11-09-2026, 03:51 PM
She sipped at her drink and said, without looking up at him, “Maybe, but you didn’t see him the night that we met him and Aline at his condo. Maybe he did love me, and I was egotistical enough to think he always would, but he’s in love with her now.”
“He wouldn’t be the first man, or woman, to be in love with two people at the same time.”
She turned her attention back to her drink. After a moment, she said, “Even if you don’t love me, I know you love making love to me. If you think what we had was hot, stay with me, don’t get on that damned plane, and I’ll drain you so dry you’ll need IVs every night. We’ll try every position in the Kama Sutra and come up with a few new ones of our own.”
He just smiled at her.
“I don’t think any woman, any person, has ever paid me that great a compliment, Deb. If it was just the sex, shit, I’d stay. If I didn’t know you were in love with another man, I’d think seriously about winning you for myself. I have no idea what it would feel like seeing that look in your eyes for me that you have when you hear his name. I have a feeling it would be wonderful, but...”
Then she was crying again and hating it.
“I don’t know why I can’t make you understand, Clint. I have this terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that when you walk away to the boarding area, that will be the last time I ever see you. I don’t think you’re coming back. I think you’re going to die over there and that thought. devastates me.
“Bill - Bill is never coming back. Doug is gone and I won’t see him again, and you’ve getting ready to leave me. My husband, my lover, my friend. It feels
like I’m losing everything.”
He moved around to put his arms around her.
“It might feel that way, but you’re not. You’ve got your kids, a good job, friends and your ex working in the same building. He’s alive and I will come back. Your feminine intuition has been wrong before.”
He put his arms down and reached into his wallet. Not looking at her, he took a crumpled check out and put it on the table. He motioned to it and she picked it up. It was a check for $10,000 -- made out to her. Beside it he put a folded piece of white copy paper.
He pointed to the check and paper.
“I would like you to cash and deposit this into your account and hold it. If I don’t come back, this will pay for a pretty good sized marble monument. I want you to have it put up on her grave. It’s in Palatka Memorial Gardens cemetery. There’s just a little marker there now. I....after she died I wasn’t.....real happy with her and I didn’t put anything but the bare minimum at her grave site.”
He reached back into the wallet and pulled out an old and frayed color photograph. It had been sealed in plastic so it had stood up pretty well to the ravages of time. The woman, who had long, black straight hair down to her waist, sat in the bend of a huge tree trunk on a lushly manicured lawn with a large building that had to be a courthouse behind her.
She wore a green blouse over a dark green short skirt that rode up on her thighs as she sat forward, smiling at whoever had taken the photo.
“I’ve carried it for 25 years,” he said, biting his lip, “It’s the last picture I have of her—when she still loved me.”
He ran his thumb over the picture.
“You can see how beautiful she was. Too beautiful to die as young as she did.
She was only 24 - only 24.”
He stared at it and Debbie felt that he had gone somewhere where only two people existed.
He took a deep breath.
“I should have done this a long time ago. She uh. she was an only child and
her parents are gone now. My parents died a few years ago and my brother never really knew her. He lives up in Canada. All our friends are long gone, scattered to the four winds.”
He looked up and met Debbie’s eyes. She wondered if any man would ever again look at her the way he looked at the faded photo on the table.
“She was so beautiful. Before it all fell apart, she was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. But I’m....the only one left alive who knows how beautiful she was, how wonderful she was. If something happens to me. ”
He took her hand.
“It’s not right that she should be forgotten like that. If we had had children, there would be somebody to mourn her, somebody to bring flowers, to keep her memory alive. It’s not much, but all I can do is put up a memorial, a granite marker, to tell people who pass by that somebody special lived and is buried there.
“I want you to have her name—Margaret Elise Abbott—put on the marker, and the dates January 3, 1956 and November 7, 1980, and these words—‘Here Lies A Most Beautiful Lady.’ The $10,000 should more than cover the expenses.”
She closed her eyes and felt him release her hand. He slipped the check under her palm. He kissed her cheek and stood. When she opened her eyes he and the photo of the love of his life were gone.
“He wouldn’t be the first man, or woman, to be in love with two people at the same time.”
She turned her attention back to her drink. After a moment, she said, “Even if you don’t love me, I know you love making love to me. If you think what we had was hot, stay with me, don’t get on that damned plane, and I’ll drain you so dry you’ll need IVs every night. We’ll try every position in the Kama Sutra and come up with a few new ones of our own.”
He just smiled at her.
“I don’t think any woman, any person, has ever paid me that great a compliment, Deb. If it was just the sex, shit, I’d stay. If I didn’t know you were in love with another man, I’d think seriously about winning you for myself. I have no idea what it would feel like seeing that look in your eyes for me that you have when you hear his name. I have a feeling it would be wonderful, but...”
“But...?”
“I don’t know how to explain it and I wish I could. I just feel like this is something I need to do - something I have to do. It’s just like when I had to write that first novel, and it changed my life. I don’t know what I’ll find in Africa, but I feel like I can’t live the rest of my life not knowing what I’ve missed.”Then she was crying again and hating it.
“I don’t know why I can’t make you understand, Clint. I have this terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that when you walk away to the boarding area, that will be the last time I ever see you. I don’t think you’re coming back. I think you’re going to die over there and that thought. devastates me.
“Bill - Bill is never coming back. Doug is gone and I won’t see him again, and you’ve getting ready to leave me. My husband, my lover, my friend. It feels
like I’m losing everything.”
He moved around to put his arms around her.
“It might feel that way, but you’re not. You’ve got your kids, a good job, friends and your ex working in the same building. He’s alive and I will come back. Your feminine intuition has been wrong before.”
He put his arms down and reached into his wallet. Not looking at her, he took a crumpled check out and put it on the table. He motioned to it and she picked it up. It was a check for $10,000 -- made out to her. Beside it he put a folded piece of white copy paper.
“What?”
He deliberately looked down at the table rather than meeting her eyes. “I—uh...I need to ask you for a favor, Deb, a big favor and I don’t want you
to get upset when I tell you what it is, okay?”
“What kind of favor?” But even as she was asking the question she remembered their late night conversation and knew what it was.
“I plan on coming back but, nothing in life is certain, and if I don’t...” He took a last sip of his Cappuccino.
“I was going to mail this to you with a note from London, where we’ll stop before heading for Africa. It’s fate that you showed up here.”He pointed to the check and paper.
“I would like you to cash and deposit this into your account and hold it. If I don’t come back, this will pay for a pretty good sized marble monument. I want you to have it put up on her grave. It’s in Palatka Memorial Gardens cemetery. There’s just a little marker there now. I....after she died I wasn’t.....real happy with her and I didn’t put anything but the bare minimum at her grave site.”
He reached back into the wallet and pulled out an old and frayed color photograph. It had been sealed in plastic so it had stood up pretty well to the ravages of time. The woman, who had long, black straight hair down to her waist, sat in the bend of a huge tree trunk on a lushly manicured lawn with a large building that had to be a courthouse behind her.
She wore a green blouse over a dark green short skirt that rode up on her thighs as she sat forward, smiling at whoever had taken the photo.
“I’ve carried it for 25 years,” he said, biting his lip, “It’s the last picture I have of her—when she still loved me.”
He ran his thumb over the picture.
“You can see how beautiful she was. Too beautiful to die as young as she did.
She was only 24 - only 24.”
He stared at it and Debbie felt that he had gone somewhere where only two people existed.
He took a deep breath.
“I should have done this a long time ago. She uh. she was an only child and
her parents are gone now. My parents died a few years ago and my brother never really knew her. He lives up in Canada. All our friends are long gone, scattered to the four winds.”
He looked up and met Debbie’s eyes. She wondered if any man would ever again look at her the way he looked at the faded photo on the table.
“She was so beautiful. Before it all fell apart, she was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. But I’m....the only one left alive who knows how beautiful she was, how wonderful she was. If something happens to me. ”
He took her hand.
“It’s not right that she should be forgotten like that. If we had had children, there would be somebody to mourn her, somebody to bring flowers, to keep her memory alive. It’s not much, but all I can do is put up a memorial, a granite marker, to tell people who pass by that somebody special lived and is buried there.
“I want you to have her name—Margaret Elise Abbott—put on the marker, and the dates January 3, 1956 and November 7, 1980, and these words—‘Here Lies A Most Beautiful Lady.’ The $10,000 should more than cover the expenses.”
“No.”
She tried to pull back but he held her hand.
“I don’t expect you’ll have to. I expect to come back and I want to do it myself. I want to say goodbye to her properly but, I couldn’t stand the thought of dying and letting her be forgotten. I don’t want you to do anything until you know I’m not coming back. Do this for me, Debbie. Be my friend. “She closed her eyes and felt him release her hand. He slipped the check under her palm. He kissed her cheek and stood. When she opened her eyes he and the photo of the love of his life were gone.
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