Lost and Found: Chapter 3

By: Savanna Proffit

Chapter 2 Recap:

Nathen Anderson studied his wife’s face. Her usually sparkling, joyful, green eyes held a hint of sorrow; a slight frown turned her beautiful smile upside down. She looked slightly older when she was sad. She was 47 years old and still looked the same as when Nathen met her in 1994, except for the little gray hairs sneaking into her naturally brown hair that reached to her waist. She was born on April 4, 1971, in Oakton, where they now live, and graduated from Oakton High School in 1989. She went to college at Vermont State University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Home Economics. During her last year at the university, she met him, and his, and her life had not been the same since.

Chapter 3:

Since they were the same age and in the same grade in college, they both went to some of the same events. They were at a party that the college put on every year for the students who were graduating with a bachelor’s degree. There was dancing, food, soda and punch, and games. Caroline had gone with a few friends but they had left her almost as soon as they got to the party so that they could go dance with their boyfriends. Caroline stood by herself with a cup of punch in a corner and watched her friends dance across the floor as happy as they had ever been. Nathen was on the opposite side of the massive room and she caught his eye. She looked sad, lonely, and somewhat hurt. He watched and studied her for a few minutes then made his way over to the food table to get a plate of crackers and cheese. He then slowly made his way over to the corner where Caroline stood. 

“Are you here alone?” Nathen asked as he stood next to her and looked out into the dancing crowd trying to figure out who she was watching.

“No, I came with some friends but as soon as we got here, they found their boyfriends and took off,” Caroline, with a voice so small and hurt sounding, said as she looked into her cup still full of punch. 

“And you don’t have a boyfriend, so you couldn’t do the same?” 

“Yeah…why aren’t you out there dancing and having fun?”

“Well, I’m kind of in the same boat as you are. My buddies left me all alone too and well, I don’t have any girlfriend to dance with.” He said as he tried to be relatable.

“Oh…” she said kind of forlornly.

Caroline studied the dancing crowd for a minute, looked down at her feet, then looked around the room again. Nathen noticed her cheeks were rosy and complimented her red dress. The dress was not too tight or short; it was just below the knees and had a flowy skirt with a pretty short-sleeved top. Her hair was done in pretty curls and put up in some kind of bun. She was beautiful. He did not want to take his eyes off her. 

“Ummm…I need some air,” she said with a little more red in her cheeks than before.

Now you’ve done it! That’s why you don’t stare awkwardly at a girl, he thought as she walked out the doors beside them. He followed her. She was leaning on the railing of the cement porch, drink in hand. A curl slipped in front of her ear and hung on the side of her face.

“I’m sorry,” he started, “ I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable by staring. I just think you look very pretty tonight.” He watched her turn around and face him. He hoped he did not look too hopeful.

Caroline studied him, “Thanks. In truth, you did make me a little uncomfortable but I was getting pretty hot in there and was thinking of coming out here before you came over.” A small smile curved on her lips at him. Nathen’s heart pounded in his chest. 

“Can I stand with you for a while?” 

“Sure, if you want to, I guess,” she answered, as she watched his face and movements as he made his way to stand beside her. The smell of his cologne drifted to her nose with the slight breeze that wafted through the night.

They talked of school, life, and past loves. They laughed and had tons of fun together which turned out to be the start of something great: a whole lifetime together. 

A year later they were married and lived in Oakton in a small blue house that suited them perfectly. A year after that their first daughter was born on February 14, 1996, Megan Ruth Anderson. Another year later, Kayla Sage was born on February 23, 1997; two years later, Christopher Nate entered the world, making them a family of five on July 24, 1999. Just when they thought they might have the perfect size family, little Joshua Luke arrived on September 6, 2000; then last but not least Taylor May was born two years later on May 1, 2002.

Once the kids got old enough, they got two dogs. Ruby, a beautiful Irish Setter, and Cocoa, a gorgeous chocolate Labrador Retriever. Then they got a Golden Retriever for Taylor on her eighth birthday whom she named Muffin. In 2010, they moved from their quaint little blue house to a bigger green farmhouse with a small barn. With owning a barn, the kids begged for horses, a cow, pigs, goats, rabbits, chickens, and ducks. So, Megan got a horse, whom she named Pearl because she was white, and a pig, who was called Pork Chop; Kayla got two goats, named Lily and Iris, and a rabbit named Pretzel; Christopher got a cow and called her Espresso; Joshua got two pigs, Bacon and Ham, and a boy goat he called Scruff; and Taylor got two bunnies, Dandelion and Juniper, and a horse named Misty. All of the kids pitched in to get twelve chickens that they called, Classy, Tootsie, Doodle, Nugget, Poppy, Betty White, Thumbelina, Chick-Fil-a, Ditsy, Curry, Sesame, and Truffle; and a rooster they named, Albert Eggstein. They also wanted ducks, so they bought six named, Puddles, Waddles, Holly, Mrs. Featherby, Molly, and Wiggles; along with a gander called Maverick. The kids wanted animals so badly that they each got summer jobs and worked for the money to pay for their animals, which added up to two horses, three pigs, three goats, three rabbits, one cow, 13 chickens, seven ducks, and their food. Mom and Dad only pitched in a “little bit”.

In 2009, they started their summer tradition of backpacking for a week, as a family, in the Green Mountains. They took the dogs with them and had great fun; everyone was always able to block off their schedules for priceless family time. They loved their life; their kids; and everything the Good Lord had given them. 

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As Nathen continued to study his wife’s face, he noticed she was staring at Chris, Josh, and Taylor. He guessed that Caroline was messaging Kayla, who was not with them yet, and was sad that Meg could not be there with them all. She eventually turned and looked at him. He walked over to her, put his hands on her shoulders, and looked into her eyes, “What’s wrong?”.

“Kayla just texted she can’t make it. So now there’s two missing; three if you include Nick,” she said sadly. She looked into her husband’s deep blue eyes; she could see sadness there; as well as compassion and sympathy for her. 

“I’m sorry…come here,” he wrapped his arms around her. Her frame was so small up against him. He stroked her hair that hung in a braid down her back.

“Me too…we haven’t had a ton of family time lately…we needed this as a family,” Caroline spoke softly as she hugged her husband and laid her head against his chest. Wrapped in his embrace, she could feel how muscular he was. At 47 years of age, he stood at six foot three inches tall with blond hair that made him look younger than he was. Some would say he had the perfect face; eyes perfectly in place on either side of his nose that was just the right size; below his nose, full lips surrounded by a full thick beard that covered his firm jaw line; his lips framed a smile that could brighten the day of anyone. His hands were big and strong to go along with his giant feet and strong, masculine frame. 

“I know we did. Let’s go and sit by the fire.” He led Caroline to a log to sit down; one arm still wrapped around her shoulders.

The kids were sitting around the fire as well, eating tons of berries. “Want some?” Chris offered with berry juice-stained lips. 

“No thanks,” Caroline said with a chuckle. 

“Good!” all three kids shouted in unison.

“We have some bad news. Kayla can’t make it this year either.” Nathen said as a frown transformed his face. He studied the sad looks that appeared on the faces of Joshua, Christopher, and Taylor.

“Really…how come?” Taylor asked as she looked from her berries to her parents.

“She probably got stuck at work,” Caroline answered while she watched her boys fill their cheeks with the red fruit.

“I was hoping to be able to share my tent with her. I don’t want to be stuck with just these two the whole trip.” Taylor gestured at her brothers who looked more like pigs at the moment than the teenagers they were. 

“Hey!” Chris and Josh said together between chewing and swallowing. 

“Think of it this way, we get to leave this spot and get started sooner than we would if we had to wait for Kayla to get here.” Nathen tried to bring a positive tone to the conversation.

So, after the boys finished snacking, they picked more berries for the trail, packed up all of their stuff, and headed off into the woods to travel wherever they felt like going.