Part Four

At 5:10 a.m., Peggy hurried down the hill to the ferry terminal. She wasn't late, but she was anxious to get there. She carried in her backpack a small paper bag with two currant scones from a batch she made the day before. She was nervous about offering one to Raoul. She also brought her own Thermos of tea. How would he react? She chided herself for behaving like a silly schoolgirl.

Within a few moments she was walking up the steep ramp to the platform. The morning sky grew brighter, different shades of light gray. The high tide brought water all the way to the trunks of the madronas that grew close to the shore. The night before, Peggy had seen the most amazing full moon. It rose from the southeast, very round and large, against a deep-blue twilight sky. At 4 a.m., when Peggy woke up, the moon was like a giant floodlight suspended from the heavens, lighting up the yard and the other houses on her street.

She took her usual seat on the left side. Even as she approached it, though, she could see something was different. Raoul was in his customary spot, dressed in his motorcycle leathers, with his white helmet parked nearby. But this time there was a young woman with him. She was very pretty, with wavy dark hair and large eyes and creamy skin.

Peggy's first alarming thought was 'Oh no, he goes for young girls.'

She wore her jeans low on the hips the way young girls do now, and as Peggy took her seat and stole a few glances at Raoul and his companion she realized that the young woman must be his daughter. The eyes and cheeks, and the mouth, bore a family resemblance.

Raoul looked up and said, "Good morning."

"Good morning," Peggy said, and then looked at the woman.

"My daughter's visiting from Philadelphia. This is Deidre; Deidre this is Peggy," said Raoul.

"How do you do?" said Peggy.

"Fine. Good morning."

"Are you in town long?"

Deidre looked at Raoul. "Just a few days. It's the anniversary of my mother's death."

Peggy looked at her sadly. "I know exactly what you are going through. I lost my husband just over a year ago." She was talking to Deidre, but her thoughts were on Raoul as she said this. So, they had something in common after all.

Peggy reached into her backpack. "I brought a little snack this morning. I didn't know you would have company, Raoul."

Peggy held out a scone on a napkin. "Perhaps you two can share."

"Mmm, that looks delicious," said Deidre.

"It does, but I'm afraid it's not on my diet," said Raoul.

"Oh, that's okay. I shouldn't be eating this fatty stuff either," said Peggy.

Deidre took a bite. "It's really good, Dad. Light, like Mom's."

"In that case I'll enjoy the memory of them while I watch you spill crumbs on yourself."

"Dad!"

"I had a difficult time making them," said Peggy. "My husband loved these scones."

Raoul looked at her and smiled. "I know that feeling. It's been seven years for us. But I remember so well how it felt the first year. It was like she had just stepped out to go to the store and was going to come back at any moment. I kept waiting for her to walk through the door. Looking back, I realized I wasn't living, actually. Just existing, waiting."

"Yes. Yes," said Peggy excitedly. "That's it exactly. That's why I had to move to the island. I had to restart my life." She reached for a tissue and looked down as she dabbed at her eye. Deidre quickly came over to sit next to her.

"I notice you brought a jug of something," said Deidre.

"I was going to have some tea with my scone," said Peggy.

"Here. I'll pour it for you," said Deidre.

"Oh, don't go to any fuss. I'll be fine."

But Deidre poured Peggy's tea into the little cup that she unscrewed from the top of the Thermos bottle.

The sky brightened considerably as they crossed Puget Sound, but Seattle was shrouded in a patch of gray that looked like rain. Overhead, a single large cloud suddenly turned orange as it caught a ray of sunlight. It lit up the Sound like a beacon.