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Jean Craig, Graduate Nurse

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<h2 id="xxi">21. Summer’s End</h2> Mrs. Craig surveyed the chaotic parlor, sighed and sat down. She picked up a small black notebook and a pencil and started to write headings on separate pages. The first page was devoted to Kit and the things she would need before she returned to Hope College. The second page she labeled “Doris.” Then, with a nostalgic sigh, she headed the third page “Jean.” She knew that plans for the wedding would fill the rest of the book. Two trunks stood near the door to the hall. Two trunks which would go in almost opposite directions. Mrs. Craig smiled as she looked at the two piles of clothes to be packed. One could tell the differences between Kit and Doris just from looking at those piles. Kit’s was the larger. Her wardrobe was gay, collegiate and nearly complete. Doris’s was much more utilitarian, but at the same time, more feminine. Mrs. Craig shook herself out of her contemplations and got up. Going to the foot of the stairs, she called: “Kit! Doris! Girls, please come down. Your things are all over the parlor waiting to be packed!” [213] Arm in arm, Kit and Doris appeared at the top of the stairs. “Coming, Mother,” Kit called. They scrambled down the stairs. “Golly, I don’t know where the summer’s gone,” Kit protested. “Here it is August, and Frank has to go back home, and I have to go back to school, and it’s almost time for Jean’s wedding ... and, oh, Mother!” she threw herself into her mother’s arms. “Why does she have to go so far away!” “Never mind, dear,” Mrs. Craig said. Doris looked at the mess in the parlor and shook her head. “How’re we going to get everything in?” Kit shrugged. “We always do,” she said philosophically. “Come on. Let’s get to work.” As they packed, Mrs. Craig jotted down the errands which must be done in the remaining two months before the wedding. Invitations, lists of bridesmaids and ushers, parties, flowers and decorations for the house.... “Somehow, it hardly seems worthwhile going to school till after the wedding,” Kit said. “I’ll no sooner get settled than I’ll have to turn around and come back.” “Me, too,” said Doris. “Is Bert going to drive you down?” Kit asked nonchalantly. “Great heavens!” Mrs. Craig exclaimed. “Don’t be silly,” Doris said. “He isn’t even going[214] to drive. He’s afraid to take the car on such a long trip. It’s pretty old, you know.” “With Jean working so hard,” Mrs. Craig commented, “I’ll have to do all this myself.” “Well, certainly Becky will help you, Mother,” Kit said. “Of course she will,” Mrs. Craig said. “But you know Becky. You ask her for an inch, and she gives a mile. Land, she’s busy enough, these days.” “By the way, where are all the men in this house?” Doris asked. “Oh, around,” Kit said, jamming her sweaters into a trunk drawer. “Tommy and Jack are down with the chickens,” Mrs. Craig said. “Your father and Frank are downtown. Ralph is upstairs waiting for Jean to call from the hospital. They have an appointment with Dr. Fisher this afternoon.” “Dr. who?” Kit asked. “What for?” “The Reverend Dr. Fisher,” Doris said. “The man who’s going to marry them.” “Oh,” said Kit. She started to hang her skirts on the trunk’s hangers. “Getting married is an awful nuisance,” she said. “Why, Kit!” Mrs. Craig cried. Kit smiled. “I guess I’ll have to elope. Think of all the trouble I’ll save you.” “You can finish your packing, young lady, and stop talking nonsense if you want to save me trouble,”[215] Mrs. Craig said. As Kit finished packing her trunk, Frank poked his head in the doorway. “Hi,” he called. “Anyone need any help?” “Nope,” Doris said. “We’re all through.” Mrs. Craig laughed helplessly. “Why don’t you young people run along? I want to concentrate.” Frank grinned. “Come on, Kit. Let’s take a walk.” “Just a minute,” Kit said. “I’ll meet you down by the mailbox.” Kit and Doris walked out into the hall. “Before I go out, Doris, I want to give you something,” Kit said, handing her a small, ugly doll. Doris took it and looked at it. “It’s some sort of good luck charm that Uncle Bart and I found in that mummy we were <ins title="Original has 'examing'">examining</ins> together. You know, when I first went up to Hope. I want you to have it.” Doris’s fingers closed around the doll. “Gee, thanks, Kit,” she said. “You know why, I guess,” Kit said. “I kept it with me all year at school. And it’s pretty exciting, going away to school for the first time. I guess you know how proud we all are of you.” Kit looked down. “Jean and I ... well, we always have a lot of things going. And of course now Jean has graduated, and that was pretty exciting. But neither of us ever did anything like winning an honest-to-goodness scholarship. Sometimes I think people get the wrong impression. They[216] always think we can do things. But it’s you who can really do wonderful things.” Doris hugged her sister. “Kit, you shouldn’t talk like that,” she cried. “All in the world I ever want is to live up to you!” “You’ll do better than that,” Kit said. “And another thing. It was mean of me to tease you about Bert. He’s one of the nicest boys I’ve ever met.” Doris looked down. “Thanks, Kit,” she said softly. “I think so, too.” Kit turned and ran out of the front door. Doris watched her as she waved to Frank and dashed down the long driveway. Frank took her hand, and together they started down towards the river. “The end of summer,” Kit said moodily. “All year long you live with the hope of the benevolent season, and then it comes and goes.” “My goodness, but you sound gloomy today,” Frank said, sitting down on the bank of the stream. “Oh, I’m glad to be going back to college, I guess,” Kit said. “Only I sort of wish this summer hadn’t had such definite results. It makes me feel all empty inside when I think about going away to Wisconsin when you’ll be in Washington.” Frank lifted her hand and studied her palm. “Empty, Kit?” he asked. “It shouldn’t. You should be fuller than before. Wherever you go, I go,” he said softly. [217] Kit threw herself into his arms. “Oh, Frank, think about me all the time! Sometimes I think I won’t be so lonely if I know you’ll have me in your thoughts!” “You know I will, Kit.” “And next summer will come before we know it,” she said bravely. Frank nodded. “We’ll both be here for the wedding. And maybe at Christmas time. Kit, the year will go by before you realize it.” She nestled in his arms. “Oh, look,” she said. “Here comes Jean. She must have changed her mind about calling Ralph from the hospital.” They watched Jean stroll up the driveway. Then they saw Ralph come out onto the porch. And as they watched, Jean and Ralph ran towards each other, met, and embraced with the tenderness and ardor of a precious and invaluable love. <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/endpaper.jpg" width-obs="800" height-obs="573" alt="Endpaper" /></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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