New Growth (Spook Hills Trilogy Book 2)

by Menard, Jayne

  The evening proceeded with them gathered around a big oval table set up off the main dining room to shelter other guests from their raucous high spirits as the effects of wine took hold. Once they finished the first course, the Sommelier brought fresh flutes and bottles of Dom Perignon to the table. This time, Mathew asked for Susannah to be allowed a small glass. Remembering the night Steve knelt by Ivy in a restaurant in Washington, D.C., Mathew dipped down on one knee next to Callie with as much grace as his bum leg and healing arm permitted.

  She turned pale when she stared at him making him fear for his timing, but kneeling by her compelled him to ask her. He took the bright red Cartier box out, fiddled with the little button to open the lid and removed the diamond.

  “My darling Callie,” Mathew said, “will you do me the honor of committing to one day become my wife, spending the rest of your life in my arms and allowing me to bask in your love?”

  Her eyes grew large, gawking at him and at the artfully cut gems. He reached out and took her left hand, sliding the ring slowly down her finger. He admired the way the platinum and diamonds encircled her finger and thankful for the perfect fit. With her long fingers and rose-brown skin, the ring radiated magnificence but only would shine in brilliance for him when she said yes.

  She stared at him dumbfounded. He remembered Ivy’s reaction as similar. When Steve had surprised her, she became stunned into silence. He waited for Callie to speak.

  Seconds ticked by. Susannah bounced up in her seat and said, “Say yes, Mom. Make Mathew my daddy.”

  Tears began to run down Callie’s face, and she nodded. Mathew wanted to hear her say she wanted to join him in matrimony.

  “Tell me you are agreeing for us as well as for Susannah,” Mathew said.

  “Oh, Mathew! Once again you are bringing magic into my life – being proposed to at this wondrous place, surrounded by those who mean the most to me. Yes, yes, yes! Now our lives together can begin,” Callie replied.

  Moll jumped up, snapping his camera, and asking for an engagement kiss to confirm their words. Callie leaned forward and kissed Mathew long and full on the mouth, with one hand on either side of his face and the diamonds sparkling at the lens. When the kiss ended, she helped him back to his feet.

  “I’m hip to planning your photo album!” Moll said.

  Brian came over to congratulate Mathew with the traditional thump on the back. Steve and Rick each shook his hand, then Steve wrapped him in an uncharacteristic hug. This is what Mathew envisioned – this happy time with a warm, wonderful prospect ahead of him and the best of friends to share festivities. Susannah, Ivy and Sassy clustered around Callie, hugging their good wishes. Callie and Ivy held their rings up next to each other, with Sassy showing hers off as well.

  He, Steve and Rick were three extraordinarily lucky men. The FBI monkhood now dwindled to two, or perhaps three if they made Terry an honorary member. Mathew would not miss his membership in their brotherhood, although he always wanted his friends in his life.

  “Hey, bedroom eyes,” Brian called. “Let’s do a group shot. I’ll have a waiter take a few photos.”

  “Laughing eyes,” Mathew said.

  Callie hugged Susannah and said, “Laughing eyes. Let’s use that nickname for Mathew.”

  With the pictures done, Rick led a toast to Mathew and Callie. Had he and Steve decided in advance having Steve raise the first glass of the night, while Rick took on the father of the bride role to compliment the prospective couple?

  As they ate, they made plans for the next day. Mathew anticipated an early morning with Callie and Susannah opening the presents placed under and around a tabletop tree in their room, organized by the manager. Yesterday afternoon with Susannah, they made loops of silver paper to hang as a garland on the blue spruce, as well as cut-out paper angels and stars in white and gold with glitter sprinkles. As they joked and giggled while cutting out ornaments and getting glue on their fingers, he knew he wanted to live with silly family times strewn in his life.

  He hoped for this to be the first of many winter holidays celebrated with private coziness and interludes of the warmth of friends and firesides. He wished the Fuentes cousins success in one day finding peace and joy. When he lunched with them, they remained afraid to expect their desired futures to be achievable.

  “Who will be next to leave our old monkhood?” Mathew asked Brian and Moll, with a sideways look at Terry.

  Brian shook his head. Moll smiled a little and said, “Only us dudes left. Guess I’m up since Brian-boy wants to remain the casual bachelor until he is like an old man of 50.”

  Next to them, Terry smirked as he regarded his two partners.

  Even with his injuries, Mathew resonated with strength inside himself, secure in the knowledge he approached a pinnacle dividing his life between the old one of a reluctantly unattached man and the family life he longed for. Brian and Moll with their successful startup business must possess a comparable confidence in their achievements. The three of them had moved from young adults to men in the FBI, which functioned a bit like a fraternity with high demands that kept them from other aspects of life. Now they had split away to define themselves as individuals While he imagined a smooth, if winding, bucolic road in their future, unexpected twists and trials may abruptly appear for each of them. He pondered who Moll might want as his life partner because his dating over the years happened at a sporadic pace and he never stuck with anyone for long.

  He glanced at Steve and Ivy, returning to their places at the table and leaning towards each other in the unconscious way they did. Even in choosing a love mate for the rest of his life, Steve had set a stellar example for the rest of them, in the same way he did as their leader for their work in the Bureau. One day he might ask Ivy what had drawn her to Steve. He was an unusual man and not appealing to everyone, but she saw past his sometimes rough edges to the quintessence of his nature. Ivy too had changed from twining her soul to Steve’s and had become more alive, more trusting and more patient.

  He pictured Callie blossoming into a fuller woman in the next few years, though he doubted she could ever develop Ivy’s stiff determination or at times prickly spirit, which suited him. He found himself back at Callie’s side and realized how natural he felt standing there. All the weeks and months leading up to this night let him understand how love flourished from a minute beginning. The initial tug when he first encountered Callie expanded as layer upon layer of awareness took the thinnest filament of magnetism and wove a silken ribbon between their hearts.

  Amor est vitae essentia – Love is the essence of life.

  The End