Three-3
624 Words
AS WE’RE DRIVING BACK to Myerton, Helen suddenly says, “Tom, we need to tell Clark and Vivian before tomorrow.”
“You’re right,” I say, “we really do. Call them and see if we can stop by for a few minutes this evening.”
Vivian assures Helen that we are not only welcome but that she already has a pineapple pound cake in the oven that will be just cool enough to eat by around 7 p.m. I look at my watch and realize we’ll have about an hour to kill once we get back to Myerton so we decide to pull off at one of the overlooks and watch the sunset over the mountains. I park the car and Helen unfastens her seatbelt, scooting over by me so I can put my arm around her shoulder.
“Happy?” I ask.
She nods her head, adding, “And content. A rare combination for me.”
I nod and settle back to watch the mountains go from a patchwork of light greens to darker greens on their way to purple as late afternoon transitions to twilight.
“You know, I can’t believe there was a time I thought I’d never see you again,” I say.
“Me neither,” she says. “Then one day, you show up in my office.”
“I think we were both shocked that day,” I chuckle.
When Helen doesn’t say anything, I say, “Everything all right?”
She sits up and looks at her hands. “Tom,” she says, “there’s something I haven’t told you. Something you deserve to know, especially now that we’re getting married. And I don’t want there to be any secrets.”
“OK,” I say, my stomach beginning to twist in knots.
She sighs. “Oh, I am not proud of this at all, Tom. But . . . it wasn’t entirely a surprise to me that you were a priest.”
I furrow my brow. “You knew I’d become a priest? How?”
Helen sighs and won’t look at me, “A few years ago—while I was still in D.C.—I sort of conducted a background check on you.”
I snort. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Oh, I wish I were. I mean, John had been dead for years, and I wasn’t dating anyone, and I got to wondering what happened to you. I thought maybe we could . . . reconnect?”
“I see,” I say, and I think I really do.
“I had your full name and your date of birth, so it wasn’t that difficult.” She swallows. “I . . . I found out you’d been married. I found out about Joan. And, I found out you’d entered the priesthood.”
“So you knew about Joan being murdered before I visited you?” I say.
She nods. “Not everything. I knew she’d been killed in Myerton, but frankly, I never looked at her case after I moved here.”
I sit back, staring out the window. “Why tell me this now?”
“Because, Tom, I can’t start our marriage with a secret.” Helen looks at me. “Are you mad?”
I sigh and smile. “No, I’m really not. Frankly, if I’d had the resources you had, I might have tried to track you down.”
“Thank you,” she says, breathing a big sigh of relief.
“Any other big secrets?” I say with a wry grin.
She gets an embarrassed grimace on her face. “Welllll, actually, there is one more. I know how much you love my black hair.”
“Yes,” I say. “It’s just as black as it was when we were together.”
“Ah, no, it’s not. I, ah, I’ve been dying my hair for years.”
I laugh. “Oh, Helen, come here!” I pull her into my arms and give her a kiss. The kiss deepens, and I pull her even closer to me, running my fingers through her hair, her hands rubbing my chest through my shirt.
After a while, she pulls back. Breathlessly, she whispers, “Oh, it’s such a long time until Christmas.”
***
- Writer
