chapter FORTY-NINE
Once the house cleared out a short time later, Curtis lounged in his recliner, staring blankly at the television screen, smiling to himself as the memory of the first time he’d actually spoken to Lorrie started playing in his head. It was a memory he relived all the time.
He’d known the feisty woman all his life, being that they’d lived in the same small town, gone to the same school, attended the same church… But the day he’d actually met her… That was a day he would never forget. But there had been so many days after that he still relived over and over again. Like the time they’d gotten a dog at Lorrie’s insistence, only to find out she was allergic and couldn’t be around it for long. Travis and Sawyer had not been happy about that. Luckily, Mitch had taken that little pup off their hands.
Or the time when he’d been kicked off one of the horses and Lorrie had thought for sure he’d broken his leg. The instant she’d found out, she’d been livid. Then worried. Then angry all over again. It wasn’t until the doctor had confirmed it was just a sprained ankle that she’d relaxed. Right before giving him hell. He’d had to toss her onto the bed and make love to her just to get her to stop yelling at him.
That memory made him laugh.
He also recalled the births of all his boys. Though they’d suffered a devastating loss with the miscarriage of their first child, and it had taken years before they’d actually gotten pregnant again, they’d finally been blessed with Travis. It had been another emotional time for them both, and it wasn’t until they’d neared the due date that either of them had released the breath they’d seemed to be holding for most of those months.
Then six more kids had followed, even two at the same time.
Although he was seventy, and sometimes he couldn’t remember what he’d done last week, Curtis had never forgotten one single memory of the life he’d shared with Lorrie. Not the important ones, anyway.
And to think it had all started what that first conversation on his mother’s front porch.
“Why’re you here?”
“Because my daddy told me to come over here.”
“To do what?”
Lorrie shrugged.
“So your old man forced you to come over here?”
“Yep.”
“To see one of my sisters?”
“Nope.”
“My mom?”
“Uh-uh.”
“My brother?”
“Wrong again.”
“Then who? Me?”
“Mm-hmm.”
That gutsy little blond-haired, blue eyed girl had come to see him that day though it would take a while before they ever figured out why. Still, he reflected back on that as one of the best days of his life.
Lorrie Jameson had come to his house that sunny October day, unwilling to tell him why she was there, and still she’d managed to suck him right into her orbit. And that was the day his entire life had changed.
After everyone left and the kitchen was once again clean, while Curtis sat in the living room watching television, Lorrie disappeared into her bedroom as she did every night. It was her quiet time; the few minutes every day that she took just for herself. A time to reflect.
Going into her walk-in closet, Lorrie grabbed the small diary and the pen beside it from her shelf, then started to carry it back into their bedroom but stopped. Glancing at one of the white banker’s boxes on the floor, Lorrie leaned down and lifted the lid, pulling out the oldest book inside, then carried both back to her bedroom and took a seat at her little desk. She settled in with her diaries, trying to gather her thoughts.
The one on the right was worn and tattered from age. Its blue cover had been scribbled on time and time again with doodles by a teenage girl who had just started experiencing life at fourteen years old. The other, new and crisp, with a fancy leather binding, had been a Christmas gift from Curtis last year. Inside, it held the musings of a much older, much wiser woman.
The only person who knew Lorrie had been keeping diaries for the majority of her life was her husband. Not even her children were aware that every single day since she was fourteen years old, Lorrie had taken the time to jot down her thoughts. In fact, it had been the very day that she had gone over to Curtis’s house and talked to him for the first time that she’d decided to start writing. Sometimes a paragraph, sometimes several pages, depending on the events that had taken place. And over the course of fifty-three years, there were a lot of words written in dozens and dozens of books. All of them kept in those boxes in her closet.
As she sat there, trying not to think about her visit to the doctor or the impending procedure scheduled for Friday, Lorrie carefully opened the first diary she’d ever written in. It wasn’t anything fancy, because they’d had no money back then. Daddy had made just enough to pay the bills; Momma had stayed home to take care of the kids. If she recalled correctly, Owen hadn’t even been born yet. According to Daddy, there had always been too many mouths to feed, so Lorrie had never asked for anything extra. Instead, she’d taken one of her schoolbooks without them knowing. Just a simple notebook with lined paper. And it had worked just as she’d needed it to.
Using her index finger to guide her, Lorrie started reading the first page.
Sunday, October 7, 1962
I can’t believe Daddy made me go over to the Walkers’ place today. On my way over there, I hoped that no one would be home and I could come back and tell him so. I didn’t get that lucky.
Continuing to stare down at the page, Lorrie reflected back on that day, the rest of her worries disappearing for a few brief moments. Her life had been an emotional roller coaster, a ride she had never wanted to get off of. No one ever knew what the next day would bring, but it had all brought her to where she was now.
The bedroom door opened, and Lorrie looked up to see Curtis standing there, watching her with those same intriguing blue-gray eyes she’d fallen in love with all those years ago.
“You writin’ in your book?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay, then. I’m gonna take a shower.”
Lorrie nodded, watching as he made his way into the bathroom. Her thoughts drifted back to that day more than fifty years ago, and she couldn’t help but smile. Five decades later and that man still made her girl parts sing.
Grinning, Lorrie picked up her pen and her current diary and began to write.
March 15, 2016
Blessed. That’s how I’m feeling today.
Although things aren’t exactly perfect at the moment—my health is a little rocky, I think—I feel incredibly blessed. It is during times like these when I see how important family is. We’ve stuck together through thick and thin, and I’m incredibly grateful.
My boys have grown into such fine men, now all with families of their own, lives blossoming and a full road ahead of them. Watching them grow up has been one of the greatest gifts I could’ve ever received. And I have their father to thank for such a beautiful life.
If someone were to ask me if I could go back in time and change anything, I can honestly say that I wouldn’t. Every decision I’ve ever made has led me to here. Right where I am today. A life full of love and laughter and hope. And I’ve had the greatest man at my side along the way. No one can ask for more than that.