Coming out of Retirement - Part 4

Mike woke up the next morning with the diary still in his hand.  His wife was leaning in front of him with her hand on his arm, holding his travel cup full of hot coffee.  Her eyes looked tired as Mike sat up realizing he slept in the barn last night.  He barely remembered the trip outside to get another stack of firewood for the woodstove and to retrieve a blanket for his lap and a cup of his favorite hot liquid to help him get through reading his treasure.

“Honey, are you alright?”  Anna put the cup down on the coffee table and pulled the blanket up over his arms.  “I was so worried when I woke up this morning and you hadn’t made it to bed yet.”  She sat on the edge of the sofa.  Her eyes wandered over to the spot of the accident the night before.  “Are you sure you’re ok?”

Mike rubbed his arm as he followed his wife’s gaze to the damage on the wall.  “I’ll call Tony, he will send someone over to get that fixed.”  He turned to face his wife.  “Sweetie, the most amazing thing happened to me last night.”  He held up the diary before sitting it in her lap. 

“You bumped your head?”  She smiled before looking down at the beat-up book. She opened the cover, briefly flipping through the hand-written pages.  Mike’s hand closed onto Anna’s.

He stood, pacing and running his hand through his matted hair.  “We need to go to town today.  I can’t believe I’m saying this.  But I must figure out how to get that diary back to the owner.”  He leaned over to open the door of the wood-burning stove.

“It’s just a diary, love.  What’s the big deal?  If the owner wanted it, they certainly wouldn’t have boarded it up in an old barn.”  She gave him a questioning look.   Turning her head down, she flipped to the front cover looking for a name.
“You don’t understand.  I need to find out what happened next.  What happened to her?  Did she go through it?”  Mike returned to his seat on the couch next to his wife, sitting on the edge.  “I can’t rest until I find out.”

“Why?”

“She was in love with a man and having his baby, but her father wouldn’t allow the marriage.  He arranged for her to go live with his brother until she gave birth.  The baby was to be put up for adoption.”  His sad eyes feel to the ground.  “She really loved him, the same way I love you.  I couldn’t imagine if someone did everything they could to keep us apart.”

Anna continued to flip through the book then looked up at her husband.  She married him because of his passion.  Who was she to stand in his way this time?  “Alright, let’s go back to the house to get ready.  I’ve been wanting to go to the diner for breakfast anyway.”
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Mike jumped up from the couch, leaning over to kiss his wife on the cheek.  “You won’t regret this.”
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