Little Sacrifices (32 page)

And what about Jim? Well, I was right all along. He was a by–the–way–boy. By the way, I married him in nineteen fifty–five. Our friendship grew until, one day, we realized we were best friends. It was just a short step from there to falling in love. Fie and I spent many a Friday afternoon on the bus between Decatur and Atlanta. She liked to tease me that she was only sharing Jim with me out of the goodness of her heart. She had room to be gracious. She was in love with one of the boys in his dorm, and her affections were returned by the bucket load. She often marveled at her luck in having just the kind of love Mirabelle and Henry had. Unfortunately our friendship was cut short by her death in nineteen seventy–five. She left behind three great kids, a husband who was madly in love with her, and a friend who will never forget her.

True to her word when Nan died, she left Jim everything in her will. After we married, we moved into the house on Oglethorpe Square, where Jim made it his business to restore Mirabelle’s childhood home. It took a long time and a lot of Nan’s money to fix it up, but it’s a beauty now. People come by to see it and snap the occasional photo. I don’t mind the least bit. I am well acquainted with the allure of old houses.

Jim still practices law in town, though his high–flying courtroom days are behind him now. He’s a wonderful lawyer and can still argue me into a corner. He’s never wavered in his belief in absolute truths. Our daughter followed her father into law, graduating top of her class from Emory. She does a lot of pro bono work in Atlanta, and is the spitting image of Duncan in looks and temperament. Jim says she’s just like me.

Our history has become family lore, told and retold for the greedy ears of our descendants. They never get tired of the same old stories. Sometimes I watch our grandkids’ eyes over the table, and I see them all there, Mirabelle and Cecile, Duncan, Ma, Dora Lee and Fie. And I believe Jim’s words. We don’t really see our future until we make peace with our past.

• Chapter 1
  
• Chapter 2
  
• Chapter 3
  
• Chapter 4
  
• Chapter 5
  
• Chapter 6
  
• Chapter 7
  
• Chapter 8
  
• Chapter 9
  
• Chapter 10
  
• Chapter 11
  
• Chapter 12
  
• Chapter 13
  
• Chapter 14
  
• Chapter 15
  
• Chapter 16
  
• Chapter 17
  
• Chapter 18
  
• Chapter 19
  
• Chapter 20
  
• Chapter 21
  
• Chapter 22
  
• Chapter 23
  
• Chapter 24
  
• Chapter 25
  
• Chapter 26
  
• Chapter 27
  
• Chapter 28
  
• Chapter 29
  
• Chapter 30
  
• Chapter 31
  
• Chapter 32
  
• Chapter 33
  
• Chapter 34
  
• Chapter 35
  
• Chapter 36
  
• Chapter 37
  
• Chapter 38
  
• Chapter 39
  
• Chapter 40
  
• Chapter 41
  
• Chapter 42
  
• Epilogue