“He removed the white flower from the lapel.”
I gently touched the boutonnière. A tiny, yellowish note was tied under the tape.
He had finally returned to his destination.
The next sentence made me literally collapse on the ground.
For your beloved, Giselle.
“Keep reading,” I whispered as Rebecca helped me sit in a chair.
She nodded and turned her eyes to the paper.
“He kept it inside the handkerchief. I asked her why.
He smiled and said... ‘If something happens... this is for Giselle.’”
I cried in silence.
Even then, Michael kept trying to get back.
“He took my daughter in her arms to the road. “I had just taken her...” Rebecca paused. “...when another truck lost control. The impact shattered what was left of the safety barrier. The current was already violent. Michael disappeared into the river.”
The mystery with which he had lived for forty years suddenly made sense.
Rebecca continued in a low voice:
“I only knew one name... Giselle.
He told me that he had left her at the prom while running back to the store to find a gift that, by mistake, he thought he left in his truck. He had promised to return in five minutes, and each of his words made it clear that he was desperate to return to her. I searched the news of the newspapers, but there were several girls named Giselle in neighboring counties, and I never knew which of them Michael was referring to.”
I felt my heart sink like a stone.
“Then my husband was offered work in another state. We moved out. I kept the handkerchief. And the flower."
Rebecca's eyes filled with tears.
“My grandmother kept saying, ‘When I know enough... I’ll find her.’” Rebecca looked down. “Life was on the course. Every year it was harder to admit that another year had passed.”
After her grandmother's funeral, Rebecca looked for me. Three days ago, Tori mentioned a kind woman named Giselle who worked in her new school cafeteria. When she added that she had heard a partner ask about my prom, Rebecca finally pulled up.
“When he said you were called Giselle, I wanted to know you properly,” Rebecca admitted.
I felt something unexpected.
Ira.
“I had the right to know,” I replied abruptly.
Rebecca nodded right away. “That’s right.”
“I spent forty years wondering if he had changed his mind.” New
