Page 35 of A Winter's Wedding

“And what are you going to do about Pa?”

Carol thought about what she would tell someone else in her shoes. She would say to lean into the truth. “It’s not as if I can make things worse with him, is it?”

“Probably not.”

“Then I think it’s time he knows the whole story. Then I can stop making decisions for him and let him choose what kind of relationship, if any, we will have.”

“I suppose we both have some apologies to take care of, don’t we?”

“Talk to you soon. And good luck,” Carol said and hung the phone on the hook. Knowing what she had to do, and actually wrestling up enough courage to do it were entirely two different things. She threw back the rest of her tea as though it was a shot of something harder and placed the teacup back on the table with a newfound determination.

Her life no longer belonged to the memory of someone who never did anything to deserve her. It didn’t matter that she was in her fifties, there was so much life left in front of her, if she could just get out of her own way first.

Chapter20

Not that she was hiding exactly, but America had hoped for a little more time to cool down before having to face Leo. An apology was owed to him for the things she had said when it had felt like the world was out to get them. With a cooler head, and dose of reality that sobered her up, she knew what she had to do.

As Leo pushed the door open and came into the diner, a little bell jingled and announced his arrival. He brushed his wet boots off on the doormat and combed his fingers through his golden hair. He took a deep breath and scanned the seating area.

Standing, America waited for him to walk excruciatingly slowly toward her. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

“Hi. Can I sit?” he said. Leo’s normally rosy complexion was pale, and his eyes were red like he had recently cried. If she wasn’t feeling bad enough already, seeing him so low was a pain unlike any other.

“Leo…” America reached for him, and he shrugged away. “Okay,” she said and threw her hands towards her shoulders. “I deserve that.”

They sat across from each other and the same waitress who served them breakfast came to their booth. “Back already?”

“Our car was broken into,” Leo said.

“Rough morning. You look like you could use some coffee. I’ll be right back.”

In the waiting silence, there was no eye contact between them. Every time America looked at Leo, his eyes were down, staring at his phone screen. When she turned her head, she caught him glancing up at her in the reflection of the frosted exterior window between the paper hearts stuck there.

The waitress, with a tray in hand, placed two napkins on the speckled plastic laminate tabletop, followed by two mismatched mugs, a trivet in the center, and a whole pot of coffee in the space between them. “It’s on the house,” she said.

“Thank you,” America said, and poured some coffee into Leo’s red mug.

The warm drink mellowed them both out, and after trading a few looks, there was no hiding their attraction for one another. Scowls turned to smiles, and when Leo winked at her over the rim of his mug, she couldn’t help but crack. “Leo, I?—”

“I got you something,” Leo interrupted her half-prepared speech and tucked his hand into this jacket opening. He pulled out a heart shaped box and placed it on the table. Its cardboard edges were warped, and the ink had melted the words into a mix of colors from moisture exposure. “I was planning on giving it to you while on the plane, but… you know.”

America opened the box lid and peeled back the thin pink cellophane wrapping inside. Foil wrapped chocolate morsels shined under the fluorescent lights and they looked to be dry. She picked a square one and unwrapped it. “I talked to Carol.” She placed the rich brown chocolate on her tongue, and it instantly began to melt from the heat the coffee had provided.

“How are things at home?” Leo asked and checked his phone again. After the last bad news he had gotten through text messaging, she was in no hurry to know what he was looking at.

She put up one finger until she finished chewing the caramel center. “She got in a fight with Pa. Finally.”

“Oh, this should be good,” he said. “What do you mean byfinally?”

“You know their past? I guess he pressed her to tell him why she’s hated him for so long. The thing is, she’s too embarrassed to tell him the truth.”

“What’s the truth?”

“That she loves him.” She picked another chocolate and unwrapped the gold foil. “And she’s been in love with him since high school. I’ve never heard her talk like that. She thought she was protecting herself from getting hurt or hurting others but all she did was close herself off and hurt people, specifically Pa.” America played the conversation in her head, picturing what it must have been like all those years for Carol to keep a secret as big as hers, and here she was thinking her little lie about marrying Leo a week early in Vegas was bad. “She saved Pa’s life.”

“Is that so? By being a thorn in his side.” Leo chuckled.

“Her dad was a drunk and had threatened to kill Edwin. That night, the night of the dance, Carol’s dad was on a bender and she thought he might actually do it. So, I guess she felt like she had to do what she did that night and forget about him.”

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