Читать книгу Because You Loved Me - M. William Phelps - Страница 20

Jeanne Dominico and Chris McGowan had never set a wedding date. Jeanne never wore an engagement ring. They decided they wanted to wait until Nicole and Drew were graduated from high school, Chris said, “and well-established in the direction of their lives.” To Jeanne and Chris, the kids came first. It was important to Jeanne: that the kids set goals for themselves, dream and focus on realizing their full potential. Forming a legal bond with Chris could wait. Drew and Nicole were what mattered most to Jeanne, and abiding by her wishes was one more way for Chris to show his love and support. He had waited decades for the love of his life. What was another four or five years for a wife?

“We were in no hurry at all.”

The night Chris proposed to Jeanne wasn’t the Bogie and Bacall moment either had perhaps anticipated. It was more of a casual gesture than anything else, and that’s the way Jeanne and Chris’s relationship progressed. Nothing was ever complicated. The way they saw it, they were two people who had found true love later rather than sooner. Nothing else mattered. They were in love.

A few months into their relationship, Chris and Jeanne discussed marriage. “I’ll wait to ask, though, Jeannie,” Chris said one night, “until I have the ring.”

Jeanne agreed.

“We had discussed the size and shape of the ring that she wanted,” remembered Chris.

“Wait until we can set a date,” insisted Jeanne, “before buying it.”

Jeanne was not someone who drew attention to herself; she was much more concerned with the happiness and security of others than what her own life could provide. The strength she amassed from helping people, many said, gave Jeanne a tremendous amount of comfort. Still, as time passed, Jeanne accepted the simple gestures of love Chris made. At first, she didn’t know how to react to someone showing her so much affection. Getting flowers delivered to her at work, for example. Chris had sent roses during that week in August to celebrate their approaching anniversary. Jeanne had “tears in her eyes” when she walked over to Chris’s desk to thank him.

“They’re beautiful, Chris. Thank you, honey.” Humility: it wasn’t something Jeanne worked at; it was part of who she was.

Chris smiled. Not because he felt so good about what he had done, but because Jeanne deserved it—someone had loved her in a way she had never experienced.

Perhaps it was that wholesome spirit Jeanne and Chris so openly displayed toward each other that Nicole had sought in Billy Sullivan as she quickly became infatuated by his seemingly kind and gentle manner. Nicole didn’t realize it then, but she was following in her mother’s footsteps.

“I was fascinated by the idea that someone would love me,” Nicole said later. “I didn’t want to lose Billy.”