“Here, sweetie,” Emily said as she placed his breakfast in front of him.
Lenny smiled at her absently. “Thanks.”
Emily was about to sit down when the telephone suddenly rang. She cast Lenny a questioning look then went over to the wall phone and picked up the receiver.
“Hello,” she said, taking the phone cord in her hand and twisting it nervously around her little finger.
“Yes, this is Emily Hoffman.”
Lenny saw a look of shock suddenly come over her face. “No!” she cried.
A second later she said, “Oh, thank God!”
Lenny looked on as Emily listened to the caller with grave concern. Then she said, “Tell her that I’ll be there immediately. I’m leaving in ten minutes. Thanks.”
Emily hung up the phone and looked anxiously over at Lenny. “That was the nursing home in Kingston. Miss Rutledge had a heart attack yesterday. Fortunately, it was only a mild one. She told one of the nurses that she wants to see me and asked her to give me a call.”
“So she’s okay?” Lenny inquired.
“Apparently, she’s fine. I’m sorry Lenny, but I have to go see her. I hope you understand.”
“Of course I understand. I’ll go with you, if you want some company,” he offered.
Emily breathed a sigh of relief then went over and gave him a bear hug. “Oh, thank you, Lenny!” They kissed then Emily faced Lenny again, her eyes showing regret. “It looks like the old Porter house will have to wait. I know how much you wanted to go out and see it this morning.”
“No problem,” Lenny said. “It can wait.”
“Well, we’d better hurry up and eat. I still have to get dressed,” Emily said, glancing down at her robe.
“I’ll clean up the kitchen while you’re dressing,” Lenny said, reaching for his fork.
CHAPTER 23
It was a brilliantly sunny day with a temperature in the low forties; the warmest it had been in Ulster County in months. Throughout the drive to Kingston, Lenny observed the unexpected winter thaw through the window of Emily’s bus and decided that he wasn’t quite ready for spring to arrive. A couple more weeks of winter, he thought. Then he’d be ready.
As Emily pulled into the nursing home parking lot she looked over at Lenny and said, “I really think you’ll like Miss Rutledge. She’s pretty spunky for a ninety-year-old woman.”
“Ninety? I didn’t realize she was that old.”
“She’s aged very well. Sharp as a tack and an incredible memory for someone who’s been around for over nine decades,” she declared as they got out of the bus and headed toward the main entrance.
When they entered the lobby Emily went directly over to the receptionist’s desk. “Hi. We’re here to see Dorothy Rutledge,” she told the middle-aged woman sitting there.
“Room 122.”
“Thanks.”
Emily turned and headed for a corridor to the right. Lenny followed her down a hall past several rooms until they reached room 122. The door was open. They entered the small, starkly appointed room to find Miss Rutledge lying in bed, her head propped up on a couple of pillows.
Although she was pale and frail looking, Miss Rutledge’s eyes twinkled like a pair of jade crystals at the sight of some welcome company, Lenny observed.
“Emily!” she exclaimed as they approached her.
“How are you feeling?” Emily asked, going over and giving the elderly woman a kiss.
“I’m fine, honey,” she replied.
Miss Rutledge suddenly stared at Lenny as though she had just become aware of his presence in the room. Lenny was puzzled by the expression on the ancient woman’s face that conveyed a combination of shock, joy, and relief all at the same time.
Emily noticed her peculiar expression, too. “I’d like for you to meet someone, Miss Rutledge. This is Lenny Williams.”
Lenny felt Miss Rutledge’s eyes go through him as he stepped past Emily and then, unsure of what to do next, leaned down and pecked her on the cheek. “Nice to meet you, Miss Rutledge.”
She continued staring at him for a moment then smiled warmly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lenny.”
Feeling more than a little awkward, Lenny glanced uneasily at Emily in hope of a cue of some kind.
“Lenny lives in New York City,” Emily explained. “He’s a professional photographer.”
Miss Rutledge looked at Emily then back at Lenny before speaking. “A photographer, you say?”
Lenny inadvertently put his arm around Emily’s waist and replied, “Yeah . . . I’ll never get rich, but at least it’s interesting work.”
“It must be interesting, indeed . . . Why don’t you two take your coats off and make yourselves comfortable?” she suggested, her eyes continuing to gaze at both of them curiously.
Lenny helped Emily off with her coat then removed his own as Emily pulled up a chair and sat down.
“May I ask the two of you something without you getting angry at me for prying?” Miss Rutledge said as Lenny sat down beside Emily.
“Of course,” Emily replied.
“Is it safe to assume that you are more than just friends?”
Lenny and Emily gazed at each other, grinning. Then Emily winked at Miss Rutledge. “Much more than friends!”
The old woman’s face suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree. “Oh, I’m so happy to hear that! I knew the very moment I saw you two that love was in the air!” she exclaimed as a tear came to her eye. “I’m sorry . . . but when you get to be my age you start getting emotional over such things. I’m so happy for you, Emily! For you both!”
Miss Rutledge reached for a Kleenex, dabbed her nose and looked directly at Lenny. “You’re a very lucky young man, Lenny. I’ve watched this little gal grow up and blossom into the sweetest, most beautiful young woman Ashland Falls has ever beheld. But then, there was Katherine too, of course, whom Emily resembles so much . . . Has Emily told you about her Grandma Katherine?”
Emily exactly knew why Miss Rutledge was asking Lenny this; she of course wanted to find out if he was knowledgeable of her family’s history. She wondered what this might be leading up to.
“Yes, she has,” Lenny replied.
Miss Rutledge seemed relieved. “Then I feel that I can speak frankly to both of you—unless you have any objections,” she added, glancing at Emily.
Emily felt a slight pang of apprehension for some reason. What was she going to say? she wondered. “Of course not, Miss Rutledge,” she replied.
Miss Rutledge nodded. “Very well, then. The reason I wanted you to come and see me now, Emily, is quite simple. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be around; especially after what happened yesterday. They tell me I’m fine and that it wasn’t very serious, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to live forever. I dare say that it gave me quite a scare, and I’m not so sure I’d want to live through another one of those, to be quite frank.”
She paused a moment, apparently to collect her thoughts.
“Just before your grandmother died, she wanted me to promise her that I’d carry out a request for her—her last dying wish, you might say. Her request was most odd, and at the time I thought that perhaps she was delirious, taking into account the very nature of her request and the unlikelihood of my being able to carry it out. Katherine was, after all, quite near death when she spoke to me, and in fact died shortly thereafter.”
Emily and Lenny were staring at Miss Rutledge intently and saw her eyes beginning to cloud up. She took a moment to compose herself before continuing.
“Last night, I decided I would have you come here so that I could tell you what I’m about to tell you now. I made this decision only after much deliberation; I felt that you should know your grandmother’s last wish even though I couldn’t carry it out as she intended. But as it turns out—and this is a small miracle in itself—it appears that I’ll be able to carry out Katherine’s request after all. When you showed up here with this young man, Emily, and so obviousl
y in love, I nearly fainted on the spot! In a moment you’ll understand why it affected me so. Will you do me a favor, sweetie, and go over to the dresser and bring me the jewelry box sitting there?”
“Sure,” Emily replied a little uneasily. She went over to get the small wooden jewelry box, returned and handed it to Miss Rutledge.
“Thank you,” Miss Rutledge said, placing the jewelry box on her lap. “I’ll now tell you Katherine’s final wish in her exact words; or at least as closely as I can recollect. She said, ‘When my granddaughter at last finds the man of her dreams, give her these rings. They were my parents’ wedding bands, and the only possession of theirs to have escaped the fire.”
Miss Rutledge studied Emily’s face for a moment before continuing.
“Katherine had grown very weak by then and spoke barely above a whisper. Her eyes, those beautiful blue eyes of hers, closed for the last time and a smile suddenly came to her lips. She then said, ‘My father will be back, Dorothy. And these rings will bring him back . . . to my granddaughter. Then all of the pain and suffering that she no doubt will have endured for so long will vanish, and my father will at last be free to join my mother—and quite soon, myself—in Paradise.’”
Miss Rutledge looked at Lenny and then Emily. “These were your grandmother’s final words.”
Emily’s face was white as a sheet as she arose and embraced Miss Rutledge. Lenny sat in silence, staring uneasily at the jewelry box lying in her lap.
Moments later, Emily stood up and looked at Lenny with tears in her eyes. He ran over and hugged her comfortingly.
Then Miss Rutledge said, “Although I felt Katherine hadn’t had her wits about her toward the end, I couldn’t help but feel certain that she had found peace at last. Only the Good Lord in Heaven knows how she could predict that she would someday have a granddaughter; and it baffles me to this day why she said what she had said. But that smile on her face was so serene, so at peace . . .”
Suddenly, the old woman’s eyes lit up. “But now we have you two lovebirds! My heart leaps for joy just watching you two loving on one another the way you do!”
If it was her intention to lighten the atmosphere of the room, then Miss Rutledge succeeded.
Emily managed a weak smile and her eyes widened when she turned to Miss Rutledge and said, “Don’t you think it’s amazing how suddenly this has all happened, Miss Rutledge? I mean, I only just met Lenny a couple of days ago and already we’re madly in love with each other!”
Shaking her head slowly from side to side, Miss Rutledge replied, “I’m not surprised at all. Love comes but once in a lifetime and only to a lucky few, I’ve always felt. And when it does, one knows it. It’s written all over your faces—any fool can see how much in love you two are. The same was true with Katherine and Warren. And they wasted little time being joined together in holy matrimony . . .”
She cut herself off and her aged face went red. “I’m sorry; I hope I’m not jumping to conclusions. I just naturally assumed that you two were planning to be married someday.”
Emily and Lenny stared at each other; then Lenny turned to Miss Rutledge and said, “Actually, I’ve already more or less proposed to Emily, and to be honest, I’m not exactly sure what her answer was.”
Emily nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. “You do so know what my answer was, Lenny Williams!”
Lenny grinned at her sheepishly. “Then I can take that as a ‘yes?’”
“Yes!”
A silence so thick you could cut it with a knife hung in the air for a moment as they stared at each other in absolute disbelief of what had just occurred. Then Lenny, in his never-ending quest to put things in their proper order said: “Emily, will you marry me?”
Emily was radiant. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
In an outpouring of emotions, they embraced for several moments. When at last they faced each other again, they both had tears in their eyes. They kissed, then suddenly remembering where they were, Lenny turned to Miss Rutledge.
“Uh, your assumption was correct, Miss Rutledge,” he quipped.
Miss Rutledge chuckled. “Well, now that you’ve proposed, won’t you be needing something?” she said, glancing at the jewelry box lying in her lap. She picked the box up and proffered it to Emily, a wily grin on her face. “I believe there’s a couple of rings in this little box which should suffice.”
Emily stood up and gingerly took the box from her. She glimpsed at Lenny; suddenly thinking that she saw a hint of dread on his face and then deciding she’d only imagined it. She sat back down and slowly opened the lid. Inside, she saw two gold wedding bands, a man’s and a woman’s, both highly polished and gleaming. She took out the rings and held them in her palm.
“They’re beautiful . . . Look, Lenny!” she exclaimed.
Lenny stared at the rings. “They look almost like new,” he declared with an imperceptible trace of apprehension.
“They look like they just might fit, too,” Emily added excitedly. She glanced at Lenny expectantly, awaiting him to make a move for the rings.
Lenny braced himself. Gotta be cool, he thought. “Well, let’s just see if they do,” he said as he took Nancy Porter’s ring from Emily’s hand, avoiding the other one like the plague.
No problem . . .
Emily offered Lenny her left hand, her fingers splayed. Lenny slid the ring on her finger.
“It fits perfectly!” she cried. She showed it to Miss Rutledge. “See?”
Miss Rutledge declared, “It’s indeed a perfect fit, Emily. It looks simply lovely!”
Lenny took Emily’s hand and kissed the back of it. “For my beautiful fiancé.”
Emily beamed. “And now . . .”
She waited for Lenny to hold out his hand.
Lenny’s head was spinning at breakneck speed. He made a snap decision: Nothing is going to ruin this special moment. So be it.
He held out his hand. As Emily gazed into his eyes, Lenny prayed she couldn’t read his anxiety. He held her gaze for a moment, drawing all the strength he could from her. Then he felt her take his hand in hers. Her hand felt warm, particularly her fingertips. Then he felt something cold, hard, and circular slide over the knuckle of his ring finger and become seated at the base. Lenny looked down at his hand. The ring fit perfectly . . .
But more importantly, it wasn’t hot and he wasn’t tingling.
“Perfect!” Emily exclaimed.
Lenny felt a little shaky—but that was probably due to the drama of the moment, he decided. The emotions and all . . .
Emily took his hand and kissed it. “For my handsome fiancé.”
Lenny kissed her lips and held her tight.
It was the happiest moment of his life.
He glanced over Emily’s shoulder at Miss Rutledge, who was staring at them, tears of joy running down her cheeks. That was when Lenny realized what a joyous occasion this was for her as well. Emily had mentioned the old woman’s pledge to live long enough to see Emily get married. And now, in a sense, she was witnessing the big moment. God bless the sweet old lady . . .
Lenny brought his hand up behind Emily’s back and looked at the ring again. A perfect fit, he thought. Just like the two of them were—like a hand in a glove. Made for each other . . .
She’d made him the happiest man on earth the day she’d married him . . .
He held his wife closer then looked over at the crib to check on the baby. She was starting to cry and probably needed changing. Who’s turn was it this time? he wondered. His, he was pretty sure. He didn’t mind, though.
As he let go of his wife, she smiled and gave him that sort of endearing look she always gave him whenever it was his turn to change the baby. “Katie needs her daddy,” she teased playfully. He grinned at her in resignation. Their lovemaking was going to have to wait a little longer, it appeared.
He arose from their bed, strode over to the crib, and went about the business of changing Katie’s diaper. As he did so, he marveled at this little miracle of
life and thanked God that he’d been blessed with so much. A loving, wonderful wife, and now this tiny bundle of joy. Was he not the luckiest man on earth?
As he lifted little Katie up to place a fresh diaper under her, he saw the birthmark on the cheek of her tiny bottom and chuckled to himself. What incredible odds, he thought, that her birthmark shared the same distinctive pattern as his own. And precisely the same location, too!
When he finished, he gently lowered the tiny infant into her crib, relieved that she had ceased crying. He turned and walked back over to the bed where his beautiful and naked wife awaited him with open arms . . .
“Lenny?” he heard Emily whisper in his ear as the wall he’d been staring at suddenly came into clear focus.
Another flashback! he thought to himself in utter disbelief.
Lenny managed to pull himself together somewhat and whispered back, “Huh?”
“I think you can let go of me now,” Emily said, her voice hushed.
Lenny glanced over at Miss Rutledge, who was still staring at him, before withdrawing his embrace. Emily’s expression was puzzled, and Lenny wondered how long he had been standing there embracing her and if she now suspected that anything was awry. He didn’t think so.
“Got a little carried away, I guess,” he proclaimed blindly.
“You two just can’t get enough of each other, can you?” Miss Rutledge quipped.
Lenny smiled. “Nope.”
As he sat back down in the chair, Lenny knew he had to get out of the room before he exploded. He looked at Emily and said quietly, “I need some air . . . I could use a cigarette, too.”
“Are you all right?” she asked in a tone of concern.
“I’m fine. It’s just a little stuffy in here.”
Emily nodded and turned to Miss Rutledge. “Lenny’s going to get some air, Miss Rutledge.”
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