Sunrise Point

and Reverend Kincaid, reunited. Bitter divorce—I’m sure you’ve heard of such things.”
    She just smiled to herself when she overheard him. He didn’t seem to have any shame or blame, just the facts. She admired that.
    In the afternoon, people began to leave. First to go was Darla, her many suitcases carried to the red Caddy by Tom, a rather platonic kiss goodbye and off she went. A bit later Rosalie and Penny loaded up and departed and when Nora saw that, she bolted to their car to give them each a hug. “Will you be back?” she asked.
    “See you on Thursday,” Rosalie said.
    “In the meantime, see if you can get Maxie to rest a bit before the next surge.”
    “I don’t like rest,” Maxie said. “I can rest when I’m dead.”
    And the three of them laughed, but Nora didn’t. She carried the secret about Maxie going into retirement so Tom could sell the orchard and marry Darla.
    When the October sun was lowering and the clouds moving in, Tom told her to take her kids and go. And he suggested she take her time in the morning. “It’s been a long week and big weekend for everyone. We don’t have to start at the crack of dawn. Sleep in if you can.”
    She wanted to grab him by the front of his jacket and beg him not to move Maxie into retirement, not to sell the orchard and go away. Instead, she couldn’t help but smile at him. “Will you sleep in?”
    “I’ll try, but when Maxie starts banging around pans and Duke sticks his cold nose in my face, I usually get up. I like mornings.”
    She had learned to love the mornings as well, especially since she had a job to look forward to and more so now that she had a car to drive her there.
    After a full afternoon of playing outdoors at the orchard, the little ladies were in dire need of a scrubbing and bed. Jed and Susan wanted to hang around awhile to talk to Nora, so she cleaned up her girls and settled them in bed. Just as she’d been completely unprepared for toys, clothes and furniture, her father managed to surprise her once more.
    “Your friends at the orchard are wonderful,” he said. He grabbed Susan’s hand and said, “I want to make something available to you—something for you to consider for the future. And please, there’s no pressure of any kind. If you have an interest in finishing your education, I have some advantages as a tenured professor. Not only is your tuition waived, after a little checking I found out I can get you into family housing. Child care on the campus is affordable. Nora, if you’d like to go back to school, I’d like to help make that happen.”
    She was speechless for a moment, even though he’d mentioned school at least once before. “Family housing?” she asked.
    “I wouldn’t presume to offer you my home, even though I’d be happy to have you and the girls move in. But I respect your boundaries. Take all the time you need, not just with me, with everyone who comes into your life. Those little girls are precious. Don’t take any chances.”
    “It could really happen? School?”
    He gave a nod. “It’s not the answer to everything, Nora, I know that. This seems like a good place with good people. If it works for you here and you’re satisfied, there’s no need to change things. But if money is holding you back from going to school, let’s not let that stand in the way. I can help. Without investing much. And Stanford is a quality school.”
    “My one year of college,” she said. “My grades were not very good. I was a freshman and so inexperienced.”
    “You’d be allowed to repeat classes.”
    Susan grabbed his hand and stopped him for a moment. “Nora, this is only a suggestion, a possibility. I have two daughters—one went all the way through medical school and the other chose to be a stay-at-home mom. They are equally smart and equally driven with individual ideas about what makes a happy life. This is just something to consider. And the offer isn’t going to expire.”
    I have things to work out here, came to her lips, but she didn’t let it out. Instead she thanked them both. And once they were gone she thought about what was on her plate. First, she had to find a way to make her rent right—someone owned this little house, whether an individual or bank or the county for taxes. She couldn’t steal free rent and sleep at night. And second, she had to know what was to become of Maxie.
    And Tom.

Chapter Fifteen
    Nora had gotten a little quiet again, but Tom was not at all