KAYAKS AND FORGOTTEN DREAMS

Summary

Allie awakes the next morning stiff from having slept poorly. She had dreamed all night long and had awakened frequently to see the clock and the slow passing of the hours. She had slept in Noah's soft shirt and the comfort it brings her makes her realize how sorry she would have been had she decided not to see him. She imagines him now in his kayak or in his canoe and is reminded of how he had shown her the rising sun from his canoe so many years ago.

Noah is exactly where Allie imagines him - on the river in his kayak. He goes there every morning, because he likes the river to work its magic by loosening up his muscles, warming his body, and clearing his mind. Furthermore, he loves the river even more, because he hadn't been on it once in the fourteen years he's lived in New Jersey and Norfolk. Now, he pauses at daybreak where for a moment the view is spectacular, as if the world is being born again. When he begins to paddle harder, that's when his mind begins to work harder as well. He thinks about Lon and what kind of man he is, but most of all he wonders about Allie and why she has come. Once he arrives home, he is drawn again to the painting she had completed for him and wonders what sort of power she has over him after so long.

Allie spends the morning walking around New Bern. She notices that the town is beginning to flourish once more after the ravages of the Depression, but the buildings are still the ones she remembers from the summer with Noah. This little town seems so simple, but she knows nothing is simple anymore. She wonders what she would be doing now if she hadn't seen the article about Noah's restoration of his home. Probably, she would be having dinner that evening with Lon, the one night of the week he puts aside for her. It makes her sad that he had spent so much time courting her, but didn't seem to want to spend time with her now.

Hesitantly, Allie enters an art gallery, something she wouldn't have done only days before. She is drawn to some paintings by a woman she doesn't recognize, and momentarily, she considers buying one of the paintings until she realizes she likes it, because it reminds her of her own work. Then, she goes in the local department store and finds herself buying paper, drawing chalk, and pencils to take back to her room. First, she draws the street scene as seen from her room and is amazed at how easily it comes. Then, she chooses another subject that she finishes just before noon and rolls up to take with her.

As she is leaving the inn, the manager stops her and tells her he had taken four phone calls from her fiancé the night before. Allie is shocked and fears an emergency. The manager assures her that the man seemed more concerned about her. Immediately, she fears Lon has found out, but can't figure out how he could. She has to call him now . . . but she doesn't want to, strangely. . . she feels almost as if talking to him now will spoil the day. She tries to think of what she will say to explain where she had been, until it occurs to her that he is in court at that time, and she won't be able to reach him anyway. It brings her great relief as she asks the manager the time and tells him that if Lon calls again to explain to him that she's going shopping and will call him later. The manager's eyes tell Allie that he wonders where she had been last night and that he doesn't approve of the time she came in, too late for a single woman in a small town. Two minutes later, however, she is in her car, driving to Noah's and anticipating the day, while largely unconcerned about the calls. Ironically, as she is driving over the drawbridge less than four minutes later, Lon calls from the courthouse.

Notes

The juxtaposition of their morning activities shows the reader how much their reunion has re-attuned Allie and Noah. He wonders about why she has come, but gives in to the power she has over him. She is so affected by his belief in her talent that she buys art supplies and draws two works to show him. She is also seemingly unconcerned about the calls from Lon and anticipates the day with Noah. It sets up the tension that is natural when there is a romantic triangle building.