didn’t.”
“Why not?”
“There was another knock on the door.”
CHAPTER FIVE
I shook my head in confusion. That made no sense.
“What do you mean, another knock?”
“About a year later, a young man in an Army uniform stood at my doorway. He had a sad, haunted look in his eyes. At first, as I looked at him, I felt myself sinking into the darkness I had fought so hard to claw my way out of. Until I realized that there was no bad news that he could give me. I’d already been through the worst.
I invited him in, and was shocked to find out he had been one of the men in James’ unit. His name was Timothy, and he told me that he was going to marry me.”
Wait a minute, what?
“Who was Timothy? He was going to marry you? I don’t understand.”
Nonna chuckled a little bit.
“If you think you are confused, imagine how I felt. He was handsome, and I was angry. Angry that he was alive and that James was dead. Angry about little James. Angry that my life was not anything like it should have been. Nothing like my dreams. But most of all, I was angry at myself for having a physical reaction and interest in this stranger standing at my door.”
I shuddered a bit. I mean, I was totally drawn in to her story, but hearing this old chick talk about a physical reaction to a guy was kind of nasty. Okay, not kind of. Totally. Totally, completely nasty.
“Girl, I am old, but I’m not dead. And I haven’t been old forever. And don’t give me that look, I could see your reaction. I’m also not blind, you know! Anyway, I was obviously shocked, having this very handsome man standing on my doorstep informing me that we would get married. I almost slammed the door in his face.
He asked me to hear him out. I leaned against the doorframe, still forcing him to stand outside. I wasn’t ready to let him in. I won’t lie, I was intrigued. And I had been so lonely, and so sad missing my James. This man was a small piece of James.
He explained that they had made promises to each other. James made him promise that if anything happened to him, Timothy would take care of me. These were promises made with a fear that only a soldier could understand, but it was a solemn promise. There was no way that Timothy couldn’t keep his promise.”
She fished out another photo. It was another wedding photo, but instead of being filled with happiness and hope, this one had two people with ghosts of smiles pasted on their faces. Even though only a few years had passed between the two pictures, young Nonna had aged by what seemed like decades. I felt saddened looking at this wedding photo. This was not what happily ever after was supposed to look like.
“We were married three months later. We liked each other, we became friends and we learned to respect each other. But that was it. That was where it ended. There was no passion. We were never consumed with each other. We never caught each other staring across a crowded room. Time never stood still. This was not an epic romance. We were roommates.”
I couldn’t imagine this woman settling for anything other than one hundred percent. She shouldn’t have ever had to compromise her future happiness.
“I went into the marriage with no illusions of what it was meant to be, but I had my hopes. You see, even secondhand purses had a chance at another life. I hoped I would have that chance, too.”
“Secondhand purses?” I couldn’t help but sound lost. Nonna was all over the map.
“Have you ever been to a thrift store? I have found that I have very expensive tastes in purses, but don’t want to part with the money. So I get secondhand purses. These purses were bought at one point in time because someone wanted them. They coveted them. And then, somewhere along the line, they discarded them. But when I bought them, they had a second chance at life. That’s how I saw Timothy and my life together, as a second chance.”
She smiled sadly as she looked
“Why not?”
“There was another knock on the door.”
CHAPTER FIVE
I shook my head in confusion. That made no sense.
“What do you mean, another knock?”
“About a year later, a young man in an Army uniform stood at my doorway. He had a sad, haunted look in his eyes. At first, as I looked at him, I felt myself sinking into the darkness I had fought so hard to claw my way out of. Until I realized that there was no bad news that he could give me. I’d already been through the worst.
I invited him in, and was shocked to find out he had been one of the men in James’ unit. His name was Timothy, and he told me that he was going to marry me.”
Wait a minute, what?
“Who was Timothy? He was going to marry you? I don’t understand.”
Nonna chuckled a little bit.
“If you think you are confused, imagine how I felt. He was handsome, and I was angry. Angry that he was alive and that James was dead. Angry about little James. Angry that my life was not anything like it should have been. Nothing like my dreams. But most of all, I was angry at myself for having a physical reaction and interest in this stranger standing at my door.”
I shuddered a bit. I mean, I was totally drawn in to her story, but hearing this old chick talk about a physical reaction to a guy was kind of nasty. Okay, not kind of. Totally. Totally, completely nasty.
“Girl, I am old, but I’m not dead. And I haven’t been old forever. And don’t give me that look, I could see your reaction. I’m also not blind, you know! Anyway, I was obviously shocked, having this very handsome man standing on my doorstep informing me that we would get married. I almost slammed the door in his face.
He asked me to hear him out. I leaned against the doorframe, still forcing him to stand outside. I wasn’t ready to let him in. I won’t lie, I was intrigued. And I had been so lonely, and so sad missing my James. This man was a small piece of James.
He explained that they had made promises to each other. James made him promise that if anything happened to him, Timothy would take care of me. These were promises made with a fear that only a soldier could understand, but it was a solemn promise. There was no way that Timothy couldn’t keep his promise.”
She fished out another photo. It was another wedding photo, but instead of being filled with happiness and hope, this one had two people with ghosts of smiles pasted on their faces. Even though only a few years had passed between the two pictures, young Nonna had aged by what seemed like decades. I felt saddened looking at this wedding photo. This was not what happily ever after was supposed to look like.
“We were married three months later. We liked each other, we became friends and we learned to respect each other. But that was it. That was where it ended. There was no passion. We were never consumed with each other. We never caught each other staring across a crowded room. Time never stood still. This was not an epic romance. We were roommates.”
I couldn’t imagine this woman settling for anything other than one hundred percent. She shouldn’t have ever had to compromise her future happiness.
“I went into the marriage with no illusions of what it was meant to be, but I had my hopes. You see, even secondhand purses had a chance at another life. I hoped I would have that chance, too.”
“Secondhand purses?” I couldn’t help but sound lost. Nonna was all over the map.
“Have you ever been to a thrift store? I have found that I have very expensive tastes in purses, but don’t want to part with the money. So I get secondhand purses. These purses were bought at one point in time because someone wanted them. They coveted them. And then, somewhere along the line, they discarded them. But when I bought them, they had a second chance at life. That’s how I saw Timothy and my life together, as a second chance.”
She smiled sadly as she looked
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