Bygones (23 page)

To Bess’s, which shone with happiness. To Michael’s; which radiated hope.
To Lisa’s, which was touched ever so slightly by smugness.
To Stella’s,
which ,
seemed to say, It’s about time. To Randy’s, which held a promise. And even to Natalie’s as she lay on her daddy’s arm and studied the glistening silver frames on the
eyeglasses
 
of
Gil Harwood.

The small wedding party went to dinner afterward at a restaurant overlooking a beautiful walled garden decorated with pumpkins,
cornshocks
, and scarecrows. The personalized matchbooks awaiting them at their table said Ma.
AND MRS.

CURRAN. After he’d seated Bess and was taking, a chair himself, Michael picked up one of the matchbooks and folded it into her hand. “Damn right, once and for all.” Then he kissed her lightly on the lips and smiled into her eyes.

THERE were, as in all relationships that matter most, wrinkles that needed smoothing in that bittersweet autumn. There was Randy’s intense counseling; his loss of a way of life, of friends, of drug dependency; and his search for inner strength and positive relationships. There was family therapy and the painful resurrection and obliteration of past
guilts
, fears, and mistakes. There was Michael and Bess’s frequent frustration at living with an adult son, when in truth they were impatient to have total privacy. There were Michael and Bess themselves, readjusting to married life and its constant demands. Ah, but there were blessings. There was Randy, coming home one day and bringing a new friend, named Steve, whom he’d met in therapy and who wanted to start a band that would be drug free and would play for school kids to spread the message “Say no!”

There were days when Lisa and Mark would come breezing in with the baby, calling, “
Yo
,
Grampa
and Grandma and Uncle Randy.” And the simple joy of the day Michael had car trouble and called home, to hear Randy volunteer, “Hang on, Dad. I’ll come and get you.” And one day, when Randy finally announced, “I got a job at Schmitt’s Music selling instruments and giving drum lessons to little kids. Pay’s lousy, but the fringe benefits are great-sitting around jamming whenever the place isn’t busy.” And one day Bess went out and bought herself a pair of jeans. She had them on when Michael came home from work and found her in the kitchen-it was her turn to cook. He stopped in the kitchen doorway and tossed his car keys onto the cabinet top. “Well,
look
what my bride is wearing,” he said in wonder. She smiled back over her shoulder and twitched her hips. “How ‘bout that. I did it.” He ambled toward her.

“Looks good, too.” ‘
y
know what?” she said.

“I really don’t care if they do or not. They feel good.” He turned her fully around and caught her against himself. Her arms crossed behind his neck.

“How was your day?” she asked.
“Pretty good.
How was yours?” “
Mmm
. . . This is e best part of it so far,” she said when they’d shared a nice long kiss.

At the other end of the condo the door opened. Michael dropped his head back and said quietly, “Damn.”

“Now, now,” she chided gently. “You wanted him back.”

Randy stepped to the kitchen doorway.
“Mom, Dad, hi.
Hope we’re not disturbing anything. I brought someone home for supper.” He drew her forward by a hand, a pretty young woman with shoulder-length hair and a smile that had put a boyish look of eagerness on Randy’s face. “You remember Maryann, don’t you?” Two parents turned, joy on their faces, their embrace dissolving as they reached out to welcome her.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LaVyrle
Spencer likes happy endings. In the case of Bygones, the happy ending was particularly meaningful. “This story is the fantasy of every child from a divorced home,” she says. “In a world where we’re assaulted by reality on every side, this is a ray of hope for children of divorce.” Spencer understands such children well, for her own parents divorced when she was young. Like Stella in Bygones, she believes in working hard to keep a marriage fresh and vibrant, and to keep a family whole. Her marriage to her high school sweetheart, Dan Spencer, has lasted for thirty marvelous years. This author also likes authentic settings—her novels take dace in actual towns that readers can locate on a map. For Bygones she placed Bess Curran in the town where the
Spencers
themselves live-
LaVyrle
Spar Stillwater, Minnesota. When she was creating Bess’s and Michael’s homes, she visited a. local design shop and interviewed an interior designer to get an insight into that profession. Then she and Dan simply drove around looking for just the right settings. A Georgian style house with a river view, and a development of condos she’d been admiring for years worked perfectly. Though she likes the decor of the condo she created for Bygones,
LaVyrle
Spencer says she could never live there.

She and Dan live in a Victorian-style house. “My heart is in the Victorian era. I like candles and cutwork linens. I always want things to be romantic.” Obviously, many people share her feeling. Her fifteen novels, including Morning Glory, a Condensed Books selection, have fold more than thirty million copies since the first one was