himself, and although it took him all these years just to save
up enough money to get here, he has finally come."
"Oh my..."
"But he's a very sweet and sincere young man. And he's
already having quite an effect on our community. I'm sure
your Steven would be proud."
"How fascinating."
"Anyway, I wondered if I could ask a few questions about
your son to include in my story."
Barbara readily agreed, and in just a few minutes they
were done. " Thanks so much for your time," said Maggie as
she closed her notebook. "It's been a real pleasure talking
with you."
"You know, I was just thinking..." she began slowly.
Would there be any accommodations in town.. .if I decided
to come for a little visit?"
"Why, yes, as a matter of fact, the Pine Mountain Hotel
has been completely refurbished-and beautifully done, I
might add. I know for certain they're not full up right now,
but we've just gotten snow so that could change soon. Are
you seriously considering coming for a visit?"
"I think so. I've always loved that little town. It was my
husband's decision to leave. There were so many memories
there, he just couldn't get over losing Steven. In the end, it
was simply easier to move away."
"I can understand that. I lost my husband a few years
ago, and it wasn't until I left Los Angeles and came up here
that I actually began to get over losing him."
98Melody Carlson
They chatted a while longer, then Maggie gave Barbara
the number of the hotel, encouraging her to make reserva-
tions right away. She told her to call if she could be of any
more help and then hung up. How utterly amazing! Steven
Harris' mother might actually be coming back to visit Pine
Mountain. Who knew, she might even get here in time to
meet Michael Abundi. What a curious meeting that could be.
She wondered what they might think of each other.
She picked up the phone again. She couldn't wait to tell
Jed this news! But halfway through dialing, her hand
stopped and she hung up the receiver. She suddenly remem-
bered last night's agreement to put their relationship on hold.
She bit her lip and thought for a moment. Did this mean she
must weigh every action, consider every word that was
directed toward him? What was acceptable in a "normal"
friendship-type relationship between two people of the
opposite sex? And how could this ever be a "normal" friend-
ship anyway? Wasn't that just a lie? Would a mere phone call
about this good news suggest that she was trying to get
things back to where they were? Or was this whole thing just
suddenly making her extremely paranoid? She wanted to be