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you come aboard your father's ship," Svenson said. I mouthed a goodbye and hurried in behind
Momma. I felt my own tears sting behind my eyes.
Momma took one look at my face and moaned. "Oh Leigh, please, don't look so downhearted
on my wedding day. What will people think?" "Leave her be," Grandma Jana said. "It's not her
wedding day. She can look the way she wants." "Well, I can't spend my time cheering her up.
Not today. I have too much to do," Momma declared
petulantly. Then she pursed her lips in a pout and
looked the other way. I never realized how much like
a spoiled child she could be if she didn't get
everything exactly how she wanted.
I gazed back at our Boston house. Clarence and
Svenson were still standing on the front steps
watching us drive off. I thought about the times when
I was little and I knew that Daddy was coming home
any moment from one of his voyages. I would play in
the living room and keep one ear tuned toward the
front door. The moment I heard Clarence open it, I
would rush out to greet Daddy and no matter how
tired he looked, he always broke into a wide,
lighthearted smile and held his arms out for me to
rush into them. I would give him a big, loud kiss on
the cheek.
"That's the way to greet a sailor!" he would
exclaim. "Eh, Clarence?"
I could hear him saying it even now. Then, the
house disappeared from sight as we rounded a corner,
and it seemed my childhood was over in an instant. This time when we passed under the great arch
at the front gates of Farthy, I felt the significance of it.
The great estate was now my home, I thought,
whether I wanted it to be or not. The grounds people
