Page 26 of Summertime Forgiveness

ChapterTen

After the cake was brought out and the guest sang happy birthday to Becky, she opened a few of her presents, thanking everyone. She then spent some time catching up with her old friends.

“Jo,” Ben, her cousin, called out to her.

“Hey, Ben. I’m glad you were able to make it,” Jo greeted, accepting his hug.

“I’m happy too. What you guys did for Aunt Becky was truly special,” he commended.

“We felt it was the right thing to do,” she replied.

Just then, she saw Marg waving at her. Jo raised her hand and waved her over.

“Hey, Marg, what’s up?” she asked as soon as the woman was in hearing range.

“I apologize for interrupting, but Chef Daniel has been looking for you,” she informed Jo.

“Oh, okay. Ben, we’ll catch up at another time, I promise.”

“No problem,” Ben assured her.

“Oh, shoot my manners.” She lightly slapped her forehead, turning from Ben to Marg. “Marg, I’m not sure if you’ve met my cousin Ben, Aunt Stacy’s son. Ben, this is Marg. She works at the inn,” she introduced. “I gotta go.” With that, she jetted off, leaving the two to get acquainted.

Three hours later, the party was winding down. Only Uncle Luke, Aunt Maria, and Aunt Stacy remained. They were by the gazebo sitting and reminiscing on the good old days. The three girls used the time to start cleaning up the party items. Jamie and his workers had already started disassembling the platform and packing up the tables and chairs and other heavy equipment.

“I think Mom’s tired now. Maybe I should take her home so she can rest,” Andrea spoke as they took a break to watch their mother. It was the same concern that had been swirling in Jo’s head for the past half hour. Becky had stifled a few yawns even while trying to keep up with the conversations, but it was obvious that she was beat.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Cora, who stood on the other side of Jo, agreed.

“Yeah. I agree,” Jo gave her input.

At this, Andrea made her way over to the gazebo to speak to their mother about turning in. Five minutes later, the older folk walked over with Andrea.

“We’re gonna get a move on now, girls,” Uncle Luke gave out as soon as he was standing before them. “I didn’t realize it was so late, and we need to get Stacy back to the house,” he explained.

“That’s okay, Uncle Luke. We’re glad everyone was able to make it,” Cora said, allowing Luke to wrap her up in his arms.

He did the same to Andrea and Jo.

“What you girls did for Becky today… it was truly wonderful. I’m proud of you girls.”

At this, Jo broke out into a grin as the warmness of his words encouraged her.

As soon as they left, Becky turned to her daughters with a bright smile. “Thanks for today, my beautiful daughters. This was one of the best days of my life,” she confessed, reaching out to give each of them a long hug and kiss on their cheeks.

“We’re happy we’ve made it special for you, Mom. You deserve it,” Jo replied, placing a soft kiss against her mother’s temple. Becky squeezed her hand.

“Where are the girls?” Becky asked, looking around.

“Oh, they’re inside the inn packing up,” Cora informed her.

“Okay. Are you sure you girls don’t need a hand finishing up here?” she asked.

“No, Mom,” Cora refused. “You’re tired, we can tell, and besides, today was your day to kick back and relax.”

“All right. Well, I guess I’ll see you all later,” she said, smiling tenderly at Jo and Cora.

After packing the gifts Becky had received from the party into the Jeep, Andrea drove her mother up to the house to prepare for bed.

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