第7章爱是一生的约定（6）
我们回到康尼的病房。比尔进去了，我去看另一个病人了。而后，我看见比尔坐到床边，握着睡熟中的康尼的一只手。那天是2月12日。
两天后的中午，我沿着收容所病房过道走着。我看到比尔靠墙站在那儿，目光呆滞地看着地面。我已经从护士那儿得知，康尼上午11时走了。
比尔看到我，扑到我怀里哭了许久。他满脸泪痕，全身颤抖。后来，他向后倚在墙上，深深地吸了口气。
“我有些话要说，”他说道，“而且非说不可，我想说，能够告诉她真的感觉好极了。”他顿了顿，吸了吸鼻子。“你说的话，让我想了很多；今天早上我对她说了，我非常爱她，我为能娶到她而感到幸福。你真该看看她那时灿烂的笑容！”
我去了康尼的病房，与她道别。我看到床头柜上放着一张大大的情人节贺卡，那是比尔送给她的。那张满载着浓情蜜意的贺卡上写着：“献给我的爱妻我爱你！”
梦想之舟
BrokenPromises
佚名Anonymous
"Sheesh！Givemeafewpoirol！"Ismykyhusband。IwaopataspoingOutofBusi;salewepassedinthemall。"There'snothi;，hisusualgrumpymaleent。"It'salloverprik。Iftheyhadanythinggoodtheywouldn'tbegoingoutofbusi;
"But，it&#oods，"Iwheedled。"couldbesomegooddealsfrandkids。And，youlikeboatsandfishingstuff。I'veputuphotoofyour'dream-oe'stuthebathroommirrorforyearsnow。Maybeyou'denjoyjustlookingaround？"
"Areyoucrazy？"hiseyesgotfunnyandhesaidsomethiheboatIwantistheSupremoNumero-Unoblah-blah。SoonasIfinishsavingup6000bucksforthatbabyI'mghtfromthemaom。Ihisloserstorewouldn'tethi。AndI&#oihosesuckercrowds。"
"You'resativeandb！"Iretorted。"Ihappentolikecrowds。TheymakemefeellikeI'mpartofsomething。IpromiseIwon'tbuyanythingbutI'mgoingtolookaroundforfunanyways。YougofordI'llmeetyoubahalfanhour。"
"Don'tmakepromisesyou'tkeep，oldgirl。"Hechuthatself-satisfied"I'llbelieveitwhe;waythatalwaysgetsmeriled。"Iknowytoeoutoftherewithuselessjunk。Youalwaysdo。"
Hiswordsmadememad。Howdareheaccusemeofbeingfrivolous！Ipridedmyselfonbeingawiseshopper。Ihadadarngoodnainsachedepensionslikenobody'sbusiness。NowIhadamadon，that'sforsure。"Boy，I'llshowhim。"IpromisedmyselfIwouldnotbuyadarnthing，。Ha！Iwouldn'tgiveMr。Know-It-Allsmarty-paogloat。
Isquaredmydmartothecrowdedstore。Aislesandaislesofhockeyequipmeballs，golfclubs，exerciseequipment，fishioysgalwithhugeblaringsigns。GOUTSALE—Upto80%OFF。NOREFUNDS。
UpanddowntheaislesIstrolled，duddodged，hummingtomyselfahefreiergyaofasale。
Allofasuddehebackofthestleamingsilver，fulloflifejackets，paddlesandfishingstuff，sattheexayhusband'spicture。Igaspedaimes。Yup。Itwasstillthere。TheSupremoNumero-Unoblah，blah。Myheartbeatwildly。Ielbowedmywaythroughthecrowds，scrambledoverjunkintheaislesanddarnedheoelookiag。
&wasalittletattered，withthemanufacturer'ssuggestedretailpriceat$6750plustaxcrossedoutandahaOCLEAR$750ASIS。URNS。Mustbeamistake。$6000off？Salesman。Ihadtotalktoasalesman。
Ispottedayouha"Hi。I'mMathew&qutohideoutfromthemainhunters。Iclutchedhissleeve。"Mathew。TellmeaboutthisElSupremooe。What&#withit？Whyisitonly$750？"
"Oh。There'snwithit。It'sbrandnew。We&#thestore。Thatisall。It'soncelikeeverythihinkthatincludeslifejackets，paddlesandabunchoffishioo。I'llgocheck。"
&eslaterhecamebadsaid，"I'msorryma'am。Someoakeo'ssupposedtobe$4750forthewholepackage。IjusttalkedtomyDadwhtheclose-out。Hesaiditwasworthmorethan$8ularpricesoit'sstillarealgooddeal。"
&earswellupi;Ohwell"，Isaidsadly。"Ofcourse，itwastoogoodtobetrue。Thisisexactlylikemyhusband'sdreamboat。IguessIstartedtodreammyselfricetag。He'sgoingtobe62yearsoldFriday。Hadtoretireearlyforhishealth。It'sbeenhardonjustthepensioubbornoldfoolhasbeensaving$10everyweekforyearstobuyolikethis。Justanoldman'ssillydream，youknow。Alwayssaidhewaospeoutfishingi;myvoicetrailedoffandIturnedand>
Iwasalreadyatthemalldoorwheupwithme。"Doyouhave$750plus$25fordeliveryandabitmorefortax，ma'am？"Igasped。"Yes。Yes。That'saboutallIhave，"IsaidasIthoughtfleetinglyaboutthecataractsurgeryIfor。
"Wellthen，youjusthaveyourhusbandsittiporFridaymaround10o'clocksohebetherewhenmyDadaounloadhis。We'llevenputabowonitforhisbirthday。"
Istartedtocry。MyoldhandshookandIhadtosquintasIwroteoutmycheque。Matheedhard。
"Ma'am。There'ssomethingyoushouldknow。Thisstorea's。Heranitformorethan30years。Healromisedtoretireoneday。Saidhewaospendtimerelaxingandoutfishinginaoe。Heorderedthisoom，forhimselflastyearbut，well，justhetimeofftouseit。"
Heswallowedeve;MyGrandpadied，suddelastweek。Hewasonly68yearsold。Ithinkhe'dbemightyhappythatyourhusbahishereyDadthinkssotoo。Youjusthavetomakesureheusesitalot，okay？Promise？"
IhahewaKleeheretogether，quietlylostinourownthoughtsforamoment，blowingournoses。
"Ipromise！"IsaidasIdashedofftolookformydears>
“烦死了，为什么要约束自己！”我冲着脾气暴躁的丈夫嚷道。经过大卖场时，碰巧一家体育用品商店停业大甩卖，我想进去看看，里面有没有我们需要的东西。他用一贯暴躁的男人腔调抱怨道，“都是些昂贵的垃圾，要是有好东西，就不会停业了。”