Gertie's Choice by Carol Colbert Page A

she had to know about him. Gertie was thrilled that he was
holding her hands and she felt all warm and tingly
inside.
    “I have a son, Gertie. His
name is Donald. His mother and I were married, but she died in
childbirth. He is only a year old.”
    Before Gertie could think
twice about it, she offered “I have a daughter named Ophelia!
Perhaps Donald and Ophelia could become friends like we are!” She
said.
    John was stunned. “You
have a daughter? Ophelia is a very old fashioned name, I don’t
think I have ever met anyone with that name before. Gertie, are you
telling me that you are married? Where is Ophelia’s
father?”
    Uh hum, now I have gone and
done it! “Ophelia was named after my
sister. Ophelia’s father is no longer living.” She said, choosing
her words more carefully this time.
    “You poor thing, you are a
widow!”
    Gertie had never heard that
word before. Not wanting to show her ignorance at this new word,
she took that time to ask the man at the bar for another sweetened
cold tea.
    Gertie Enchanter and John
Ellis made it a regular date to meet three times a week in the
building, which now Gertie knew to be a bar. She listened to his
life story in fascination and learned many things about her new
country. She was very careful to avoid talking about her own life
too much. This frustrated John, but he thought it was probably
Gertie’s way of protecting her daughter, so he did not press her.
They walked the streets of the town and had meals together in the
restaurants nearby. Gertie had fallen totally in love for the first
time in her life. She was both thrilled and afraid.
    Gertie would always arrive
early for their dates so that she could shop in the stores in town
and buy beautiful clothes. She wanted to look her best for John.
She purchased several pairs of shoes in all different colors, red,
white, even blue. Her favorite purchase was a bright red dress with
diamond straps. Gertie had been shocked that anyone would sew
diamonds into a dress. She was very surprised when the saleslady
informed her that they were something called rime stones and not
diamonds at all. Gertie marveled at how much she learned and was
always eager to share the news with Cindy.
    One day several months
later, Gertie brought her daughter Ophelia with her to meet John.
John took to the little girl immediately and the three of them had
a nice day at a park. When Gertie said that they had to start back
for home, John decided to speak his mind.
    “Gertie, what are you
hiding from me? You never let me walk you home and in fact you
insist that I be the first one to leave, which is not very
gentlemanly. I hate waving goodbye to you from the bus, not knowing
if you will make it back home safely. You will not give me a phone
number, nor even an indication of where you live. Tell me the
truth, do you have a husband or boyfriend waiting for you at
home?”
    “No, of course not, John.
You have to trust me on that. You mean the world to me and you are
the only man in my life.”
    “Marry me, Gertie!” John
shouted out before he could think about it. Then, looking down into
her beautiful face, he took her hands in his and got down on one
knee. He took out the box that he had been carrying around with him
for the past several weeks and opened it to show what was
inside.
    “Gertie Enchanter, will
you do me the great honor of becoming Mrs. John Ellis? I love you,
please say yes.”
    Gertie looked at the
beautiful diamond ring in the box and her heart and face felt as if
they were on fire. She did not know what to say. She could not
marry him, no matter how much she loved him. It just could never
be. Could it? Gertie decided to take a big leap of fate. “Yes, John, I will
marry you. I love you too!” She squealed.
    John picked her up and
swirled her around in a circle. Then he picked up Ophelia and did
the same. He put the ring on Gertie’s finger and Gertie had thought
she had never seen anything more beautiful than this ring.