"Come back to Merritt Falls tomorrow," he said instead. "For leftovers. My mother's making turkey tetrazzini, and she's going to want to tell you the story about Mr. Dombrowski herself, and she'll be hurt if I've already told it. And Hal's coming. I think Hal is courting my mother."
"Hal is definitely courting your mother," said Delia. "He told me so in the car. All the way to Stamford. Between innings."
"Come back," said Wes. "Please. Not as Linda. Not as anybody. Just come back."
Behind her, dryer number nine buzzed and shuddered and fell still.
"I have to fold my laundry first," said Delia Hart.
He helped her fold it.
---
He gave her the ring on Christmas Eve, in front of the fireplace in the wood-paneled dining room, with the taper candles lit and the windows frosted over and his mother very conspicuously washing the same gravy boat in the kitchen for forty-five minutes. He did not get down on one knee, because Delia had said once, in passing, that she thought kneeling was for church and for tying shoes. He just took the green velvet box out of his pocket and opened it and held it out on his palm, the way he had held out the franc, and said her name.
This time she believed him.