“Ah, Muriel, you’re so naive. Everybody isn’t equal in America. I’m just a guy from the wrong side of the tracks and that’s all I’ll ever be to your dad.”
“That’s not true,” she insisted, even though she knew it was.
He gave a disbelieving grunt. “People judge you no matter what. Never mind that I put my ass on the line in ’Nam. You know what happened to me when I first came home? I was at the airport, still in my uniform, and some kid spat on me. I got rid of the uniform and grew my hair and people are still spitting on me. I’m gonna keep riding till I find someplace where they won’t.”
“No one’s spitting on you here,” Muriel said. He had such a big chip on his shoulder he couldn’t see past it.
“I don’t belong.”
“Yes, you do. You belong with me!”
His only response was to remove her hand from his arm. “I’m done,” he said, and walked away.
Stephen had been right, Muriel thought bitterly. He was no hero. And he wasn’t the man of her dreams, either. That man wouldn’t give up, wouldn’t walk away. The dream was over. She stood for a moment, watching him, then buried her face in her hands and wept.
News spreads fast in a small town. By the sixth of July all her friends knew Stephen was gone. Her father had taken the car in to Swede’s for servicing, so he knew, too. She was grateful he didn’t say anything. Instead he gave her a hug and a kiss and told her he loved her before he left for the Sweet Dreams office.
How sad that it was her father’s love that drove Stephen away. And how sad that the two most important men in her life had been such a huge disappointment to her. “What to Do When the Men in Your Life Disappoint You.” She wished she knew.
Later that day, when she was working in the gift shop, Pat stepped inside.
“Did you come to buy chocolate?” Muriel greeted her stiffly.
Pat shrugged. “I’m looking for my friend. I think I’ve lost her, but I’m hoping...” She stopped and bit her lip. “Oh, Muriel, I’m sorry. I’m sorry he’s gone and I’m sorry we fought.”
That was all it took to bring Muriel around the counter for a hug and a good cry.
As they dried their tears, Pat said, “Fighting over Stephen was stupid.”
Muriel nodded. “It was.”
Pat stood there for a moment, running a hand along the counter. “You know, if you’d gotten engaged I’d have come to the wedding.”
“Come to the wedding? You would’ve been a bridesmaid.”
That made Pat cry all over again, which called for another hug. Finally she said, “Let’s never fight over a man again. Promise?”
Muriel nodded. “Promise.”
“Next time we’ll flip a coin, okay?”
Muriel managed a smile. “Okay.” Would there ever be a next time? She thought she knew the answer to that, and it was all she could do not to start crying all over again.
Summer dragged on, hot and heavy, and Muriel slogged through it listlessly. Her friends tried to cheer her up. Pat and Olivia assured her on a regular basis that someone else would come along. Arnie brought her bouquets of mountain meadow flowers. Lenny wrote her a song about better times ahead that thoroughly depressed her. And she consoled herself with so much chocolate that she gained seven pounds.
Her father took her out to dinner at Schwangau, the fancy new restaurant in town, and talked about things working out for the best. Meanwhile, she had her family and friends, and the company. He wanted her to work full-time in the office come September. She could start out as a receptionist.
“This is all going to be yours someday,” he reminded her.
She nodded.
“This company will take care of you and your family long after I’m gone,” he continued.
Before she could have a family, she had to have a man. She wiped at her teary eyes with a corner of her napkin.
Her father reached across the table and laid a hand on her arm. “Honey, he wasn’t good enough for you. If he was, he would have stayed.”
“Maybe he would’ve stayed if he thought he was welcome.”
“No,” her father said adamantly. “If he’d really cared about you, he’d have stayed.”
Deep down she knew he was right. Maybe Stephen had simply been looking for an excuse to leave.
She’d finally had all she could take of well-meaning friends and fatherly advice. She slipped away on a Sunday afternoon and went for a walk. The walk led her to Lost Bride Trail.
As she hiked she could hear the thunder of the falls. That poor, miserable bride. Her life hadn’t turned out as she planned, but at least she’d had a chance to be a bride. Muriel never would.
“You have to stop this,” she told herself.
All this wallowing in self-pity was becoming ridiculous. She was too young for her life to be over. She could still make something good of it. She’d learn more about her family’s business, and maybe, down the road, she’d marry Arnie and he could help her run Sweet Dreams. They could have a family.
Little Arnies running everywhere.
Maybe she’d stay single and hope her father lived until he was ninety.
She was at the falls now. She stood in awe, watching the water plunge over the rocks. How many women had something as incredible as this practically in their backyards? And how many women had a chance to live in such a beautiful town with so many wonderful people? So she was alone. But she had family and friends to be alone with. And—What was that? She strained to see more clearly.
A woman in a long, white dress darted under the cataract.
Muriel blinked. All right, she was imagining things.
But no, there was the woman again. A shiver ran down Muriel’s spine and she gasped. The lost bride! She dashed off the trail, moving toward the edge
