What They Left Behind

Gennie decided not to tell her family about Peter, though she felt horrible about keeping it a secret. She went up to San Francisco a few times while the show was on hiatus to visit her family and she didn’t take Peter with her. She was relieved that he never asked to go either. She thought that perhaps he knew they might have an issue with him as her boyfriend.

  Peter’s visits became more frequent until they were virtually every day. At that point, around May of 1980, she invited him to move in with her. It felt good to have someone around the house to help with chores. Though she never discussed it with Michele, her daughter knew that they were sleeping together. She told her not to tell the family, especially Ben, about Peter. Although this puzzled Michele, she promised to keep it a secret.

  They watched the ball drop on TV just like last year, except this time Michele and Harley were awake. Gennie put Michele to bed about fifteen minutes later and rejoined Peter back in the living room, expecting that they would maybe stay up for about an hour more in order to watch some of the performances.

  “Is it all right if I give something to you?” Peter asked during a commercial break.

  “Sure,” Gennie replied, “as long as it’s not VD.”

  They both laughed at that.

  “No, it’s nothing like that.”

  “Is it a Christmas gift that you forgot?”

  “Well, not exactly, but it is a gift.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  “I’ve wanted to give it to you for a long time.”

  “Oh that’s nice,” Gennie said. “So what is it?”

  Peter took out a thin box wrapped in flashy gold foil. It was obvious that it was a bracelet.

  “That’s so sweet of you,” she said as she unwrapped it. “I bet it’s really pretty.”

  “I sure hope it fits you,” he replied. She noticed he turned away from her, something he only did when he was nervous or upset.

  “I’m sure it will.”

  “Uh…that’s good,” he said. Now, one of his legs was twitching. Gennie couldn’t understand why he was so nervous. It was just a bracelet, not the Hope Diamond.

  Instead of the expected bracelet, there was another long thin box inside the one she had opened. It was wrapped in the same flashy gold foil.

  “Very funny,” she said. “Trying to make me work for my present, huh?”

  “Yeah…I wanted you to be really surprised.”

  Inside that box was another box, also wrapped in the same foil. Then, another box…and another.

  “This must be the world’s smallest bracelet.”

  “It’s not a bracelet,” Peter said.

  The last box was tiny, not more than one inch square.

  “This better be it,” she said, unwrapping the foil. “Otherwise I’m calling it a day.”

  “It is,” Peter replied.

  “These are earrings, right? Did you know that my ears aren’t pierced?”

  “That’s not a problem.”

  “They’re clip-ons?”

  “Open the box already,” Peter said. “You’re driving me nuts.”

  She opened it and saw a two carat round diamond nestled in light pink silk.

  “You got ripped off. There’s only one earring in there.”

  “Gennie!”

  “Oh sorry, it’s beautiful, but I can’t just wear one.”

  She was stunned when she saw what he was doing. He went down on one knee and slipped the diamond onto her left hand.

  This was the first night she wasn’t wearing the engagement ring and wedding band Rory gave her. She took them off before showering that morning and never got around to putting them back on. Perhaps Peter took that as a sign that she was ready to get married again, even though she still wasn’t.

  “I know I’ve never told you this before, but I’m totally in love with you. I mean…totally. After I met you, I had a hard time looking at other girls. I felt like I was cheating or something. When I first saw you, I knew you were it. I even told my folks and Nanny you were it before you ever came over. I didn’t think you liked me, but when you put your head on my shoulder that first time, I knew you felt the same way I did. I didn’t want to rush it, because I knew you were still, like, in mourning and stuff, but lately, I just felt like it was the right time.”

  “Peter…”

  “Please, marry me, Gen! I want to bring you breakfast in bed and do all that husband crap! I’ll be really good to you, I promise! I’ll give you everything you’ll ever want in the entire universe!”

  “Peter…”

  “Come on, don’t say no!”

  “Hey, why don’t you let me answer?” Gennie took a deep breath. “Peter, I just…oh screw it…yes, I’ll marry you!”

  He grabbed her arms and kissed her full on the lips. “I can’t wait to tell the whole world about this!”

  Gennie wasn’t looking forward to being thought of as a cradle robber, but she didn’t say anything. This was the choice she made and she would just have to deal with the fall out.

  Chapter 66