“You seem reflective,” Nick declared, coming to stand beside her. “You hardly said two words at supper.”
“I guess I feel the approach of winter even though summer is still with us. I can’t help feeling that sense of ending, like a good book you’ve spent hours reading and know you’re just a few pages from finishing.”
Nick smiled and nodded. “I can understand that, but really, there’s plenty of time left for sailing.”
“I know, but maybe it isn’t the sailing. Maybe something elsein my life is ending. Or maybe something for someone else, like my father. I just don’t know.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head. “It would do little good. I can’t even form a thought around these feelings. It might be foreboding, and if it is and it’s from God, I know He will direct me in time.”
Nick smiled and gave a nod. “I agree. Let’s talk of more pleasant things. Will you see your uncle when we’re back in Oswego?”
“No doubt I will. Even when we don’t go to the house to see the family, my uncle will come to us and talk business with Papa. I will probably send Sam to buy groceries, but sometimes I like to arrange them myself.”
“If you don’t go shopping, what do you usually do?”
“Enjoy time to myself.” She smiled and looked out toward the waning moon. “Sometimes I just like to sit and read.”
“The book you’re about to finish, eh?”
She laughed. “I suppose so. It’ll soon be September. A few trips after that, and we’ll be looking for the end of our shipping until next spring.” Here they were, talking about her feelings. She hadn’t intended it, but it just seemed the natural flow of conversation.
“Most of the men will join the logging companies unless Papa has asked them to stay on and help make repairs to theMary Elise. I’m glad you’ll be one of them staying on.”
“Why is that?”
She shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure myself. I know your presence has been helpful to my father. I think he’s truly enjoyed your company.”
“I noticed that he seems a little less morose.”
She had sensed the change as well. “We had a long talk about Mama. I think he’s turned a corner on mourning her. He knows she would never want it. I’ve encouraged him as best I can, but God will have to do the rest. Papa has to find his will to go on without her.”
“I can’t imagine how hard that must be for him. To find the love of your life, make a family with her, and spend every day working together, only to lose her so soon.” He shook his head. “It makes me rethink my own plans.”
“For a family?”
He nodded. “I had never thought much of it. Of course, the right woman hadn’t yet come along.”
The way he spoke made her think that perhaps she had come along now. Was he suggesting that to Elise? Was he saying that his feelings for her were just as strong as hers were for him?
She wasn’t sure she was ready to hear a declaration of love. Things were happening much too fast. “Tell me about your family. You told us so little at supper the other night.”
Nick seemed happy to change the conversation topic. “My mother was a great beauty. I was told she was sought by suitors far and wide before she settled on my father. She had hair the color of spun gold and eyes as blue as a fair summer’s sky. She was petite like you and could sing. She used to sing at various gatherings she and Father hosted. She would also sing to my sisters and me when she visited us in the nursery. Which was quite often. She loved being a mother. My father often chided her to leave nursery work to the governess, but Mother insisted she wanted to care for her own children. Whenever we were sick, she was there to wipe our brow and still our tears.” His voice took on such a loving tone that it increased the ache inElise’s heart for her own mother. “She loved to read to us too. I remember her reading Aesop’s Fables and Bible stories.”
“I was just remembering one of the Bible stories our mother read to me and my sister. It came to mind during the storm. It’s the story of the disciples being with Jesus on the Sea of Galilee when a storm comes up. I used to recount it to Caroline when bad storms came upon us and Mama was busy with something else.”
“It’s always been a favorite of mine,” Nick replied. “I was always in awe of the power of our Lord to calm the wind and waves.”
She nodded. “I’ve rarely felt afraid when storms come, because I think of how God holds me in His hand. My future days are His to number. If I’m to die in a storm at sea, I know even so that He has control.”
“It’s such a peace of mind.”
She bit her lower lip, wondering if she dared ask the question on her mind. Finally, she cleared her throat. “Did you remember it when thePolarissank?”
He nodded without hesitation. “I did. As everything fell apart around me, I remembered Jesus calming the sea. The sea didn’t calm around us, but the storm inside me ceased for the moment. Later, when I was rethinking it all and dealing with my sorrow and guilt, the storm came back with a vengeance.” He fell silent and looked out across the water and dimly lit landscape.
Elise didn’t wish to press further. “You have two sisters?”
