Timing Is Everything

by Steinsiek, Sabra Brown;

  * * *

  “You did what?” Beth was sure that she hadn’t heard Laura correctly.

  “I signed a contract to go to Italy right after the first of the year. Yes, Italy. Specifically, the Mediterranean, where Taylor is.”

  “Have you lost your mind, Laura? He’s broken your heart twice now. You’re giving him a chance to do it again?”

  Laura got up from the couch and picked up the wine bottle on the table. She was grateful she’d had the foresight to invite Beth here to tell her instead of some place public. Refilling Beth’s glass, she said, “You don’t know all of it, Beth.”

  “I know enough to know that I don’t want you hurt again.” Beth had never forgiven herself for her part in Taylor’s second try at Laura.

  “I need to tell you the parts you don’t know. Annie was dying, Beth. That’s why he went back to Tampa at the end of the tour. He didn’t go back to marry Annie, but that’s what happened.”

  Beth was silent—stunned—as Laura told her the rest of the story.

  “I didn’t know any of it until after Annie died. I wouldn’t speak to Taylor and I never let him explain his side of it. I jumped to all the same conclusions that everyone else did. Annie’s letter changed all that. I’m still in love with him, Beth, and I’m tired of waiting to see if he feels the same. For once in my life, I’m going after what I want. No one, including you, is going to change my mind.”

  Beth reached out and took Laura’s hand. “What if Annie was wrong? What if he doesn’t care about you? Can you handle being hurt again?”

  “There are no guarantees in life, Beth. I’ve quit looking for them. All I know is that I love Taylor Morgan, and I’m not willing to let him go without a fight.”

  Beth could see she was determined. Laura had survived so much this year, and she was stronger for it. Still, Beth knew there was one more piece of information that Laura needed as she began her search.

  “Laura…I have to tell you something.” Laura was surprised at Beth’s tension. What could she possibly have to say that put such fear in her eyes?

  “Beth? It can’t be that bad, whatever it is!”

  “Taylor knows what Cary did to you.” There was no way to sugarcoat it, so Beth blurted it out all at once. “He came out here looking for you the day after Cary… He had heard you and me talking about Cary at Posadas. To make it worse, he heard two of Mom’s friends talking about how you were going to marry Cary. So, he removed himself from the picture.”

  “How do you know all of this?” Laura asked quietly.

  “Taylor told me,” she said as she went on to tell her the details of Taylor’s visit that had come just a few days too late. “Laura, I told him about Cary. I know I shouldn’t have. It wasn’t my right but I was so worried about you…” Beth began to cry.

  He’d known. All those weeks on the tour, he’d known. Looking back, she could see that he’d used the information to make things easier for them. He’d courted her, giving her the space and time to heal and learn to love again.

  “Laura? Please, say something! Are we still friends or not?” Beth’s tearstained face looked at her pleadingly.

  “I love you, Beth Wilkins!” she said as she folded her best friend in an enormous hug.

  Chapter 57

  Laura,

  Meg is an angel. At least she is in the pageant that the school is presenting next week. And she’s the only angel to have a line. She’s the one who speaks to the shepherds, then to Mary and Joseph. And she will be doing it in Italian, too. I’m rather proud of her. Of course, Betta is also an angel, which is lucky for me since Rosina has taken on the job of making their costumes.

  I’ve found myself thinking a lot about last Christmas as this one approaches. I really had a wonderful time. I think I may have talked Mother Superior into letting me do farolitos for the church entrance on the night of the pageant. She seemed rather intrigued by the description I gave her. The chapel at the convent is at least a century old, and I think the farolitos will give it a special charm.

  Please, wish your parents and Beth a Merry Christmas for me. We will be thinking of you here.

  Taylor

  * * *

  Taylor finished lighting the last farolito as the last of the sunset glow faded. The simple little lanterns stretched from the chapel door down the walk and across the front of the fence that framed the church. They looked like they belonged here, and he was pleased he had been able to talk Mother Caterina into letting him do it. As if summoned by his thoughts, she spoke from behind him. “They are lovely, Mr. Morgan. I can see why you wanted to have them. They were a tradition for you and your family?”

  “No, Mother, I only saw them for the first time last year when I was visiting a friend in New Mexico. They have been a tradition there for many years.”

  “How are you and our Megan doing this holiday? It must be very hard for you, all of these first holidays without your wife.”

  “It is, Mother. Annie and I were only married for a few months, but we had been best friends for years. I miss her every day, but it’s harder at all of these special times.”

  “The friend you visited last year? She’s someone special to you?”

  “Yes…but how did you know my friend was a ‘she’?”

  “It was in your voice and in your eyes, Mr. Morgan,” she said with a gentle smile.

  “You must think I’m terrible… to be interested in someone so soon after losing my wife?”

  “No,” she smiled as she gently shook her head, “I think it’s a good sign that you are ready to get on with living. Your Annie would have wanted that, I imagine.”

  “You’re very wise, Mother.”

  She came over and took his hand in hers. “If you go, we will miss Megan terribly. Betta will be lost, but maybe it’s time you and Megan went home.” She made the sign of the cross on his forehead. “Bless you, my son.”

  As she faded into the night, Taylor realized she was right. It was time to go home…wherever that was. It didn’t mean they would never come back here, but it was time to get on with their lives. He saw Betta’s family—including Meg—coming down the walk, the girls faintly luminous in their white robes, and he hurried to greet them.

  The pageant was a success. Meg delivered her line in flawless Italian, much to the delight of her surrogate family. With no school tomorrow, actually no school for the next month, Meg was staying the night with Betta.

  Taylor had been distracted through most of it. Before the play had started, he’d had a long conversation with Rosina and Matteo. Receiving their approval for his plan, he now had one phone call to make. After figuring the time difference, he picked up the phone and dialed.

  * * *

  Laura had been busy all day with preparations for Las Posadas. She couldn’t help thinking about last year and what almost happened. She hadn’t heard from Taylor in more than a week. She was beginning to think that he was going to stay in Europe forever, and she was starting to get cold feet about her plans to find him. It was all so depressing. If all of this didn’t mean so much to her parents, she’d just go home and sulk all evening. Instead, she filled the last of the brown paper bags with sand.

  Her mother had been distracted all day, her thoughts far away. Laura, sure she was thinking of Tomás, didn’t question her. She was having enough trouble already with her own emotions this year.

  As she straightened up and stretched, her father came out and said, “Go on over to the beginning, Laura. I’ll finish up here.”

  “Oh, Dad, I think I just want to stay here tonight.”

  “Nonsense! You haven’t missed a procession in years. Besides, there’s Beth waiting for you.”

  Waving at her friend, Laura got her heavy coat and pulled it on over her sweater and jeans. Picking up her gloves, she called ‘goodbye’ to her mother, kissed her father, and walked over to
Beth.

  The two women started over to the house where the procession would begin. This year the procession would end at Beth’s, so she’d been working with her mother all day to prepare.

  “I don’t know about you, girlfriend,” Beth said, “but I’m getting too old to do all of this!”

  Laura laughed. “Me, too! But it would be a strange Christmas without it, don’t you think?”

  “How are you doing, Laura?” Beth thought of what a rough year it had been. Laura had always had trouble with change, and there had certainly been a lot of that in her life this year.

  “I’m ok, Beth. I’ll be glad when this year is finally over. It’s not been one of the best.”

  “You’ve made it through it, though… and in one piece! I probably haven’t told you, but I am very proud of you. Someone else would have crumbled under all of this.”

  Laura stopped and said quietly, “I couldn’t have done it without you, Beth. Thank you for taking care of me.”

  * * *

  Laura was soon caught up in the magic of Las Posadas. Even with the memory of Taylor beside her, she still loved the tradition of the ages-old story and music. When they came to her own house, Laura watched as her father turned Joseph away. As the procession continued their journey, she blew her father a kiss that he caught as he had when she was a little girl, tucking it into his pocket for “later.” Hurrying to catch up with Beth, she didn’t see a figure come out of the house to join the procession.

  The next house was the last one. Joseph sang the traditional words a final time:

  “From a very long journey”

  Laura was startled to hear a familiar voice join in behind her.

  “we’ve arrived and are weary”

  She turned and met the eyes and smile of the man who held out his hands to her as he sang:

  “and come to implore you for shelter this night.”

  Her eyes filled with tears, and, as the traditional welcome was being sung all around them, she stepped into his arms and welcomed him back into her life with a kiss.

  Chapter 58

  Slowly, Taylor became aware of the silence around them and broke their embrace. They were alone in the yard; everyone had gone into the house, leaving them behind.

  “Taylor, what are you doing here? When? Where?” she laughed as she finally said, “I don’t care. I’m just glad you’re here.”

  “So am I, Laura. We need to go somewhere where we can talk.” He took her hand and began to walk away from the house.

  “Taylor, wait! We can’t just leave. My parents will worry.”

  He turned back and grinned at her. “No, they won’t. They already know I’m kidnapping you. Actually, I traded them my two daughters for their one.”

  “My parents knew? And you brought Meg and Betta?”

  “Yes, your mother was in the procession with both girls. Your mother didn’t want them to miss it, and they found it a great game to stay out of your sight. I stayed at your house with your dad—who, by the way, had quite a bit to say to me! When the procession left there, I joined it.” She looked bewildered by the convoluted plot to get him to her. “Laura, darling, I’ll explain it later. Please, just come with me now.”

  When they got into his car, he started it and pulled out of the farolito-lined neighborhood streets. “Taylor, where are we going?”

  “At the risk of being trite, your place or mine?”

  Her apartment had become her sanctuary. She rarely had friends over, preferring to meet them at some neutral spot. It was easier having a space without extra memories. Still, a hotel would be so impersonal.

  “Laura?”

  “My place, I guess, Taylor. Turn left and catch the freeway.”

  As they drove across town, Taylor was silent, almost grim. Laura studied him surreptitiously. The last few months had obviously been rough on him. There were lines around his eyes and mouth that hadn’t been there before, and the boyish look had vanished.

  As they drove into the gated community, Laura leaned across to identify herself to the guard. Recognizing her, he opened the gate and Laura directed Taylor to the building where she lived.

  As she opened the door, she was very conscious of him beside her. He’d not said one word on the way here, and his intensity was a little frightening.

  “Come in, Taylor,” she said as she turned on a lamp and took off her coat. For the first time she got a really good look at him and was surprised to find that he had begun graying at the temples. It didn’t mar his good looks but gave them an added dimension. Still, it was another indication of how the last year had left its mark on him.

  He took off his coat and watched her as she went about getting wine glasses and opening a bottle of wine. He recognized little in her apartment. She had evidently rid herself of anything that could remind her of Cary—and of him? Wordlessly, she handed him a glass of wine and took a seat at one end of the couch, turning to lean against the arm so she could look at him. Taking his cue, he sat at the other end, but still neither of them spoke, until they both did at once.

  “Laura.” “Taylor.” They both stopped, then laughed. She gestured to him to go on.

  “I don’t know where to begin, Laura. I guess I’m surprised to find us here. I didn’t expect you to welcome me back with open arms. I think I was expecting you to slap me and tell me you never wanted to see me again.”

  Laura seemed genuinely surprised. “Why, Taylor? We’re still friends—aren’t we?”

  “Only because you must have the most generous heart on the planet. I screwed up big time last Christmas when I left you. I heard you and Beth talking about the man you were dating and others saying you were practically engaged. I gave up instead of trying to win you away from him.”

  Laura’s face was white, and her hands were shaking as she carefully put her glass of wine on the table. “Why didn’t you ask me, Taylor?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I thought I was doing the noble thing by stepping out of your life and leaving you to him.”

  “His name was Cary Edwards—Annie’s ex-husband.” Her voice was flat as she said it, holding herself very still as if any movement would crack the fragile shell around her. “And I know that you know what he did to me. Beth finally told me that it was no coincidence that you offered me the job.”

  “I had come out here because you wouldn’t return my calls or messages. I thought if I appeared on your doorstep you’d have to listen. Since I didn’t know where you were, I went to Beth. She told me because she was so terribly worried about you. That was when I had the idea of offering you the job. I wanted you where I could try to help you through it and where I could try to win your heart again. It didn’t change how I felt about you, Laura. It only changed how I could show you. It wasn’t until the end of the tour that I felt you were ready to hear me. If I hadn’t gotten that call on Catalina…”

  “But, you did. And you married Annie.”

  “I will never forgive myself for the way you found out. I never intended to hurt you that way. I married Annie because it was the only way we felt that we could guarantee the courts would let me adopt Meg. I had to put her safety first, Laura.”

  Laura leaned forward and placed her fingers across his lips. “I know, Taylor. Annie told me.”

  “Annie? When?”

  “Actually, she left a letter for me, and it was delivered after she died. She told me why you had married her—and that you were in love with me.”

  Taylor closed his eyes for a moment. Even then, Annie had been protecting him, and he sent a silent thank-you to her. Opening his eyes, he met Laura’s. “Annie was right, Laura. I’ve loved you from that first day you came to interview me. The timing was never right to tell you. But, I have to tell you something more before we go any further. I don’t want secrets between us. My marriage to Annie became more than the marriage of convenienc
e we had intended that it be. I loved her, Laura, and she needed me. And, I discovered I needed her, too. We had been lovers years ago, before Cary came into the picture, before Meg was born. We’d called it off then because it didn’t work. Our friendship was more important. But we rediscovered each other. I know this isn’t going to make sense, but it didn’t change how I felt about you. I had put you in a place in my heart and my mind where I didn’t have to deal with you on a daily basis. It was the only way I could survive.”

  Laura saw the pain in his eyes and reached out a hand to him as she said, “I never stopped loving you, Taylor. Even when I was so angry with you after you married Annie, I never stopped loving you. I think Annie knew that. She told me you’d come back eventually.”

  “Then it’s not too late, Laura?”

  “I don’t know, Taylor. I’m not the same person I was a year ago. Recovering from what happened was hard. It still is.”

  “It was you, wasn’t it? You used what he did to you to make him change his mind about Meg.”

  Silently, she nodded her head. He could see the shadows in her eyes. He’d seen the same shadows in Annie’s when she left Edwards. His voice was hard as he said, “Laura, the world catches up with people like him. Someday, he’ll get what he deserves.”

  Laura’s eyes widened and she whispered, “Oh my God! You don’t know? He went on assignment to Ireland, and he never came back, Taylor. The story going around in the local media circles said that he’d raped some young girl in Ireland. TNC managed to get him off, but his career was over. Nobody knows what happened— at least nobody’s telling—but he disappeared from his hotel before he was deported. A week later they found his body outside of town. The rumor mill said there was not a bone in his body that hadn’t been broken. Someone had systematically beaten him to death.”

  “And you had to deal with all of that alone? Why didn’t you say something, Laura?”

  “What could I have said? I didn’t find out that you knew what he’d done to me until a couple of weeks ago. You’d been so formal, so distant, that I’d almost given up hope you’d ever come back to me!”