As the years passed Elaine's scent did fade, but so did the void within Bianca. A stunning 19 year old woman now with her fathers chisold cheekbones and mothers straight blonde locks she had no lack of admirers, but she was very happily involved with Tyler Holt, a 24 year old law student at the university of Mississippi. She and June had gone to a college party in Oxford and she had met him there shortly after she graduated from water valley high school the year before, she had eyes for only him ever since. Bianca was working in the mailroom for a large insurance agency in Oxford and she and June were both taking classes at ole miss. They were renting a small two bedroom house near the university and loving every moment of their exciting college life. It was a far cry from life in Paris Mississippi where Bianca and June grew up, a town so small that they had to attend highschool 10 miles away in Water Valley. Shane worked for a web development company in Oxford and didn't mind the commute. He never had a need or desire for the higher cost of living or conveniences offered by living in a bigger city, he had inherited their home from his parents who had built it as a retirement home in the late 80s when someone decided that Paris Mississippi was a charming place but the population had declined by half since then and nobody finds Paris charming anymore, including Bianca. Mr. And Mrs. Shelt, Shane's parents had passed away before they had a chance to ever move into the Paris home full time. When they passed, first his mother of a heart attack, then his father of a massive stroke, Shane sold the home he grew up in in Jackson and paid off the remaining note on the Paris home. He tucked the left over money away and this allowed for a very comfortable life for Him while he finished trade school and began his career. Shane had met Elaine in much the same way that Bianca had met Tyler an ole miss party, a short four weeks later the lovers eloped and Elaine left university Mississippi, and the university Mississippi to move to Paris with Shane and pursue a career in freelance writing, a career that never yielded a single paycheck for the Shelk household, but they were happy, and two years later they welcomed their only daughter Bianca Shelk into the world on a warm September morning. And they all lived happily ever after until the uterine cancer diagnosis. Bianca was twelve when Elaine was diagnosed, she had no idea how serious it was or that her mother was dying until months after that initial blow, but she knew now that Elaine had know the prognosis was terminal right away and had kept it to herself until she became too sick to hide it any longer, not even Shane knew how sick she really was at first. Elaine told him later that she hadn't wanted to sully her last healthy looking months with her family unnecessarily. Bianca always resented this somewhat she had a list of things she would have said and done differently if she had known sooner. She tried not to think of that too often these days but try as she might to forget that, it always worked its way out of her mind and onto her heart.
Bianca visited home regularly, and would meet with Shane for lunch several times a week. Shane had kept his promise to Elaine and had made Bianca the center of his universe. There had not been any other women in Shane's life since Elaine's death, not in any real way. He would go on an occasional date, even saw April Bettles briefly after her husband left her for his publisher 5 years ago, but that relationship was more about two lonely friends who had daughters that were friends than any kind of real attraction for Shane. Fortunately despite the attraction being one sided on Aprils behalf, the friendship she had forged with him over the years was important enough to her to be a good sport when he broke things off romantically, and while she would jump at the opportunity to rekindle it, she was content just being his friend. Shane remained every bit the handsome man he always had been. The years seemed to pass him over without punishing him with a single grey hair or deep wrinkle. His eyesight had gotten much worse over the years, but the stronger eyeglass prescription was undectable in his same, classic tortoise shell frames even still he no longer drove after dark, he said he simply didn't trust his depth perception but Bianca suspected he just preferred to spend his evenings at home.
Bianca didn't find it strange that Shane hadn't been interested in remarrying. She didn't see anything abnormal about her mother having been the only possible soul mate for him. He had been her best friend and biggest champion. She couldn't recall one instance when he had been cross with her, and she did everything possible to keep it that way. Until Bianca had met Tyler the beautiful girl and her handsome father were single and nearly inseparable.
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