Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem novel Chapter 1568

Keaton took a drag from his cigarette and continued, "The first love letter I ever wrote was to her. The first time I ever really held a girl's hand, hugged a girl, it was with her."

"I even kissed her. I didn't dare go for anything deep, just a peck on the lips. Back then, we'd call it 'sealing the deal' or something goofy like that."

"Just from that, I was so excited I couldn't sleep the whole night."

"The next day, I found her and told her, 'I kissed you, so now you're my girl. I promise, I'm going to marry you someday!'"

"I was young, I hadn't been beaten down by love yet. My love was pure, and it was serious."

"I was so protective of her. I wanted to take care of her, to be good to her."

"I tried every trick I could think of at the time to make a girl happy, all on her."

"I turned down every girl who had a crush on me. All I could see was her."

"I even decided I wasn't going back to Jindale City. I was going to stay there with her, take care of her, and build a life there after I grew up."

"For our future, I secretly took all my savings—my allowance, birthday money, everything I'd saved since I was a kid—and used it to anonymously sponsor her education."

"I also anonymously promised her that she wouldn't have to worry about tuition or living expenses ever again, that she'd be sponsored all the way through college, even if she wanted to study abroad."

"I did it anonymously so she wouldn't feel burdened. I was afraid if she knew how well-off my family was, she'd feel insecure and pressured."

"I wanted her to go to school so we could be together forever. She was only a teenager; she belonged in school."

"I figured getting an education was a better path for her than selling fruit with her relatives. And only if she went back to school could I see her every day—middle school, high school, college..."

"Sigh... I really loved her back then. I would have died for her. I'd even picked out names for our future kids..."

Keaton took a long drag of his cigarette, his eyes tracking the sweep of the lighthouse beam as a shadow of old, familiar pain settled over his features. "But then... she fell for someone else."

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