No Regrets

Washington State when a newly built three-bedroom house could be purchased for about ten thousand dollars. After Ruth met Rolf, she sold her bungalow for a few thousand more than she paid for it. She also owned a vacant lot near Paine Field. The real estate boom in the area was some years away, and her houses and lots were excellent investments.
    With his wanderlust, Rolf had never cared much about owning real estate, and, planning to reunite with Elinor, he had been living in a cheap apartment about ten miles south of Ruth’s place when he met her.
    Whatever his true feelings were for Elinor Ekenes and the two small boys who were almost certainly his sons, Rolf Neslund was quickly bewitched by Ruth, and seemed to enjoy being married to her. They were not a young couple, but they appeared to get along with each other—once Elinor was essentially out of the picture. Most people who knew them thought it would be fine if they ended up together, living out the rest of their years in a companionable way rather than with a wild sex life. But their age belied the very real attraction that sizzled between them. Ruth wanted Rolf, and he had come to want her—a lot. Initially, there was probably more sexual electricity there than anyonesuspected. And they had much in common: Both of them had colorful pasts marked by poverty in their early years, a history of numerous other relationships, extensive travel, and, particularly in Rolf’s case, near-death experiences.
    Despite her many relatives around the country, Ruth had been basically alone when she met Rolf. But she wasn’t a helpless single woman or anyone to be pitied. Although she had very little formal schooling, she was highly intelligent. She was most adept at arithmetic, and kept perfect records, even when she didn’t have much to keep records about. It was probably predictable that she sought some permanency in her life. Her ambition was to own a great deal of property, to have something solid that belonged to her, something she could see. She could certainly see Rolf, and he had an air of confidence and stability about him. He didn’t dress like a rich man, but she had quickly ferreted out that his pilot’s position made him well off. And he planned to work for many more years.
    Rolf had been something of a barterer, trading goods for service, and he owned some oil stock that had impressive-looking certificates, but he wasn’t nearly as interested as Ruth was in making money. After he ran off to sea, Rolf’s family in Norway had built a thriving shipping business. His mother had left her estate to him and his three siblings, and he had about nine thousand (American) dollars in a Norwegian bank. Rolf was quite willing to let Ruth keep the books and look around for property to buy. She called herself a “horse trader,” and he was impressed with her business sense.
    The Neslunds soon moved off the mainland of Washington State. After looking at property, they settled onLopez Island, one of four rocky outcroppings that make up the San Juan Islands: San Juan, Orcas, Shaw, and Lopez. Islands adrift in the Strait of Juan de Fuca some eighty-five miles northwest of Seattle, all of them astoundingly beautiful places to live.
    Forty-five years ago, there wasn’t much going on in the San Juans except for the promise of serenity, more sunshine than the rest of Washington State, and the feeling of being part of a community where people knew and cared about one another. Even twenty years ago, there weren’t more than twelve hundred people living on Lopez Island. There was virtually no felony crime, and murders were extremely rare.
    But progress, for better or worse, was edging into the San Juans. Tourists were beginning to discover the tranquil forests, gently rolling meadows, and vistas of the sea from countless miles of shoreline. Quaint shops and restaurants attracted visitors, and a number of artists and writers were drawn to the islands.
    Bestselling thriller writer John Saul built one of his many homes on the edge of a cliff on Lopez Island, next to where his parents had lived for years. Writer Charlotte Paul lived there. Actor Tom Skerritt and his wife resided on Lopez whenever they could get away from Hollywood, and later on, they opened up a bed-and-breakfast. Richard Bach, author of
Jonathan Livingston Seagull,
took up residence on nearby Orcas Island. A number of familiar faces from Hollywood vacationed there. In the San Juans, they were all just part of