It's Never too Late

“Nonnie never let me inside the place. The one time I disobeyed and marched in the front door demanding to see her, I got a butt whipping that I’ve never forgotten.”

His face completely serious, he shook his head. “Nonnie felt responsible for every bad choice my mother made, and made certain that she made up for every one of them with me.”

“How old were you when you went to the bar?” she asked softly.

“Seven.”

He had to get to work. To quit thinking about this woman and focus on the business of building his temporary life in Shelter Valley. To concentrate on getting good grades and earning the money they needed for Nonnie’s co-payments and general care.

“And your mother. Do you still hear from her? Does she know you’ve moved? Has she ever helped with Nonnie?”

“She wrapped her car around a tree when I was twelve. Drunk driving. She died instantly. Thank God she didn’t take anyone else with her.”

Adele’s silence eased the constriction inside him. Until she said, “This woman you left in Bierly, what’s her name?”

“Ella.”

“Are you still in touch with her?”

This was not front porch conversation.

“Depends.”

Frowning, she asked, “It depends? Either you’re in touch or you aren’t. What does that depend on?”

It occurred to him that for someone who didn’t want a relationship, she was showing a good bit of interest in his love life.

“Depends on how you define ‘in touch.’ I text her. She doesn’t answer.”

“How long has it been since she answered?”

“Since the night I asked her to marry me. More than a month ago.”

“You think she’s holding out, hoping you’ll miss her enough to come home?”

“Nope. She was seeing someone else before I even decided I was for sure coming to Shelter Valley.”

“You don’t sound broken up about that.”

“What’s the point? If she wants someone else, she wants someone else. Not her fault. And there’s not anything I can do to stop it, either.”

“Maybe if you told her you loved her...”

“Then I wouldn’t be being me, and she’d know that, too.”

“But you still text her.”

“It’s the right thing to do.”

“Why?”

“Because I told her that I wasn’t going to desert her.”

She nodded and shifted against the door as though she was only halfway in the conversation. As though, at any minute, she could step back inside, close the door and sever their connection. “I’m just trying to understand,” she said. “You propose. The woman not only turns you down, she breaks up with you. She’s seeing someone else. And you’re still planning to be available to her because you told her you wouldn’t desert her. Am I right so far?”

“Pretty much.”

“Most guys I’ve known would have moved on.”