Page 5 of A Family Affair: The Ring
Will certainly didn’t see it that way.How can you pretend nothing happened?
Because maybe it didn’t.
He’d expected her to stand beside him and “do the right thing.”The right thing?Who knew what that was?At the time, she’d believed shewasdoing the right and honorable thing, and she’d been furious that the man she loved could not see it.Worse, could not accept it.The fights, the anger, the words meant to inflict pain?Oh, they’d done all that.
Call me when you’re ready to tell your father the truth, starting with why we were really at that hotel.
Three days later, Melanie returned Will’s engagement ring with a note:My father hasn’t gotten out of bed since your visit.He doesn’t want to eat, and he keeps talking about what you told him.Was it worth it to know you’ve punched a beaten man, and he may never recover?How could you do it?You had no proof and yet you created your own proof.For what?Because you can’t stand your father and wanted to hurt him?Or because you really believe you’re right and you feel honor bound to speak up?
Both possibilities have damaged our relationship because now I see that you don’t understand the real meaning of love.If you truly loved me, you would not have tried to destroy my family and you would not have asked me to help you do it.
Goodbye, Will.
3
Eight years later
Magdalena, New York
Melanie stoodin her grandmother’s living room, remembering the afternoons she’d spent there, the mugs of hot cocoa with tiny marshmallows, the cinnamon toast, the stories Esther Russell told her of the early days in Magdalena.Oh, but the woman could tell a story, eyes lighting up, voice dipping with wonder as she relayed incidents of coyotes, black bears, and white-tailed deer.The snow was waist high and we lost power for five days...your grandfather hauled in firewood to keep us warm and I cooked over the open flames… It was such an adventure.We might not have had much money but there was always food, clothing, and whatever your father and aunt needed.It wasn’t the best or the newest, but the food filled their bellies, the clothing kept them warm, and they learned that life brought challenges, and a person could either accept that challenge or fall in defeat.Russells do not fall in defeat.
Grandma Esther must have been horribly disappointed with their decision to leave Magdalena.There’d been no time for her to get used to the idea, and some days Melanie wondered what might have happened if they’d simply stayed and faced their issues instead of running toward what they thought would be a new life.Of course, there was no convincing Susannah Russell to change her mind.Your father needs a job to feel good about himself again and this move will help him do that.
The move did seem to help her father’s spirits; he found a job at a bank, began making repairs to the gray two-story house they purchased in a small town about an hour from Pittsburgh.A few months later, Melanie’s parents renewed their marriage vows, which included a trip to New York City.They seemed happy; her father smiled more, watched less TV, and darn if he didn’t start exercising.Melanie had gleaned this information from her mother when she called home to check on them.He’s doing well.Pause and a firmWe made the right decision.
The right decision?For whom she wanted to ask, but she didn’t.Instead, she buried her emotions deep, so she didn’t have to think about the last time she was truly happy or the person who’d been responsible for that happiness.Eight years was a long time to pretend and ignore...to hide and deflect...but eventually a person had to open their eyes and acknowledge what needed to be done if they were ever going to get a chance for a half-normal life.
Melanie sank onto the plaid couch that had been part of her grandmother’s house for as long as she could remember.There was such comfortable familiarity in this home, from the gold-and-brown crocheted afghan to the three-foot ceramic cat in the corner.How she wished she’d spent more time with her grandmother...wished life had been different…
Once they moved from Magdalena, Grandma Esther had to travel to their new home outside of Pittsburgh if she wanted to see them.She accepted the plane tickets in the earlier days, but three years ago a broken hip prevented travel.Can’t you just come back to Magdalena for a visit?she’d asked Melanie’s father.Can’t you do this for me?
No, he could not because as he put itThere are too many bad memories there.Melanie should have made the trip, but that would mean running the risk of seeing Will again and shecould not do that.There was too much pain between them, too much regret in her heart.
Melanie pushed aside thoughts of how she wished she’d made different choices and began sorting through her grandmother’s belongings.China, hand-embroidered napkins, lace tablecloths, crystal.Special occasions should be celebrated and honored,she’d said.Why doesn’t anyone dress up for Christmas dinner or birthdays anymore?Why are they happy with paper plates and chipped crockery while the fancy dinnerware sits in the cabinet?So much worry a dish will break that it never gets used.I say, if not now, when?Why shouldn’t we enjoy the delight of eating our birthday cake from a hand-painted plate?To save it in a cabinet, waiting for that “special moment” is tragic and sad.All moments are special, and life is so short.One year becomes ten, then twenty, and soon you’re eighty-three years old, and all you have left are the memories.Make them good memories, Melanie.Make them count.
Grandma had possessed such wisdom and joy for life and yet she’d known her share of sadness.How had she done it?How had she buried a husband, two parents, and three siblings yet still found a way to love life?
Melanie wished she hadn’t waited so long to return to Magdalena.Why had she simply bought into her parents’ belief that it was best to start fresh and erase the past?Her sister liked that idea because she wanted to be the “mystery” girl in town for once instead of the girl everybody knew.She said she could re-create her personaandher backstory and that’s exactly what she did.
But she wasn’t the only one re-creating.
Focus, denial, and the need to keep the family together propelled Melanie through graduation and a job offer at an emergency room in Pittsburgh.For the next several years, the adrenaline-fueled pace and long hours at the hospital consumed her.She avoided time alone, vacations, or too much introspection.What was the point in digging too deep when you might not like what you uncovered?And happiness?There were moments when she experienced it, but mostly, she settled for contentment.The money was good, the work challenging, and she’d been able to reframe her expectations so joy could be found in the ordinary and everyday moments: a sunset, an animal, a solitary walk.
Expectation was a complex and mercurial word.What did it even mean?Life and situations changed and what a personthoughtthey wanted or believed would happen, shifted.Crumbled.Even disappeared, so they struggled to recall the moments when they understood where life was heading, when they possessed clarity and conviction.She’d convinced herself the man she’d planned her life with had been the wrong choice, and what they’d shared had been an illusion.
In the early days after the breakup, Melanie forced herself to eat dark chocolate-covered strawberries once a month until the taste did not remind her of Will… The sight of one did not create a gush of tears or send shivers through her as she recalled how he’d shared the strawberries with her—in bed.And when she began a relationship two years ago with a cardiac resident, she told herself the dark hair, blue eyes, and tall frame attracted hernotbecause they reminded her of someone else.No, it was simply because Alec Laurence was appealing, intelligent, with a broad smile, a wicked sense of humor,andhe cared about her.A lot.
Maybe they would have found a life together if Melanie had accepted his marriage proposal.She’d almost ignored the last time she wore an engagement ring and agreed to the heartfelt offer, but when Alec opened the velvet box and spoke words likecherishandforever, she couldn’t do it.Memories rushed back, blotting out his presence, until all she could see were visions of the life she’d had eight years ago...the plans...the dreams...the hope...
Another man, another ring, another pledge.
Melanie?What’s wrong?
Alec was too kind and much too intelligent not to understand her reaction.
I can’t.I wish I could, but I can’t.She should have understood that eventually he’d want more...an open heart, a lifetime commitment… And she could not give those to him because that part of her was broken.
You need help, he’d said, his voice filled with resignation, his expression sad.I love you, but I can’t hold up both sides of the relationship.Not anymore.He’d pulled her to him, whispered,If you want us to have a chance, get help.
