The Widow
What a crazy afternoon at the picnic. In the middle of the balloon toss, Maddie’s water broke. We all watched as a frantic Scott rushed her off to the hospital in Naples. Less than two hours later, Christopher Malencai Rickter made his grand entrance into the world.
Scott sent me a selfie. Little Christopher, wrapped in his striped blanket, rests between his smiling parents. Natalie and I are keeping their dogs, Denver and Ding, for the night. We’ll stop by and visit the new family in the morning.
After putting Natalie to bed and feeding the dogs, I sit down on the couch and look at the coffee table. A cup of oolong tea, old photos, and Nathan’s diary rest on top.
Am I ready for this?
I unclasp the chain around my neck and remove the three rings, staring at them in my hands. We never wore our rings in public. Despite all those secrets, we lost each other anyway.
I turn the engagement ring between my fingers. An elegant two-carat princess-cut solitary stone set in platinum.
The day he gave it to me comes back in sharp detail. We’d taken a spontaneous day trip to Fort Myers and gone from storeto store. I always loved those days because we could be ourselves in public. We could laugh. Kiss.
After a caramel latte and way too many cookies, we walked into the last place, and I knew instantly which one I wanted.
“Pick the diamond you’ve always dreamed of. Nostarterring. I want you to have the one that means forever to you.”
Growing up with very little taught me to be frugal, but not this time. I gave myself permission to indulge and chose the ring that felt the most like us. The one I’d never want to replace.
“Can I try that one?” I asked.
The jeweler unlocked the case, lifted the ring, and handed it to Nathan.
Nathan stared at it for a moment, then at me, his eyes filled with excitement and maybe terror. Then he dropped to one knee and slid it onto my finger. His hands were trembling. He was anchoring us to eternity.
“What do you think?” My voice was thin and high. I stretched out my hand, turning it from side to side.
He kissed my hand and stood, locking his gaze with mine. “Mrs. Carter, I promise to love and protect you for the rest of my life.”
In that moment, I believed him.
He held my ring hand and touched my cheek with his other. Gazing at me from head to toe, he moved his hand to my waist. I’d worn my navy blue velvet button-down dress with matching heels. His favorite.
“I’ll never forget the way you look right now.” He pulled the camera out of my bag and handed it to the jeweler. “Can you take our picture?”
Before the snap, he grasped my face and brushed his lips against mine. Then, he trailed his lips up my jawline and cheek before gently tugging my earlobe with his teeth.
It tickled, making me giggle.
“Love you,” he whispered, then pulled me in. “Now smile.”
Our lives were perfect. I didn’t care how fragile perfection could be.
After we picked out his band, we drove back to his cottage—our home. Although I’m sure Ms. Connor suspected something might be up, she never asked us about it and fiercely guarded Nathan’s privacy. That night was the first time we made love wearing our rings. We were already married, and I wasn’t on birth control.
“I thought you wanted to keep me a secret. If we keep doing that, sailor—you’re going to have two of us to keep hidden.”
He’d taken a deep breath and kissed me. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Just tell me.”
“The less you know right now, the safer you’ll be.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, Nathan. You’re going to get me pregnant. That’s a fact. It’s going to bereallyhard to keep a baby secret. What’s your plan?” I’d gazed at my ring, waiting for him to respond. “I can call my doctor and get a…”
“No.” His jaw ticked, nostrils flaring.
