There was much discussion between Katherine’s parents about what they should order, and while they were engrossed by their decision-making, Katherine watched them.
Strangely, she hadn’t taken time to really look at her parents in years. She was shocked by how much older they both seemed. She thought of Miss Harriet’s words from the previous night, “You won’t have them forever.”
Memories once again began to rush through her mind like waves on the harbor, surging in and out, one on top of another, until she was startled back to the present by the arrival of a tall waiter in a stiff white apron.
“May I take your order?” he said loftily, raising his eyebrows and looking imperiously down at them. Katherine’s mother looked a little intimidated, but her father went right ahead and ordered, not a bit daunted by the waiter’s attitude of superiority. Katherine had always admired that quality in her father, his ability to be comfortable and confident with anyone and everyone. Seeing it now, it reminded her a bit of Miss Harriet.
Once the waiter had gone, the three looked awkwardly around the room, trying to think of what to talk about next. Katherine finally spoke up.
“Mom, Dad, I have something I want to talk to you about. This might not be the right time or place, but I need to tell you that…that I know I’ve had a rotten attitude ever since we moved from Harborhaven, and I’m sorry. I know it was wrong, and it must have hurt you that I’ve been so distant and resentful. Will you please forgive me?”
Katherine’s parents gazed at her, stunned by their daughter’s sudden contrition. Then, her mother reached across the table and took both Katherine’s hands in her own. Tears brimmed in her eyes. “Yes. Yes, of course we forgive you.”
Then they lapsed into silence for a while, but this time there was no awkward surveying of the room. Instead, they looked into each other’s happy faces, savoring the clearness of the air between them.
* * *
“Katherine! Over here!” Katherine spotted Miss Harriet’s graceful arm waving a handkerchief above the throng of people which filled the small but unusually crowded airport. She squeezed between the clumps of people and hurried towards the older woman.
“Oh, Miss Harriet! I’m so glad to see you!”
“And I you, dear. Let’s get out of this crowd, and then we can get all caught up!”
As soon as the car doors closed, Miss Harriet turned and scrutinized Katherine’s face.
“Well? And how are you? Was it as dreadful as you expected?”
Katherine smiled the happiest smile Miss Harriet had ever seen on her young friend’s face. “Oh, no. It was actually a very good visit. All these years, I’d been feeling sorry for myself because I felt like my parents weren’t interested in having me around, when really, I was the one pushing them away.
"I didn’t realize that until I saw how happy they were that I had come at last. They actually drove out to the airport to surprise me, because Mom couldn’t wait to see me. And when we got to their house, I found out they had bought a brand-new hide-a-bed sofa so I would be more comfortable.”
“And did you get to talk to them like you’d wanted to?”
“Yes. We went out to eat on the way to their house, and I apologized then, but when they showed me the sofa, I just couldn’t hold it in anymore. We all sat down, and I told them how I’d been feeling and asked them again to forgive me for pushing them away. We all cried, even Dad. They really had no idea what it was that had come between us, because I never told them. They only knew something was different. I guess they just figured it was part of my growing up and becoming my own person.”
“And how do you feel now?
“It’s strange. I do still have that longing for how things were, and it still saddens me to think about the miserable last Christmas we spent together, but now that I’m not holding onto it, the hurt has slipped away, and I feel… somehow… free.”
Miss Harriet smiled, her eyes shining as she quoted, “‘and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ I do believe you’ve found one of the old paths, my dear.”
“Yes, I think I have.” Katherine said, with another happy smile.
* * * *
The journey back to the shop in the early morning light seemed to fly by. Katherine looked out the window at the early morning fog and could just make out the bare branches of the trees that lined the highway. Past that, all was white and still.
“You know, when I got to that big city, it was like a different world,” she said to Miss Harriet. “It hasn’t taken me long to get used to the slower pace of Harborhaven. The noise and rush of people everywhere was quite a shock.”
Miss Harriet laughed. “I suppose it would be. I haven’t been away from Harborhaven since I moved here, and I must admit, I enjoy the pace. I would probably find the city jarring as well.”
When they arrived at the shop, Katherine noticed that Miss Harriet had gotten everything ready for the day. “You must have been up early to get everything done before driving to pick me up.”
“Oh, no, not that much earlier. Harold—Mr. James, that is—helped me do some of it last night after the meal.”
Katherine couldn’t help but smile at Miss Harriet’s slip, and the blush that came after it. “And how did it all go? Did many people come?”
“Oh, yes. I’d say there were about half as many people as were here for Guy Fawkes, which is about as many as Mr. James had expected. I don’t know what I would have done without his help. He organized everything and helped me figure out how to get everyone seated. We pushed all the tables together to make a big, long dining table and we were going to pass everything around like a family meal, but everyone brought so much food, we ended up just putting everything on the counter like a buffet.
"Speaking of which, there are enough leftovers in the kitchen to last us for days! And that’s after letting people go through and fill up a plate to take home. Mr. James said that leftovers were just as much a part of Thanksgiving as the turkey.”
“You and Mr. James sure seem to be getting along well.”
“Oh, he’s been quite helpful. Quite helpful, indeed. And did I tell you that the Dailies came? Every one of them. Mrs. Penelope showed up, and so did Mr. Patten. And do you know, I think Mr. James has the same idea we’ve had about those two? He met each of them at the door and made sure they ended up seated across from one another, and at the opposite end of the long table from Rosie, too. Rosie, of course, was in rare form, bustling around, noticing what was on everyone’s plates. She’s come up with a new theory, based on people’s dietary choices.”
Katherine laughed and rolled her eyes. “I’m sure. And Captain Braddock? Did he come?”
“No, Dearie,” Miss Harriet said with a sigh, “and it wasn’t for any lack of trying on my part. I went to pick up the tea order Wednesday afternoon, just like we’d arranged. He was not nearly as blustery as usual, and asked if you had gotten off on your trip all right. He said you had been quite a help these last few months, and that he guessed he owed some of that to me, for giving you the days off instead of keeping you all to myself.
"We were actually getting on quite well, but as soon as I extended the invitation to have Thanksgiving at the shop, his bluster returned, and he declined with as little civility as one might expect from a rough old sailor. On my way out the door, I made sure to mention that he could change his mind at any time, that we’d be happy to have him join us, but he just turned and stomped into the next room without a word.”
