Page 61 of Shelter for Martina

“Hmmm?”

“Are you happy?”

He smiled, even though she couldn’t see it, and he hoped she could hear it in his voice. “Happiest I’ve ever been in my life.”

There was hesitation in her voice when she asked, “Even with my fuzzy hair?”

Bud sighed and turned the light on, then sat up and looked straight into her eyes. “I’m going to tell you what I told Becky when the chemo made her bald. And I don’t mean shaved like yours—I meanbald. I told her that her bald head was beautiful because it meant she was working hard to hang on for me. I’m going to tell you the same thing. Every time I look at your hair, I think about how I might not be here to see it if you hadn’t sacrificed yourself for me. And you did. What you did was selfless and brave. I won’t ever forget that. So that hair? Baby, to me, that hair is beautiful. There’s never been more beautiful hair in all the world. So would youpleasequit worrying about it, my lovely wife?”

She giggled. “Okay. I’ll try.”

“Good. It’ll grow back.”

He turned off the light and slid back down into the bed. In a minute, she said, “Albert?”

Oh, lord, what now?he wondered. “Yeah?”

“I love you.”

He smiled again in the darkness and squeezed her against him. “I love you too, little girl. I love you too.”

*