Sisterhood Of Lake Alice (15 page)

What had started out as an escape for the pain of a broken heart turned into a blessing. All three women knew that this summer would always be remembered as a very special time, filled with laughter, good food, and lots of love. Fergus Falls had never looked prettier to Rebecca than it did that summer.

*

On a hot summer day in August, Rebecca was ready to return to Minneapolis. Her time at home had filled her up with a newfound courage and healed the pains of her past. Her spacious new condominium had been painted, furnished, and decorated. As she walked in the door, she gasped with amazement. The cold, sterile apartment had been magically transformed into the feel of a cozy English cottage. The soft colors seemed to shimmer on the walls. The furniture was overstuffed with colors of springtime flowers. Her bedroom was done in many different shades of pink, from a soft rose hue to bright raspberry. Even the balcony was decorated with two comfortable chairs, a small, beautiful mosaic table, and pots filled with roses.

Rebecca smiled as she looked at the soft beauty that surrounded her. To match the beauty of her new home, she went on a shopping spree for new clothes, which gave her the same soft quality. A new chapter was opening in her life, and she felt completely comfortable about what the future would hold for her.

*

Before leaving for Fergus Falls, Rebecca had accepted a teaching position at a private all-girls high school named Holy Angels Academy. It was a school steeped in old-fashioned and honored traditions. It held a high reputation in the academic community. Rebecca was going to be teaching freshman English literature and music.

The last week in August, Rebecca walked down the sparkling clean marble halls of the academy, ready to face the challenges of her new career. After a week of orientation conducted by a stern-faced Sister Mary Rosa, she felt prepared for her students. Sister Mary Rosa was a taskmaster who warned Rebecca that she would be keeping a very close eye on her and that she expected her to follow the rules of the academy at all times. As Rebecca watched the stream of giggling girls walk into their new school, she knew in her heart that Holy Angels was just where she needed to be.

After getting off to a rough start with Sister Mary Rosa, who kept true to her promise to constantly keep a watchful eye on her, Rebecca quickly found a comfortable routine. To her amazement, she enjoyed teaching English literature as much as she enjoyed all of her musical duties. Her students quickly became attached to Rebecca. She introduced many of them to poetry for the first time in their young lives. They laughed as she read a love poem.

Each year, she found a few new girls who needed her gentle mentoring, and she carefully took them under her protective wing. She worked with them on their self-esteem and helped them to develop their talents. Even Sister Mary Rosa sent a few troubled girls to her for her special kind of help. Before she knew it, her first class of freshmen girls were graduating.

*

When asked to be an escort for the senior choir to Ireland, Rebecca jumped at the opportunity. After a long flight, the group settled into a hotel in Dublin, sinking into their lumpy, soft beds for a good night’s sleep. The next six days were a whirlwind of singing in old gothic cathedrals and sightseeing. Their tour guide was a delightful man in his early thirties named Connor Delaney. His bright blue eyes always seemed to have an extra little sparkle when he talked with Rebecca. It seemed that most evenings when they arrived in another small Irish town, the two of them would end up sitting next to each other for dinner.

With two days left of the tour, they had a free day in Waterford. Connor asked Rebecca if she would like to spend the day with him. He lived nearby in a small fishing village. Connor was going home to celebrate his grandfather Patty’s eightieth birthday. Rebecca quickly agreed and was anxious to see the real life of these delightful and friendly people.

When they arrived in the village of Clonea, Rebecca was surprised by the beauty of Dungarvan Bay and its sandy beaches. As they walked through the small village, she felt as though she had been taken back in time to when life was simple. After walking for a while, Connor told her that they had arrived at the party. They stood in front of Muldoon’s Pub, which looked as though it had been built centuries ago. In fact, it had been built by the Muldoons and Delaneys in the 1800s. After arguing about what to name the pub, they finally decided to flip a coin. Michael Muldoon won, and that was the name ever since.

As the pub doors opened, smoke billowed out the old wooden doors. Once inside, Rebecca found herself in the middle of a crowd of Irish folks who knew how to drink, dance, tell a joke, laugh, and smoke, all at the same time. They were all there to celebrate Patty Delaney’s birthday. A long table was set against a wall with enough food piled high for twice as many people. There were people of all ages, from the elders of the clan to little babies in strollers. The day was filled with tall glasses of Guinness beer, singing, dancing, long-winded toasts, and storytelling. Patty quickly told Rebecca that she was the vision of an angel that God had given him for his birthday. They danced around the bar together laughing and talking as he spun her around and around.

As Connor and Rebecca were getting ready to leave, Patty announced to the crowd that he had one more toast to make for his special birthday wish. His sons quickly lifted him to stand atop a table. Patty lifted his glass and said, “The Lord has been good to this old fisherman. He has given me a good woman, my Mary, my sweetheart to this day, good sons, and many fat fish. Now, he has seen fit to give this bag of bones one more surprise. I say to you all, that this gift is an angel named Rebecca, who finally has put a twinkle into the eyes of my grandboy, Connor. May they be smart enough to know they need to marry and give me lots of hearty great-grandbabies!” The crowd all lifted their glasses to the toast and then turned to look at Connor and Rebecca as they stood there with shocked expressions on their faces.

On the drive back to Waterford, Connor kept apologizing for his grandpa’s old-fashioned ways. Rebecca simply assured him that she had never had so much fun. They laughed and talked about how different their worlds were. For the last two days of the tour, they were always together. They talked about their past, how they grew up, and their dreams for the future. Connor asked if he could write to her, and Rebecca quickly said yes. By the time the group arrived back at Dublin’s airport, both Connor and Rebecca knew they would miss each other’s company.

*

They both returned to their ordinary worlds. Connor’s world was a small fishing village filled with his family and boyhood friends. He continued to work for the tour company for a few months each year, but his real love was to work on the Delaneys’ fishing boats with his brothers, Sean and Quincy. He dated a few of the local girls but never really found a burning desire for any of them.

Rebecca’s world was busy. She also casually dated but never seemed to find Mr. Right. After the trip to Ireland, they both exchanged letters for a few months. Slowly Connor began to realize that he had nothing to offer Rebecca and decided to stop writing. Rebecca wrote several more times but eventually became discouraged and tore up her last letter. They both missed each other; however, they both knew their worlds just did not seem to blend together.

*

The following three years, the senior choir traveled to Spain, France, and Italy. Each trip, Rebecca thought of Connor and their time together. Then four years later, it was announced that they were returning to Ireland. Rebecca quickly contacted the tour agency and demanded that Connor Delaney be their tour guide. She wrote Connor to tell him about the upcoming tour but never received an answer.

Four months later, as the group walked through Dublin’s airport, she saw him waiting for her with a bouquet of wildflowers. She ran to his arms as the girls all stood in shock. The next ten days, they never left each other’s side. Connor had arranged for his cousin, Thomas, to be their tour guide. This gave him and Rebecca time to walk together through the beautiful gardens, stand on the cliffs overlooking the ocean, and watch as the emerald green hills rolled by their bus. They talked late into each evening and started again as soon as they came together for breakfast. By the end of the tour, Rebecca had agreed to come back for a visit during the summer. Connor had agreed to visit her home also so she could show him the beauty of Fergus Falls and Minneapolis.

On the long flight home, Rebecca thought perhaps Patty Delaney’s birthday wish might actually come true. She wondered if this could possibly be true love in such a brief time together. As she fell asleep on the plane, she could have sworn she heard the soft Irish voice of Patty saying, “Yes, my darling girl, this is just what love feels like. Enjoy it, my sweet angel.”

*

Two weeks after school was finished, Rebecca was back in Ireland. Connor met her at the Dublin airport. As they drove back to Clonea in an old pickup truck, they talked nonstop. The Delaney clan lived in a row of three-story identical townhouses two blocks away from the water and around the corner from Muldoon’s Pub. Grandpa Patty and Mary Delaney lived in the corner unit, which was blessed with the most windows. Next door to Patty and Mary’s, Connor lived with his mom, Kathleen, and pops, Timothy. Next to them lived Sean and Katie with their four children—Andrew, Michael, Brigit, and Nora. The last townhouse was home to Connor’s brother Quincy, who was married to Patricia; their twins were named John and Sarah. Rebecca would be staying with Grandpa Patty and Maggie, as that was the only proper thing to do.

For two weeks, the Delaneys embraced Rebecca with their warm Irish hospitality. They proudly introduced her to everyone in the village. They ate, laughed, danced, told her story after story, drank, and toasted her arrival.

Then came Sunday, when everything changed. Every Sunday morning all of the Delaneys came out of their front doors at the same time to walk the three short blocks to St. Matthew’s for Sunday Mass. When Rebecca calmly announced that she would not be able to attend the church because she was Lutheran, Grandpa Patty shook his head and left the room without saying a word. Sundays the Delaney clan had a tradition of nine o’clock Mass, followed by hot ham and rolls with coffee in the church basement. After that, everyone came back home, changed, and grabbed their hot dish or dessert. By noon, the clan had settled in at Muldoon’s for an afternoon together.

Rebecca’s missing the church service brought all of the closeness she had felt to a halt. She felt alone for the first time since she had arrived. At Muldoon’s, there was another birthday party celebration. By mid-afternoon, Rebecca was having an asthma attack. Quietly she walked outside, sat on a bench, and used her inhaler. Half an hour later, she was still having problems breathing when Connor came out looking for her. He looked shocked when he saw how pale she was.

He told her to wait right there and he would bring the car to take her to Waterford. It was late that night when they walked into Grandpa Patty’s door. Patty and Mary were sitting at the kitchen table waiting for them with worried expressions on their faces. For the next few days, Rebecca was treated like a china doll. They did not know how to deal with someone who was not hearty and healthy.

By Friday, Rebecca had changed her airline tickets. Connor and Rebecca hugged as they waited for her flight to be called for boarding. They both had mixed feelings of a longing to be together and a relief from the tension of the past few days. They talked about Connor coming to visit, but they knew it would be a long time before he could save the money for the trip.

*

Rebecca returned home confused and in love. Their letters overflowed with what was happening in their daily lives and their dreams to be together again. As the months went by, they both felt they needed to see each other. Rebecca had offered to give Connor a roundtrip ticket to Minneapolis, which he immediately turned down as a matter of pride. In November, Rebecca bought the ticket as a Christmas gift for Connor to come for a visit for New Year’s Eve. She needed to find out if they truly had any hope for a future together. One week later, Connor called and said he would be arriving on December 27 for two weeks.

Unlike their time in Clonea, there was no family to chaperone them in Minneapolis. It was Rebecca’s turn to meet Connor as he walked off the plane. She saw him first, and she ran to him with her arms outstretched. When they walked into her apartment, Connor stood in shock at the size and beauty of it. He quickly turned to her and asked if she was rich. All this space for one person was amazing to him. Compared to Dublin, Minneapolis was only a little bigger but five times busier. Rebecca was his tour guide by day and his lover each night. It was an incredible two weeks of happiness and love. When he left, they both were talking about their future and wondering how they could make this work.

*

For the next few years, Connor and Rebecca took turns coming to visit each other. The only difference was that the first few days of Rebecca’s visits to Ireland were spent in Dublin with each other. Rebecca made Connor promise that she would never have to be in Clonea on a Sunday, and he made sure it was always arranged. Their love continued to grow—as well as their frustration with being so far apart.

During his annual New Year’s visit, Connor proposed and offered Rebecca a small antique diamond ring that had been his grandmother’s engagement ring. Rebecca immediately accepted. They drove to Fergus Falls and made their announcement to Grandma Ruby and Monica. Everyone was thrilled. It was decided that they would have a small church wedding in August in Fergus Falls and another blessing of the marriage in Clonea the following week.

Connor agreed to apply for a visa. He would move to Minneapolis. He said he would try to become an American lad.

*

On June 10, Rebecca received a call at two o’clock in the morning from Connor. He was sobbing as he told her that Grandpa Patty had just passed away from a massive heart attack. Rebecca immediately made plans for the trip, and two days later she arrived in Dublin. She rented a small car and drove to Clonea. When she arrived, she found a large black ribbon draped over Patty and Mary Delaney’s front door.