Page 22 of Love Story
Because he didn’t want Elizabeth merely for a night.
He wanted her for his entire life.
7
Ashift had happened in Cole’s heart. Ashley noticed it halfway through the interview. At first Cole’s mood had been lighthearted. Curious of course, but the boy had no idea what a rebel his grandfather had been back in the day. Ashley had tried to tell him before the meeting today.
“Papa was very different in his early days,” she’d told Cole as they drove to her father’s house. “Just so you know.”
“That’s fine.” Cole hadn’t really registered the fact.
It had taken her father’s story to drive the point home.
Now Cole was quiet, pensive. He didn’t say anything as they climbed into theirSUVand pulled away from her father’s small Bloomington house.
Ashley waited until they were out of the neighborhood before she interrupted the silence. “See, Cole? Grandma and Papa’s story is deep. There’s heartache in it, too. Coming up in the next few weeks.” She glanced at Cole. “I wasn’t sure how much he was going to share, if he was going to get into the specific details.”
Cole nodded, but he didn’t look at her. “I’m glad he did.” He kept his eyes straight ahead, as if he were seeing into the past, all the way back to the day Ashley’s parents first met.
One more try,she thought. “I learned things today, too. I mean, of course I knew their story. The basic facts. But this afternoon was very special for me. I’ll remember it always.”
This time Cole angled himself so he could see her. “Could we go by the cemetery? On the way home?”
Ashley felt her heart melt. “Yes, of course.” He had never before asked. Like most kids, he wanted nothing to do with death. Didn’t want to be reminded that life wouldn’t continue on in this wonderful predictable routine of days and weeks and seasons and years.
Death wasn’t something Cole had ever talked about. Especially after losing his Aunt Erin and Uncle Sam and their girls in the car accident a few years back. Ashley was sure that to Cole, cemeteries were creepy. Too much life to be lived to think about dead people.
But here was Cole wanting to spend a few moments contemplating a very great loss. One he probably hadn’t thought about since he was a little boy. One that might not have come to the surface at all if it weren’t for the photo. The one that gave Cole the idea for the project.
Ashley accepted the silence. Cole was so like her. His sense of adventure and his love for life, his passion for God, his determination with sports, and his propensity for the arts. The boy who had taken up drawing in the past year would always have a hold on her heart. The fact that after just an hour hearing her father’s love story, he was so moved he wanted to go to the cemetery.
Proof that Cole was deeper than most boys his age. He saw meaning in the mundane and now, what had started out as a school project had clearly woven its way into his soul.
They parked near the place where so many of their loved ones were buried. Without saying a word, Ashley walked beside Cole to her mother’s tombstone. The words were simple. Her name etched clearly for all to see that Elizabeth Baxter had been here... and she had gone, far too soon.
Cole bent down and traced his fingers over his grandmother’s name. He laid his hand on the dates at either side of the dash. “She died of cancer, right?” A quick look over his shoulder at Ashley. “That’s what happened?”
“Yes.” Ashley felt tears in her eyes. “She was very young.” Without hesitating, Ashley lowered herself to the ground and sat cross-legged next to Cole. “At least to me she was. Barely in her sixties.”
Again Cole didn’t say anything. He stared at the tombstone as the springtime breeze fell, gentle against their faces.
Only her father could tell the heartbreaking details of their love affair. Her dad alone knew their early days, the story that was the foundation of the entire Baxter family. But Ashley could fill in details that surrounded her mother’s death. Especially since Cole clearly wanted to know. She took her time, letting Cole process whatever he was feeling.
When she finally spoke, she used a soft tone. They were the only two people in the cemetery, so there was no need to talk any louder. “Grandma lived long enough to see me get married. That was something we all prayed for.”
Cole smiled, but his eyes were sad. “That’s nice.” He sat down on the ground beside her and picked at a few pieces of grass. “But it’s still so sad, Mom. Like... she should be here.”
Tears stung at Ashley’s eyes again. She swallowed hard and waited until she could speak. “I know. I feel that way, too. God’s ways are not ours, Cole. That’s what Grandma used to say.” Ashley sniffed a few times. “Grandma wanted so much to live. She wanted to see all you kids grow up and graduate from high school and get married. No grandma ever loved her grandchildren as much as she did.”
A few seconds passed and Cole wiped a single tear from his cheeks. “I wish I could remember her.” He turned his teary eyes to Ashley. “That was the hardest part today, Mom. The more Papa talked about her, the more I wanted to remember her. I wanted to give her a hug and tell her how glad I was that she and Papa fell in love. I kept wanting her to be there, next to him.”
Ashley closed her eyes for a moment and then looked at Cole. The familiar ache swelled and filled her heart. “I wanted that, too.”
Years had passed since Ashley had wept over losing her mother. Really let herself feel the loss and remember the feeling of her mom’s arms around her. But Cole’s transparency brought the hurt straight to the surface. It was all she could do not to break down.
“Isn’t that weird?” He searched her eyes. “Seeing your dad with Elaine? After your whole life of your parents together with each other?”
Her answer didn’t come quickly. She exhaled and stared at the distant trees, the blue sky behind them. “It was weird at first, definitely.” She blinked and dabbed her fingers beneath her eyes. “I thought he should stay single the rest of his life. Or at least wait a lot longer.”
