Mistaken for Love: Growing up Isa/Bella

By Cheryl Deetjen

Obeah owns the resort located in a secluded woodland setting, complete with peaceful lake, fir trees, trails, and cabins. It’s an idyllic place vacationers seek when they need to get away from it all. Catherine and her family have been long-time guests, but she eventually returns by herself as a young woman.

An unexpected romance blossoms between Obeah and Catherine, but she ends up leaving him without explanation or closure. Brokenhearted, the resort owner creates a magical set of nesting dolls that are meant to get Catherine back. Decades later, the dolls end up in the hands of young Isabella, who is immediately attracted to them and senses some kind of magic.

As Isabella grows up, she secretly relies on the smallest doll to guide her through different relationships, hoping to find love. She experiences a crush, her first kiss, and her first true love but also loss. She questions her ability to understand love and is scared she might never find a way to make love last. Are Isabella’s broken relationships her fault, or is it the magic doll? Perhaps this tiny doll, manipulated by heartbreak, is a force to be reckoned with.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Apr 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665703932

Cheryl Deetjen

Cheryl Deetjen writes from her own experiences of growing up in a small town. As a child, she sometimes lacked the confidence to build relationships, from girlfriends and later with boys she crushed on. Too often she compared herself, and in her own opinion, came up short in schoolwork, her appearance, and self-worth. Channeling Isa, a fictional character, helped her to discover self-love.

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Copyright © 2021 Cheryl Deetjen.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or

by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the

author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents,

organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products

of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Archway Publishing

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.archwaypublishing.com

844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or

links contained in this book may have changed since publication and

may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those

of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Author Photo Credit: Chase Thuente

ISBN: 978-1-6657-0392-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-0393-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021904589

Archway Publishing rev. date: 03/19/2021

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CONTENTS

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Acknowledgments

Preface

Prologue

Chapter 1   Isabella R. Nejteed, Small Dreamer

Chapter 2   Summer’s End

Chapter 3   Bella, Heart … a Way Out

Chapter 4   Mrs. Cotton, Proprietor and Believer in Sparks as Well …

Chapter 5   High School Sweethearts

Chapter 6   Eddie, Crush: Lies and Kisses

Chapter 7   Jake, More Firsts … Buzz

Chapter 8   Nests and Empty Nests

Chapter 9   Homecoming

Chapter 10   The Reincarnation of Mrs. C

Chapter 11   The Gables and Greenery

Chapter 12   Finding Isa

Chapter 13   Neighborly Love

Chapter 14   Breaking Free

Chapter 15   Breathing

Chapter 16   If Bella Could Talk

Chapter 17   Leaps of Faith

Chapter 18   Off-Kilter

Chapter 19   Coming Full Circle

Chapter 20   Oh, Bella …

About the Author

To my

mom, Janette Ross Deetjen, who lives creatively

and has always encouraged me to do the same.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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Thank you to Dana Jones for the initial editing of my manuscript. Deep heartfelt thanks go to my mom, Janette for encouraging me, reading updates, and offering feedback as I went along. Also, thanks to my husband, Dan; my kids, Nicholas, Chase, and Mallory; and extended family for believing in and supporting me. Much gratitude to Chase for photographing me and to daughter-in-law Jessica for putting together my artwork for the book’s cover. An enormous thank-you to my daughter, Mallory, for pulling me out of my rut when I needed organizational support to keep the project moving forward, and for her ongoing cheerleading and implementation support.

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PREFACE

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Y ears ago, my mother, Janette Ross Deetjen, gifted me and my sister, Lois, with a combined writing and art workshop at Split Rock, Minnesota. Back then our mom shared in our adventure in the woods together as we explored art and writing. For me, this was an opportunity to let down my guard and be open to creative ideas, painting a retablo guided by teacher Amy Cordova and simultaneously being challenged by award-winning author Sandra Benitez to write a personal story from our hearts.

The art sessions were fun for me because I grew up in a household with a talented mother, and we always had opportunities at hand to create. I had never been interested in writing, though, and was slightly intimidated until I was swept away by the charming and gifted author Sandy Benitez’s own writing and teaching. The first night back in our cabin, I read her book, A Place Where the Sea Remembers, and fell in love with her ability to instantly pull me into a culture I had never known but now wanted to experience. I’ll never forget Sandy explaining that our own stories are imprinted on our hearts, and that is where telling them should come from.

That one week was a turning point in my life, as I figured out how to validate my experiences into a story that represented my challenges and at the same time search for pathways that could help me achieve some of my goals. The result is a work of fiction, with characters and their stories coming from my imagination.

In Mistaken for Love, I looked at different aspects of love that many of us have spent a lifetime sifting and sorting through, waiting for real love to come conspicuously into our lives. The story begins with a fairy tale, of which many girls of my time were enchanted with. The story continues from childhood into adulthood with a girl named Isabella, who often sees herself as an onlooker. From crushes to longings, Isa tries to sort out her feelings that are complicated by a little magical wooden doll she becomes enchanted with.

The story has taken well more than ten years to write, through my years of working full-time with three kids and welcoming five grandchildren into our family. And in all my encounters with love, never did I expect the love of grandchildren to run so deep.

Naturally, any new writer draws experiences from their own life, but as I wrote, fantasies awoke in me of owning a store in a little town on a lake that seemed to take on a life that I had yearned for and didn’t likely see happening. Writing from Isa’s perspective, I was able to have insight into my own childhood but was able to morph into a character that could live in situations that I knew I would never have. It was exciting to write with no definitive ending.

Hope you enjoy it.

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PROLOGUE

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Obeah, Mage

A fairy tale created nearly one hundred years ago.

D ammit, Catherine! Obeah shouted.

But he was alone. He clenched his fist so tightly around a tiny wooden doll that his pent-up energy surged through his arm and into the doll with a jolt. He was on the verge of hurling it into the lake in front of him; instead, he turned and walked dejectedly up the hill to cabin 4.

Expressing anger was out of character for Obeah. His nature was to be kind and gentle. His whole life revolved around a remotely located lake and a humble log cabin that he had inherited along with the attached resort from his widowed father. He simply hadn’t felt this kind of emotion this deeply before. There had never been a reason for him to be this mad.

Becoming the resort’s owner and groundskeeper as a young man had suited him. He lived his life the way he liked. He never expected to fall for anyone. Until now, his only human interactions were with guests who rented cabins from him. He respected their privacy and met their needs, stacking firewood outside the cabins and doing necessary repairs. A nod or wave was the most people got from him when they crossed paths, usually along one of the many trails he maintained around the lake. The only expected contacts were when they checked in and out. He cleaned the cabins for the next set of guests, many of whom returned year after year at the same time to renew friendships while hiking, swimming, and fishing.

Cabin 4 was one of ten cabins Obeah owned besides his own house, which was down the gravel road. He’d recently begun spending most of his time in cabin 4, a cozy two-bedroom kitchenette with a screened-in porch perched atop a small hill. It sat in a sunspot despite the tall pines hovering around it.

Obeah cranked the front window open to view the glassy lake below.

As one would expect of any woodland-based fairy tale, Obeah’s resort had croaking frogs camouflaged against the lily pads and occasional fish jumping out of the water to catch bugs gliding across the lake’s mirrored surface. Mourning doves hidden in the branches above cooed softly to one another. Chattering squirrels chased one another up and down the trees in endless pursuit. This was Obeah’s world. Here he had lived a content life, creating a retreat for anyone needing a peaceful getaway.

Obeah wasn’t at peace now. He gazed blankly at the meadow grasses swaying along the shore. Then his eyes fixated on the wooden chaise out front as he willed her to appear. His lover had often fallen asleep on the chaise with an open book resting on her chest, one hand dropped to the grass, the other on the scruff of his neck, her fingers entangled in his dark curls as he sat beside her on the ground.

Did she miss him as much? he wondered. His mood changed from anger to sullenness. He would forgive her if she would just walk back into his life.

He resigned himself to washing his breakfast dishes. Then he shook sand from the mat by the side door before settling down on the bench at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and pencil and paper, holding the doll in his left hand. He wrote daily notes to Catherine, often wadding them up and tossing them on the floor in despair, reminding himself that his previously carefully thought-out words had not reached her. His mail sent to her parents’ address had continued to return to him marked undeliverable. Loneliness set in and the doll absorbed this feeling. She became one with Obeah as he crafted her magic.

The other nine cabins were tucked between dense firs, each secluded from the others. Children from neighboring cabins bonded with one another when exploring the woods and swimming, enjoying the company from the moment they woke up until they heard a dad’s whistle loudly signaling it was dinnertime. Parents could relax, knowing their children were safe, running with the pack of friends that had become close over time.

These cabins were vacant now. After twenty-five years, Obeah had shut down the resort. He’d locked down his own homestead and all the cabins except for cabin 4, which became his workshop and home. Access to the property was blocked off at the main highway, and a No Trespassing sign was posted, enabling Obeah, owner and landlord turned crafter of fetishes, to shut out civilization and live as a hermit. His sole focus became producing the magical doll that would draw back the woman who had left him to his now unbearably hollow and sorrowful life.

Looking back, the pit in his stomach made it evident that Catherine Chanson had pursued Obeah as nothing but an object of desire. He’d let his guard down, becoming trapped in the fairy tale that she’d created for herself. Obeah was a handsome woodsman who had fallen under her spell.

Obeah gave up trying to reach Catherine by mail and decided instead to appeal to her through magic. He was not just a woodsman but a descendant of magicians. He called upon his magical intuition and lessons passed down from generation to generation to conjure a way to lure Catherine back into his life. This was the fairy tale ending that he longed for.

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For Catherine, the fairy tale began like this.

Once upon a time, every summer, starting when she was a young teen, Catherine Chanson came with her family to Obeah’s resort. They rented cabin 4, nestled into what she proclaimed to be her enchanted woods. She also proclaimed Obeah to be her woodsman—although Obeah had shown no interest in her as she was growing up. His work on the grounds was a never-ending stream of responsibilities including handyman, trail groomer, record keeper, and host to the families that rotated in and out. He worked from early morning to late at night, stopping only for a boxed lunch on whichever trail he was grooming that day. His lifestyle suited him well. He was stress-free and answered to no one.

Catherine’s family vacations to the resort ended once her school years were behind her. As she moved into adulthood, she missed the place that could take her mind off the responsibilities that now weighed her down. She remembered her father always saying that staying at Obeah’s resort was like being on feel-like time. Everyone was allowed total freedom to do whatever they felt like doing.

Now a writer and artist, Catherine returned to cabin 4 as an adult. She planned a self-study, plein-air retreat. She’d missed the resort where she had enjoyed carefree summers of swimming, sunning, and reading in a rowboat floating in the middle of the