I nodded. “He’s a soldier now.”
Momma exhaled deeply, and Daddy actually smiled. “A soldier, eh? Must be a fine fellow. I like a man who isn’t afraid to fight for what he believes in.”
It was my turn to smile. “Well, I think you’ll like him a lot. You remember his daddy used to be the preacher at our church. And Dan has grown up so handsome.” I could feel myself swooning at the table over the hand that had spent the month in mine, the lips on my cheek. We kissed on the street corner, and I felt like I was starring in my own show. A famous starlet meets her true love, and, emboldened by passion and the forward-thinking ways of the city, she isn’t even afraid to kiss him inpublicof all places.Oh my Lord,I remember thinking,being young and in love is the best feeling in the world.
“I’m so glad you found somebody you like,” Momma said.
“He’s actually going off to college now that the war’s over.” I paused. You could tell by the change in their faces that they knew what was coming. “And, well, I was thinking that I might like to go to college too.”
Daddy sighed and Momma said, “Did you really not miss us at all? You just want to run off again to college?”
“Momma,” I protested, “I’m not running off and leaving you. I’m bettering myself. I want to go to college, be a teacher, make a difference.”
“But—” Momma started, but Daddy cut her off.
“Sweetheart, it isn’t fair for us to keep Lynn here like she’s in prison. Lib went to WC so it’s only fair that Lynn gets to go too.”
“Well, actually,” I began nervously. “I was thinking that I might go to UNC.”
I think both of my parents were stunned speechless, so I continued. “Dan is going there, and we thought if we could both go, then we could go ahead and get married, live in married student housing. We could be together while we’re getting an education.”
Daddy laughed ironically. “I can’t believe that you would even mention something as crass as going to a men’s college.”
“But it isn’t a men’s college,” I said, shifting in my chair, trying to keep my tone in check. “It’s coeducational.”
I’ve never been as shocked as when Momma said, “But she wouldn’t be going as a girl. She’d be going as someone’s wife. I think that’s different.”
I smiled at her, so grateful for her support. “Right,” I said. “I’d be living with my husband there, so it wouldn’t be inappropriate at all.”
Daddy looked at Momma warily, and she nodded her approval.
Holy hell and hallelujah, I had pulled it off. I was going to college.
Only, I found out the next day it wasn’t going to be as simple as all that. I thought Dan looked a little pale as he was opening the passenger-side door of the car, but I didn’t say anything.
“Guess what!” I practically sang as he got behind the wheel. Wewere going to get ice cream at that same shop where we’d had our first kiss as kids, to tell Haney that, in the most unlikely way, we had found our way back to each other. I thought it was impossibly romantic.
“What?” Dan asked, his enthusiasm not quite as strong as mine.
“Momma and Daddy went for it. They said if I was going to UNC as your wife, then I could go.”
Dan pulled the car over on the side of the road, put it in park and looked at me. He turned, took my hand and said, “Lynn, it didn’t go as well with my parents.”
“What do you mean?”
“They told me that it wasn’t suitable or proper for a man to get married until he was educated, settled in his business and had enough money in the bank to provide for his family...” He turned and looked out the window. “They’ve always said that, but I thought once they saw how in love I was they would change their minds.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling the tears coming to my eyes, the glee of my morning so instantly replaced with an intense sadness.
“They said they wouldn’t pay for my college if we got married now.” He paused and looked back at me. “So I’m not going to go.”
“Not going to go!” I protested. “Don’t be ridiculous, Dan. Of course you’re going to go.”
“But I love you, Lynn.”
“And you’ll love me four years from now. You go to UNC, I’ll go to WC, and when we graduate, we’ll get married. Plain and simple.”
“But, Lynn, can you wait that long?”
