Restless Hope

Chapter 41

Isaac

When Beth joins us at the hospital, I'm anxious to hear the results. I groan when I hear she lost out to Sophie.

"Really? The audience chose doggie clothes over an app that could transform education as we know it?" I say.

"Sophie won in the energy category, which means if you hadn't stepped in, she wouldn't have been a finalist," Beth reminds me.

"Right, er. Well good on her. I still think you should have won."

"Thanks, but I didn't have an adorable dog to model my app. The audience couldn't resist voting for Snickerdoodle, and it was a great product. So how's Gran?"

"Better. The doc thinks she can go home in a day or two, but she's going to have to take it easy. Gran's been asking for you."

"Good! I can't wait to see her."

I lead Beth into Mimi's room where the patient is sitting up in bed having her blood pressure taken. Her hair has been brushed and makeup applied. It warms my heart to see her looking so much better.

"Beth, my dear, you must sit by the bed and tell me all about it," Gran says with sparkling eyes.

With a smile as broad as mine, Beth does just that.

***

Two days later, I send Beth a note with two bits of instruction.

Be ready at 6:00 pm and wear red.

Picking her up promptly, I am blown away by how gorgeous she looks in her fitted red dress. I take her to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. As we walk toward the entrance, she looks at me knowingly. There's no way I'll be able to fool her about my intentions, and I don't really care. It's been more than ten years since we were here together, and the place will always be special to us.

We walk the beautiful gardens in peace, soaking in the beauty surrounding us.

"I can't help think how differently things might have been if we had stayed together these last ten years," I muse, squeezing her hand.

"Consider this," Beth says. "We became the people we became because of what we went through. If we had married young and sold Solaire, we would likely have traveled the world together. I imagine we would have had those kids we dreamed of. Would you have been too content with your life to have the drive to do your work in Africa?"

"It's possible I may not have," I admit. "I'd like to think I would have made it happen."

"And if I had been living abroad, my niece and nephew would have been at the mercy of their mother and grandfather. I would have felt their injustice, but would I have felt I could do something about it with my responsibilities to my husband and children? Would you have been okay with me tutoring my niece? Or would I be too busy traveling the world to even see her needs? Sometimes things don't fall into place in our lives because other things need to happen first, or other people need us first. I firmly believe that.

"So although there's a part of me that wishes things would have been different, I mostly believe things turned out exactly the way they needed to. Sometimes we have to grow separately before we can grow together. I can't imagine either of us will ever not appreciate what we have after being lonely for so long."

I kiss Beth again. It is such freedom to kiss her without any guilt.

"There is something else I wanted to talk to you about," Beth says.

"Uh-oh," I say.

"What?"

"You have a crease between your eyes," I say, rubbing my thumb over it softly. "It must be serious."