“Forever in Love”
Listen to “Jim’s Proposal”
Soon Jim came and, without a word, opened the door for her then got in on the other side and started the car. For the first time in all her life, she felt ill at ease with him.
Finally she said, with a trace of enthusiasm, “Congratulations, Jim.”
He looked at her and smiled in recognition. “Sorry I took so long to get out, but—man!—the publicity you get. I just couldn’t get away.”
Bonnie smiled and carried on the conversation, but somehow it didn’t seem the same.
Presently Jim stopped the car, got out, walked around and opened Bonnie’s door. He took her hand and whispered, “Want to go for a walk?”
If it surprised her, she didn’t show it. She got out and looked around. They were in the country, the same meadow where just 24 hours ago, they had walked hand in hand. But it seemed so long ago now, so far, far in the distant past. The moon was fuller tonight, silvering the green growing things and creating a half-mysterious, half-romantic atmosphere. The breeze barely stirred and the delicate scent of the peach blossoms was faint. Their conversation had ceased; and Bonnie, in the thick stillness, wanted to fall into Jim’s arms and cry and cry. But she knew she mustn’t let a teardrop escape her eyelids.
Jim spoke now and Bonnie listened, not knowing exactly how she should feel about everything. “They’ve made plane reservations for me for some time the last of next week, so I guess this time next week I’ll be in Salzburg. Professor Waldo wants me to take two summer courses.”
Jim would be gone in just one week? She realized it, but it was not as hard as she might have expected it to be. She only looked up into his eyes, and Jim smiled.
He continued talking about the courses he would take, what it would be like to study in a foreign country, the kind of teachers he might have, the books he would use, where he might work, and everything that had to do with his newly acquired future. And while he talked, so earnestly and happily, Bonnie’s mixed-up feelings turned into a mutual sharing of his happiness and a mature outlook on life—her life and Jim’s life—a courageous acceptance of losing him to Austria, and a genuine pride that her Jim was a master of tomorrow’s musical world.
Now they stood on a little knoll overlooking the meadow. To the left was the peach orchard, and to the right a little patch of woods. In the silence, they could hear the gurgling sound of a hidden brook. Jim dropped Bonnie’s hand and pointed straight ahead. In the same soft expressional tone, he said, “Do you see that uncleared land, that spot of ground ‘way over there?”
Bonnie looked.
“Someday,” he went on, slipping his arm around her, “that land will be plowed and cultivated. And nestled between the field and the orchard will be a rustic cottage with a white picket fence and red roses. And it will be waiting for two lucky people on their way home from Vienna.”
At this, Bonnie looked up at him.
He smiled in admiration at the innocent smile on her pretty face. His eyes showed a devoted affection just as hopeful as his dreams and as deep as the dedication to his music.
“Five years,” he continued, “isn’t so long when two are in love. We’ll date others, if you want, but I’m coming back to you, the wonderful girl who has made and will always make a wonderful life possible.”
“Me?” Bonnie chuckled a bit. “Make a wonderful life possible?”
He smiled, but his voice was still serious. “Your patience in practicing so much with me and helping me to win a start toward the life I want. Besides, all the encouragement and inspiration you have brought through the years I have known you—no other girl has kept me so close to God. Another thing”—and he chuckled a bit— “I thought maybe you would be a little resentful because of all your hard work in getting me ready to win the gold cup then having everything fly away to Austria—but you just aren’t like that.”
She blushed slightly and drew in a deep breath. How near she had been to being the very opposite, and how glad she was that she had said nothing!
She felt his hand on her shoulder as he drew her closer. “Bonnie, sweetheart, I love you,” he said simply. “Five years—we can do it—will you marry me then? Do you love me enough to?”
Her voice was choked with the unspilled tears of joy. “Yes, Jim,” she said calmly and sweetly, “I do.”
“Darling!” he whispered as his lips touched hers to seal the spoken vow. Bonnie could see in his eyes the fame, then the grassy valley—the heaven on earth for them. To him, her voice was the sound of music, the sound of a raptured theme, of church bells….
He spoke again. “And this is forever.”
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