Christine's Last Gift

Christine had shared everything with Jennifer. There was a moment of silence as the two women considered all that Christine had confessed. Jennifer could see that Christine still felt a great amount of love for Bo. "Christine, there is one question you must still be able to answer." Christine knew what Jennifer was pointing to. "Christine, if you see Bo Wyoming again, and he asks you to forgive him for the last twenty-four years, and that he still is in love with you, what will you say?" Christine had considered this very question throughout the last twenty-four years, especially over the past two or three years. She answered Jennifer very slowly as if to think through each word she spoke. "I am no longer a young girl in love with a budding hero. I've seen a lot, I've experienced a lot these past twenty-four years. In some ways, I am happy with my life today. Yet I admit, that I have been lonely for many years. I have never lost my love for Bo even though I have no idea how he feels about me." "But what if he tells you that he still loves you Christine? What will you do then?" "I hope that I am strong enough to tell him that I still love him very much. That I have always loved him and that I have never loved anyone else." Jennifer was pressing now but seemed to realize that Christine wanted to confront what might very well happen. "Christine, if Bo asks you to marry him, will you?" Christine had come to the end of the road. Jennifer was only asking what Christine had dreamed about. "Jennifer, so many years have gone by, and we have lived such different lives." "Christine, will you marry Bo Wyoming if he proposes to you?" Christine knew her answer.