“Hold on a minute, Janette,” Hannah said, getting up to cut a pan of Andrea’s bar cookies. “What you’re telling us is fascinating, but I think you need some nourishment with your coffee.”
Sally laughed. “I warned you, Janette. Hannah will feed you if you even look like you’re hungry. She’s always the first to offer coffee and cookies.”
“These are Andrea’s new cookie,” Hannah said, walking over to the table with a plate of bar cookies she’d just cut. “Try one, Janette. They came out of the oven just before you got here, but they’re cool enough to eat now.”
Janette reached out to get a cookie and took a bite. “Oh my!” she said, beginning to smile. “These are incredible!”
“They certainly are!” Sally said, swallowing her first bite and giving Andrea the high sign. “You did it, Andrea! Your new bar cookies will be a huge success with the fishermen!”
Hannah waited until Sally and Janette had eaten two of Andrea’s bar cookies each and then she poured more coffee for them all. “Tell us more about your marriage, Janette.”
Janette drew a deep breath. “All right. Shortly after Wally and I were married, my father died and left me the boat works. Wally had always been fascinated by boats, and I convinced him to take charge of the business. A few years later on, we decided to open a chain of sporting goods stores to showcase our new boats. After that, I learned that I was pregnant with Lily. I didn’t realize that the business would take Wally away from home so much.” Janette paused to take a sip of her coffee. “Unfortunately there were always business-related things to take Wally away from home. I was lonely and our marriage suffered because of it.”
“It’s that way with a lot of upwardly mobile couples, Janette,” Sally told her.
“I know. I told myself that it would be the same way if Wally had been a long-distance truck driver. Then he would have been gone for a week or two at a time. But . . . I just couldn’t take it and I started to rely on pills to help me cope with being pregnant and alone.”
Hannah and Andrea exchanged glances. Neither one of them knew quite what to say to this startling admission.
“Luckily, Janette had Rosa,” Sally said, reaching over to pat Janette’s shoulder. “Rosa was the glue that held Janette and Wally’s family together.”
“And Rosa was Lily’s second mom,” Janette added. “After I had Lily, I realized that I was still taking too many pills and I needed professional help. I got it. I spent months in rehabilitation and finally I was successful. But during that time, Lily was without a mother at home and with a father who was only there on the weekends. All I can say is, thank God for Rosa! She helped all three of us have something closer to a normal life.”
“Rosa was your live-in nanny?” Andrea asked, giving Janette a sympathetic look.
“Yes. Rosa was perfect. She was my surrogate when it came to Lily’s elementary school, and she went there at least once a week to deliver cookies the way the other room mothers did. And Lily loved Rosa. She still does.”
“But you beat your addiction,” Sally said. “Everything worked out for the best, Janette.”
“Yes, it did. Lily was happy having Rosa as her second mom, and . . .” Janette gave a little laugh. “Rosa even attended P.T.A. meetings and teachers conferences for me. You have no idea how indebted I am to Rosa.”
“How long did Rosa work for you?” Hannah asked.
“Until Lily was a junior in high school. Then Rosa moved to Lake Eden, and she went to work for Sally once Sally and Dick opened this place.”
“And we’re very grateful for her!” Sally said quickly.
“Anyway . . . once I’d successfully beaten my addiction, I went to work for our business. I’m a certified public accountant and I spend most of my work days going over the books. That means I travel, and I was at the St. Cloud store when Lily and Wally were opening the new Brainerd store.”
“How about your husband?” Andrea asked. “Did he tell you that he was sending Lily here to the Inn?”
Janette shook her head. “No, Wally never called me. He knew I never approved of her engagement to Sonny, but Lily has a mind of her own. She’d decided that she wanted to marry him, and that was that. I never felt that Sonny was right for her, but there’s not much you can do when your daughter is head over heels in love with the wrong person.”
“Did you know that Sonny had a drinking problem?” Hannah asked her.
“No. If I had, I might have worked much harder to talk Lily out of the engagement. Sonny never drank in front of me, and I really had no idea that it was this bad.”
“I’m surprised that Lily didn’t call you to tell you what was happening,” Hannah said. “If I was engaged and had trouble with the man I wanted to marry, I know I’d call my mother for advice.”
“I wish Lily had called me!” Janette sighed deeply. “I suspect that Lily probably didn’t want to raise that subject with me. There’s another factor, too. Lily didn’t confide that much in me. She was always her daddy’s girl.”
“But she loves you, doesn’t she?” Andrea asked.
“I know she does. We’re just not all that close. She knew that I didn’t approve of Sonny, and I may have made a big error by not pretending to like him. It’s just that I was convinced he was wrong for her. Lily wasn’t that . . .” Janette stopped, obviously searching for the best word to use. “She wasn’t that worldly. Lily trusted everyone and, unfortunately, that included Sonny.”
“Did you ever talk to Lily about her fiancé?” Andrea asked.
“No. I did my best to be nice to him, but I’m sure Lily knew I didn’t like him. It did make holidays and parties difficult. I did my best, but Lily must have realized my basic dislike for him. The worst time was when they went on vacation with us. Wally and I have a cabin up in the North Woods that borders a beautiful lake. Of course we took two of our boats with us. We always do. Lily and Sonny had one, and Wally and I had the other. Sonny knew absolutely nothing about boating, and it was clear that he wasn’t interested in learning. He just sat there and let Lily do everything without lifting a finger to help her.”
“He must have learned a lot very quickly to be on the fishing show,” Sally said.
“Not at all! That’s why Joey’s on the show. He does all the actual work while Sonny provides the handsome face that attracts female viewers. Lily was right about that. She told her father that Sonny would provide a female audience, and he did. But my daughter’s fiancé was a womanizer. I checked up on him, and he’d been engaged four times before he proposed to Lily!”
“Did you ever tell Lily about this?” Andrea asked.
“No. What good would it have done? Lily was crazy about Sonny. She wouldn’t have believed me.”