“What date did they get married?” I scanned the picture for a date.
Ash reached up and pulled it off the wall. She turned it around in her hands and read out the date: “The first of December, 1949.”
My heart thumped. The letters had ended just before this date. This was where my love story technically ended, but I just couldn’t see itreallyending there. My mind was ticking away, forming connections, joining the dots and creating images and pictures and filling in the gaps.
We continued walking until we got to a massive room that was completely unfurnished, apart from some canvasses standing in the middle of it. I looked around in wonder. I’d never seen such a big room in a private home before.
“This used to be the dining hall,” she said.
“It’s enormous!” I exclaimed.
“I know. It’s pretty impressive. It’s actually where my grandmother got married.”
“Really?” I swung around and looked at her in surprise.
“The aisle she walked down was right there, where you’re standing.”
I looked down at my feet and was overcome by such devastation. She’d walked over the very spot where I was standing as she made her way down the aisle to marry a man she didn’t love. Leaving behind, forever, a man she’d loved with her entire heart and soul. I could almost hear her footsteps as she walked over the wooden floor towards a destiny that was not hers. Sad, tentative footsteps.
“Wait!” Ash said. “Why aren’t you over at the cat show? It’s starting soon.”
“Huh?” I looked up at her, almost forgetting, and then quickly remembered. “I, uh . . . just wanted to come here quickly and apologize for last night, and then I was going to go.”
Ash looked down at her watch. “It starts in half an hour; you should get going.”
“I will,” I said. “Thanks for showing me around.”
She smiled at me and I hurried out. I wished I could have stayed longer, but I had to keep my cat story going, even if I wasn’t really going to go to the show. I was going to go to the town hall to see if I could find the secret room under the stage.
