New Beginnings & Cherished Memories

New Beginnings & Cherished Memories

Mary Ann DiLorenzo
Emerging Writers, Historical Fiction, Mary Ann DiLorenzo

New Beginnings & Cherished Memories

The fourth series in the Dusty Town sequence. 

They Had Not Changed A Bit. Episode 21

November 10, 1899

Well, it sure seems like Aunt Daisy’s timing was perfect. She was just what the newspaper needed to boost it closer to the turn of the century finish line! She and Caleb have been working practically nonstop on it since they first met. Betty Lou and Miss Morgan (yes, she still has not told us her first name!) dutifully stop at Nelson’s around 4 in the afternoon each day to bring Aunt Daisy back to Betty Lou’s for the day. The three ladies are getting along very nicely. Betty Lou and Miss Morgan are both widows who share their life stories freely with each other. Miss Morgan, despite herself, has fit in nicely and has managed to both help Betty Lou with the restaurant and Sue with my grand young’uns. It reminds me of my days in the city when Aunt Daisy would take care of the Darwinton children. Funny how life doesn’t really change much over the years, and yet, it changes so much really. 

“Betty Lou?” Jacob said as he and Betty Lou were finishing dessert over some fresh coffee. “Sometimes I kinda feel like a stranger in the world. The days I knew not even so long ago are so different from the world today. It makes me feel old kinda. Even here, where things don’t change much. Never thought the day would come when they would black top the roads here.”

“Yep, next spring they are sayin’ now,” Betty Lou answered, looking at Jacob with sadness in her eyes, knowing what would come next.

“Maddie,…if they had only black topped sooner…those years ago… I can’t help but think on it, how she might have lived and been here still…If not for all the dirt.” And Jacob looked at Betty Lou then, lost in days gone by, and wondering what could have been if that timing had only been right.

“I know, Jacob, I know. I think about Jason and if there hadn’t been the war…he’d be still comin’ down the road in the evenin’ and we could sit out on the porch and watch the sunset, turning the sky so pretty and all. You know, like we all used to do, you, me, and Willie, those years after Maddie.”

“You sure were such a Godsend to me and my boy, Betty Lou, and such a good friend for so, so many years. I will always be grateful for what you’ve done. I sure hope I’ve been less of a bother as the years went by. I’d like to think I learned a few things from you along the way.”

Betty Lou looked at Jacob then and smiled. He smiled back and said, “You know, you haven’t changed at all over the years. Still so sweet and so pretty. Still make the best pies, that’s for darn sure! I’m glad you were such a good friend to Maddie. She did love you so, like the closest sister. Sometimes I got to thinkin’ she loved you more than me!”

“I doubt that, she loved you more than you’ll ever know,” replied Betty Lou. “And Jacob Strong, if you think I haven’t changed at all since we were young’uns, I’d say maybe you are old kinda like you say and need to put on some glasses!”

After they had a good laugh, Betty Lou smiled and said, “Thank you Jacob. This old gal appreciates the compliment. You’re a good man, Jacob, with a good family that loves you very much. I’m grateful to have shared some times with you all.”

They sat quietly for a bit, thinking about things. And though Betty Lou did not tell him, she glanced at Jacob and to her, he also had not changed a bit over the years.

Featuring Garrett Hedlund’s Timing is Everything. Click here.

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