She was being reduced to a puddle of memories and he was pretending to be a parrot. “What?”
His eyes were touching her, caressing her. “You could never stick to one in the old days.”
She shrugged, fidgeting inside. He could always do that to her, make her lose her train of thought. “Things change.”
“My point exactly.” He dropped his hand to hers and enveloped them in both of his. “Things change, Gina. We’ve changed.”
Her eyes were on his, getting lost. Resisting, but losing. “Not that much.”
His hands played along her face, scattering more thoughts in their wake. “No,” he agreed. “The magic’s still there.”
Yes, the magic, that had never really left. But she remembered something else. “And the fire.”
The smile on his lips rose into his eyes. “Oh yes, the fire.”
She shook her head. He didn’t understand. “I mean as in friction.”
Chase’s smile grew wide enough for her to fall into. “I’ve always been a great believer in friction.”
The man was hopeless. He had a one-track mind and it was dangerously close to derailing her. “Not body friction—”
He laughed, momentarily releasing her. But she was still a captive. He didn’t have to touch her in order to hold her. “See, you can still read me like a book.”
She shook her head, wanting to believe, yet knowing the cold hard facts that blew the fairy tale apart. “And I’ve read the last chapter. I know how it ends.”
He looked into her eyes and saw the indecision, the wavering. She was still his. He just had to reach her. “No, this is a miniseries. You’ve read the last chapter of part one. Last night was the beginning of part two.”
Helpless, she spread her hands in unconscious supplication. “I don’t—”
He caught hold of her fingers and held on tightly. They’d form a bond, he and Gina. And this time it would remain.
Even if he had to glue them together.
“Last night we talked, we really talked. We didn’t spar, we didn’t fling accusations at each other, we actually talked. Like two adults.” His smile was no longer teasing. It was warm, loving. “And more, we listened. We’ve come a long way from those two kids in a single-room apartment, Gina.”
She looked away. His eyes were undoing her. “Yes, we both have homes and careers.”
He cupped her chin and forced her to face him. “And a degree of maturity.”
She felt as if her heart were beating like a hummingbird. “I’m afraid, Chase.”
Yes, he thought, it was a time for truth.
“So am I. Afraid that I’ll mess up.” He watched as she began to prowl around the foyer, looking for a place to land. “That I’ll lose you again. I don’t want to do that.”
Gina stopped just by the edge of the sofa. The fire had long since gone out. There was nothing but ashes in the fireplace.
She turned her back to it, her hands wrapped around her arms, hugging herself. “So what are you saying?”
He knew that stance. She was withdrawing. He hammered away at it with determination before it hardened.
“That I intend to court you, to pursue you, to convince you that this time, it’s going to be all right. I’ll take as long as is necessary. And then—” his mouth curved “—at the end of the day, I’ll marry you.”
He saw a glimmer of a smile and knew he’d won another round and broken a little more ice. He held up his hand before she could say anything. “We’re not going to be Ozzie and Harriett, but we won’t revert back to Ralph and Alice, either.”
She stared, confused. “Ralph and Alice?”
“In ‘The Honeymooners.’”
Another salvo from the past. When he’d been home sick for a week with the flu and she’d taken time off to nurse him, they’d wound up watching old black-and-white shows on cable. It was one of the nicer weeks they’d spent.
“Didn’t he always tell her she was the greatest at the end?”
“You want a peek at our end?” He took her into his arms and looked down into her eyes. “Baby, you’re the greatest.”
It wasn’t easy to continue to resist surrender. Seven-eighths of her was already gone. She attempted to keep up the pretense just for form’s sake. “And then he’d argue with her again on the next show.”
Chase gave her an innocent look. He could do those so well, she thought. “You wouldn’t want life to get dull, would you?”
“No, but—”
He was winning. He could afford to be generous. “I won’t rush you,” he promised seriously. He could wait a while, as long as the answer was the right one at the end. “I did the first time.” It had been his idea to get married so quickly; Gina had been just a shade reluctant. “I won’t now. Just tell me you’re not going to slam the door in my face this time.”
She was ready, she realized, to promise anything. “I—” She looked behind him on the sofa. “What’s that?”
Chase glanced over his shoulder. A small black object was lying spread-eagled on the cushion. “Oh, my wallet must have fallen out while I was asleep.” Chagrined, he reached for it.
But Gina already had it in her hands. She stared at the photograph in a cracked plastic case. Their wedding photograph. She gazed down at it for a long, long time before raising her eyes to his.
“I know what it is. Why are you carrying it?”
He took it from her and stuffed his wallet into his back pocket. “Because if you don’t have a wallet with your driver’s license in it, the highway patrol gets very ugly about it.”
She placed her hand on his arm. Their positions, it seemed, had suddenly reversed, and she was in the driver’s seat, with Chase backing away.
“You know what I mean. You told me you threw out all the photographs of our wedding. You said you didn’t want to remember a ‘disaster in progress.’”
Chase shrugged. “I guess I just never got around to cleaning out my wallet.”
When he turned from her, she placed herself swiftly into his path again. “Chase, you were the neatest person I ever knew. You cleaned absolutely everything. Clutter never stood a chance around you.”
This was exposing a little more of himself than he was prepared to display, although for the life of him, he had thought he’d taken the photograph out. “You’re exaggerating again.”
Gina grinned, triumphant. And touched. He wasn’t about to deny this.
“Oh no, I’m not getting into a diversionary argument with you. I want an answer.” She tapped his chest with her fingers. “Why did you keep our wedding photograph in your wallet?”
If he hadn’t removed the photograph the way he’d believed he had, there was only one reason for it. He gave it to her now. “Because I guess I hoped that someday, it would be valid again.”
She silently absorbed his reply. Chase couldn’t read her reaction and wondered if she was going to reject him after all.
And then a slow, hesitant smile spread over her lips. “If we got married, there would be another photograph taken.”
That was as good as a yes, he thought, sweeping her into his arms. “We could start a series.”
She shook her head, wanting to laugh, to cry. It was happening all over again. She was caught up in the same whirlwind that had seized her the first time. “This is crazy.”
Chase kissed each of her eyes in turn, then worked his way down to her throat. “Yeah.”
She was having a very difficult time thinking, not to mention breathing. “I haven’t said yes yet.”
“Officially.” All of his doubts had faded completely. “But you will, you will.”
She wanted to retain just a little dignity, a little bit of mystery a minute longer. “Maybe not.”
He raised his head a moment after nipping her earlobe. “I saw that look in your eye. The one that said meltdown. You’re still crazy about me. Say it.”
She made a stab at nonchalance, though she knew it was a poor one. “I did. I’m crazy.”
Th
e tip of his tongue outlined her lips. He felt her press urgently against him. “About me.”
“Maybe.” Her mouth curved.
He kissed her then, long and hard, smashing apart the last of her resistance as if it were made of weathered clay. “I know I am about you.”
She leaned her head against his chest. Three weeks. It had taken just three weeks from the time she had first seen him again. “We seem to be repeating a pattern. It’s only been three weeks.”
Three very, very long weeks. “I’ve always liked traditions.”
The word traditions triggered an association in her head that wound up with a single thought. Rene.
“Oh God, I’d better call Rene before he flies out here today for nothing.”
Maybe they would drive into Nevada and get married today, Chase thought, half-seriously entertaining the idea. “Let him, he can be best man.”
Gina eyed Chase. “You’re getting ahead of yourself.”
He made no excuses, offered no defense. He was fully into the idea. “I’m already planning the honeymoon.” He glanced over his shoulder toward the elevator. “I might just book the elevator car.”
She slapped his chest playfully and shook her head. “You’re incorrigible.”
“I’m in love,” he corrected. His mouth softened as he kissed her tenderly and brought a sigh to her lips. “I suppose I always have been. With you.” He smoothed back her hair. “Aren’t you going to say anything to me?”
She nodded, suppressing a smile. “I have to call Rene.”
He sighed and shook his head, his hands dropping to his sides. “That’s not what I meant.”
“But it’s what I meant.”
Let him stew for just a moment, she thought. It was a tiny payback for all the times she had wanted to hear those words, to actually feel as if she were loved, and had, instead, gone to bed alone to cry herself to sleep.
Besides, if he didn’t know by now that she loved him, he never would.
Gina turned to the telephone on the desk. It was difficult pressing the correct numbers on the keypad with Chase’s arms around her waist, molding her body to his, but she managed.
The line on the other end was picked up after two rings. “Hello?”
“Rene? It’s Gina.”
“I’m just on my way out to the airport. Are you at home?”
She looked over her shoulder at Chase. “In a manner of speaking.”
There was a short, patient sigh on the other end. “You either are, or you’re not.”
The man could be so literal at times, she thought fondly. But then, he wasn’t in love. “I’m still in Albuquerque.”
There was an addendum to this, Rene thought. He could hear it in her voice. “And?”
“And I’ve decided to stay on to finish the job.” She placed her hand over Chase’s on her waist. “This time I’m going to do it right.”
There was a long pause as Rene briskly did some quick figuring. He’d heard no complaints so far and the suppliers he’d spoken with had assured him that everything at the hotel was progressing according to schedule. What was she talking about?
“I think you had better explain yourself. Just what is it you did wrong?”
Gina leaned her cheek against Chase’s. “I did only half the job. Time to do the rest. Correctly.” Her eyes met his and they smiled at each other at the same time.
An omen, she thought. A good one.
The voice on the other end brought her back from her euphoria. “Gina, are you speaking in some kind of code I’m obliged to unscramble?”
She laughed. Poor Rene. “No, sorry. Rene, I’m getting married again.”
“To the man you wanted to take out a contract on?” His voice echoed with primness.
“Yes.”
“I see. Gina, have you been standing out in the sun too long?”
“No, I’ve hardly been out of the hotel at all.” Gina linked her fingers through Chase’s. The feeling of well-being she’d had in her dream returned and permeated her. “I’d like you to give me away.”
She could hear the smile in Rene’s voice as he answered. “Believe me, Gina, and I mean this in all sincerity, I’ve never been so happy to give away anything in my life.” He paused, but there was no reply. “Gina? Gina, are you there?”
She was there, and she was busy. Rene’s voice echoed on the desk where she had suddenly placed the receiver. Gina had given in to another impulse, the same one that had seized Chase.
They only vaguely heard the deep, heartfelt sigh coming from the receiver as their lips met and they sealed their lasting commitment to each other.
Epilogue
The Overseer couldn’t say that he was really sorry to see them leave.
As a rule, cherubs were not known to be noisy and disruptive. Mischievous on rare occasions perhaps, but not disruptive.
For that very reason, he had been surprised at the jocularity displayed by the two angels who were the next to be born. Not to mention the stir they had created amid the other angels with the news of their imminent departure.
No, he wouldn’t be sorry to see them go.
He liked things quiet and orderly. Decorum, he was confident, would be restored once these two were gone.
The Overseer cast his penetrating gaze toward the cloud where the two were perched.
Ready.
Waiting.
Eager.
It was almost time. There were no timepieces here. Just a sense of time. And a knowing of when things should be. And how.
The Overseer moved toward the two slowly, as befitting his position.
Tina looked at Eric and linked her tiny hand with his. She was going to have to watch out for him once they were born, she thought. He had much to learn.
She looked over her shoulder at the others. The others who now knew what she and Eric had done. And Erin before them. And Jonathan before her.
Jonathan, who had been the beginning of it all.
And now Eric—who had become the perpetuator—she mused. For Eric had been the one who had whispered of the event to the others. He had told them that perhaps, just perhaps, rules could be bent just a little when it involved something so important as who your parents would be.
Theirs would be two people who loved each other very, very much. Who had found each other again—with a little heavenly intervention—after they had been lost.
Tina smiled to herself, satisfied.
“No, you cannot hold hands. One of you must go first.”
The Overseer’s voice surrounded them. Tina looked at Eric and released his hand. They would be together soon enough. And for a long, long time. Wrapped in happiness and love.
“You first,” he whispered to her.
Tina took the lead naturally. As naturally as she had arranged when they had been forced to work together for the storm and the power failure. As naturally as she had arranged for the wallet to fall open to reveal a photograph her father had long since removed from its folds.
She turned a moment before her descent down the long, white tunnel. She didn’t look at Eric, but at the others. The others who stood and still waited.
“Remember,” she whispered.
The Overseer thought it was a strange parting word. It seemed to linger in the air all around long after the angel who was to be her brother had followed her down.
* * * * *
ISBN: 978-1-4592-8752-5
Baby Times Two
Copyright © 1994 by Marie Rydzynski-Ferrarella
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