Chapter 12

Bill and Roma decided to spend the next day away from the Board family. They had so much to talk over. They met early in the morning and walked around the town 'till noon. Roma showed Bill every little change that occurred when he was not there: this house got repainted, there was a new shop around this corner, that old lady over there was very proud of her new grandchild, that tree got cut down and another one was planted in another part of the town. None of this was really important. They just enjoyed each other's company and the beauty of that day.

After walking for a couple of hours they dropped by the gallery where Roma's paintings were sold. Then they decided to go to their favorite restaurant.



They ate, talked and laughed. After the meal they danced, just like they used to.




When the song ended, Bill took a step back, dropped on one knee, drew a small ring out of his pocket and proposed to Roma.



He told her that he can't live without her and that she's the most beautiful, intelligent, funny and unique girl he had ever met and that he would like to spend the rest of his life with her. Roma was so happy she almost burst into tears and couldn't say a word, so she just nodded.

Chapter 11

It was Founders' Day again – the holiday to commemorate the first settlers coming to this area. On that day every citizen of Challengeville spent time with their family. Eating salmon for dinner was a well established tradition. It was so because salmon was almost the only edible thing the settlers could find in the area. After a couple of months they grew sick of it and couldn't even stand the smell of it. Although with time it became a treat, eating it on that one day reminded everyone in Challengeville what their ancestors went through.

This year the celebrations were different for the Board family. Nora, the mother of Bill, Bella and their younger brother Henryk, was growing old and more and more weary.



The whole family decided to go to the restaurant so that she wouldn't spend the whole day in the kitchen preparing the dinner.

Bill and Bella had a week-long break and came home to celebrate and spend some time with family and friends. Roma was overwhelmed with happiness. It was so hard for her to live there alone and have almost nothing to do apart from painting.



Every day she would get up in the morning and count the minutes until Bill came back to his dorm after classes and she could call him. They talked on the phone for hours, but that just was not enough. She missed his closeness, his touch, talking late into the night, holding hands... She missed the good old days when she could just walk out of her house and after ten minutes ring the bell in Bill's house because she just had to see him. She missed him insanely, but she did not regret not going to the university.

It must have been either the atmosphere of the day, or Bella finally started to grow up and realize that, whether she likes it or not, her brother was very much in love with Roma and that probably was not going to change anytime soon. She was not exactly friendly, but at least more civilized towards Roma.

The rest of the family already knew and liked the girl.



Even after Bill went to the university she was a quite frequent and welcome visitor. Nora and Chip treated her like a daughter and often invited her over for dinner.