When he learned the truth, Wendel scoffed, "Even if I lost a leg, I could still marry a woman a thousand times better than you. Who do you think you are?"
But within a year, he regretted his decision to the point of madness.
He chased her all the way to Nashville, his eyes red with desperation. "Please, come home with me, Iris."
Iris only smiled. "Home? What home? This is my home."
——
"Iris, stay and work at the factory. Give up your spot for school to Esther, and I'll marry you."
Hearing that familiar sentence again, Iris felt her entire body tremble.
She looked around in shock.
She was standing outside a post office—one that hadn't existed in decades. In her hand was a piece of letter paper.
It suddenly hit her.
This was the summer of 1989.
She was twenty years old.
And today... today was the day she had made the worst decision of her life—giving up her education for Wendel's first love.
Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down.