Books everywhere.
My younger sister, Carol.
Her sons, Danny and Peter, who grew up treating me like a second mother.
Birthdays.
Christmas dinners.
Summer evenings.
Friends.
Work.
Travel.
I was never sitting in a dark room waiting for a dead boy to come back.
But I never stopped loving him either.
And I never took off the copper ring.
Once, about twenty years ago, a jeweler noticed it.
“That’s bending badly,” he said. “I could straighten it for you.”
I nearly pulled my hand away like he had threatened to cut off my finger.
“No.”
He blinked.
“I wouldn’t damage it.”
“You don’t touch it.”
“All right.”
“My fiancé made this exactly this way.”
His expression softened.
“I see.”
“No, you don’t.”
I regretted snapping at him afterward.
But the crookedness mattered.
Thomas had made it with nervous hands behind a football field.
I didn’t want anyone correcting it.
And now, on my seventy-third birthday, there was a perfect gold ring sitting three feet away.
Three knocks came again.
I finally walked toward the door.
The copper wire felt strangely heavy on my finger.
I opened it.Chemistry
Walter stood on my porch.
I had known Walter for nearly thirty years.
Or at least I thought I had.
He lived across the street.
Quiet man.
Widower.
Gray hair.
Always wore a cap when he worked outside.
We waved.
Sometimes spoke over the fence.
Nothing more.
When his wife died two years earlier, I brought over a casserole.
He thanked me.
That was probably the longest conversation we had ever had.
Now he stood there holding his cap in both hands.
His eyes were wet.
“Margaret.”
I stared at him.
“Did you leave the package?”
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“What is this?”
“Can I come in?”
“No.”
He nodded once.
“Fair.”
I held up the jewelry box.
“Walter, if this is what I think it is—”
“It isn’t.”
“I have loved one man my whole life.”
“I know.”
That stopped me.
“What?”Metals & Mining
“I know.”
My voice sharpened.
“If this is some kind of proposal or gesture because you’re lonely now—”
“Oh, God, no.”
For one second, he actually looked horrified.
“I’m not proposing.”
“Then explain.”
Walter looked toward his house.
Then back at me.
“I left the box because I wasn’t sure I could knock.”
I said nothing.
“I stood in my doorway for almost an hour.”
