***
Jeffrey came home
from the hospital two days later.
Peter arranged for him to stay with family and receive care there. Nobody knows exactly how much time he has. But I’m not measuring it.
***
Yesterday, Peter drove his father to my house.
We sat on the porch where Jeffrey and I used to do homework as teenagers.
He held my hand.
Jeffrey came home.
Jeffrey placed the wooden box next to me.
“I never actually officially asked you.” He smiled. “Ruth, would 19-year-old you have said yes?”
I thought about it. Then I looked at the man beside me.
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“And 60-year-old you?”
I squeezed his hand.
I thought about it.
“She’s smarter.”
Jeffrey laughed.
“So that’s a no?”
“It means she
knows we don’t need 40 more years to prove what we already know.”
Then he slipped the ring onto my finger.
It fit.
