When I once again reached home the farmhouse was deserted. Mom had left a scribbled note saying she had followed me to the hospital, but she had had trouble starting our old car again, and therefore she hoped she wouldn’t be too late in getting there.
I dreaded her returning home. I loved my Mom, but I didn’t think that things would ever be the same between us again. How could they be after what she had done?
My Father was a hard-working man and a devoted husband and Father to us both, and she had betrayed him with another man. I just couldn’t forgive her.
When she finally returned home she immediately tried once again to explain her actions, but I made it clear that I didn’t want to hear anything about it. She was crestfallen, but she accepted the stand that I was taking and we left it at that.
Two days later Pa returned home in the ambulance and life returned to normal, but with the doctor’s orders that he was not to do any work whatsoever.
The farm was in pretty good condition, and with Mom becoming the devoted wife that she should always have been, I had lots of time to spend with Ellie.
We had wonderful times together and I was sure that she loved me as much as I loved her.
Lying in bed at night I made plans for our future together, but always, in the back of my mind, was the question of just what her Father and I were going to discuss the next time we met.This time he would be in the driving seat and I would have to have moves planned to cover all of the scenarios that might occur. When I did finally manage to fall asleep my dreams still revolved around Ellie and her Father.
The days passed quickly, as they always do when you are having a good time, and I had hardly kept pace with their passing, until one day Ellie told me that her Father’s company had been awarded the elusive contract, and that he wanted to see me the following afternoon.
We spent the rest of that day just wondering and talking about what this meeting would be about. That night I went to sleep with a heart filled with dread. But hope springs eternal, and I half convinced myself that he had surely been convinced that Ellie and I were truly in love.
The next afternoon, at the appointed hour, I jumped aboard my motor-cycle and headed off to Ellie’s home.
As I approached the house I spied her Father walking in the grounds and pulled- up alongside him.He smiled that damned smile of his and asked if I had heard of his winning the contract. My silence was all the answer that he needed.
He went on to say that his wife and he had decided to have a holiday in Europe for a couple of weeks to celebrate their success, and that Ellie would be going with them.
He promised that upon their return he and I would have a good talk and decide upon the relationship between Ellie and I.
There was little I could offer in the way of an argument, so I sullenly accepted his decision. I roared off down the drive and cursed him every inch of the return journey.
That evening was to be my last with Ellie, and I kissed her a tearful goodbye. She said that I wasn’t to be so sad as it was only for a couple of weeks and then everything would be OK once again, but somehow I just couldn’t shake off the feelings of mistrust toward her Father.
That night, and for quite a few of the following nights, I barely slept a wink…
