Page 53 - MailOrderBrideFlipBook

away. “I did.” Eli was shocked. “You did?” “Many years ago. I had a beautiful wife and wonderful little son.” “What happened?” Eli asked. Jim’s voice began to quiver. “The flu epidemic came through here and took my sweet Mary and my little Jimmy.” Eli could feel his emotions welling up inside of him. In an instant, he understood more about Jim than he had in the whole two years they had been together. “I’m sorry,” was all Eli managed to say. Jim took a deep breath and appeared to be trying to hold his emotions in check. “I guess I always blamed God. I could never remarry. I got so lonely that I thought about taking my own life. That’s when you showed up and needed a place to stay.” Then, getting back to his old self, he turned and poked Eli with his cane. “And you’ve caused so much trouble, I forgot all about it.” Eli chuckled, and even Jim managed a smile. Eli stood up by his old friend and put his arm around his shoulders. “Is that why you have worried so much about Molly coming over?” Jim turned away. He looked up at the moon and then back down at the sea, but finally spoke. “I was afraid what might happen. Why, I was...” Jim paused. He was not one to show any soft emotion. He regained his composure and turned and prodded Eli with his cane again. “I was just worried I might get stuck with you forever.” Eli snorted. “You old goat. You wouldn’t know what to do if you weren’t tramping around with me to 50