It had been almost a year since Allie had talked to Noah. She just didn't know what she could possibly tell him. She could never tell him how her marriage was going. The ceremony had been so perfect. It was held at the church Allie attended every Sunday with her mother and father ever since she was three. Lon was in his his gray suit, the bridesmaids were in plae yellow lacey dresses, and as she walked down the aisle, her father holding her hand, wearing her amazing white wedding dress with lace sleeves, all the admirers in their seats smiled at her. The reception was so perfect, in the big lawn of her father's mansion, under a big draped white tent, but all she could do was sit at her table, looking down at the ground, thinking of how her life would have been had she chosen Noah, and when her bridesmaids insist she dance, she would shake her head and say she wasn't feeling very well. Lawn knew what was going on in her mind, but he couldn't face it.
At first, Allie lived in her family's mansion and Lon in his, until Lon found a cozy little house overlooking the ocean. Five bedroom, four bathroom, a kitchen, a sitting room, a tea room, a sunroom, a deck.
The first thing Allie wanted when they moved in was to start a family. Lon didn't necessarily want to be a father; he was afraid his kids would associate him as the father who was never there or the father who didn't care, and he was neither of those things. He was just so consumed with the family business, that he didn't have time.He was the investments manager at Hammond cotton, a job he took on after his fathers' death soon after Lon and Allie's marriage. And he wasn't sure he was prepared to become a father, but seeing Allie's smile whenever he mentioned a family made him want to do it, just for her. So he cut hours out of his work hours and of his employees' work hours to come home early so that Allie and Lon could try to get her pregnant. And they tried. And tried. And tried. Eventually, Lon and Allie decided it was time to ask for the doctor's advice. The doctor said he simply didn't know what could be going wrong, so they didn't give up.
Lon did get Allie pregnant, though. She was so thrilled, and Lon was so thrilled that she was thrilled. But soon after, she lost the baby. The doctors couldn't figure out what had possibly gone wrong, so Allie insisted they keep trying. But Lon was exhausted. After a long time of trying and trying and failure after each attempt, Lon decided it just wasn't going to work.
Allie was devastated. She no longer spoke. She no longer smiled. She barely ate. She would just sit there, in her house, thinking. Lon couldn't stand to see her like this. So, he gave his employees and himself later working hours, so that he could get home and go to bed, then wake up and never go to work, all without having to interact with Allie.
Allie decided it was time to see Noah again. To see what had happened to him. To get a chance to see what could have been her fate. To experience her possible fate had she decided she was going to be with Noah.
