We ordered our drinks and I tried not to frown when they ordered a bottle of wine. Both of them looked different tonight. Mom looked so young, in her gauzy beach dress, her hair pulled back at the temples in a ponytail and the rest was loose on her shoulders. She had gotten some sunshine today and her skin was slightly red, but I knew she tanned easily and by tomorrow she’d be brown. Her smooth, tanned legs were crossed at the knee and casually swinging her sandaled foot in the night air.
David was impressive. I guess he always was, but I had no reason to notice him before. Now I studied him carefully as he smiled and laughed and occasionally reached over and stroked my mother’s arm. He was slightly taller than Micah, but the closer I inspected, I realized Micah had a bit of a muscular advantage over his brother. What impressed me the most was the fact that David was completely devoid of vulgarity and crudeness. He was proving he could be a gentleman when necessary, and I liked that side of him. My only problem was forgetting his other side.
“Where’s Kimmy,” I finally asked as the appetizers were brought to the table.
“They have a pool-side movie night,” Mom answered, with the slightest hint of a grin, “she’ll be there until about nine or nine thirty.”
“By herself?” I was hoping I was wrong.
“Leese, she’s six years old, of course she has someone with her.”
“The hotel offers babysitting?” Micah asked.
“Yeah, but not this late,” David responded before Mom could answer, “A friend of Leese’s offered, so we decided to take him up on it.”
“Him?” I said, clearly confused as to who was watching my little sister.
“Ryan,” Mom clarified, “We asked him if he’d like to join us for dinner, but he offered to entertain Kimmy instead.”
The conversation around the table continued, but all the while I thought about Ryan’s tall, tattooed, macho persona sitting through a Disney film surrounded by small children, all to provide a quiet evening for my mother and a guy who looked a lot like my husband.
“Did you tell him Micah and I were joining you for dinner?” I asked, completely out of sync with what was being discussed.
Mom took a sip of her wine and put the glass back on the table, “Actually, yes, I think I did mention that to him.”
I could see from the corner of my eye Micah was studying my face, so I looked at him and tried a smile. It still bothered me to think that Ryan, who should be scoping out the cute girls at the resort or on the beach, was instead ‘babysitting.’
Mom and David ordered light from the menu and were soon excusing themselves from our company. I watched David place his arm around her shoulders as she leaned her head against him and they walked away. I felt a light touch on my arm.
“Are you okay?”
“They’re both happy. I don’t know how I couldn’t be okay with that,” I sighed.
He leaned over and kissed my cheek, “Why does Ryan watching Kimmy bother you so much?”
I rolled my eyes, “It doesn’t bother-”
“Leese,” he said, eyebrows rising as if to say to think twice before uttering a lie.
“He should be finding a date, not covering so someone else can have one,” I confessed.
“He’s a big boy. Maybe he wanted to meet a single mom at the pool and Kimmy was his ticket to do that,” he gave a light laugh.
I frowned without thinking, “He’s not that kind of guy.”
“I’m trying hard not to be a jealous person, but you might give me a complex if you spend much more brain power on Ryan instead of me.” There was no teasing to his statement.
I knew he was right. It had only been twenty-four hours since we said I do and the only person on my mind should be him. I gave him a sultry smile, “If I start thinking about you, we might be clearing the table for a little public exhibition.”
“You know a hit man has to be discreet, but you could probably talk me into that one.”
I could tell he was happy the subject was back on the two of us. After our meal, we walked along the shoreline and talked about the future, our future. We discussed houses and neighborhoods, states and relatives. We had been brought and kept together under such unusual circumstances that it was an odd feeling to enter a realm of normalcy.
We stopped and sat on the hard packed sand as the conversation ended and the tender kissing and cuddling began. I think if it hadn’t been for the occasional beach walkers, he would have taken me right there, but instead he had to use some of the restraint that we had once been so good at.
“Are you ready to go back upstairs?” he whispered, his deep green eyes sparkling as the moonlight refracted off the white sand.
I nodded, staring into that perfect face and then suddenly found myself becoming overwhelmed with emotion, and the tears began to course down my cheeks.
“Annalisa, what’s wrong?”
“I-I don’t know,” I answered as he tried to wipe away my tears, “all of a sudden, I’m afraid.”
“Of me?” he said, clearly shocked.
“No-of course not,” I sobbed. “It’s just my nightmare-”
“You’re still having that? I thought it was over when I moved into your mom’s house.”
“It’s come back lately and I’m just afraid that something is going to ruin what we have.”
He pulled me against his chest, “God, Leese, you’re about to shake apart. You really are scared, aren’t you? Baby, I won’t let anything come between us.”
He was trying to assure me he could keep us together by his own strength, but what he must have forgotten was that it was me in the dream that ran away. I pressed my face against his crisp cotton dress shirt, inhaling his Polo Double-Black cologne and relaxing in his grip.
“I know how you feel, though,” he admitted, as he held me. “It so perfect between us, and I’ve done so much wrong in my life that I can’t believe I deserve to have you. But the hard part is over with; you are my wife and I’m not letting go of you.” He reached under my chin and placed a slow, sweet kiss on my mouth, “Are you ready to go back inside?”
“Yes.”
It was a long night spent in his arms. The love was so gentle and I was so emotional that I must have pulled him into the emotions as well; several times he was overcome. It was the most sensual night we shared yet, touching, stroking, kissing, and needing each other on a level so deep it went beyond the physical and moved into a realm of spiritual. The sky was just beginning to show signs of dawn when we finally fell asleep in each other’s arms.
It was two in the afternoon, before I felt him stir beside me. He rolled out and went to the bathroom as I pulled the sheets tightly around myself and wiggled into the warm place he’d left in the bed. He returned and placed a kiss on my bare shoulder, sending goose bumps down my arm.
I tried to get up, but he grabbed me before I could escape, “Micah, I’ve got to go pee-let me go, baby.”
He laughed, but obeyed my request.
“How about break-I mean, how about lunch?” he called out to me. “I’ll have it sent up to our room.”
I was absolutely starving, but (apparently just like him) I didn’t want to dress and leave the room.
Lunch was ordered and we enjoyed our meal in privacy until our room phone rang; it was his family. They were leaving to fly back to Louisiana within the hour and wanted a chance to say goodbye. We dressed and tidied up the room for their visit. We only spoke briefly, and Giorgio confirmed Micah would be joining him the week after we returned from Hawaii to go inspect some prospective businesses. Celeste and Gwen each gave me a teary hug goodbye, but I assured them we would be coming to New Orleans in the next few months to look for a house. Celeste said she would start the search and let us know if she found something suitable.