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There is no rush as I will be overseas finishing my work for another year before returning to North America to stay.
I eagerly await your reply.
Yours always,
Adam
ChapterThree
Present
Maureen finished readingthe letter aloud and folded it along the well-worn creases and set it in her lap.At this point, she’d read the letter so many times, she knew the contents by heart.But she liked seeing Adam’s careful and precise handwriting and holding the paper he’d held in her hands.Despite the distance still between them, it made her feel more connected to him.
It should have felt strange sharing the details of their communication with a total stranger.Maureen hadn’t shared the letter in its entirety with anyone.Not even her children.Perhaps that’s why they all thought she’d completely lost the plot by flying across the continent only days before Christmas.
She couldn’t say what it was about Elise.But something about the older woman made it easy for Maureen to open up.
“We wrote a few letters back and forth after that.”She offered up the information before Elise could ask.“With his travels, it was often easier than to rely on technology, and honestly…it was kind of…”
“Romantic?”Elise grinned.“I’m not too old to recognize romance when I see it.”
“I hope I’m never too old to recognize romance.”Maureen chuckled and returned her smile.“And itwasromantic.I thought I was too old to feel that way again.After all these years and…well…” She stopped herself from going into details about her failed marriage and the reasons she probably shouldn’t believe in romance at all anymore.“After everything,” Maureen settled on the word, “you hit a point where you kind of stop believing it can happen, you know?”
With a huff, Elise put her crochet project in her lap and stared at Maureen.“I’m much closer to having a foot in the ground than you are, young lady.”
Maureen tried not to react to the absurd way she’d been addressed.
“If I can still believe in love at myveryadvanced age,” Elise continued, “then there is no reason you shouldn’t.Especially when it sounds like that’s exactly what’s happened here.”
“It’s not that I don’t believe in it.I just wasn’t sure it could still happen to me.”She closed her eyes for a minute, shocked by her own use of the word.“And you?Youdostill believe in love?”
Elise grew quiet, but after a moment she nodded.“I do.”
“Will you tell me about your love story?”Elise could have very easily said no.After all, they’d only just met.But Maureen didn’t think she would.For the same reasons that made Maureen want to open up to Elise, she was fairly sure the feeling was mutual.
Sure enough, after a moment, Elise spoke again.“I don’t know if you could call it a love story.Doesn’t there have to be a happily ever after to qualify?”
“I think that’s only for fiction.Real life doesn’t always have happy endings.”
Elise nodded sadly and focused on her crochet.“I tried not to fall in love,” she said slowly.“I did my best to avoid Alex and put my head down and get my job done.I knew that even if Alex returned the feelings that I didn’t even understand myself, we could never be together.We came from very different worlds.Maybe I didn’t know much about love.But I knew enough to know that those worlds could never cross.”
It had all happened so long ago, but it was clear that to Elise, it was just like yesterday.“I’d been working here for just over a year before I got transferred to the front desk.”Her eyes flickered momentarily to the counter, where a handful of employees were buzzing around.“After that, it became almost impossible to avoid Alex when they came to the inn.Which felt like it continued to increase in frequency.I know it wasn’t real, but it felt like they were always here.Every time I turned around, Alex was there.After a while, it was clear that my feelings were reciprocated.”Elise smiled at the memory.“We exchanged little glances for months before, finally, I made a bold move.”
“Youmade the move?”Maureen couldn’t hide her surprise.It wasn’t that she was so old-fashioned, but all those years ago, it would have been almost unheard of for Elise to make any move at all.
“I did.”Her eyes sparkled.“It was a rare moment when we were alone, and I couldn’t stop myself.I knew I could be fired for what I did.After all, Alex’s family were always such important guests.Or even worse, I could have been rejected.But it didn’t matter.My heart was so full of what I felt for Alex that I just had to do it.”
Maureen clasped her hands together.“And…”
“It was the most magical kiss I’ve ever experienced.Except, of course, for all those that came afterward.”She winked, and Maureen couldn’t help but laugh.
“It sounds to me like a very happy ending, if you ask me.”
“Oh, my dear.That was simply the beginning.And just like with fiction, the beginning of a story is always full of hope.”
Maureen sat back in the chair as if all the air had been sucked out of her lungs.It was true.The beginnings of these kinds of stories were always so hopeful and then…
“Would you be a dear and fetch me a chamomile tea?”Elise’s question brought her back to the moment.“I’m afraid I’ll never be able to sleep after all that sugar.”
