Love Letters (25 page)

“
Your mother devoted her life to you. I know you two have always been at odds, but I have to say she truly loves you. She only wants what’s best for you, Chloe.”

Tears came to Chloe’s eyes unheeded. “If only I had known how hard it was for her, I would have understood.”

“
That’s the last time she ever heard from Ignacio.”

Just then, Chloe heard a sound at the door. Seconds later the door swung open and her mother walked in. “I’m home, Jill. Oh, Chloe, what a surprise. How nice of you to come visit me.”

Jill muttered something about needing to finish the dinner, then brushed past Chloe as she blew her nose and hurriedly dried her eyes.

“
Are you crying?” Suzanne asked, peering through the doorway.

“
It’s the onions,” Jill called from the kitchen where she once again was chopping onions, this time to cover the tears. “Chloe’s been helping me with the onions. I told her to stay for dinner if it’s all right with you.”

“
Of course,” Suzanne said, leaving her plastic bags on the couch.

“
I thought I’d visit you for a change,” Chloe said.

“
Now isn’t that nice to have Chloe here, Suzanne?” Jill called from the kitchen. “We’ve been talking about her wedding all afternoon.”

“
How wonderful! By the way, I found a nice dress at Nordstrom,” Suzanne said, unwrapping the plastic bags. “You should have seen the sales.”

Jill entered the living room, drying her hands with a towel. “I told you she would be shopping, didn’t I Chloe?” Jill winked.

Chloe giggled. “You know Mom well.”

“
Look at this dress. It was worth $190 and I got it for $45. Tell me that isn’t a great deal?”

They both laughed.

“
Some things never change,” Jill said, eyeing Chloe. “Now let’s eat!”

They enjoyed the chicken curry, pot roast and spinach with artichoke Jill had prepared. Chloe said she would put the dishes in the dishwasher. Suzanne excused herself to hang the clothes she bought in her bedroom. Moments later, she called Chloe to come upstairs to her bedroom.

“
In a minute, Mom,” Chloe said clearing the table. “Aunt Jill, where do you think Ignacio is now? Would he still be in New York? Does Mom still mention him?”

Jill put the glasses in the dishwasher. “She doesn’t talk about him anymore, but I know she hasn’t forgotten him. I did bring him up on our trip to Peru, but she quickly dismissed me. You know how stubborn your mom can be.”

“
I know.” Chloe rinsed off a plate and handed it to Jill. “Didn’t she even try looking for him after Dad died?”

“
So much time has been wasted that I think she just figures it wasn’t meant to be.”

“
It’s never too late for love. Why didn’t she become a Broadway actress?” Chloe asked.

“
Chloe, are you coming? I need to watch my favorite show soon,” Suzanne called out from her room.

Jill giggled. “We both know she would have driven the cast crazy if she’d become a Broadway actress.”

Chloe snickered.

“
That was her dream when she was young. A year before that she wanted to be a detective, and the year before that a doctor, so it was nothing serious,” Jill added.

As if on cue her mother called, “Chloe, what’s taking you so long?”

“
You better get going or you’ll never hear the end of it.” Jill laughed.

“
I’m coming,” Chloe said. “Thanks again, Aunt Jill, for sharing this with me.”

“
It’ll be our secret.”

“
I promise,” Chloe said, giving Jill a hug.

As Chloe walked upstairs and entered her mother’s room she said, “Mom, I can only stay a short while. I have an early day tomorrow.” She was so confused about her situation, yet everything Jill told her today only made her realize that she was in the same boat as her mother.
She wished she could talk to Suzanne about her confusion, but she knew what her mother would say:
Use your head, not your heart, Chloe. Your heart will only cause you pain.

Now, as she regarded Suzanne, who was seated on her vanity table looking at her jewelry box, she wished it could be different.

“
Before you leave, I want you to know that although Richard isn’t my first choice for you, I’m happy to see he’s a go-getter. Now,” Suzanne said, setting aside her set of one-carat diamond earrings, necklace and bracelet, “I wanted to give you something.”

“
Oh, Mom, you can’t give this to me,” Chloe cried.

“
This belonged to your grandmother. She wore it on her wedding day and gave it to me to use on my wedding day. I want you to have it.” Suzanne handed Chloe the jewelry set.

Oh no, if she wore this on her wedding day it might be cursed.
“Mom, I don’t think I can accept these.”

“
Why not? I’m giving them to you and I’m sure you will pass them on to your daughter one day when she gets married,” Suzanne said.

I don’t want to pass the curse.
“Um, it’s too elegant for my wedding.”

“
Chloe, it’s a wedding; it should be elegant,” Suzanne said, her hands on her hips. “Now I insist that you take them. It will be bad luck if you don’t.”

“
Who says?” Chloe asked.

“
I do.”

Chloe reluctantly took the set. “Thanks, Mom. I will treasure them forever.”

She caught sight of a heart shaped locket inside her mom’s jewelry box.
Haven’t seen that before.

Suzanne shut the lid of the box and put it inside her vanity table. “Are you all set with your wedding needs? Did you order the flowers and cake? How about the photographer and your dress?”

“
I have it all taken care of, Mom. I haven’t mailed the invitations yet, but I’ll be doing that this week.”

“
Did you make your guest list?” Suzanne asked.

“
Yes, we have a total of eighty guests, and don’t worry I’m inviting Dad’s side of the family and yours too,” Chloe said in advance.

“
Good girl, you got that from your mother.” Suzanne squeezed her hand. “But you’re forgetting something.”

“
What?”

“
How about my dress?” Suzanne asked.

Chloe bit her lip.

Suzanne grinned. “You forgot, didn’t you?”

Chloe flushed with anxiety. Richard’s mom had already bought her dress but since she recently reconciled with her mother, she hadn’t thought about her mother’s dress. “Sorry Mom.”

“
All right, now when do I meet Richards’ parents?”

“
They were here when you were in South America. They live in Atlanta. Perhaps we can schedule a—”

“
Maybe we can fly there so I can see where Richard grew up.”

“
Uh, I don’t think that would be a good idea, Mom.”

“
Why not?”

Because you might end up pulling each other’s hair out and there goes my wedding.
“Let’s talk about it later.”

“
Okay.” Suzanne gave Chloe a hug then walked her downstairs. “Drive safely then.”

“
Thanks, Mom, for the beautiful jewelry.”

“
And thanks for coming over. It meant a lot to me.”

Chloe picked up Greta on her way out. She opened the door and walked to her car. Jill was outside throwing the trash. “Aunt Jill, I need to ask you something?”

Jill approached her. “What is it?”

“
I saw a gold heart shape locket inside Mom’s jewelry box. I’ve never seen that before.”

Jill winked at her. “Ignacio gave that to her. She could never put his photo in it because of your – ”

Chloe nodded. “I know what you mean.”

Jill smiled. “Drive safely, Chloe.”

She got inside her Jetta and sat there for five minutes before starting her engine.
Finally I know the whole story about Mom’s life.

Now she needed to finish her story. She just hoped it ended better than her mother’s.

Chapter Fourteen

Chloe was busy at work all day and hadn’t spoken to Josh since his proposal, or to Richard. When she arrived home, she took a shower and heated the frozen raviolis. She turned on the TV to watch “Law and Order” but couldn’t get Josh’s proposal off her mind. What was she going to do? She couldn’t think with Greta bouncing around the house barking. That’s when Chloe noticed the light on her answering machine.

There were two messages from Suzanne. The other message was from Richard apologizing again about his behavior that weekend. She checked her cell phone where she discovered four similar messages from Suzanne and three from Richard. Josh had asked her to marry him and although she couldn’t answer him now, she knew in her heart that he was the only one for her. How was she going to tell Richard? After hearing her mom’s story from Jill, she realized she couldn’t marry the wrong man.

Chloe figured she would call Richard tomorrow. She ate her ravioli, then downed two big scoops of Ben and Jerry’s chocolate brownie fudge, her favorite.

Chloe realized she couldn’t drown her emotions with food forever. She needed advice. She decided to turn on the speaker phone then called her best friend. “Nic, you’re never going to believe what just happened.”

“
Matt and I were in the middle of watching a baseball game. What’s up?”

“
Josh asked me to marry him and we kissed,” Chloe said.

“
What! When? Where?” Nicole asked. “Did you hear that, Matt? Chloe kissed Josh and he asked her to marry him.”

“
Shhh! Don’t tell Matt,” Chloe pleaded then overheard Matt asking Nicole to call Chloe back later so she wouldn’t miss the game.

“
Josh kissed her,” Nicole repeated, ignoring both Matt’s and Chloe’s requests.

“
Should I go watch the game in the other room?” Chloe overheard Matt ask.

Chloe heard a rustle as Nicole covered the mouthpiece, but Chloe could still hear her. “Yes, please. I’m sorry, babe, but this is important. Chloe and Josh are getting married.” Then to Chloe she said, “You have to tell me all the details. Does Richard know?”

“
Of course Richard doesn’t know, but I was hoping to keep it between you and me.”

“
Don’t worry. It’s only Matt, and he won’t tell a soul,” Nicole said. “Now, tell me everything.”

Chloe was lying down in her pajamas admiring her toenails as she told her all the details of the past day. They were giggling like two teenagers when Nicole said that Matt was calling her again to watch the game with him.

“
Okay, let’s talk soon,” Chloe said before hanging up.
I almost forgot I need to check Facebook.
She turned on her laptop.

There were two messages from the Ignacio Rodriguez she emailed last time. The first message was a surprised hello and that he was happy to hear from Suzanne. In the second message he requested a meeting and informed her that he lived in San Francisco.
OMG! He lives here.
What was she going to tell him? She had to verify that he was the real Ignacio. There were so many lunatics out there and she had to make sure he was the one her mother had fallen in love with.

She wrote,

“
Dear Ignacio,

It is so wonderful to hear from you. I would like to make sure this is the real you. How long have you been living in SF? Tell me more about yourself and things that only you and I know.

Suzanne”

The phone rang as she pressed send.
She hadn’t showered so she let it go to the answering machine.

“
Chloe, I’m worried about you. You haven’t been returning any of my calls. Did you receive my messages? Did you mail the invitations? You haven’t told me when I would be meeting Richard’s parents. You know I’m busy with my charity work. I need to know soon.”

Before she entered the bathroom, the phone rang again. This time it was Richard. “Hi, baby, if you’re home please pick up. I’ve been calling you all day. I miss you and I hope you’re no longer upset with me. I closed another deal today and want to celebrate. How about dinner tomorrow?”

Chloe just stared at the phone, and then jumped in the shower. After blow drying her hair she decided to check Facebook again
.
There was another message from Ignacio.

“
Suzanne, my love,

It‘s me, Ignacio. I’m so happy that you’ve found me. After we spoke, I never heard from you again. All the letters I wrote came back to me and I figured you had moved. I respected your wishes to move on, but I never gave up hope, Suzanne. Are you still in San Francisco? You don’t know how happy I was to receive your message. I know you told me to move on with my life, and to forget about you, but how can I forget my one and only true love?

To recap on where we left, Giselle and I tried to work out our marriage, but she eventually left me two years later for a much younger man –a photographer who did her shoots. We both decided it would be healthier that our four children live with me since she was travelling all the time. I raised four kids by myself, and devoted my time to them and my work. They were my life, and I’m proud to say that they turned out well and successful.