A Vow to Cherish Read Free Page B

morning air and looked up toward the wing of the house where they’d begun their marriage. The house sat on an oak-canopied avenue not far from Calypso’s Main Street, but the expansive yard and surrounding woods gave it the feel of an old country home.
    Oscar and Hattie had eventually moved into a retirement home, and John and Ellen moved into the big house, paying a ridiculously low sum in rent each month.
    When Hattie died, just months after they buried Oscar, John and Ellen learned that the couple had left them more than a legacy of faith and love. The precious couple had willed the beautiful house to John. For the growing Brighton family, the gift of the house was almost too good to be true. Oscar and Hattie were sorely missed, and of course the house hardly made up for the loss of the couple’s friendship and wise counsel. But they had bequeathed a legacy of happy memories that would always be a part of John and Ellen’s life together.
    Over the years, they had spent countless hours refinishing woodwork, painting and wallpapering. One memorable year, they completely remodeled the kitchen and turned the summer porch behind it into a modest conservatory. They’d done all the exhausting work themselves. It tested their mettle and their marriage, but when John and Ellen stepped over the threshold the day the last piece of furniture was in place, they felt they had come full circle. There was now a bedroom for each of the children on the second floor, and John and Ellen had appropriated the attic—their first home—as a master suite, complete with bathroom, sitting room and kitchenette. It was hard to believe they had once lived solely in this tiny space. But it made a wonderful hideaway from the stresses of teaching children all day and coming home to three of their own.
    Today, having ushered the last of their children out of this house, they stood at the entrance to the back door—the entrance to a new future together—perhaps a little apprehensive about facing the uncertainty. John reached to turn the doorknob but suddenly changed his mind.
    “Want to go for a walk? This morning is too pretty to waste.”
    Ellen tipped her head, as if his suggestion surprised her. But she nodded. “Sure. But let me change my shoes and get a jacket.”
    A few minutes later, they set out along West Oaklawn at a brisk pace. They usually took their walks together in the evenings, and the street looked different in the early-morning light. The leaves still wore the yellow-green of spring, and in the dawning sunlight the flower gardens glimmered with dew. It was easy to feel optimistic in this pristine world.
    Ellen sighed. “Kyle seems so happy. I hope his job goes as well as he thinks it will. He’s not exactly realistic about life sometimes.”
    “He is kind of a Pollyanna,” John conceded, “but I think I’d rather have him that way than have him as serious as Brant was about everything. Remember what a lost soul he was before he left for college?”
    She gave a knowing snort. “I’d almost forgotten about that. He’s so different now.”
    Brant had been the most rebellious of their three, but now he was finding his place in life. He’d found his niche in computer science at the university, and had a job he loved in the computer lab on campus.
    And Brant was in love. He’d brought Cynthia Riley home to meet the family the weekend after Kyle’s graduation. John sensed there was something special between the two.
    Ellen was quiet for a moment, seeming deep in thought. “Cynthia has been good for Brant,” she said finally. “I hope he doesn’t let her get away. He’s grown up so much in the past year, I can’t help feeling I’ve lost my little boy.” A faraway look came to her eyes. “Both my little boys. But I guess you’re right. Kyle will find his way, too.”
    They walked in silence for a while.
    “We did a good job, didn’t we, El?” John asked, feeling suddenly a little melancholy.
    She looked at him,