Donners Bend (17 page)

Sarah
led Jamie to the floor and they began to dance
. 
Phillip
watched with an amused face
.

“Poor guy,” he said to
Ellie
as his eyes followed the mismatched couple dance around the floor
. 
Ellie
couldn’t help but agree with him.

The sun began to set and Jamie thanked
Sarah
for the dance, but told her he really must get back to watching the children
. 
Ellie
took the opportunity to have a few dances herself
. 
Phillip
led her out first, but then after a few dances Jamie interrupted and
Phillip
took over watching the children, and then
Jon
interrupted and he and
Ellie
danced the night away.

The night had begun to grow dark and many of the mothers of younger children, tired from a long day, began to file out
. 
This group included
Louise
Rhodes and
she took her four youngest with her, so
Ellie
was free to do as she wished
. 
She was about to join in on Emily and a few other ladies’ conversation when someone else caught her eye
. 
Leaning against a large oak tree fairly far off under the twin
kling
stars was Jamie
. 
His black fedora created a shadow over the top half of his face.

Ellie
went to join him
. 
They spoke for a moment of non-important things: how beautiful the night was, the following day’s weather
, and a few other insignificant topics
. 
Jamie mentioned that he’d like to play Peter Pan tomorrow with the children and
Ellie
promised to be Wendy, like she always was
. 
And then suddenly
,
Ellie
noticed something different about Jamie
. 
Something
was very
different in his eyes
. 
There was a glimmer in them that had
n
o
t been there before
. 
She did her best to ignore it.

“You know
Ellie
, I believe you’re the only nanny I’ve been fond of in all these years,” said Jamie.

“Is that so?”
Ellie
wanted to know what fond meant exactly, but she was afraid to hear his answer
. 
“How many nannies would you say the children have had over the years?”

Jamie shrugged, “Fifteen at least
, but
I’ll bet none have been under the age of thirty-five
. 
That’s why the children like you so much; you’re closer to their age
. 
Plus, you definitely aren’t as strict
and over-bearing
as the old nannies.”

Ellie
gave a small smile, “I do my best.”

She suddenly realized how close she was to Jamie
. 
His chest was merely a foot from hers and his lips
were
only inches away from her own
. 

He spoke slowly and quietly, though it didn’t seem so quiet without too much other noise to compete with, “I, as I’m sure the children would agree, hope you stay here a long time, Miss
Ellie
.”

Their closeness caused
Ellie
’s voice to become breathless “I’m not planning on leaving anytime soon.”  

He spoke in a whisper now, “I’m glad.”

Before
Ellie
knew what was happening, Jamie began to lean in a little further
. 
Ellie
panicked, and just before their lips were about to touch, she pulled away.

“I should go now
. 
I’m sorry, but,” her eyes couldn’t meet his and she stuttered, “but
I
,
I
need to go.”

“
Ellie
wait!” Jamie called, but
Ellie
had already run off
. 

She didn’t know what to think or how to feel
. 
Jamie’s intentions had been obvious, but
Ellie
didn’t know whether they had been caused by true affection or if he’d just had a few too many sips of wine
. 
She didn’t know and she didn’t want to think about it anymore
. 
Grabbing
Jon
’s hand and pul
ling
him away from the snack table, she led him to the dance floor
. 
They danced without words, but
Jon
knew something was troub
ling
his friend.

Later that evening, as
Jon
and
Ellie
danced slowly out back in the midnight wind and Matthew and Emily shared yet another dance in one another’s arms, a horribly different atmosphere had begun to set just inside the house.

Upstairs, in one of the
Thompson
’s many sitting rooms, were
Robert
Rhodes and
his oldest son
. 
Who knows why they decided to come up when the festivities were still occurring
? 
It was a beautiful room though, to be sure, but neither
Robert
nor Jamie had noticed
. 
A powder blue toile covered the walls and scattered about the room were comfy settees and large armchairs that faced a fireplace filled with flames
. 
The only light in the room came from that fireplace, and it wasn’t much
. 
It created soft shadows behind all the antique candlesticks, picture frames, and vases set around the room, and hid some of the anger shown by the room’s two occupants, but
certainly
not all of it.

They looked vaguely similar,
Robert
and Jamie
. 
Everything
Robert
had once owned himself his son now possessed: dark, almost black hair, spark
ling
brown eyes, and a bright smile
, but
now
Robert
was older, and time had made its mark
. 
His hair had turned gray, his eyes dull, and his smile faded
. 
Wrinkles took over his youthful complexion and weight had suddenly seemed to pile on
. 
Just looking at his eldest son and child made him angry and shameful all at once.

Most parents could find plenty of reasons to be proud of a son like Jamie; he was incredibly intelligent, a polite gentleman for the most part, and an excellent fencer
, but
to
Robert
, only the mistakes and faults of his son showed
. 
To
Robert
, Jamie was a failure at school, never a gentleman, and most of all, a disappointment
.
  The hopes and dreams he once had for his son were erased by what
Robert
believed was the continual disregard for the honorable course that he had desired for his son
. 
Surely his hopes
were gone, but even worse was that he felt
dishonored that his son looked so much like him at that age
. 
He was even embarrassed that at social functions and everyday conversations
with his colleagues at the hospital, when they’d brag about their sons going off to prestigious universities, acing all their courses, getting job offers everywhere they turned, and following their father’s footsteps, he couldn’t say the same of Jamie
. 

Now,
at this particular moment, Jamie’s future was the topic of
great
variance and
pure
animosity
. 

“What are you going to do now, son
? 
What
exactly
are you going to do without a diploma?”
Robert
screamed
. 
Then he laughed madly with fi
r
e in his eyes as he said, “No, don’t answer that
, f
or there is no answer
. 
Do you know why
? 
Huh
? 
Do you know why, sonny boy
? 
It’s because without graduating you really can’t get anywhere much in life, can you?”

“You can get plenty far if you have the will to do so,” Jamie replied as calmly as he could, hoping to appease his father’s anger without giving in.

“The will to do so
? 
What will have you got
? 
Clearly
,
not enough to keep you in a university for long
, no
t enough to control you from being such a smart aleck with your professors, eh boy?”

“If the man teaching me false facts, and is teaching these mistakes to others, have I not the right to correct him?”

“No, you don’t,”
Robert
shot back, “You don’t because that’s a man that could easily get you thrown out of school for, what, the hundredth time
? 
You never had enough
sense in your head to realize that, did you?”

“I always realized it,” Jamie answered, his voice rising, “But I always found that my integrity was important to me.”

“Integrity?”
Robert
spat, “How can you call that integrity?” he shook his head back and forth and asked again, “What are you going to do now, James?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Well as far as I’m concerned
,
you’ve got three choices: let me try with all the influence I’ve got left to get you back into one of those schools, enlist in the military, or let me disown you and leave me, your mother, and
Donners Bend
forever
. 
If I had my way, you’d have to choose one of the first two or receive nothing at t’all, but your mother won’t allow it
. 
Louise
still believes in you, and you’d better make her proud or be prepared to be abandoned by your own family.”

“And what of the children
? 
What would they say if you told them their big brother has been forgotten and cast out by the family
? 
How do you think they’d take it
? 
You can never disown me
. 
If you do, you are the failure, and not I
. 
For you will be taking away the family of one son and the brother of said family
. 
Both would be affected negatively
. 
The children wouldn’t understand now, but when they’d reached an age of understanding they’d realize how horrid their very own father had been
. 
And maybe then they’d be the ones disowning you
. 
I wouldn’t blame them for doing so
. 
Would you?”

Robert
was furious now
. 
He couldn’t bear the idea of his eldest son tel
ling
him he was a failure as a father, “When I told them your story, and what a shame you’d cast on our family, they’d understand, and they’d realize I was right.”

“They’d never listen to you
! 
They love me and they believe in my words, not yours
. 
Who’s the one playing pirates with them on sunny days and reading stories
to them
during the night
? 
Who’s the one playing games with them and letting them use their imagination every chance they get
? 
Surely not you
. 
I
sn’t that supposed to be a father’s job
, t
o inspire and support his children
? 
I know you have to work, but that doesn’t mean you can just forget your children because
Ellie
’s watching over them.”