Her Mysterious Houseguest

But in her heart she knew she wasn’t telling herself the truth. She’d never before encountered a man like Mikel and she was already certain he wouldn’t be easily forgotten.

Chapter Three

The next morning, Mikel found quite a crowd having breakfast in Sylvia’s and no empty tables or booths. A waving hand caught his attention and he recognized the gas station attendant.

“Got an extra chair right here,” the man said. “You’re welcome to it.”

“Thanks.” Mikel seated himself, giving his name.

“Hi, Mikel, I’m Bob and this here’s my buddy, Louie.” Introductions over, Bob asked, “How’s old Aino doing?”

“Pretty good, the last I heard.”

“Seen you with Rachel yesterday—you a relative?”

Mikel shook his head. Choosing his words carefully—questions didn’t work as well as offering small snippets of information—he said, “I knew Aino’s son, Leo. I wasn’t around when Leo died, so this is my first chance to visit Aino.”

Louie grimaced. “That Leo was some magnet for bad luck. First his wife dies, then her folks drop one after the other. Aino’s wife was next to go. Almost like the guy was cursed or something.”

After the waitress came over and took his order, Mikel brought the subject back to where he wanted by saying, “Leo died pretty young.”

“Got himself killed, that’s what he did,” Bob said. “Most often you don’t buy the farm when your car hits a deer, but like Louie told you, Leo was unlucky, poor guy.”

The waitress, bringing Mikel’s coffee, heard the last and said, “The one I felt sorry for was Aino’s cousin. Rachel had to take care of Eva after that. No one else left ’cept Aino. That’s why he took the two of them in after Leo got killed.”

“Heck, Dottie, Rachel must’ve been somewhere in her twenties when Leo died and she’d been taking care of Eva all along.”

“Yeah, but it was different when Eva’s dad was alive.” Dottie threw the words over her shoulder as, coffeepot in hand, she went to serve another table.

“You never get the last word with Dottie,” Louie confided.

“I lost touch with Leo when he moved back to the U.P.,” Mikel said. “Rachel told me he taught in several different towns up here.”

Bob nodded. “Never seemed satisfied in one place. He dragged them two kids around with him—Rachel wasn’t much more than a kid herself then, but she was old enough to look after Eva and that’s what he needed.”

“Just as well,” Louie put in. “Aino was too old to be raising young girls without a woman to help out. It’s different now the girls are old enough—they take care of him.”

Bob, through with his meal, pushed back his chair and rose. “Time to get going. See you around, Mikel.” Louie nodded to Mikel and followed Bob from the cafе.

Dottie brought the eggs and bacon Mikel had ordered, asking if he wanted more coffee. At his nod, she brought the pot. “You don’t want to believe everything them two characters tell you,” she said.

Looking at the fortyish woman, he noticed her eyes were an unusual aquamarine color. “I didn’t realize Rachel had lived with Leo and his daughter,” he said.

“Oh, sure. It was pure luck for him that the Saaris took Rachel in after her folks died downstate. There she was, waiting, so to speak. Otherwise he’d’ve had to hire someone, and I want to tell you, teachers don’t make all that much money. My sister’s one and I know.”

As he ate breakfast, Mikel wondered why Rachel hadn’t mentioned the fact she’d lived with Leo, raising his daughter until he died. On the other hand, why should she when she didn’t know him? He hadn’t asked her, so he shouldn’t make something from what was probably nothing. It did explain why she felt so protective of Eva.

He reminded himself she was an orphan, as he was. Aino had taken her in the way his grandparents had Mikel.

After he finished eating, he decided to drop by the hospital to ask how Aino was doing. When he did, the receptionist told him Aino had been moved to a private room. “Are you Mikel Starzov?” she inquired. When he nodded, she added, “Aino’s been asking to see you. He’s in room 224. Just down the hall and to the right.”

Mikel found Rachel with the old man and greeted them both, trying to ignore the unexpected leap of his heart when he saw her.

“Good to see you, young man,” Aino told him. “Come closer so I can shake your hand. Doc says if you hadn’t gotten me here so quick I might not be shaking hands with anyone for a while, if ever.”

“Yes, and he scolded you for not taking the medicine he gave you for your high blood pressure,” Rachel added.

Aino waved that away. “I know, I know.” Finished with the handshake, he gave Mikel an assessing once-over, finally nodding. “You’ll do. Call me Aino. Rachel tells me she’s got you set up in the cottage. That’s good.”

“Very comfortable quarters.”

“You did me a favor getting me here, now I got another to ask. Thought I’d be out of here by tomorrow, but Doc says not yet. He says I had a ministroke and that’s why my left arm’s so weak. The leg’s not as bad. So I got to have therapy for it and he’s still got some tests to run. I swear they’re going to drain off all my blood before I get out of here. The point is, I want you to stay at the farm at least till I come home. We lost old Fitzgerald last month and I don’t like Rachel out there all alone.”

“Fitzgerald?” Mikel repeated.

“My rabbit hound. Died of old age. Always name my dogs after someone I know.”

“Someone he knows and doesn’t like,” Rachel explained. She focused on Aino. “I wish you’d listen to me. I’ve told you over and over I’m perfectly all right out there by myself.”

“Don’t want me to get set back by worry, do you?”

She rolled her eyes.

“I’ll be happy to stay in the cottage,” Mikel said.

“Good boy. One more thing. I was supposed to give Rachel’s Girl Scout troop a talk about Johnny Appleseed and why all of us should plant trees whenever we can. Was going to demonstrate how and where to plant a tree. Got a bunch of apple seedlings in cans on the back porch. I’m thinking you could take over for me.”

Mikel had never planted a tree in his life. He hadn’t ever considered planting one, either. Before he could answer, evidently Aino saw the doubt in his eyes.

“Nothing to it, boy. I’d let Rachel do it, but she’s always teaching them things. They’ll take it more serious-like if you doing the talking and the showing. Right, girl?”

Rachel shrugged.

“You know it’s true, that’s why you got me to do it,” Aino said. “So Mikel will be my substitute.” He winked at Rachel. “Teachers know all about substitutes.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Mikel promised, “but I’m not Johnny Appleseed.”

“None of us are, boy. Just as well, what’d we do with all those apples? Rachel knows how trees are planted, she can tell you whatever you don’t know.”

A hospital worker arrived with a wheelchair to take Aino for therapy, so Rachel and Mikel left. Pausing by her car in the parking lot, he said, “How about letting me take you to dinner tonight? It’s my turn.”

“Do you like fish?”

Strange thing about women, they almost never answered precisely what was asked. “All kinds,” he told her.

“Good. Because this, like every Friday, is fish-fry night in the U.P.”

“In that case, you choose where.”