yet again.

The root problem, Ellie realized, was her parents’ failed marriage. A thousand times through her childhood, Ellie had heard her mother claim that men weren’t to be trusted. Men would stomp on your heart and then walk away as if it meant nothing. That had been Virginia’s experience, and she was willing to do whatever was necessary to protect her only child from the same fate.

Following her parents’ divorce, Ellie had become the entire focus of her mother’s world. Virginia had dedicated everything to Ellie: Her time, her resources, and her love were all directed toward Ellie. At times she felt her mother was suffocating her. Ellie craved to
forge her own path and then instantly felt guilty, knowing she was everything to her mother.

Her phone rang, and again, hoping it was Tom, Ellie grabbed it out of her purse.

Her mother.

Ellie let the call go to voice mail. The woman across the aisle sent her a curious glance, which Ellie ignored. The problem was, Ellie fully understood her mother’s concerns. Taking off to meet a man she knew only through phone calls and emails and text messages was risky on any number of levels. The bottom line was her mother was right. Ellie really didn’t know Tom Lynch. He could be a serial rapist or a criminal or even a mass murderer. And as her mother said, Ellie could be walking into a nightmare that would haunt her for the rest of her life. She’d begged Ellie to let her travel with her for this initial meeting. For a time, Ellie had actually considered the offer. It didn’t take long for her to decide otherwise. This was something she wanted—no, needed—to do on her own. She was cautious and would meet Tom in a public place.

If, after they met, they decided there was something to this relationship, then they would continue getting to know each other. He would come to Oregon next, and introduce himself to her mother. It made sense to Ellie, and while she was somewhat introverted, she wasn’t stupid. She had her own apprehensions about this. Even she had to admit her relationship with Tom was unconventional. She’d be the first to concede this wasn’t the way a woman generally met a man for the first time. And while she didn’t have a lot of dating experience, she trusted her gut and her heart, and both told her that Tom Lynch could be trusted.

With her phone still in her hand, Ellie checked her email and saw that Tom had sent her a message, asking her to let him know when she arrived. Her fingers fairly flew across the tiny keyboard as she responded. Although reluctant, she did have to admit that Tom had seemed a tad bit secretive, something her mother had taken delight in pointing out at every opportunity. Ellie hadn’t tried to argue; all
she told her mother was that she trusted her instincts. Which, in retrospect, probably wasn’t the wisest of responses. That declaration had instantly sent her mother into a long tirade against Ellie’s father. At one time, Virginia, too, had trusted her heart, and look what it had gotten her. Ellie could almost mouth the words along with her mother.

Going against her own parents’ wishes, Virginia had fallen in love with a young man she met while in college. They’d been crazy about each other. From the first, her mother’s parents had had questions about Scott Reynolds. They hadn’t liked or trusted him. After only one meeting, her father declared that Scott was too slick, too cocky, and, perhaps worst of all … superficial. Both her parents had warned Virginia against falling in love with a man who was overly confident of himself. They had someone else in mind for their only daughter, someone far more suitable. From the start, they were convinced Scott would break Virginia’s heart. And they were right.

Because she was in love and ruled by hormones, Virginia hadn’t listened to her parents. Scott and Virginia had defied her family, and against their advice had continued to date. Love had blinded Virginia from the truth. To complicate matters, Virginia and Scott had eloped.

For a short while, Virginia admitted, she’d been blissfully happy, especially when she learned she was pregnant with Ellie. Scott dropped out of school and took a job driving a taxi. He’d been thrilled with his baby girl, whom they named Eleanor after Virginia’s mother, in the hope that her parents would look past Virginia’s defiance and make Scott a part of the family. Right away Scott had called her Ellie, and the name had stuck. As first-time grandparents, Virginia’s family threw their loving arms around Virginia and Eleanor. They made an effort with Scott, Virginia claimed, but his dislike of her mother and father drove a wedge between them.

It wasn’t long before Scott’s fascination with being a husband and father wore thin. They struggled financially, living on what Scott made driving a cab. Her parents offered them a loan, but Scott
wouldn’t hear of it. That was when their problems started. Virginia couldn’t understand why he insisted they had to make it on their own. They argued often, especially when Virginia started spending a lot of time with her mother at the family home. Scott was often late coming home after work, and when Virginia questioned where he spent all his time, he claimed it shouldn’t matter, seeing that she was rarely at the apartment anyway. She seemed to prefer her parents’ company over his.

Then one horrible day Virginia’s father swore he saw Scott with another woman. When she’d confronted him, Scott had insisted this so-called other woman was a coworker and a friend, in addition to being thirty years his senior. Virginia refused to believe it. As far as she was concerned, Scott could no longer be trusted. With suspicions running rampant, it wasn’t long before the marriage was over.

Once Virginia filed for divorce, her parents took her back into the family home, willing to forgive their daughter for being a fool for love. Ellie came with her and had only fleeting memories of her father.

And now it seemed history was repeating itself. Ellie had defied her mother over a man, too, a man she had yet to meet.

The bus stopped and a middle-aged couple that was sitting in the back got out at a community known as Gig Harbor. While the driver unloaded their suitcases, Ellie studied the quaint buildings that butted up against the picturesque waterfront. She didn’t know a lot about Cedar Cove, but she hoped it was as charming as this small town.

Once the driver was back on the bus, Ellie asked, “How much longer until we reach Cedar Cove?”

“We aren’t far now,” he said, twisting around to get a good look at her. “I should have you there in less than forty minutes.”

Ellie offered him a feeble smile. Her stomach knotted again, tighter this time. Even now she had a hard time believing she was actually defying her mother.

“Just a couple more stops first,” the driver added, and, turning
around, started the bus once again. “A short stop in Purdy and Olalla, and then Cedar Cove.”

“Okay.”

“Do you have someone meeting you at the bus stop?” the driver asked, looking at her in his rearview mirror. “A family member or a friend?”

“Yes.” Well, sort of. As soon as she’d told Tom her plans, he’d offered to take time off work to pick her up. Ellie had declined. For their first meeting, she wanted to look her best, and she preferred not to do it following a flight and wearing traveling clothes. Surely there was a taxi in town that could deliver her to the inn. When she’d asked Jo Marie about catching a cab, the innkeeper had surprised her and offered to meet her at the stop just off the freeway where the bus would leave her.

“Looks like we’re in for lovely weather,” the older woman sitting across the aisle casually mentioned. Ellie had noticed her a couple times earlier. Every time Ellie’s phone beeped, she caught the woman glancing in her direction.

“This is the best time of year to visit. You are visiting, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Ellie said.

The other woman was busily knitting without so much as looking at her hands as she wove the yarn around the needles. “I come every year to visit my children and grandchildren. My daughter and son-in-law both work, and I didn’t want them to take time off to come collect me from the airport. My grandson is meeting me at Park and Ride in Olalla.”

“I’m meeting someone for the first time. He works in the Navy shipyard,” Ellie said. She braced herself, anticipating some form of censure from the older woman. If this knitter was anything like her mother, a warning or comment would soon be forthcoming. When the other woman didn’t say anything, Ellie realized how ridiculous she was being. Her mother had brainwashed her into expecting negativity.

“We met over the Internet in an online book club,” Ellie added, testing the waters yet again. “Well, actually, he asked to be my friend on Facebook. His online book club had a link with mine … it’s a long story.” She suspected the older woman didn’t know that much about social media.

“I understand that’s the way a lot of young people meet these days.”

“Like I said, this is our first face-to-face meeting,” Ellie continued. “I admit I’m nervous.” And talkative, which wasn’t a good combination, but she couldn’t help herself.

“It’s rather romantic, isn’t it?”

Ellie smiled. It was romantic and risky and silly all in one. “I think I’m half in love with him already. Funny, isn’t it, when our entire relationship to this point has consisted of phone calls, emails, and text messages?”

“It’s my opinion that love rarely makes sense,” the other woman commented. “I’m Martha, by the way.”

“Ellie.”

“Pleased to meet you, Ellie.”

“My mother doesn’t approve of me doing this,” Ellie said, keeping her voice low and guarded.

“It’s hard for us to let go of our children.” Martha’s look was thoughtful, as if she was remembering something from her own past. “When Marilyn married Jack, I hated the thought of her moving to Washington State. It’s all the way across the country from New Jersey. I was sure she’d made a mistake, but she loves living in the Pacific Northwest. The truth is, I enjoy coming out each summer for a visit. Marilyn owns a hair salon on Harbor Street; that’s the main street in Cedar Cove. Where are you staying, dear?”

“Rose Harbor Inn.”

“I know it; the inn is right up the hill from Marilyn’s shop. The view of the cove is magnificent from there.”

Tom had mentioned the same thing. The view was one of the reasons he’d recommended Rose Harbor Inn. From the deck, not
only was the lighthouse within sight, but she’d be able to see the Bremerton Shipyard as well.

Ellie’s cell pinged, and a quick look told her it was her mother yet again. She didn’t know why she bothered to look.

Another text. Another warning. Ellie sighed and saw Martha glance her way. “Mom again,” she said, replacing her phone. “She’s convinced I’m making a fool of myself.”

“And if you are?”

“Then I’ll never live it down.”

“Are you being foolish?” Martha asked, in a friendly tone.

“Perhaps I am,” Ellie admitted, stiffening her back, “but frankly I don’t care.”

Martha’s smile was warm and gentle. “As a mother, I can understand her fears. For my own children I would have loved to pass on the treasure that cost me tears and struggles and prayers, but I can’t. My mother’s heart wanted to spare them disappointment and pain, but life doesn’t work that way. We each have to experience hurts in order to grow. We each must forge our own path. I’m sure your mother means well.”

Ellie wished her mother viewed life that way.

Martha left the bus in Olalla. “My grandson recently got his driver’s license. He’s excited about picking me up.” She placed her knitting inside a quilted bag. “Good luck to you and your young man.”

“Thank you,” Ellie said, “for everything.”

The driver helped Martha out of the bus and then retrieved her suitcase. A young man wearing a Seattle Seahawks T-shirt arrived in a minivan a couple minutes later, and Martha waved as he parked the vehicle in the Park and Ride lot.

Ellie was the last one on the bus.

“It won’t take long now,” the driver assured her. “We’re only a few miles to the Cedar Cove exit. You can phone your ride, if you want.”

“Okay.” Ellie reached for her phone and the sheet of paper where
she’d written down Jo Marie’s name and contact information. The innkeeper answered right away, almost as if she’d been sitting by the phone, anticipating her call.

“Rose Harbor Inn.” Jo Marie sounded cheerful and upbeat, and instantly Ellie felt welcomed.

“It’s Eleanor Reynolds,” Ellie said, and then clarified, “Ellie.”

“Oh yes, I was expecting your call. I’ll grab my keys and head out the door right now. You don’t mind if I bring Rover with me, do you?”

“I don’t mind at all.” Ellie was fond of animals. Tom was, too. One of his most lengthy emails was about the dog he’d had while in grade school and how he’d taught Ranger to catch a Frisbee in midair. It’d broken his heart when Ranger had died when he was in the seventh grade. Ellie had always had cats, but she hoped one day to have a dog, too.