Anna stared off into space. “Okay, Matt. I’ll talk to the family and see what works best.” She could barely concentrate on what he was saying. That conversation in the park skirted the edges of her mind. The few words she remembered gave pause for angst. Anna you may have second thoughts.
Her head grappled with shadows. Knots of anxiety twisted in Anna’s stomach and peace eluded her. Rita was just the person she needed to talk to. Anna was confident she would help her view the circumstances through the eyes of God.
Rita tented her wrinkled hands over the soft pouch of her tummy and paid careful attention. Her head rested on a stack of fluffy pillows, and she nodded encouragingly to Anna but did not interrupt. Anna unfolded the story of Tamara and her many questions.
Rita motioned her close and hugged her tight before placing her weathered hands over Anna’s. “Well, my dear, you have only one option, and it’s not complicated. You have to talk to Matt.”
Anna let out a deep breath. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
Rita smiled. “Take this bit of advice and carry it with you long after I’m gone. Conversation with the one you love about every detail that concerns you is wisdom. And trust me, my dear, there will be many more things to be troubled about before your watch is done.” She smiled a toothless grin and laughed.
“Rita, do you want your dentures?”
“Not on your life. Since they changed them, they do nothing but hurt my gums. I ask the Lord to take me home where I won’t need such paraphernalia, but so far he has not complied.”
“Rita, you mustn’t talk like that? It makes me sad.”
“Anna, you have to promise you’ll rejoice for me. You know I’ll be in a far better place.”
Anna nodded. “I know. I’m being selfish, but I’ll miss you. Since I quit working here, I don’t get to see you enough.”
“Not to worry, dear girl. Soon you’ll have another baby and life goes on. It’s a natural progression and not something to feel guilty about.
“By the way, how are things between you and Mark? Has he accepted the fact you will be married soon?”
Anna smiled at the way Rita successfully turned the conversation to the hot spots.
“No, he breaks my heart, Rita. There’s been no softening. He won’t even answer the phone when I call. I leave messages, but he never calls back. I get a bit of information on his life through Jason but not much. He’s still with Lori. This April, he’ll finish up his education with a degree in accounting, but Jason told me that Lori is pushing him to go another two years for his master’s degree. Not sure how he intends to finance that, as Steven and I only had enough saved for four years of studies, but I guess we’ll have to see if he even talks to me about it. Matt, bless his soul, has offered to pay for it.”
Rita clucked her tongue and shook her head. “You know the story, Anna, of how I lost my youngest son, Eddie, in a motorcycle accident. But there is something tougher than death. I lost my other son, John, to bitterness over decisions I made—some right, some wrong. John, who is still alive today, I never see. That grieves my heart way more than the son I have no chance to see until we meet in heaven.
A smile filled Rita’s face with joy as her mind clearly switched to memories of Eddie. “Yes, Eddie is up there waiting for me. He was such a gentle boy with a zest for life and adventure. Oh, how he loved Jesus. Did I ever tell you, Anna, how Eddie introduced me to the Lord?”
Anna knew the story well. Rita loved to retell the way her son Eddie brought Jesus into their troubled home.
“Rita, that story gives me such hope, do tell me again.”
The canted afternoon light split through the western window and spilled on the bed. Rita turned her face into it. A faraway look spread across her face as she began the story as if for the first time.
Anna’s eyes pooled with unshed tears gazing at Rita. Her once plump cheeks were sunken and hollow, her voice whispered through empty gums, and her fair skin was leathered and seamed with endless lines, but a joy radiated there. Anna had never seen anyone more beautiful.
Matt could tell something was wrong. Since their engagement party, Anna held him at a careful distance.
He couldn’t put his finger on anything that went wrong, for though she had been nervous, she had skillfully conversed with everyone. The fact she was well-read on current events and delightfully unassuming won over even his staunchest of colleagues. She had a way of turning the conversation around to ask about their life. Most of his friends loved to talk about their latest and greatest discoveries, and Anna listened well with genuine interest.
Then on the dance floor, his quiet fiancée became elegance wrapped in beauty. The crowd was mesmerized by her grace and incredible ability to glide like an angel around the room.
His colleagues teased him unmercifully, wondering how he had landed such a classy woman and had shown genuine interest and acceptance. Even Tamara had given him thumbs up from across the dance floor while they were doing the cha cha, and he now hoped she got it. Anna was the love of his life.
He had not invited Tamara but knew her curiosity would propel her to break etiquette and attend uninvited. He had expected trouble, or at the very least a snide remark or two, but she had been on her best behavior.
That one remark about Anna wanting to run away made by Tamara’s group was about the worst of the evening. For the life of him, he couldn’t tell what the problem was.
Anna had even won the hearts of his
