Chapter Twenty-Five
The next timeLetty saw Bonnie at the library she did a double take.Bonnie was generally a happy person but this time she was glowing.“Bonnie, what happened?You’re—you’re glowing!”
“I’m in love,” Bonnie announced.
“In love?”Letty repeated.“With who?”
“Norm, of course.”She pointed to a table where Norm sat.“Isn’t he lovely?”She sighed dreamily.
Lovely?He wasn’t bad-looking for an eighty-something-year-old man, but she didn’t think lovely described him.“When did that happen?I thought he annoyed you because of the books.”
Bonnie waved a hand.“Oh, he did at first.Even so, the day after our first argument I woke up and I’m telling you, Letty, I’ve never felt more alive.The more we got to know each other, the more fun we had.We talked and talked about books and well, everything.And we fell in love.I never thought I would.In eighty years, I never have.Until now.”
“That’s wonderful, Bonnie.I’m very happy for you.”It seemed odd to Letty that an eighty-year-old woman would fall in love after all this time.But she was obviously happy.Delirious even.
“Thank you.Norm is a widower.He lost his wife a long time ago.He said he never expected to find another woman he wanted to be with for longer than a date or two.Until me.”
“That’s so sweet.”
Bonnie nodded enthusiastically.“And guess what else?We’re getting married.”
Letty’s eyes almost bugged out.“M-married?”
“Yes, isn’t it marvelous?You’ll come to the wedding, won’t you?”
“But you—you—” She couldn’t continue.Bonnie had always been so happy in her independence.
“You’re thinking about what I said about being happy alone.I was.Then I met Norm, and we had that argument overJane Eyre.”
“I remember.Aren’t you worried about losing your independence?”
“No.We’ll work it out.Now that I’ve met Norm and we fell in love, being alone doesn’t seem so great.I’ve missed out on so much that I never even knew I was missing.”
“Aren’t you scared something will happen to him?”
“You mean because of our age?Well, of course something will happen at some point.But every minute we have together, even if it’s only a day, will be worth it.To experience love…there’s nothing else like it.”
She was right about that.Even though Letty had tried her best not to fall in love, she’d failed.She couldn’t admit it to Riley, but she was head over ears in love with him.And she was very much afraid she always would be.She missed him so badly, it was an empty hole in her heart.She’d never felt so alone as she had since she and Riley broke up.When Riley left without a word the last morning after they made love, she’d known what they had was well and truly over.And she was miserable.
True, he’d brought her Babette.And while it was thoughtful, it was just like Riley to do something so sweet and expect nothing in return.He hadn’t done it to try and get back with her.He’d done it because he was worried she’d be lonely.
So why did she think living without him was going to work?Would it really be better to lose him now rather than be with him and trust she wouldn’t lose him like she had her parents?And even if something did happen to him, wouldn’t it be better to celebrate the time they had together?However long or short it was?
Bonnie certainly thought so.Who was to say she wasn’t right?
*
Letty dreaded seeingVal again.She hadn’t really talked to her since Val had told her she’d ‘broken’ Riley.She knew her best friend didn’t understand why she and Riley broke up.She wouldn’t, no matter what Letty told her.Val knew how hard it had been for Letty to lose her parents.Of course she did, since Letty came to live with the Fletchers shortly after that.But even Val didn’t understand the crippling fear she had about losing the person most important to you in the world.
It didn’t matter that Letty had warned Riley before they even got together that she wasn’t interested in more than a fun fling.Val had only seen that her brother was hurt and her best friend had been the one to break his heart.
But his heart wasn’t broken.He’d get over her.She refused to believe he wouldn’t.Of course, thinking about Riley with another woman was horrible.She’d really screwed up.
She hadn’t seen Val in days and hoped she could put it off for longer.Luck wasn’t with her though.That afternoon Val came into the library and demanded Letty take a break and go get coffee with her.When Letty claimed to be too busy, Val said, “I’ll wait.”Val took a seat at a table near the front desk and glared at Letty until she gave in and asked someone to cover for her.
Letty bundled up.It was cold today, so she put on her coat, hat, gloves, and wound a muffler around her neck.
“We won’t be outside that long,” Val said, looking at her disapprovingly.“The Java Café isn’t that far.”She wasn’t even wearing a hat, but then Val had always been more impervious to the weather than she was.
