“Like you used to?”
“Yes, like I used to.” He stared out into the shopfront, and Katherine recognized the familiar faraway look in his eyes as he remembered the days when the Harborside had bustled with Braddocks.
“I’ll just get started on the jars.” Katherine quietly stood and drained the last of her tea. She grabbed a dust rag from behind the counter and walked to the wall of shelves on the opposite end of the shop. Maybe having Tommy around will help the captain not feel so alone.
* * *
“Well, what happened?” Katherine asked as she let herself into the tearoom after closing that night and found Sally in the kitchen washing the dishes.
“Just what Auntie H. said would happen. She came, sat with a ridiculous fake look on her face, and made sure everyone saw her act as if I didn’t exist.” Sally said, curling her lip in disgust. “I don’t know how Auntie H. puts up with the old peacock.”
Katherine shook her head. “Sometimes I wonder that, too. But Rosie hasn’t always been this way. In fact, before now, she’s only been dramatic and ridiculous, never really malicious. It makes me wonder if something has happened to make her so sour all of a sudden.”
“Sour’s the word,” Sally said, shaking her head.
“How did everything else go today?” Katherine asked, picking up a dishtowel and starting to dry the teacups Sally had placed on the drying mat.
“Fine.” Sally shrugged. “Auntie H had me assembling trays most of the day, though I did bus tables as well. There weren’t too many people today.”
“We didn’t have many at the Harborside either,” Looking up, she added, “It’s the rain. It keeps people indoors, though the locals should all be used to it by now.” She leaned towards Sally and whispered, “But I’ll tell you a secret—I like the rainy days the best.”
“Me too.” Sally said, “Reminds me of home.” She studied her dishrag for a moment, a faraway look in her eyes. Then, forgetting to rinse a plate before handing it to Katherine, she suddenly asked, “How did you start working there? At the Harborside, I mean.”
“Well,” Katherine reached over to rinse the plate herself. “When I first came back, your aunt gave me a job and a place to stay, and I was happy here. But one day, she sent me to the Harborside to pick up some tea, and as soon as I walked through the door it felt like home, somehow. Captain Braddock and I got along well enough, and he could tell I was fascinated by the history of the place, so he hired me on as his assistant.”
Sally had stopped washing altogether, staring out the little window above the sink. “Do you suppose…” she began, turning her wistful eyes towards Katherine.
“Yes?”
“Do you suppose everyone has somewhere like that, somewhere that’s home?”
Katherine picked up another cup and rubbed it thoughtfully with her dishcloth. “I don’t know for sure… but it only seems right that everyone would have somewhere they feel they belong. But…” she took a breath, not sure if this was the right time. Lord, help me to have the words! she prayed silently.
“Did I ever tell you why I came back to Harborhaven?”
Sally shook her head as she handed Katherine a saucer, this time remembering to rinse the suds off.
“Well, you know that I grew up here, right?”
“Yes, I think you mentioned it.”
“When I was only nine, we moved away and life changed drastically. I loved my home here, our life here as a family. The new house was in the city. It was dark, dirty, and lonely. We moved because my dad lost his job, and although he found a new job, it didn’t pay nearly what he used to make. My mom ended up working too, to help pay the bills, and even though I knew she had to, I still felt abandoned. From the day we moved, I never felt at home again.”
“Till the Harborside.”
“Right.”
Sally looked up as Katherine paused. “So what did you do?”
“I ran away, to the place that felt like home. Not right then, of course, but when I finished college I came back, expecting everything to be the same.”
Sally’s face clouded. “But it wasn’t.”
Katherine shook her head. “No, and if it weren’t for your aunt, I would have ended up wandering aimlessly, always searching for something that felt like home, but knowing things would never go back the way they were.”
“So what happened? I mean, I know you stayed here, but what happened to make it home?”
“Part of it was your aunt’s kindness, her constant peace and joy. It helped point me to the one thing that could make a difference.”
“And what was that?”
“The old paths.”
Sally’s face wrinkled with confusion. “The what?”
“I suppose it doesn’t make much sense when I put it like that.” She wiped a plate dry as she collected her thoughts.
“Soon after I came here, your aunt and I were sitting in church and the pastor read a verse from Jeremiah. It said, ‘Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.’
“That phrase, ‘rest for your souls’ stuck with me. That was what I had been looking for all along, a place where my soul would finally feel at rest, like it had in those lovely childhood days at home. Your aunt helped me understand that the ‘old paths’ were simply the things the Bible teaches about having a relationship with God. So, I started praying and reading the Bible and getting to know God.”
“And did it work?”
Katherine couldn’t help but beam. Her heart felt it would overflow with the truth of her answer. “Yes, it did work. It took time, and I had to let go in some areas in my life where I was holding onto bitterness and unforgiveness, but yes, God has given me rest for my soul.” She lifted a stack of cups into a cupboard before continuing. “Of course, life has its ups and downs, and I can’t say my emotions always feel at rest, but whatever comes, whether it’s early mornings or getting caught in a downpour—”
