Dart writes today’s letter on a stubby little half sheet, telling Dot it’s going to be a “short one” tonight.
The weather today was oppressive, but Dart is enjoying a tiny little breeze that feels like the countryside has heaved a sigh of relief. It reminds him of hills and fields and evening, and Dot. How he wishes she could be here now, to enjoy the breeze and to ease his longing.
He spent some time today reading and sorting through some of her letters. He says he has only about 60,000 left to go. There was one he read today, written the day they went to the art museum and then to Uncle Guy’s lake house. “That was a wonderful day, Dot. There have been others equal to it since then, but I remember that day well.”
His cousin had a rough time delivering her baby and looked so bad afterward that her sister Marg fainted when she saw her. Both mother and baby are doing okay now, though.
He went to church this morning, and although he likes Mr. Kershner, he wasn’t too fond of this particular sermon.
“Good night, my darling. I wish you were here. I love you and miss you very much.”
# # #
Dot begins by telling Dart he must face the fact that there are not enough hours in the day to do all she must and still write to him. She promises to write as often as she can, but when the letters don’t come, he’ll simply have to understand.
She was with the Miller family from 9:30 AM until after midnight. The afternoon hours were spent out on the boat for a great sail – not too choppy, but with a great wind. When she went swimming off the boat, two-year old Eric jumped right in after her, wearing his life preserver, of course. She says neither of the boys has the slightest fear of water, nor the slightest interest in napping when they’re on the boat. They want to watch all the other boats and help Daddy sail theirs. “Think we’ll ever have a couple of little boys as cute as these? No, of course not! Ours will be much cuter!”
She’s happy to hear that he and Tom had an enjoyable evening at the concert. Did Tom happen to give an opinion of the town of Greenwich, or mention the girl he met at Island Beach?
She hopes to hear Mr. Kershner preach if she can find out when and where he’ll be. Her mother has granted her the car some Sunday to drive to wherever he is and meet him. She asks if Dart thinks the good preacher will be flattered that someone drove from out of town to hear him.
With her decision not to return to Kent, she’ll have to pass on Dart’s invitation to take communion with him in October. They had it at church this week, and she wished Dart had been there to share it with her.
Nine weeks from today is when they should be leaving for Sunapee. She hopes he’ll be able to stay at least two weeks because that’s the last time she’ll see him until the following June for their wedding. Does it seem real to him that they’ll only see each other once more before they are husband and wife? She says it almost makes the wedding seem closer when she thinks of it in those terms.
It’s time for her to fix dinner for her elderly charge, so she needs to stop writing for now. She fills the page with X’s and O’s, saying they’ll have to do until the real thing comes along again.