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Their first guests, the Waldens, were waiting on the white pier in Franklin, their luggage and supplies ready to fill the Runabout. Barbara took the guests in the Woody that she had driven as Marion took the children, the luggage, and the pallets they had stacked up again in the Runabout. She ran into town to get their mail and a few supplies, then headed back to the pier to park next to the car she assumed was the Waldens’.
“Have any trouble getting to Franklin?” Barbara asked her guests as she expertly turned the already gassed up boat and headed back to their island.
“It is rather remote,” Mrs. Walden commented, holding her hat in the wind whipped up by the combination of the speed of the boat and the offshore breezes. Barbara was grateful the breeze was warm today. She’d handed each of her guests a life vest, their two children looking on with excitement at being delivered to their vacation home in a boat.
“Yes, it is,” she agreed, hoping they wouldn’t be complainers. The first cabin was as ready as they could make it. She’d hung the curtains she made, and Marion had found some flowers to plant around the front, making it look homey.
Taking the drive slow and hoping Marion would catch up, she pointed out the islands one at a time, telling what little she knew about them. They’d gone beachcombing on a couple of the islands, mostly looking for their wood that had been lost at sea. She could tell her guests were relieved when Whimsical came into view, probably thinking she was just heading out into the vast ocean. The sea was relatively calm today, and she was thankful. She pulled into their cove and headed for the dock, pleased that the fresh coat of white paint made it look sharp and clean. She could see the gas tank they had just installed looking white and fresh under the trees too. Its buried gas line to the dock was only visible from the tank itself and on the dock with the gas meter waiting for anyone who needed gas. Their own Woody and Runabout were usually the only customers. The gas company had wanted to install the tank on the dock itself, but it was unattractive and heavy, and they’d convinced them to put it up on the beach under the trees and mainly out of sight. It had been ugly until they painted it. When they were done, they’d painted the dock once again to use up their supply of white paint.
“Oh, isn’t this lovely?” Mrs. Walden exclaimed as she looked around when she was on the dock.
“We have a canoe and rowboats for you to use,” Barbara pointed out, relieved when she saw Marion coming into the cove. Now, they could get the luggage and supplies up to the Walden’s cabin and leave them to their own devices.
“Do you have a store?” one of the children asked.
“No, there’s no store here on the island,” Barbara answered, wondering how old they were. They looked older than her own now nine-year-old son. She hoped the children all got along.
After using the wheelbarrow to haul the luggage and supplies, they left the Waldens to get settled in, pointing out the games they had left for them in the cabin as well as some fishing poles. They went off to finish work on the third cabin. They were hoping to finish it before their second rental came in and they got even busier. They still had a lot to do on the fourth and the fifth cabin.
“Can’t we play with the guest’s children?” Brenda asked.
“Of course, you can, but let them settle in and get comfortable first. This is their vacation,” Marion warned them, since they had insisted the children come with them to the cabins to work. She looked up when Barbara herded the sheep into the area, ostensibly to mow down the grass growing around the site. The herd looked odd with the lambs gone. The women had taken the lambs across to the mainland, sold them, depositing the check they got for them in the bank. The children, not realizing they were raising the sheep for meat, had cried at their loss but that had faded in time. Both Barbara and Marion were at a loss to explain that the lambs had probably become lamb chops, so they decided not to tell them. They needed the money. They’d spent a lot on these additional cabins and the boats, and they needed the income. The rentals were coming along, and they were anxious to finish.
“Do you have a volleyball net?”
“Do you have ice?”
“Can we take the boat out?”
The questions their guests asked were endless. The eventually did get a volleyball net. They set it up on the beach, but the gravel on their beaches wasn’t very soft to land on, and more than one skinned knee convinced them to move it to a grassy area for the safety of their guests. They dug a horseshoe pit and worried about what other activities they could offer to keep their guests entertained.
One of their guests wrecked a rowboat on the rocks outside the cove, and they worried each time someone rented the elegant little Woody. Still, the rentals went well, and they finished the third and almost the fourth cabin that summer in addition to getting a lot of work done on the fifth. By the time their summer was over, they were tired of their guests, but they had learned a lot. They now had systems in place to deal with them. The guests expected a lot, but they also gave a lot. Barbara and Marion went over to change and clean the bedding daily, learning that the sheets on the beds themselves didn’t have to be changed so often. The washing was horrendous, and they were glad they had their Easy SpinDrier washing machine to handle the increased load. Everyone appreciated the fresh smell of clothes dried on the line.
The children learned to let their guests’ children have their way more often because their complaints fell on deaf ears. Some of the children were wonderful but some were spoiled and learning to cope with that was all part of the process. Understanding that these were paying guests, they learned to give. Of course, some guests were better than others.
“It always amazes me that they expect us to clean up after them,” Marion said disgustedly as she used a pole with a nail on the end to stab at the garbage that littered their paths as they walked along on and off the paths they had built.
Guests poked and prodded into everything as they explored the island. Some expected to be entertained and couldn’t understand that the Whitings and Jenkins weren’t there for their convenience. Still, overall, it was a good experience. They had bonfires down on the beach, burning off some of the branches that they couldn’t use in their own fireplaces and sometimes using driftwood. The unusual colors caused by the salt leaching into the wood from the ocean created a pleasant effect. The O’Flahertys finally came and took the women up on their offer of a meal as thanks for all their help. They came once at the beginning of summer and once again at the end, contributing fish and other dishes as they toured the island and ended up at one of the bonfires with their other guests. Marion built long benches and thought about other improvements to this most simple of occasions...a bonfire. It was a wonderful time for all. Barbara and Marion were certain their guests got their money’s worth and several paid a deposit for the following summer.
They picked up two more rowboats, replacing the one that had been destroyed on the rocks and finding another canoe. They bought extra fishing gear from an estate sale and kept it on the beach for their guests to use. They were planning to build a store/cabin they could use to store the boats and canoe after they finished the fifth cabin.
“You’ve really got something here,” Thomas O’Flaherty complimented the two women, his eyes taking in Marion looking tanned, healthy, and wonderful in her shorts and button-down shirt with rolled-up sleeves.
“We’re proud of it,” she admitted, taking a drink from the bottle of beer they had brought over. She’d found the wives of the brothers to be nice women. They were curious about her, and she knew why...Thomas had made his interest known. She’d tried to let him down easily, telling him she wasn’t about to ever remarry. At first, he had thought it a joke, but she’d not been laughing when she told him firmly again and again.
“Your son needs a father.”
“My son had a father, and he’s doing wonderfully well here on the island. I’m sorry, Thomas. We can never be anything more than friends. I hope you’ll accept that,” she said beseechingly.
He accepted that for now, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try again. He admired her and what she had accomplished so much. He never noticed Barbara, who was watching his efforts. But she wasn’t worried, she knew Marion loved her. Still, he represented normalcy in their world. He could also solve the problems Marion was having with her in-laws, if she chose to accept him. The courts couldn’t say she wasn’t bringing her children up properly. They hadn’t heard about the report that Mrs. Mason had filed yet, but they were certain to hear eventually. The lawyer had received a response to his letter of protestation that arrived after her first visit, and a second visit was scheduled after Labor Day.
Barbara’s mother and brother arrived the last week of summer, and amazingly, they both loved the island. Her mother was surprisingly complimentary about what they had accomplished, and with Brent’s help they finished the fourth cabin and most of the fifth. They cut the trees, trimmed them, and got the frame up for the combination store/storage on the beach. It was nearly hidden under the trees that grew there.
The children proudly hosted a day on the island with their schoolmates. They used both the Runabout and the Woody to ferry over the many children, borrowing life preservers from the O’Flahertys and anyone else they could find with a pleasure craft. They made sure every one of the children, the teachers, and the principal had a life preserver. They left their own children on the island with Barbara’s brother and mother in order to leave enough room for all the children. This year, there would be two classrooms in the school, one upstairs and one in the basement to accommodate all the additional children that would be attending. There were plans to expand the schoolhouse and maybe build another more modern and larger building.
The children had a blast. Some were already in shorts and others rolled up their trousers to wade in the water as they made a clambake on the beach.
“I swear, Mrs. Jenkins, I would have never thought living on an island could be so much fun,” Mrs. Larson declared, enjoying herself immensely. Keeping up with all the children was wearing Barbara out, but she could see they were having fun. Richard, Brian, and Brenda loved showing their friends and teachers their cabin plus the sheep, chickens, and guinea fowl they kept.
“You don’t find it too lonely?” Miss Emerson, the new teacher asked Barbara shyly. She was rather quiet, and this was her first year of teaching.
“No, we have books and the radio to keep us entertained, and there is always something that needs doing,” Barbara answered, realizing the woman was sending unconscious signals of attraction to her. That was a first for her. Previously, Marion had been the only woman that had ever come on to her. She wasn’t certain she wasn’t imagining it.
There was only one minor mishap when someone fell on the rocks, but first aid and an admonishment to stay off the wet rocks kept the children from more misadventures. They ended the afternoon with a couple ghost stories, then Marion and Barbara drove everyone back across the expanse of water separating them from the mainland. Originally planned as an overnight stay, the parents and teachers had decided a day of picnicking was best for this first year. Already, the children were planning an overnight stay for next time. Their parents would be relieved to learn those two “odd women,” who lived off the coast were okay. Their children came home late in the afternoon, tired but full of stories showing that all was good.
“I wish I could stay,” both Barbara’s mother and brother said as they left them on the pier in Franklin to make their way south to Massachusetts, first on the ferry and then by bus.
“She’s mellowed,” Brent admitted to Barbara when she got him alone and asked about her mother. She’d been expecting a confrontation, but instead, they’d had a mature meeting of two women, and it was quite a pleasant time as the two vacationed. They’d had to stay in the main cabin since the rentals were full, but their help in finishing the fourth cabin and getting so much done on fifth was appreciated. They also helped with the building on the beach. Barbara and Marion could finish up the details this fall and next season.
“Now, I want to come next summer, and I expect you to invite me,” her mother told her in a no-nonsense and demanding voice as she left them with a kiss on each check, including Marion and her children in her comments.
“Wow, that was actually a pleasant visit,” Barbara marveled as she watched her mother heading down the cobblestone street towards the ferry landing with Brent carrying their luggage. “Well, Brent did say she had mellowed. Man, that was a lot of help he gave us,” she admitted as she realized how much work the two of them had managed last year and how much difference a third and fourth set of hands made on the work. The two women had been repeatedly interrupted in their work by their guests but that was to be expected. Between taking one guest to the mainland to visit with a doctor and filling gas tanks once people with boats realized they didn’t have to go all the way to Franklin to get gas, they were kept busy all summer long.
“Fill up your tank?” The tanker boat had arrived to top off their tank. It stood on its stilts and was now hidden by the overgrown summer foliage on the beach. Marion paid the bill in full by check, pleased at the amount of money now in their bank account. They’d even managed to pay ahead on the loan and were well on their way to fully repaying it. Having a gas tank on the island was convenient. They didn’t have to worry about topping off their tanks in Franklin all the time and had sold a bit as word spread that they had a gas pump in their cove. They kept it locked for safety and security.
“I would say our first season was a success,” Barbara said as she came back from dropping off their last guests. She handed the mail to Marion, watching her face carefully. She knew instinctually the letter from her attorney probably wasn’t good news.
Marion saw her girlfriend’s expression and saw the postmark on the envelope. Opening it quickly, she scanned it and sighed. An informal hearing was scheduled for the next week. She handed the letter to Barbara, not saying a word.
“They didn’t give you much notice, did they?”
“Did you get a letter too?” Marion asked, surprised when Barbara held up a letter, this one from the State of Maine demanding her presence at the hearing.
Barbara nodded as she slid the letter across the table. She had waited because she wanted to read Marion’s letter. The lawyer’s letter didn’t make them feel warm and cozy, but at least it wasn’t as demanding. The letter from the state seemed ominous.
“Do we have all our bank records?” Marion fretted, worrying needlessly.
“We do, and I don’t think they will be disappointed. While we haven’t made a profit, we didn’t have too much of a loss, and next year will see us in the black with all the cabins rented.”
Marion nodded, folding up the letters and handing them to Barbara. She hated doing the bookkeeping, much preferring the busy work of building the cabins. She’d throw herself into doing that until they had to go into town for the hearing. Her lawyer said it was informal, but she wasn’t fooled. She knew her mother-in-law would show up to intimidate and bully her way through the court system. She wasn’t going to win, but Marion worried how it would affect her children.
Barbara watched sadly as Marion worked herself to a frazzle. Complete exhaustion was the only thing that allowed her to sleep. Barbara had tried to lift the burden from Marion as much as possible, but there seemed to be nothing she could do. She had even offered to move off island and break up, but that had only upset the blonde more.
“Don’t you see? This has nothing to do with us. It’s about her controlling things. She wants my children. Since we no longer live near her and she can’t keep an eye on them to make sure I’m not screwing up Brian’s children too much, she wants them completely. If she suspects more, she’ll use that against us, but so far, she has nothing. She probably speculates that our relationship is more, but there is nothing wrong with two women pooling their money and raising their children together. She can speculate all she wants, but she has no proof that it is more. To her, such a relationship would be unthinkable. She will only use that idea if she thinks it will help her case, and you and I both know they will probably ask.”
Barbara knew that was right, but she would do anything to make Marion happy. It had been a hard year and a half while building up the island, but the summer had been a success with only minor problems and things that would have come up anyway. She concentrated on making sure their books and bank statements were in order. She had dropped them off the day before the hearing for the lawyer to look over and picked up supplies while she was in town, Marion stayed on the island to keep working and try to forget what was coming up.