The station was crowded, and alive with voices, little circles of people scattered all across it. But only one mattered to the biggest one of all. Because it was time. Time to say goodbye. Problem was, nobody wanted to.
Marjorie and Jafe were going home on a later train, in order to give the newlyweds at least a few days all to themselves. And to help with the clean-up, for great was the aftermath and many hands were needed. But this still left the biggest goodbye to be said.
Katie choked back tears as she stepped into her mother’s open arms, breathing in the soft scent of lavender that always seemed to linger around her. She smelled like every memory of home Katie could think of.
This was going to be harder than she had thought. She didn’t know where to begin, much less how she was going to leave them all behind…. A sudden idea caught her there, and put a smile on her face as Jim swung her in the next hug, Emma impatiently waiting for her own turn.
“Mom…. Will you send me some lavender seeds from the garden here? I want to plant a little piece of Jefferson in Lanesboro. Something to bring in and look at when I start missing everybody.”
“With my very first letter.” Donna promised, as she turned to press a box of sandwiches into Mac’s hand. “For your lunch. They only serve at mealtimes on trains, and it’s a long time between. Can’t have you starving your first day as a married couple.” Her voice wavered for a moment, but she managed to hide it behind a cheerful lilt. “Take care of our girl, Mac.”
Mac smiled down at her, taking the box, and speaking with an easy warmth. “Gonna make that my life work from now on, Mama S. Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise, for another eighty years.
Katie hugged him for that. It was the first time he had called her mother anything but Mrs. Stewart, and it made her heart glad. It made them all seem like one real family, instead of two stuck together.
Mickey was demanding to be taken hunting the moment they set foot in Lanesboro come Thanksgiving, and Josh asked quizzically if being taken hunting by a Cat meant you only caught canaries. His hat was filched for that remark, and stuffed into the box of sandwiches when he wasn’t looking.
Blithely unaware of his impending loss in the hat department, Josh hoisted Benjie up to Mac’s eye level.
“Okay, lil buddy. Kiss Uncle Peg-leg bye-bye, or he might take us all captive, and not just Auntie Katie.” He nodded wisely. “He does that to people sometimes. With coffee.”
Benjie, properly impressed, obeyed unhesitatingly with a smack that glanced off Mac’s nose. He was accordingly captured by the very same Uncle Peg-leg. He shrieked with laughter as a tickle attack was launched in return for the “kiss” and was reluctantly given up only when Katie held out her arms and cried for a turn. Mac handed him over with a mournful look, and turned to Ronnie.
“You sure we can’t take him with us, Chief?”
Ronnie grinned at him. “Positive.” He dropped an arm around Rachel’s shoulder, and looked down at her, smiling. “Man finds a treasure like this, he ain’t letting go for the world and all its contents.”
Mac shrugged, unfazed. “Guess I’ll have to get my own, then. Maybe two. Gotta get ourselves up a baseball team for Family Reunions.”
This was agreed to unanimously, on the condition that old folks who had been to war and back were allowed to play right along with the kiddos, and Emma was the Umpire.
But Emma did not want to be any such thing. She stuck her nose in the air with a sniff, and declared that Katie could be the umpire. As for her, she was going to run bases. But Katie, her mind very much on things other than baseball, only nodded at them all absentmindedly. And Rachel, seeing her own chance to say goodbye, stepped forward to tuck something small into Katie’s pocket, hugging her like a little sister.
“You will write? I feel I have only just met you, and now you are leaving…. Such short weeks as these I have never known! Write me long, long letters to fill the miles.”
“As many as the mail will hold, and I want just as many back.” Katie laughed, blinking hard. “And regular Benjie reports on top of that, too. And pictures.” She reached out and smoothed Benjie’s hair with one finger. “Little boys grow so fast, I’m afraid I’ll miss it…. Oh, I wish I could take you all with me!”
“You won’t be able to keep us away, honey. Lanesboro is gonna think it sprouted a whole new batch of citizens,” teased Jim.
Emma gasped suddenly, looking up from her wristwatch and waving it at them. “You two better git if you plan on going. We can pick up where we leave off in letters if we’ve forgotten anything. As for me, I plan on starting one as soon as I get home. But if you don’t scram, sis, you’re gonna be right there watching me write it!”
Mac took Katie’s hand, and looked down at her gleefully. “Whaddaya say, do we make a dash for it, Lintie?”
She nodded, mock consideringly. “Yes, dear, I really think we’d better. No sense wasting perfectly good tickets, after all.”
She gave a little laugh as the train whistle blew for the second time, as if it was echoing Emma’s words.
♡♡♡
The clicking of the rails and the sunshine streaming through the window made for a drowsy traincar, and Katie laid her head on Mac’s shoulder. It had been a whirlwind goodbye, and as hard as it had been, seeing her family growing small in the distance as the train station was left behind, it was a wonderful feeling to just be able to lean against him and rest. She sighed contentedly.
“Oh, Mac, thank you for letting me go home one last time. A little piece of saying goodbye would always have been missing if I hadn’t.“
His arm tightened around her. “That’s the reason I made myself stand it.” He winked mischievously. “Just so ya know, though, if I ever have to go three whole months without seeing you again, I may not live to tell the tale. Harrowing business.”
“No.” She laughed at him happily. “No, never again. Home is where you are, Mac. And I don’t ever want it to be anyplace else.”
What loveable chaos <3
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