The loud splashing of a beaver creating a nest, startled Merrill from his day dreaming. He was thinking about his late wife and how much he missed her. They had been married for fifty years and this year would have been fifty-two. They met right after high school, immediately fell in love and got married when they were nineteen years old. They were inseparable, until her tragic death.

Looking towards the direction of the busy beaver, Merrill saw an unusual clump in the river. Usually he wouldn't think much of such a thing, but something about the shape of it, made his flesh fill with goosebumps. Cupping his hands over his eyes to block out the glare of the sun shining across the water, he wondered what it could be? As he walked closer to the river's edge, he cupped his hands over his eyes again and could make out what looked like clothing. Which was odd, but then again, hunters in the area were notorious for losing items while tracking animals.

Merrill picked up his rifle and pressed his eye to the scope to see the clump more clearly. Suddenly he saw flesh and stepped back feeling a zing of panic as he realized it was a body! Without a second thought, he dashed into the river. He grit his teeth as the freezing cold water flooded his waders, but he pushed through the current anyway. When it got too deep he let his feet lift off so he could swim to the other side where the body was. Reaching the clump, he saw that it was a woman. Her flesh was pale and her lips had a hint of blue to them, but her pulse was still there as he pressed his fingers to her neck. Merrill knew right then, that there was a chance to save her.

Working quickly, he wrapped his arm around her chest and used his other arm to paddle back to shore. Once he was there, he dragged the woman onto dry land and tried to remember CPR. The last time he had to do it was when his wife stopped breathing before she passed on for good. That was two years ago, but there was no way he could forget that day or the way he tried to save her. Bringing his mouth down onto the woman's, he breathed into her mouth and then began doing chest compressions. His lifeguarding days were far behind him, but he would save her life, so help him God!

After an excruciating fifteen minutes, the woman began choking and spitting up water. Her breathing increased as she gasped for air and Merrill tried to calm her as he turned her to her side to spit up the water. He reached for his thick flannel jacket that was lined with sheep skin and placed it around her shoulders.

"You're ok. You're ok." He cooed as he wrapped the jacket around her, but her eyes had lulled closed as she leaned against him with her body still shivering.

As he took in the distance from the river to his home, he anxiously wondered if he would have the strength to carry her back? Or if he could just run there to get his truck and then drive her back?

"My darling Louise," he looked up to the sky. "Please give me strength to carry this woman to our home," he pleaded.

With a heavy grunt he picked her off of the ground and found the strength to sprint to his home which was a quarter mile away. Once there, he pushed the front door open with his foot and set the woman down in front of the fire place. It had died down to just embers, so he ran outside to grab firewood and rushed back inside. After thrusting the logs into the fireplace he squirted them with lighter fluid and struck a match. They instantly wooshed and began giving off heat. He knelt near the logs and tried to catch his breath as he eased his lungs with steady breaths. Removing his handkerchief, he dabbed at his forehead and thought about his wife Louise.

"I wish you were here, you would know just what to do," he said to himself.

After rubbing his temples, he stood to go search for some blankets and when he returned he wrapped them around the woman. Then he remembered how wet clothing should be removed so that the body could breathe and generate its own heat. With trembling fingers, he carefully undressed her all while being a gentleman and not looking anywhere inappropriately. Her eyes were still closed and he noticed how her eyelids were almost translucent thanks to the frigid water and her limbs were like wet noodles as he moved them about carefully. Once he had her down to her undergarments he wrapped her back up in several blankets, cocooning her.

"She'll need something warm to eat once she wakes up," he said with a snap of his finger.

He sprang back to his feet and rummaged the fridge for the chicken noodle soup he made the night prior.
His stomach gurgled as he stirred the soup and brought it to a boil, so he decided he would pour a bowl for himself too. After easing his old bones down into a rocking chair by the fire, Merrill sat in his seat watching the woman cautiously. When he noticed she started to stir, he sat upright.

"Ma'am, are you alright", he asked.

"Where am I?" she croaked.

"You're in my home. I found you floating in the river near my property. My name is Merrill."

"The river? I was hoping for the ocean," she mumbled.

Merrill was confused by this, but figured she was probably disoriented after drifting in the river. It was nothing a hot bowl of soup couldn't fix, so he got up to fill a bowl of soup and brought it over to her.

"What is your name?" He asked as he passed the soup to her. "Is there anyone you want me to call? Should I take you to the hospital?"

"No!" She practically spat out. "No, anywhere but the hospital. They'll probably want to keep me under suicide watch."

"Ok... well then how about just your name then?"

"My name is Lucinda," she said in a hoarse voice.

Merrill cleared his throat and sat back. "If you don't mind me asking, Lucinda, how did you end up in the river?"

"Kind of a long and embarrassing story..." she replied softly as she stirred her soup.

"How about just the highlights, then?"

"Um... well... I jumped from the bridge near my house. The one on Cold Creek Trail."

"That's quite the ways up river, Lucinda, which means a stronger current. What made you want to jump?"

"I wasn't trying to kill myself, if that's what you're thinking," she replied as she took in his wide eyed look of shock. "I know that may sound strange considering I jumped into a freezing river that has a rough current with lots of jagged rocks. I just... I wanted to get away. If that makes sense?" Her voice trailed off.

"I think I do."

Merrill understood wanting to get away. He often thought of moving closer to his children but he had become so accustomed to living away from all the fuss that the mere thought of leaving his comfort was scary to him. Plus he wasn't sure if living near his children was even something they wanted? They only visited him twice a year and the last time they came up they left the very next day... right before his and Louise's anniversary. Or what would have been their anniversary if she was still alive.

"Where did you think the river would take you?" Merrill asked as he brought a spoonful of broth up to his lips.

Lucinda let out a sigh, "I was fantasizing about the beach before I jumped. I thought about living a new life. Maybe one where I had a special someone?"

"Doesn't sound like fantasy at all. Sounds like a good life."

"Yeah... a life that isn't mine," Lucinda said absently.

"Well, I tell you what," he began to say as he set the spoon back into the bowl. "You can stay the night here and get much needed rest. In the morning I can drive you home."

"Ok." Lucinda gave a soft shrug with her shoulder and proceeded to sip the warm soup straight from the bowl.

For the rest of the day they both talked about their lives and what brought them to their current circumstances. Merrill found himself opening up about his children and how they barely made time to see him. He shared stories about his grandchildren and how they were growing up so fast.

With a sigh he admitted, "I fear that they're going to move on with their lives and forget about me."

"That's impossible." Lucinda shook her head. "Mine have passed away, but I still love and miss my grandparents. So yours will never forget about you."

"I hope so..." Merrill replied.

To his surprise, Lucinda began opening up about her own family. "Well you're definitely lucky to have family so close by. My extended family lives across the country. My parents never really kept in touch with them when I was growing up, aside from visits to see my grandparents. So when my parents passed away, being that I was the only child, I found myself alone in the world."

Merrill couldn't help but feel a protectiveness over Lucinda and as much as he wanted to push it by asking her about how her parents died, he didn't. If his wife taught him anything it was to have patience and let people open up to him when they were ready to. Lucinda was young and had so much life ahead of her, so for her to get to a point where she thought jumping from a bridge was the answer... saddened him as well. His own daughter Sylvia was close to Lucinda's age and he couldn't imagine losing her in such a way. The only difference was that his daughter would have people to mourn her, whereas Lucinda did not.

With his mind made up, Merrill decided he would take Lucinda under his wing for as long as she needed. Plus he was happy to be able to converse with another person and share a meal since it had been a while from the last time he had any company. Well, aside from his neighbor's nephew, Duncan. Later, when they both went to bed, Merrill was actually able to sleep peacefully. Having another living and breathing person under his roof was comforting and knowing that in the morning he could share breakfast with that person gave him something to look forward to.

Upstairs in the guest bedroom Lucinda slept peacefully as well. She had forgotten about the pebbles she used to rub, because on this night she didn't need them. On this night she felt safe and not so alone.

🌲🌲🌲

As the weeks passed, Lucinda found her self at an unexpected crossroads. She had never anticipated that on a crisp morning three weeks prior to being rescued, she would jump from a bridge and plunge into freezing river water. Nor had she anticipated meeting Merrill, who never judged her or treated her like a mentally ill person. Being rescued and welcomed into his home gave her a sense of serenity from what she left behind. Calling in her resignation from work was both scary and liberating, but he was right there encouraging her to be brave.

"You've got this," he whispered beside her as she spoke with the human resource manager.

Her life of crunching numbers and dodging the scornful gaze of gossiping coworkers was something she was more than happy to abandon too. Not to mention the relief she felt, like an albatross being lifted from her shoulders, knowing she would never have to see her ex again. The new Lucinda was going to live a life of laughter, companionship and adventure. However, she knew that what she really wanted wasn't to spend her days in Merrill's home. Her desire was to start anew near the ocean, just how she had fantasized prior to jumping off of the bridge. She just had to figure out how to tell him that she was ready to set out on her own again.

Merrill had grown quite fond of her over the weeks and she of him. In the last three weeks her voice, laughter and mere presence filled his home with a warmth he did not even feel whenever his children came to visit. Tending to Lucinda and conversing with her gave him something to look forward to each day. Merrill would promptly wake up at six, start the coffee pot, go down to the river to do some fly-fishing and return by eight right as Lucinda was waking up. She would then start making breakfast and together they would sit down at the table, drink coffee and discuss their morning chores.

The rest of their day consisted of tending to Merrill's property, where he taught Lucinda various things like milking the cows, feeding the chickens, fixing squeaky hinges and properly pruning his fruit trees. It was a lot of hard work, but Lucinda didn't mind it and enjoyed the new experiences. She even gained a little muscle. Every once in a while Merrill's young neighbor, Duncan, would pop over and help out, but with Lucinda around he showed up every day. The young man was nineteen, barely a hair on his chest, but built like a solid tank of rippling muscles. Too bad he was clumsy as all hell, which only made Merrill push him to work harder out of amusement.

"That boy's going to lop off a finger with how scatter brained he can be," Merrill said one afternoon as he stood on the porch sipping lemonade.

Lucinda removed her hat and wiped her forehead before looking up from pulling weeds out of the flower bed in front of the porch. She got to her feet and climbed the steps to join Merrill as he poured her a glass of lemonade from the karaft on the nearby table. She stared off in the distance as Duncan hopped out of the tractor he was driving and waved at them with a goofy grin. Merrill pointed to the tractor that was rolling past him.

"You've got a runaway train," he called out to Duncan.

The young man spun around and visibly panicked when he saw how far the tractor had gotten. His hat flew off as he began charging after it and he sprang into the drivers seat like Tarzan to stop it. Lucinda doubled over laughing and was surprised he didn't get dragged under, since he did struggle to climb up properly. She slapped her hands to her mouth to stifle her laughter and spare Duncan the embarrassment, but Merrill only laughed and laughed at the young man's struggle with the tractor.

"I don't know what my days would be like without that boy putting on a show!" He shook his head. "Of course, once you're gone he'll probably visit less..."

Lucinda's smile faded, but Merrill had already accepted that her time with him was limited. He knew that she would eventually need to move on. As much as the thought filled him with sadness, he knew that they would remain close. She had inspired in him a desire to do some traveling.

"Hey," he rested his hand on her shoulder. "It's ok, I know you have to go on and live your life."

She sighed deeply. "I just hate goodbyes."

"So let's not call it a goodbye, then. We'll call it a, see you later."

"Promise?" She looked up at him.

"Definitely a promise!"

"Promise what?" Duncan asked breathlessly as he rushed up the porch.

"Lucinda will be leaving us soon..." Merrill replied with a squeeze to her shoulder. "So we ought to do something nice for her."

Duncan's brows bunched together as he shoved his hands into his dirt stained jeans. "Where are you going?"

"Not exactly sure yet," Lucinda replied as she leaned against the railing of the porch. "But definitely the beach."

"What about your house?" Duncan asked.

"It'll be there for when I decide to visit." She smiled.

Duncan's brows were still pushed together as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well... I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you guys too, but this isn't goodbye, Duncan. It's a, see you later. Right Merrill?"

"That's right!" Merrill answered as he raised his glass of lemonade into the air, prompting Lucinda clink her glass to his. They both turned to Duncan expectantly, until finally he poured himself lemonade and clinked his glass to theirs as well. "That a boy!!" Merrill cheered.

That evening he and Lucinda talked about her life oceanside and him coming to visit her in her new surroundings. Duncan even offered to watch over Merrill's property while he was gone, and he happily accepted it. After dinner the three of them sat out on the porch with a game of dominos, and it was bittersweet knowing that an evening like the one they were having, would soon be no more. However, for the first time since his wife passed away, Merrill felt hope for what was to come.