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They chuckled.
Then Chi tilted her head. “You can tell me if this is none of my business, but there’s also a rumor going around that you bought the inn. Is that true?”
“It sure is,” Pam said, and her voice held happiness.
“What?” her mother said, and Pam’s face fell immediately. Mark wanted to reach across the table and grab a hold of her mother. What a way to make a person feel terrible.
“You bought an inn? What were you thinking? You quit your job, and now you’re buying an inn?”
“I’m happy for you,” Chi said, smiling. “I know Lana is saying that the bed-and-breakfast is constantly booked solid, and the hotel always has no vacancies in the summer at all. An inn is an absolutely brilliant purchase.”
“We were thinking about turning some of it into a school. Like a charter school.”
“Oh. That’s interesting. I bet that’ll be popular as well. The kids have to be bused to Blueberry Beach, and I bet there will be a lot of people who will take advantage of that if the price isn’t too high.”
“I haven’t thought about tuition at all, but Mark is helping me, and we are in the stage where we’re just tossing ideas around. I have the teaching experience, and I’m looking for another teaching job.”
“Then that’s another thing we need to talk about,” Lynn said, her voice low and ominous.
Mark appreciated Chi pretty much ignoring the tension that was at the table because of Lynn’s injections.
“All right. We’re working on your order, and it will be out shortly. But I wanted to make sure I brought this out and told you guys congratulations. You two are perfect together. And I’m so happy for you.” There was no doubt that Chi was speaking the truth. He could see the love she had for Pam shining in her eyes.
He appreciated the fact that Strawberry Sands was populated with such sweet people, who always wanted the best for each other. It was a great place to live, and he thought again about how blessed he was to make his home in such a wonderful place.
Chi had barely walked away from the table when Pam’s mother started in on her.
“You quit your job. You bought an inn. And you want to start a charter school? What is wrong with you? Is this some kind of midlife crisis?”
“No. I don’t think it’s a midlife crisis. I see it more as God opening a door and me walking through. I’m a little bit nervous about it, but I know I want to do what the Lord wants me to do.”
“The Lord doesn’t want you to do anything stupid.” Lynn didn’t sound very nice. Mark had always tried to stay out from between Pam and her mother. When they were getting along, he didn’t want them to remember that he had fought with either of them. Pam had said that she appreciated it. Appreciated him supporting her as much as he could without fighting with her mom.
It was one thing for a mom to forgive her daughter. It was quite another for a mom to forgive someone that she barely knew.
But it was hard sometimes. Lynn was very selfish and had never really grown up. She also was quite extremely controlling, and the way she tried to control Pam was by insulting and belittling her into doing what she wanted.
Over the years, he and Pam had talked about it, and Pam had gotten to the point where she knew she needed to still respect and honor her mother, since it was a biblical command, and she at the same time needed to let the insults and the belittling roll off her. She didn’t need to take offense, and she didn’t need to allow those things to bother her, since her mother’s opinion of her wasn’t nearly as important as what God thought.
Mark knew all of that but also knew that it was a difficult thing to put into practice. A person wanted to distance themselves, if not outright attack, someone who was being unkind.
“I agree. Whatever God wants me to do is going to be the very best thing for my life. But sometimes the way He works is a way that we just don’t understand.”
“God is the author of everything good,” Lynn said.
“Not to interrupt, but this strawberry crumb cake is absolutely delicious.”
Paulette, whom Mark had almost forgotten about, held up a piece of strawberry crumb cake that had one corner bitten off. “This is my third one. I hope you guys don’t mind that I’m really helping you celebrate your wedding.”
“I’m glad you like them. And it’s nice that we have something to share. We weren’t expecting company,” Pam said, grinning. “And Chi was not exaggerating when she said about how good these are. I’ve never tasted anything like it. Wish I could cook like Griff.”
“I think Griff is good at everything,” Mark said, remembering that he heard somewhere that Griff had made money in Chicago, possibly at a law firm, although he couldn’t remember the specifics. But anyone who could cook like Griff definitely had a talent.
“You’re changing the subject. What I need you to do is to just settle down and act like an adult. Not like a teenager who is chasing some fad or following whatever any celebrity says on TV.”
“Mom. I’m doing what God wants me to do. He opened the door, and I walked through. And I’ll just keep doing whatever it is that He wants.”
“God doesn’t work that way.”
