“Mom, I want you to be happy. Hank makes you happy. If you’re sure, I’m sure.”
* * *
The closing date for the Old Gray Barn was set, about a month away. Leslie settled back into life on the beach, teaching her sixth graders, enjoying the family around her, Marianne, Tom and Stella, Jeremy, working hard to put his life back together and realize his dreams of building a business, her frequent phone calls with Jasmine, and of course, her moments with Hank. She savored her routine of teaching all day, going back to the Inn, grabbing some relaxation time on the deck with a book and a cool drink while letting the powerful sound of the ocean waves come over her. Then, when Hank was done with work for the day, they’d spend time together. It was never elaborate. Simple time spent talking, walking, sharing, laughing and kissing. Getting to know each other better. Growing their love stronger. She couldn’t remember ever being this happy in her life.
She felt remarkably calm about the purchase of The Old Gray Barn. She wasn’t plagued with restless nights or upset stomach, as often hit her when she was faced with a difficult decision. She was at peace.
Hank, however, as the day got closer, seemed nervous. Several times, while they were at dinner, he’d take a phone call, glance up at her and excuse himself to take it away from the table.
“Who was that?” she’d ask.
“Oh, some questions about the closing.”
“From who? Why aren’t they calling me?” He may be an investor, but she had the primary investment.
“Oh, you know how it is around here, sweetheart. They know me and know I can answer quick enough.”
“Are there any problems?” Worry gripped her.
“No, no, not at all. Smooth as silk.” He patted her hand, shot her a reassuring smile and went back to his plate. If there was anything to worry about, she felt sure he’d fill her in. Meanwhile, it was sort of nice to have someone take care of the endless details.
The morning of the closing finally dawned. It was a Friday in October and she’d taken the whole day off of school. She’d accidently left her curtains open an inch-crack last night, so the sun blazing through woke her before her alarm could ring. Turns out, it was beautiful way to wake up.
She showered and dressed casually in slacks and a sleeveless top, then set to work on her hair and face. Halfway through, her cell rang. It was Hank.
“Good morning, darlin’. How are you feeling today?”
She stretched luxuriously at the beloved sound of his voice. “Couldn’t be better. I’m buying the house of my dreams and will move in later today. I’ll have the man of my dreams by my side, helping me every step of the way. And guess what, once we get this out of the way, we can start planning our wedding date.”
“First things first, huh?”
“Yes, I’m a big proponent of that.”
“Everything in its proper order.”
She laughed. “I guess.”
“I think this is going to be a fantastic day. What are you wearing, by the way?”
A surprised laugh escaped her. “Why Hank, is this one of those phone calls?”
He chuckled heartily. “No, no, no. I want to suggest we dress up. Make the event more memorable. Maybe be camera ready when we’re signing the papers and opening the front door.”
She shook her head. He was so sentimental. One of the many things she loved about him. She never would’ve predicted at their first meeting he had this romantic side. But it had sure come out.
“I like that. How dressy?”
He took a moment to think about it, then told her which dress he preferred. She went to her closet and found it. It was a sundress, gauzy and breezy, a beautiful off-white with lace. She’d worn it once when they’d gone out to dinner and he’d complimented her on it. How sweet he’d remember it.
When they hung up, she changed her clothes and finished her preparations. By the time he came to pick her up, she was waiting for him in the great room. He spotted her the minute he stepped into the room, and stopped in his tracks. He was dressed in the suit again, from their engagement night. The charcoal suit fit him perfectly and made her breath catch in her throat.
“My, oh my. You are the picture of loveliness.” He took a few steps toward her, his arms outstretched. She stood, laced her fingers in his and smiled into his eyes.
“You look very handsome,” she said shyly. He looked so much more than handsome. He looked rugged and strong and sexy. Very sexy. But she stopped with handsome.
His lips came down on hers and her breathlessness was complete. The man literally took her breath away, the sight of him, the touch of him and the taste of him.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
The closing meeting went smoothly. Doug was there, helping them through the steps. Everything was in order with Leslie’s down payment money and Hank’s mortgage. No surprises. When they left thirty minutes later, they held a stack full of papers and the keys to the house.
“I can’t wait to see it,” Leslie said. She hadn’t been to the house since their official walkthrough a few days ago. Would it look different somehow now that it was actually theirs? Her heart pounded.
“Let’s go.” He drove across the island slowly, which only added to her suspense. He kept glancing down at the clock in his truck.
“What’s the matter?”
“Not a thing.”
“You’re acting strange,” she noted. “Like you’re hesitant to get to the house.”
He shook his head, ducked with a smile. “No. It’s not every day you open up your newly acquired house where you plan to spend the rest of your life with your new bride. Let a guy savor the moment, huh?”
She squeezed his arm. Her romantic.
They parked the car in the sand driveway, got out and slammed the truck doors, gazing up at the house on stilts that held such special meaning for both of them. She glanced first to one neighboring house, then the other, then turned her head to peek in between to catch a glimpse of the gorgeous ocean view out back. Soon she’d be waking up to that view every morning.
They climbed the stairs and Hank fumbled with the key in the lock.
“Your hands are shaking,” she realized and put hers over his, helping guide the key into the hole. Soon, they had the door unlocked, pushed it open and found …
“Hi Mom! Surprise!”
“Jaz! What are you …? Oh my gosh!” She rushed forward and pulled her daughter into a hug. “Did you arrange this?” She stared at Hank in amazement over Jasmine’s shoulder.
He was interestingly silent and she was unable to read his face.
“Oh, if you only knew, Mom. Come on in.”
“What? What are you …?”
Jasmine took her hand, and Hank slid in beside her and grabbed her other one. Stepping aside, Jasmine waved her arm to the huge rustic great room of the Old Gray Barn. Her view unobstructed, she didn’t know where to look first. Because it was filled to the gills.
With people.
The entire room was filled with people she knew, all dressed up. “What …?”
“Surprise!” came a unison shout, then lots and lots of noise. Her heart pounding in her ears, she looked out and saw several of her teacher friends from Pittsburgh, who must have traveled here to help her celebrate her new house. She picked out at least four, before she then noticed her new principal here in Pawleys, and a few of her new teacher friends. She saw her old next door neighbor in Pittsburgh, who she’d known for twenty years. She waved to Leslie, a bright smile on her face.
“What did you do?” She looked at Jasmine, then swiveled her head to Hank. “What is all this?” Why would all these people travel six hours or more on the day she moved into her new house? But they weren’t all.
Moving to the front of the small army was the trio she had met at the beginning of this transformational summer: Deakon and Norman Foster, and Joan Lundeen. Little Deakon had grown at least an inch since the summer began, and Norman looked healthy. They came forward and stood in
front of her, Norman resting a hand on his son’s shoulder.
“Hi, Leslie,” Norman said, and his mother-in-law Joan came around and hugged her.
Leslie was tongue-tied but she managed, “So good to see you again! How are things going?”
Norman nodded. “They’re going well. I’ve been on an anti-convulsive medication for five months, with no seizures. If I get through the next month, they’re going to let me have my driver’s license back.”
“That’s wonderful!” Leslie kneeled down to Deakon’s height. “And how is your new school year going? Do you like your teacher?”
“Yep!” He nodded vigorously. “They let me do a lot of coloring. And I learned how to read!”
Joan winked at her. “We do a lot of reading at home, don’t we, Deakon?” She turned to Leslie. “I’m so lucky to have them close by. They help me as much as I help them.”
Leslie knew how important in life it was to feel needed.
“Well, you’ve got a lot of other guests to greet, so we’ll talk to you after.”
They started to move away, but Leslie said, “After? After what?” She darted her head around, looking at Hank and Jasmine, but they were both amazingly closed-mouthed.
“Leslie,” she heard, and turned back to the crowd in front of her.
“Rita!” It was her impromptu girlfriend Rita, the owner of the Front Porch restaurant. They embraced. “So great to see you! I’ve been meaning to call, and I’ve been awful at staying in touch, but I really want to become friends.”
Rita laughed. “I think you’ve been pretty busy since I last saw you.” She shook her hand at someone. “Hey, I have someone I want to introduce you to.” A tall and ruddy man stepped up, dark-complected with curly hair. “This is Gary, my husband. He’s home from Afghanistan. Just arrived last month!”
“So nice to meet you, Gary. And I’m so happy you’re home.” The look exchanged between Gary and Rita was so full of love and passion, it was immediately clear to Leslie what kind of relationship they shared. She turned to Hank, “This is Hank, my … fiancé.” It rolled off her tongue, but she realized it was the first time she’d introduced him that way. Which reminded her, when she’d met Rita, she hadn’t even met him yet.
Life was strange.
Rita turned and grabbed her son’s arm. “You remember Nathan.”
The teenager looked weirded out but was polite, held his hand out to her and shook it. “Nice to see you again.”
Rita excused him to go look at the beach, then said in a conspiratorial whisper, “He’s getting straightened out. Gary and I set the house rules, and made him understand if he breaks them again, he’s out. And no paying for college until he’s drug-free.”
“That’s wonderful! How’s it going?”
Rita shrugged. “Better than when he was walking all over me. I realized tough love was the best way to straighten him out, and he needs it to be a self-sufficient adult.”
“That’s right. Best of luck.”
Rita and Gary strolled after their son to the beach view in the back of the house, arms around each other’s waists. Leslie turned to Hank, “How did you find them? And why?”
But they were interrupted by a “Leslie, dear.” She turned to see Evelyn Fletcher, the white-haired lady in charge of delivering warm blankets and caps to the premature babies at the hospital. “Evelyn! Oh my gosh!”
They hugged and Leslie listened as Evelyn filled her in on all the good work her group continued to do for Levine Children’s Hospital, and the camaraderie shared by the ladies each and every week.
Wrapping up their conversation, Hank approached Leslie with a young man in his thirties in tow, dressed in a black suit. The loud swarm of conversation noise died down suddenly, leaving the room quiet enough for her to hear Hank’s next words. Quiet enough for everyone to hear, in fact.
“Leslie, I’d like you to meet Brad Cummings.”
Leslie automatically held her hand out to shake with him. “Nice to meet you, Brad.”
“So nice of you to have us all in your new home.”
Leslie rolled her eyes toward Hank and Jasmine, who lingered nearby. “Well now, it wasn’t me who planned all this, and although I have an inkling of who did, what I don’t know is why.” She took in all the people in the room. “Everyone in this room has played an important part of my life. Some of you I’ve known a short while, some of you a long time, but all of you have had an impact. It took someone,” she laid a meaningful glare on Hank, “a lot of work to track you all down, and get you all here in this room at this moment.”
“I think it’ll make sense in a minute, darlin’.”
With that, Hank took her shoulders and positioned her to stand beside him, facing Brad in the front of the room. All the guests maneuvered to stand in rows behind them. Jasmine slid into place beside her, and Jeremy appeared out of nowhere to stand beside his father. Jasmine was handing her something, and she looked down to see it was a bouquet. Glancing closer, Jasmine held one already.
Her head was spinning but yes, it was all starting to make sense.
Then Brad opened a Bible and said, “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today …”
She gasped and darted a startled look at Hank. He shushed her and leaned in close to whisper in her ear while the minister continued the ceremony. “Are you ready? When we move into this house together tonight, we’re going to be man and wife.”
“Oh, my gosh,” she breathed, her head clearing. He’d planned a surprise wedding for her. He was serious about making a life with her, and once he knew she wanted it too, he saw no need to wait.
“You’re not backing out on me, are you?” His eyes were amused, but held the slightest trace of dismay.
She didn’t want him to have one second of doubt she wasn’t as committed as he was. “No!”
His surprised expression told her she’d said it louder than she’d intended. In fact, the minister stopped talking and paused, staring between the two of them. The gathering of friends in the room was quiet.
She leaned in close to him so only he could hear. “I meant no, I’m not backing out on you.” She turned to Brad, “Minister, please continue. We’re getting married!”
Laughter rippled through the crowd and the rest of the short service was uneventful. When they got to the part where Hank could kiss his bride, he left no doubt in her mind theirs would be a marriage of love, laughter, passion and togetherness.
And his kiss gave her enough of a rush to highly anticipate their wedding night.
“I now pronounce you man and wife.”
The crowd cheered, no polite, subdued clapping here. Whistles and loud applause. She looked out to the people who meant the most to her in the world, who’d shared this substantial moment with her. Then she turned to the man who made it all possible, the man she’d gladly spend the rest of her life with. She grabbed his cheeks and looked deep into his eyes. “I love you, Hank.”
Marianne and several waitresses from the Inn swept by, distributing flutes of champagne to the guests. Hank grabbed two, handed her one.
“To the best woman in the world. The one who saved me from myself and gave me a reason to keep on going.”
“Cheers!” shouted the guests.
The rest of the day was spent catching up with friends, new and old, sharing in the love in the room, but never roaming far from her new husband who had secretly planned this whole day for her. Later, when they had all departed, and Leslie and Hank plopped onto the couch (that Hank had sometime moved over from his house), she said, “You know, it really wasn’t a bad summer after all.”
THE END
All Around the Square knitting pattern
Your free gift from The Green Girl …
This hat was designed for knitters that just don’t like working the traditional form of “knitting in the round.” The idea is to start with a square, knitting in garter stitch and morph into knitting in the roundafter the square is a specific size. The hat in this pattern is
specifically sized for preemies, but is easily sized up for any child. This pattern is a lovely little gift for new babies that need a little extra love and care. Knit up a dozen and take them to your local hospital’s newborn nursery. They will be very appreciative. Remember, these babies are a bit fragile - so please do not wash in any detergent with perfume. Use a brand that is considered free and clear or perfumes and dyes.
Peace and joy to you all…
The Green Girl
Materials:
100 yds light weight (size 3) baby soft yarn – you will have a bit of leftover yarn. Yarn must be machine wash and dryable and as soft as you can find. For this example, I used - Bernat Softee Baby in the mint color. I find this yarn works very well for the precious little heads that these hats cover.
1 – 5 needle set US 5 double pointed needles
scissors
tapestry needle
1 – stitch marker
Terms:
k – knit stitch
p – purl stitch
M1 – make one invisible increase
dpn – double pointed needle
cast on – CO (long tail cast on is used in the example)
bind off – BOIP (bind off in pattern)
sts - stitches
Gauge – 7sts x 8 rows = 1 inch for stockinette stitch
Sizing – It is easy to adjust the size of the hat for an older baby or child. All you need to do is use a larger needle and adjust to a medium (4) weight yarn for needles US 7 -9. Other than those changes, you follow the pattern as written. The only other change you may want to make is add length by adding more knit rows after the increases – this would allow for folding the brim up, but still being able to cover little ears.
Pawleys Island Paradise boxset, Books 1 - 3 Page 25