Part 3:

“I expected something like this from her. But not from you.”

“Margaret, let me explain.”

I refused to listen.

I stormed out of the house, my supposedly injured leg suddenly beginning to ache with every step.

“Margaret, wait!” Peter shouted as he followed me.

I spun around.

“What could you possibly say? I am too old to be treated like someone’s joke.”

“I told Kate I did not want her record player!” he shouted. “I told her I only wanted you.”

“That does not change the fact that you accepted the deal in the beginning.”

“Because you were unbearable!”

I stared at him.

He took a breath and softened his voice.

“Or at least that was what I believed. I heard you constantly correcting Kate and telling her how to run her own home. I assumed you were impossible.”

He stepped closer.

“But I was no better. I was bitter, isolated and angry at the world. You changed that. You made me laugh again. You brought music and warmth back into my house.”

My anger began to weaken, though I did not want him to see it.

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because I fell in love with you, Margaret.”

His expression was completely serious.

“I fell in love with the stubborn, meticulous woman who always believes she is right. I also fell in love with the woman who remembers my favourite songs, cooks meals that feel like home and cares more deeply than she is willing to admit.”

Tears gathered in my eyes.

The truth was that I had fallen in love with him too.

No matter how furious I was, my feelings would not allow me to walk away.

Peter gently brushed a tear from my cheek.

“I am sorry I hurt you. Please give me another chance.”

I slowly nodded.

“Very well. But you are still accepting that record player from Kate.”

Peter looked surprised.

“We will need it for our music,” I added.

He laughed, relief spreading across his face.

From that Thanksgiving onward, Peter and I were inseparable.

Every year, we celebrated the holiday together while jazz played from the record player that had once been offered as part of a ridiculous scheme.

The plan may have begun with deception, but the love that followed was real.

And with every song, it only grew stronger.