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Susan shrugged, and tears filled her eyes. “I guess I wanted to surprise you. I broke off the engagement, and I wrote to you about it. You never replied. A few weeks later, I decided to throw all caution to the wind and return. It had been so long anyway, and I wanted closure, I guess. But I also hoped that maybe things between us could work out after all.”
Sam’s shoulders sagged.
“But now I realize, even if I had walked into the diner that night...you still would have chosen Norma.”
The conflict in his gaze wrenched at Anita’s emotions. This was all so much...and she could only imagine what Wyatt was feeling with such a shocking revelation.
“Susan...” Sam began, his voice cracking with emotion. “I never received that letter about your canceled engagement.” He released a shuddering breath. “And I can’t say what decision I might have made if I had received the letter, but if there’s anything I’ve learned in more than eighty years of living, it’s that the past can’t be changed. We can only move forward.”
Susan dabbed at a fresh round of tears. “You never received my letter?”
“No, and I don’t understand why not.”
She heaved. “My father was furious that I canceled the engagement. Now I wonder...if he never posted my letters to you. I’d leave them in the basket of outgoing mail.”
Sam and Susan were both quiet for a long moment. Anita was pretty sure the soup Lila had brought out was cold now, but no one seemed to care.
“What did you do after you left Seattle?” Sam finally asked in a quiet voice.
“I went back home and faced the wrath of my father,” Susan said. “I’d spent all my savings on that trip—it was meant to go toward my wedding.” She gave a little shrug. “A few months later, Clyde started coming around again, and we ended up getting married.”
Lila headed back into the house.
“And your kids and grandkids?” Sam prodded gently.
“Two children,” she said. “Lila and Clyde Jr. The marriage wasn’t...great.” She cast a furtive look toward the house, where Lila had disappeared. “Clyde enjoyed his drinking. He died at fifty-four, and I was widowed. No interest in remarrying after that.”
“I’m sorry for your pain,” Sam said.
“I went back to Seattle for a few weeks about ten years ago,” Susan said. “I visited all the old haunts, looked up some former friends, but never had the courage to knock on your door. I figured you didn’t want to see a ghost from the past. I even heard about Norma’s health problems, and I selfishly checked obituaries from time to time.”
Sam didn’t act shocked or bothered. “I suppose curiosity can get the best of us.”
She nodded, her smile faint. “Norma was a lucky woman, and I...I could have done things differently. I could have returned to Seattle much sooner. Or made an effort to meet you somehow after the Spanish flu danger was over. I could have turned down Clyde. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on my children, though. They’ve been my comfort through everything.”
Lila was back with more bowls of soup, this time balancing them on a tray.
Wyatt moved to his feet to help.
“Lunch is served,” she said softly.
Anita wondered how much Lila had known about all of this—at least on her mother’s side. Now, she knew Sam’s side.
“Children, however they come, are always a blessing,” he said.
“Amen,” Carly said. “Now can we eat? I’m starving.”
Anita stifled a laugh—she couldn’t help it. Apparently Carly hadn’t been entranced like everyone else.
“Help yourself,” Susan said. “All this emotional stuff has made me ravenous.”
Sam gave her a tender smile, then the two of them began to eat the soup.
“THIS WAS MY MOTHER’S RECIPE,” Susan told Carly as a gentle breeze brought the fragrance of flowers from the yard. “I thought Sam would appreciate something from our childhood.”
“I think he does,” Carly told the older woman. They both glanced over at Sam and Lila, who were taking a tour of the garden.
“I used to garden,” Susan said on a sigh. “Lila’s taken over now, and she does an excellent job. I miss it, but my bones aren’t what they used to be.”
