The Roses Wilted at Dusk Chapter 16
I folded the confirmation and tucked it into the last page of the old wedding scrapbook,
Not because I still wanted to go to that lawn.
But because those four years of waiting deserved to be
remembered.
My phone rang. It was my mom.
“Honey, Dashiell Lockwood came to the house.”
“I know. Marlowe told me.”
“He brought gifts for your dad and stood outside for a long time. Your father wouldn’t let him in.”
“Okay.”
“Before he left, he said something to me.”
“What did he say?”
My mom’s voice was a little choked.
“He said, ‘Mrs. Ellison, I’m sorry. She waited for me for four years, and I didn’t take a single day of it seriously.””
I leaned against the window, the sea breeze lifting the curtain.
“Mom, I’m fine.”
“Honey, are you really done with him?”
“It wasn’t me who walked away. He’s the one who gave my place to someone else first.”
“I waited four years. Every year, I thought next year would be my turn.”
I paused.
“Four years passed. It was never my turn.”
“Then you, alone out there…”
“I’m doing well. Really.”
