Synopsis (Parts 11-20)

First, a general overview. Peggy Heggy is the widow of the late Taylor Heggy. They lived a happily married life for thirty years in a neighborhood of Seattle called Ballard, where they raised two children, Marjorie and Taylor, Jr., both of whom now live on the East Coast. One week after their 30th anniversary, Taylor died of a heart attack. Peggy stayed in the old family home for a year after Taylor's death, and then decided to sell the house and move to Bainbridge Island, which is just across Puget Sound from downtown Seattle. She is fifty-eight years old.

Our story begins a couple of weeks after Peggy has made the move to Bainbridge. She commutes by ferry to her job at a nonprofit organization called the Northwest Environmental Fund in downtown Seattle. Peggy walks from her house to the 5:20 a.m. ferry and gets to her office by 6:30. At first she was commuting five days each week but then she reduced it to four days and now works Fridays at home.

Shortly after beginning her commuting routine, Peggy meets Raoul, a neatly dressed man who rides a motorcycle onto the ferry everyday. He has gray hair and a short, trimmed beard. Under his motorcycle leathers is a suit and tie. Peggy enjoys chatting with Raoul, and one day they meet for lunch. Like Peggy, Raoul is the survivor of a long marriage. His late wife, Priscilla, had died many years earlier. He has a daughter, Deidre, who lives in Philadelphia.

However, their relationship gets off to a rocky start when Peggy learns that he works for a law firm called Burnett and Edwards. It so happens that Peggy is familiar with this firm: it has a history of defending the very companies that Peggy's organization brings lawsuits against for polluting the environment. Peggy discovers that she and Raoul have extremely incompatible views on issues that are important to her.

In Parts Eleven through Twenty, several things happen that have the strange effect of bring Peggy and Raoul closer together at times and farther apart at other times. They go on a nice walk along Crystal Springs Drive, on the west side of Bainbridge Island. During that walk Raoul describes his relationship with his late wife and Peggy is very touched by what she hears. He concludes a little speech by saying, "When the chemistry is right, all the other things don't matter." Peggy thinks this has merit. She feels very close to Raoul at that moment.

On another occasion, Raoul gives Peggy a ride on his motorcycle, at Peggy's request. It starts to rain and they park and run for a shelter, and Peggy slips and falls and sprains her arm. He is very caring and helpful. This event draws them a little closer together, and they start exchanging emails in the evenings.

Later, Raoul invites Peggy to his house for the first time. It was supposed to be a Saturday visit, but on Friday Raoul has to cancel because he is needed in Westport, Washington, to help his sister, Francine, with her beach house. He invites Peggy to go with him and she agrees. Most of the weekend was very relaxed; Peggy liked Francine. She, too, was recently widowed, so they shared a bond. However, on Saturday night there was a huge flood. Ocean water came over the dune and flooded Fran's house. They escaped up to the attic and stayed there until daylight. Someone came to rescue them in a boat, and then they all rode back to Seattle on a bus. The whole event brings Peggy and Raoul much closer together, but also laid the groundwork for some clashes.

The flood was a big deal that immediately became enmeshed in politics. Peggy and Raoul, due to their respective jobs, were both drawn into the fray. The governor formed a task force to study coastal issues, and Peggy and Raoul were both assigned to the task force, and then landed on a small committee together to study property rights vs environmental issues. In the most recent installments of the story, this has led to a lot of tension between Peggy and Raoul. He is an advocate for protecting the rights of property owners: people who own property should be allowed to put it to use as they see fit. Peggy believes the environment is very fragile and that property owners have responsibilities as well as rights.

In terms of her personal life, Peggy has recently gotten word that her daughter, Marjorie, was expecting her first child. Peggy was going to become a grandparent for the first time. Also, throughout all of the events of the last month or so, Peggy is constantly torn between wanting to start a new life and preserving the life she had with her late husband. She feels young at heart and has energy. She doesn't want her life to end just because her husband has died, on the other hand she feels a certain loyalty to him. Meeting Raoul and getting to know him has allowed her to see that she could, if she really wanted to, start a relationship and begin a new life with someone. But is Raoul the right someone? And even if she decides that, yes, she wants to be with him, can she tolerate views and attitudes that are so different from hers?

Thanks for reading. In the near future I plan to hold a contest to determine what happens between Peggy and Raoul. The prize will be a $100 gift certificate to Eagle Harbor Books on Bainbridge Island, which can be spent online. Please check billbranley.com for more information.

Bill