way in silence.
The next several weeks pass unnaturally fast between running my business and visiting my Aunt Leigh. She has good and bad days, so I try to be available to plan things on the better days. I love showing her the items I procure, and together, we decide which ones will be keepers for our personal collection versus store inventory.
Today is a good day as we sit on her screened-in porch having sweet iced tea. The fans overhead help to deal with the stifling humidity. I worry about my aunt, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting her. Looking at her frail frame, I tell her about the past several weeks, including everything that happened with Jason and how I have been dodging his phone calls. Glancing into her smiling eyes, I sadly smile back.
“Have you heard from Trent?” she asks.
Rolling my eyes because I knew we would eventually get to the conversation, I answer, “As a matter of fact, he called me from South Africa several days ago when he went in for supplies. Seems the waterway is coming along fine, and when I mentioned how much money I was able to help raise this summer for the Clean Water Project, he was astounded. You know Trent. He’s already trying to figure out who to help next. He’s extended himself for another eight months, so I have to handle some personal things for him here at home.”
“Personal things?” she asks.
I knew I couldn’t keep this from her forever, but for some reason, at the time, I didn’t want to share it with anyone. As always, I nursed my broken heart in private. Looking out over the lake, I reply, “He called me about six months ago saying he had met some nurse at one of the medical camps and they were getting married when he returned home. He wanted to know if I could plan everything for them, nothing fancy, because they wouldn’t have much time at home before they had to return. He said he knew he could count on me,” I finish, looking back at her.
“Oh, Kylie.” Her voice radiates sympathy.
Laughing instead of crying, I continue, “So I did. I arranged everything from the preacher to the cake. It was almost like an out-of-body-experience. And the kicker is, when he called the other day, he said it didn’t work out, and asked if I would mind canceling everything. I mean, I should have known. I’ve told you how bad he is at personal relationships.” Not wanting her to see the hurt emerging on my face, I turn to sit my glass down.
“Look at me, Child.”
I feel her paper-thin skin as her hand reaches to hold on to mine. Glancing up into her knowing eyes, she gently smiles.
“You know that I spent the first thirty years of my life chasing my husband. What you probably do not know, and thank God many gossipmongers never knew, is that he was married.”
I’m shocked because I didn’t know. Never would have even guessed. Not that my aunt is perfect, but chasing a married man doesn’t seem like something she would ever have done or had to do.
“I see the look of shock on your face. It’s not something I’m proud of, but I think you can relate to what I was feeling. It was the beginning of summer, and the first time we met it was as if the world stopped spinning. He walked into the soda shack that fateful day and my heart was never my own. A mutual friend immediately informed me that he was single, but not for long because he was also engaged. Everyone said it was to prosper both families’ business holdings, which was the truth, but he cared about her too. He just wasn’t in love with her. God, I loved that man from the first conversation we had. I was all in, hook, line, and sinker. Being young and naive, I thought I could win him over, and I tried my best the summer before his marriage. We spent every day together, but come three months later, never mind that we were both head over heels in love, he stood at the alter and married her.”
I can’t believe I never heard this tale before. I
The next several weeks pass unnaturally fast between running my business and visiting my Aunt Leigh. She has good and bad days, so I try to be available to plan things on the better days. I love showing her the items I procure, and together, we decide which ones will be keepers for our personal collection versus store inventory.
Today is a good day as we sit on her screened-in porch having sweet iced tea. The fans overhead help to deal with the stifling humidity. I worry about my aunt, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting her. Looking at her frail frame, I tell her about the past several weeks, including everything that happened with Jason and how I have been dodging his phone calls. Glancing into her smiling eyes, I sadly smile back.
“Have you heard from Trent?” she asks.
Rolling my eyes because I knew we would eventually get to the conversation, I answer, “As a matter of fact, he called me from South Africa several days ago when he went in for supplies. Seems the waterway is coming along fine, and when I mentioned how much money I was able to help raise this summer for the Clean Water Project, he was astounded. You know Trent. He’s already trying to figure out who to help next. He’s extended himself for another eight months, so I have to handle some personal things for him here at home.”
“Personal things?” she asks.
I knew I couldn’t keep this from her forever, but for some reason, at the time, I didn’t want to share it with anyone. As always, I nursed my broken heart in private. Looking out over the lake, I reply, “He called me about six months ago saying he had met some nurse at one of the medical camps and they were getting married when he returned home. He wanted to know if I could plan everything for them, nothing fancy, because they wouldn’t have much time at home before they had to return. He said he knew he could count on me,” I finish, looking back at her.
“Oh, Kylie.” Her voice radiates sympathy.
Laughing instead of crying, I continue, “So I did. I arranged everything from the preacher to the cake. It was almost like an out-of-body-experience. And the kicker is, when he called the other day, he said it didn’t work out, and asked if I would mind canceling everything. I mean, I should have known. I’ve told you how bad he is at personal relationships.” Not wanting her to see the hurt emerging on my face, I turn to sit my glass down.
“Look at me, Child.”
I feel her paper-thin skin as her hand reaches to hold on to mine. Glancing up into her knowing eyes, she gently smiles.
“You know that I spent the first thirty years of my life chasing my husband. What you probably do not know, and thank God many gossipmongers never knew, is that he was married.”
I’m shocked because I didn’t know. Never would have even guessed. Not that my aunt is perfect, but chasing a married man doesn’t seem like something she would ever have done or had to do.
“I see the look of shock on your face. It’s not something I’m proud of, but I think you can relate to what I was feeling. It was the beginning of summer, and the first time we met it was as if the world stopped spinning. He walked into the soda shack that fateful day and my heart was never my own. A mutual friend immediately informed me that he was single, but not for long because he was also engaged. Everyone said it was to prosper both families’ business holdings, which was the truth, but he cared about her too. He just wasn’t in love with her. God, I loved that man from the first conversation we had. I was all in, hook, line, and sinker. Being young and naive, I thought I could win him over, and I tried my best the summer before his marriage. We spent every day together, but come three months later, never mind that we were both head over heels in love, he stood at the alter and married her.”
I can’t believe I never heard this tale before. I
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