Midnight Sun (40 page)

“
At
a
high
school
track
meet
in
1984.
”

“
Really?
And
you've
been
together
since?
”

“
No.
”
Lonnie
looked
out
the
window,
let
out
a
sigh,
and
adjusted
her
position
in
a
fruitless
search
to
find
a
point
both
she
and
the
baby
agreed
was
comfortable.
“
We
fell
apart
for
a
long
time—nearly fifteen
years.
”

“
Fifteen
years?
”
Hilde
’
s
eyes
went
wide
as
she
turned
to
look
at
her.
“
What
brought
you
back
together?
”

“
Fate.
”
Lonnie
put
her
hand
on
her
belly,
remembering.
“
Marcus
proposed
to
me
in
1989.
He
was
stationed
in
Norway
at
the
time,
and
had
invited
me
to
join
him
to
watch
the
Berlin
Wall
come
down.
He
had
a
ring
and
everything,
and
I
wanted
to
marry
him.
But
selfish
me,
I
was
not
willing
to
share
my
husband
with
the
Marines.
I
didn
’
t
want
a
chaplain
coming
by
to
tell
me
how
my
husband
was
a
great
hero
who
gave
his
life
for
the
glory
of
the
Corps,
saving
some
third-world
village
in
a
country
I'd
never
heard
of.
”

“
That
’
s
not
selfish.
”
Hilde
turned
to
look
back
out
her
window
toward
the
road.
“T
hat
’
s
very
understandable,
actually.
”

“
I
guess,
”
Lonnie
said.
“
Marcus
was
a
very
good
Marine.
As I understand it, h
e
and
Mike
worked
together
pretty
frequently
around
that
time.
Anyway,
we
kind
of
broke
up
shortly
after
that.
I
mean,
he
still
wrote
to
me
and
all,
love
letters,
even
poetry,
trying
to
woo
me
to
change
my
mind.
And
I
kept
waiting
for
him
to
come
to
his
senses
and
get
a
normal
job.
Neither
of
us
was
willing
to
change,
though,
me
especially.
He
was
experiencing
a
pure
adrenaline
lifestyle
in
the
Marines,
jaunting
around
the
world
to
wars
that
never
made
the
evening
news while
I
had
my
'normal
job'
teaching
math
to
bunch
of
hormone-crazed
teenagers at my old
high
school
in
Fairbanks.
”

“
You
were
a
high
school
teacher?
”

“
Yeah,
nearly
five
years.
”

“
Me
too,
”
Hilde
said.
“
Not
that
long,
though.
After
two
years,
I
couldn
’
t
stand
it.
The
boys
seemed
to
be
unlike
any
kids
I
remembered
from
school—one half
of them were
stoned
out
of
their
minds
all
the
time
in
class,
and
the other half
seemed
to
think
they
had
a
chance
of
sleeping with me
.
”

“
You
should
’
ve
learned
the
evil
Korean
Ajumma
stare,
”
Lonnie
said.
She
turned
toward
Hilde
and
froze
her
face
into
an
expression
that
could
make
a
grown
man
begin to stutter
in
fear.
She
only
held
it
for
moment
before
softening
back
up,
her
face
brightening
with
a
grin,
a
mischievous
sparkle
in
her
eyes.
“
The
boys
were
all
too
terrified
to
flirt
with
me.
”