“How sad. And I suppose he spent his Thanksgiving by himself.” Katherine sighed. “I should go see him…” she said, trying hard to stifle a persistent yawn.
“Not ‘til you’ve had some sleep. As much as I’m sure a visit would cheer up that cantankerous old man, you’ve been up all night, and I’m going to turn mother bear and insist you rest.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Katherine said, starting up the stairs. Stopping halfway, she turned to say, “By the way, my parents said to tell you they think you’ve done wonders for my baking skills. I made rolls for Thanksgiving dinner, and they both agreed they were the best they’d ever had.”
“Good work, Dearie.” Miss Harriet said with a smile. “Now up to bed.”
18 Home Again at the Harborside
“Captain Braddock,” called Katherine as she opened the door of the Harborside.
The old man limped in from the back wearing one of his rare smiles. “Well, hello there! I see you got back all right. How was your trip?”
“Wonderful!” Katherine replied, flinging her coat and scarf onto the coatrack. “How was your Thanksgiving?”
“Oh, just fine.” He answered. Katherine thought she caught a brief flicker of sadness in the captain’s face as he spoke, but he quickly turned and stooped to tend the wood stove. Glancing back up, he asked, “What brings you around today?”
Katherine walked around him and plunked herself cheerfully down in the chair by the stove. “Oh, I just wanted to see how the Harborside had gotten along without me.” She said playfully, with a scrutinizing glance around the room.
“Just fine, thank ye, but I think the jars missed your attention. They’re a bit dusty, as you can see.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I came in, then. Do you want me to dust them while I’m here?”
The captain looked back up at her with an amused twinkle in his eye. “Well, seein’ as it’s your day off, I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Just you sit there and talk a bit, like company.”
Katherine smiled and curled up in the chair. She gazed at the captain, who was still kneeling on the floor, carefully poking at the fire in the wood stove. She sighed a happy sigh, then asked cheerfully, “What does company talk about?”
“Well, now. I’m not sure. It’s been quite a spell since the Harborside’s seen any real company. Why don’t you tell me what you thought about the city?”
“It was loud and busy. After being here for a few months, I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would want to live there.”
“I know what you mean. The last time I was in a big city was when I brought my ship into port for the last time. I won’t pretend for a minute I was sad to leave it behind. Wasn’t my kind of place at all.”
“Did you always plan to come back to the Harborside?” Katherine asked.
Captain Braddock stood up, stretching his back with a quiet groan. “That’s quite a question. When I left, I knew this place was in good hands. I used to come visit now and then, but, as I moved up in the ranks, I spent less and less time here. I don’t suppose I ever meant to leave for good, but I sure didn’t plan on coming back for good, either.”
Katherine considered a moment, weighing the risk of asking another question. “What happened to bring you back?”
The sadness Katherine had noticed earlier passed across his face again as he answered, looking around at the shop as he spoke. “The old girl needed me. While the Harborside was in capable hands, there was no need for me to be here, but then those hands went away, and I came back. That’s all.”
Katherine wanted to ask about where the capable hands had gone, but the note of finality in his voice warned her that any further inquiry would only make the captain close up again. She stared down into the woodstove, watching the flames flicker and dance. Then, after a while, she spoke up quietly.
“When I came back to Harborhaven, I came because I wanted to feel I was home again.”
“And did you?” Captain Braddock asked, eying her thoughtfully as he picked up a rag and began dusting the counter.
“Not at first. I came back expecting everything to be exactly the same as I remembered it, and it wasn’t.”
The captain nodded, and Katherine continued. “But then I went to Miss Harriet’s, and she was so kind, she made me feel welcome. And when I came here to the Harborside –” Katherine paused, gathering courage and choosing her words. “When I came here, I felt for the first time that I actually had come home.”
Captain Braddock looked up from his dusting with a tender smile. “I thought so. That first day, I could tell the Harborside had worked her charm on you. I suppose that’s why I hired you.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You know, sometimes it almost seems as if the Harborside chooses people. Like Great-Aunt Lizzy, for example.”
Katherine’s eyes lit up and she leaned forward. “Who was Great-Aunt Lizzy?”
“My Great-Aunt, of course.” He said with a chuckle. “She was born back east somewhere and came to Harborhaven with her parents in the twenties.
“She was from a wealthy family, the type that had someone to do their shopping for them, you know. Goodness knows why they chose Harborhaven as their place to spend the summer that year, but they did, and one day Lizzy and her sister decided to have the chauffer drive them about the town.
“Folks said it was quite a sight, that great fancy car, all polished till it shone and sparkled. And then in the back, (it was a convertible, of course,) were the two young ladies, looking like they had stepped out of a fashion magazine. They giggled and pointed and generally had a good time at the town’s expense, until suddenly, Lizzy told the driver to stop.
"They were just outside the Harborside block then, and she insisted that her sister come with her to see what was in the shop with the ‘charming green door.’ They sent the driver away for a bit, and in they came, only to find the shop empty, and the shopkeeper nowhere in sight. Nothing daunted, Lizzy began to nose about amongst the jars while her sister trailed nervously behind her.
“My Great-Uncle Isaac, now, he walked through the doorway right in time to find Lizzy taking the Anne down off the shelf for a closer look. He was instantly struck by her beauty, and also by the gentleness and respect, almost reverence, with which she held the ship, as if she had instinctively felt its importance.
“Lizzy turned at the sound of that one creaky floorboard in front of the doorway over there, and their eyes met. There was a stunned silence as they each pondered what they beheld. Accustomed as Lizzy was to being surrounded by lively, immaculately-dressed young men, there was something that drew her to this serious-eyed fellow who looked every inch the shopkeeper’s drudge. He had his sleeves rolled to his elbows, his hair was ruffled and untidy, and the apron he wore, as well as his trouser legs, were very dusty.”
“It must have been Thursday.” Katherine said dreamily, settling down more comfortably in the armchair.
“Aye, so it must. He had been working down in the storeroom, unpacking crates. Well, Isaac finally managed to stammer out, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.’ To which Lizzy, (just as dazed as he was,) replied, ‘You should get a bell for the door, so you can hear when it opens.’ They both smiled, then Lizzy realized she was still holding the Anne.
“’Such detail. Is it handmade?’ she asked, and soon he was telling her all about the shop’s beginnings. When the car appeared to take the ladies home, Lizzy’s sister (who was extremely bored by it all) was impatient to go. But Isaac was right in the middle of telling about Captain Jeremiah and the pirates, and Lizzy was determined not to budge until she had heard what happened next. Isaac very politely offered to see the ladies home if they wished to stay longer, since he would be closing the shop in an hour anyway, and would be delighted to escort them wherever they needed to go.
