Never Too Late

By Sue Hassett

“Hey, mum. How about I give this old bureau a face lift?”

Anna regards her daughter, Jade, sceptically over her reading glasses. She’s proud of her creative daughter who runs a successful business, restoring tired, old furniture or ‘upcycling’, as it’s known these days. Jade’s enthusiasm delights Anna, but there are limits she thinks now.

“That’s antique walnut, love. It belonged to my grandmother. I’m not sure your lovely painting and decoupage is quite the thing.”

“I know that, mum!” Jade grins. “I can do simple polishing too, you know. It’s covered in scratches and the legs are bashed. What do you say? If you clear it out, I’ll shift it to my workshop and have it back shiny and beautiful before you know it.”

“OK. You win.” Anna relents.

A few days later Jade returns, clutching an airmail letter, its feather weight, pale blue envelope, an anachronism these days. Puzzled, she offers it to Anna.

“I found this stuck behind the top drawer. It’s addressed to you, postmarked Peru, but it’s never been opened.”

Anna’s heart sinks. The letter! The one that took so long to forget. She remembers with sickening clarity the day it arrived, the day before her twenty first birthday, before the party to celebrate her engagement to Paul. Dear, wonderful Paul, her husband for over thirty years.

She never told Paul about the letter. Never told him about Geoff at all. She remembers the morning she found it behind the door, how her heart raced when she saw the postmark and the unmistakable hand writing.

She’d picked it up, gripped in a tight fist, overwhelmed by a cocktail of conflicting emotions. Love and longing. A flash of anger. What could he want? It was six long months since he’d swanned off to South America, leaving her heartbroken.

She remembers admiring the pretty diamond solitaire on her left hand, and the surge of resolve. Whatever Geoff wanted, she didn’t want to know. It was too late. Blinking back tears she’d thrust the unopened envelope into the drawer of the walnut bureau, where it’s remained for forty years.

“Mum, whatever’s the matter? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Come into the kitchen, love. I’ll make some tea.” Anna takes a deep breath. “I’ll explain.”

“Aren’t you going to open it?”

Apprehensively, Anna regards Jade across the kitchen table. “Before I do, I want to make clear that I loved your dad. And we were very happy together. You mustn’t doubt that.”

“Of course I don’t doubt it, mum. I grew up with you both, remember? Now open it and tell me the story before I die of curiosity!”

“His name was Geoffrey Whittaker and I met him at a party when I was nineteen. He was an archaeology student at the university. It was one of those passionate, love at first sight affairs. We were inseparable for months and then, when he finished his degree, he was offered work in Peru.”

Anna pauses. It feels strange telling this now to Jade. And uncomfortably disloyal to Jade’s dead father.

“Go on,” Jade prompts.

“I was devastated of course. I didn’t want him to go.”

“Couldn’t you have gone with him?”

“I could. He asked me to. But I’d just started a new job in a solicitor’s office.” Anna shrugs, laughing at the expression on her daughter’s face.

“I know. How pathetic is that! Peru with the man I loved or a job in a dreary old law firm. No contest! But I was young. And silly. I was scared too. I mean whatever would I do in Peru? I wanted Geoff to love me enough to stay here. But he followed his dream and I can’t blame him.”

“So where did dad come into all this?”

“Well, as you know, Paul and I grew up together. He was my best friend. So when he asked me to marry him, I said yes. Paul was safe. And I loved him dearly in a gentle, comfortable way. But I wasn’t over Geoff. ”

Jade gently squeezes Anna’s hand. “Geoff was special, wasn’t he?”

Anna nods. “With him it was all fireworks and symphony orchestras. Dramatic. And painful.”

“I understand.” Jade says. She’s been waiting for fireworks in her own life. That’s why she’s still single at thirty five.

“Come on then. Open the letter.”

Cautiously breaking the seal, Anna reads aloud the short message.

Dearest Anna,

What an idiot I am! I’ve made a terrible mistake. It’s brilliant here, all I imagined, but I miss you so much, it’s agony.

Can you ever forgive me? I think of you all the time. My contract expires at the end of the year. Say the word and I’ll be back home before you know it. Longing to hear from you.

All my love, always,

Geoff

“My God, mum. What would you have done if you’d read it?”

Anna refolds the letter with a sigh. “Water under the bridge now, love. Who knows what I might have done? But I didn’t. And I’m glad. If I had, you may not be here now.”

“Wow, that’s true I suppose.” Then seized by a new thought, “Did you say his name was Whittaker? Could he be that crime writer, Geoffrey Whittaker, do you suppose? I’ve just read one of his novels, set on a dig site in South America.”

“I’ve no idea.” Anna looks doubtful. “Possibly. Bit of a coincidence though, don’t you think?”

“No such thing,” Jade scoffs, grabbing her phone. “Perfect synchronicity maybe? Let’s Google him and see.”

Pulling up the writer’s web site, she passes a photograph to Anna. “Is that him?”

Anna studies the picture. “Could be. He’s older obviously, but it’s possible.”

“Send him a message. Look it says he lives in Cambridge. Not so far away. And look, he’s unmarried. Oh, mum, he never forgot you!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Jade,” Anna bristles, collecting up the tea things. “Let’s not get carried away. It was a long time ago. And it’s far too late now. I don’t suppose he even remembers me.”

“If you say so.” Jade looks unconvinced.

Three weeks later Anna prepares for a lunch date with Jade. She’s puzzled. Wear something nice, Jade said. The usual lunch with her daughter is a casual affair, often with Jade in paint spattered jeans. What can she mean?

In the pub, the waitress leads them to a table. “Your friend has already arrived,” she says.

Jade watches smugly. The look on Anna’s face is a picture, as the handsome, silver haired man rises to greet them. The charge of electricity passing between them is almost tangible.

“I’ll leave you guys to it,” she says. Glancing over her shoulder as she heads for the door, Jade feels well pleased. She sees the man reach across the table and gently take Anna’s hand, his twinkling eyes flooded with warmth. Her mother too is glowing like a spotlight.

Too late? Jade sniffs, dismissively. Unless she’s very much mistaken, it’s anything but too late.

🩷🩷🩷

For many years Sue taught English to students from around the world. Some time ago she began writing short stories for fun, and has since written stories, poems and articles, some of which have appeared in various publications including, The Lady, The People’s Friend, Fictionette, Crystal Magazine, All Your Poems, All Your Stories and Scribble.

She currently lives in Suffolk with her husband, Roger.