by Lily Robins
At ten minutes before eleven, Eli called him and said, “Bill Leitner’s been charged with accessory to commit murder for hire, and the Seattle Police investigators finally discovered enough information to charge him with fraud and embezzlement and some other related crimes. They still can’t nail him for Gary Leitner’s murder, but maybe they’ll find a way to get a confession out of him.”
“You’ve told Jess?” Roman asked.
“Yep. This case is out of our hands now. Ferguson’s being extradited to Seattle, and he might get to serve time near Los Angles, where his kid lives.”
“Boy or girl?” Roman asked.
“A son who’s twenty three.”
“Thanks Eli.” Roman gave some thought to what he had just heard. Ferguson had been a washed-up hired assassin, but he wondered if his son had any idea of how his father had made part of his living. And he wondered if the young man would even want to see his father, once he did know.
At Lenore’s Restaurant, Roman ushered Jess through the place and was surprised by the number of local people who actually stood from their tables and applauded. He had darn sure not expected that, nor the loud clapping that came from the servers, kitchen personnel and Lenore herself. Everyone loved him here too, just as they were now showing their affection to Jess. She again handled the notoriety graciously, but modestly, and when Amanda leaned in to whisper, “She looks just like Julia,” Roman had to remind himself that Amanda wasn’t referring to his mother.
“She does, doesn’t she?” he said to Amanda with a wicked smile.
Once the comments and congratulations had died down, Roman leaned in and said, “Julia Roberts,” after Jess gave him a questioning look. “See—I waited for a gorgeous woman to move here and snag me.”
Jess’s wide smile was a true delight to all of those who were witnessing it. However, Roman could tell that she had trouble with people starring at her. Jess had a lot of shyness in her, and she honestly didn’t want the attention she was getting. Roman raised his arms and then lowered them, indicating in a humorous way that everyone could now return Lenore’s back to normal, to a landmark eatery that catered to chattering Mainers.
He had seen that she took off her dark glasses when they entered Lenore’s, and her eyes were definitely much improved. There was still some degree of inflammation, but her green irises were becoming, again, the most striking aspect of her face.
They had lunch, and didn’t talk about Bill Leitner until he walked her to her car. On her face was a serious expression as she said, “A part of me didn’t want to believe that Bill could do something like that. Kill Gary, and then try to have me killed too. The kids would have become orphans.”
“Take some deep breaths,” Roman solicitously advised. “He hired the wrong guy, and it’s over, Jess. You’re alive and well for yourself and the kids—and for me.”
“I called Barry Romos, and he’s checking on what’s likely to happen next.”
Now that she had mentioned her lawyer in Boston, there was something he had been wanting to know. Casually, he asked, “Did you ever date him? I looked on his website, and he’s a nice looking dude.”
Jess’s slow, broad smile gave him the answer, but she added, “Once upon a time.”
Roman stood there, pretending to be mulling over that admission, and after a beat or two, he said, “Did I ever tell you about the time I got hit on by the actress, Jennifer Connelly?”
“You did?” she asked in surprise.
“Yep. She said, ‘My goodness…you’re a tall one, aren’t you?’ I was in Atlanta…”
“Is that all she said?” Jess asked in real surprise.
“Maybe,” he answered with a grin.
After a moment, she said with a wondrous smile, “I love you, Roman Mayer. Guess where I’m going until time to pick up Molly from school.”
Roman was still lost in the idea of having this woman love him. Dreamily he looked at her and asked, “Where?”
“Your mom’s. There’s only one Julia who rocks me wicked fine.”
“Keep talkin,’ Lady. You’re gettin’ the Maineh way a’talkin’ right fast-like. Ayuh.”
*****
That night, Jess showed him a couple of rooms in her house that he hadn’t known existed before. They were hidden behind a closed door and above what he had assumed led to a guestroom on the second floor. He hadn’t even thought to look. She led the way up the stairs to the third floor of her house, and Roman stood in utter amazement at the amount of room the space contained. The main room, which encompassed most of the space, was completely finished, with a solid wood floor, finished walls and ceiling, and a stand-up height, even for him, nearly everywhere. And at one end was another room, completely finished as well, although smaller, that looked to have been a servant’s quarters when the house had first been built.
“Wow!” he said in amazement. “I had no idea!”
Jess said, “This could be your space—for your books, your couch, and your mom told me that she really wants to give you your dad’s desk, that beautiful old piece of Mayer history, where your dad kept all of his ledgers and other paperwork pertaining to the store.”
He felt the sting of tears come to his eyes, and yet, he was so happy to see there really was room for all his books—all of the tangibles that he held so dear—in Jess’s house. And his mother was offering his father’s desk to him? How many times had he seen Herman Mayer sitting at that wide, oak desk, pouring over his suppliers’ invoices, sometimes until the early morning hours?
She could see how moved he was, and didn’t want to take anything away from this moment of Roman’s remembrance of Herman Mayer. When she had visited Roman’s mother, Julia had given her a brief history of the Mayer family. Obviously, Roman was overwhelmed, and she loved that he could cry with his memories.
She finally did speak, however, and said, “Your bed, of course, has to come too. And it should go on the second floor, in the master bedroom.”
Roman lifted her upward to kiss her, and he said, “Ms. Wentworth?”
“Hmmm?”
Looking deeply into her wondrous eyes, seeing her love that was showing in them and in her smile, Roman heartwarmingly said, “Thank you.”
*****
Friday came before he knew it. He and Mona walked into the clinic, Mona looking spiffy indeed in her aqua-colored sweater. She did a little of her happy dance for Rene, who was exclaiming over her, reaching down to pull up her front paws and dance with her.
Rene cried, “This brilliant dog knows the two-step! Yes you do, Sweet Girl!”
After another moment, Wyatt Wainwright and Ben Housman were the first ones to show up for The Group meeting. Wyatt had greatly improved his appearance, and was now clean shaven and sported a recent haircut. He had on new-looking, pressed clothes, and wore what had to be new boots. Ben and he were acting as though nothing at all was different about Wyatt’s looks, but Roman thought it best to acknowledge the changes.
“Wyatt? You look great!”
“You absolutely do!” Rene chimed in.
Wyatt embarrassingly grinned.
Ben Housman commented, “He cleans up nice, don’t he?”
Gloria Schiller walked it, heard the comment, and said, “Yes, he does!”
Roman asked, “How’s everything working out for everyone?”
“Just great!” Ben Housman replied. “Wyatt’s got a little time to take Minnie for walks and play with her.”
“And Wyatt’s got a part-time job,” Gloria added. “I know the Walmart general manager, Tom Drasher, and he’s hired Wyatt to be a stocker.”
Roman stuck out a congratulatory hand to Wyatt, and then gave Gloria Schiller a hug. In her ear, he whispered, “Thank you.”
“We been hearin’ all about what happened to you and your friend,” Ben said.
“And the police caught the shooter,” Roman reminded them. “Jess and I are both fine.”
Gloria had a tell-tale look of curiosity surfacing on her face. “
I think that today’s the day when Dr. Mayer tells The Group about this friend of his.”
Wyatt had begun grinning and said, “Yeah, we want all the low-down on that.”
He had never realized before how many people actually gave a whit about his personal life. As the interactions of the last several days had shown, many more than he would have imagined.
Once each member of The Group had coffee in hand and was settling in, Gloria egged things along be announcing to Iris Gilbert that Dr. Mayer had news of a romantic relationship to tell. Iris’s eyes lit up, she smoothed her hair, straightened her clothes, fisted the middle of her chest when she imagined that she could feel a burp about to erupt, and loudly exclaimed, “Oh my goodness! Do tell us about her, Doctor.”
Ben Girard and Hope Canard were sitting so close together than Mona had to choose where to be, and decided to lie to one side of Ben’s chair, receiving an ear rub from him. Roman was trapped. These meetings were not supposed to be about him, and yet—he truly liked these people, and he realized that giving voice to his personal feelings was one of the primary things that he encouraged these folks and his other clients to develop.
He took a couple of deep breaths, aware that everyone in the room was raptly paying attention to him. So, he found a focus point and thought about how to begin to say a few words about Jessica Wentworth.
“Her name’s Jessica, but people who know her call her Jess. She’s the niece of Ruth Fenwick, and Jess and her two children recently moved to Whittler Island over the Christmas holidays. With Ruth’s tutelage, Jess has learned to make a terrific cherry pie.”
Everyone in the room held their tongues, most had smiles emerging, and all wanted more information. Roman returned his focus to something on a bookshelf in the solarium where The Group was meeting.
“Jess is a woman who is quite intelligent, she’s full of integrity, and she’s a wonderful mother to her children. She’s sweet, and kind, and she’s quite shy—except, once in a while, she can be outrageously funny and bold. She sees the goodness in others, she loves everything about the natural world—everything that is so uniquely beautiful—and she’s extremely talented. Jess is beautiful and she has the most arresting green eyes on the planet. She actually does look a lot like the actress Julia Roberts, but her personal beauty is actually a continuation of all that she is on the inside. And she would die of embarrassment if she knew that I was trying to describe her, because she does not crave any of the attention.”
Roman’s eyes moved from the object on the shelf, as Gloria Schiller softly said, “And you love her.”
Roman’s face changed when he smiled at those in the room who were all smiling back at him. “Yes. I’m definitely in love with her. She comes as a package, with two wonderful kids who I also love—maybe more than if they were my biological children. They are both very talented as well, and they’ve got so many of their mother’s other fine qualities. She’s done all of the hard work with instilling in them the principles and standards that she, herself, lives by. And I get to reap the rewards of knowing them, being with them, and having them be a wonderful part of my life.”
Ben Girard looked first at Hope, and then at Roman. He said, “We are very happy for you, Doc.”
Iris Gilbert had a look of pure wonder on her face as she dreamily responded, “This is a real-life love story that’s unfolding before our eyes.”
Ben Housman was nodding his head, but too choked up to speak. Wyatt said, “Hey Doc? You’re gonna ask her—right?”
“When she thinks the time is right, she may be the one to ask me!”
CHAPTER 36
They had Julia in the Navigator with them when they got into the queue to ride the ferry. She and Molly sat in the passenger seat, while Roman and Jess sat up front. Aden was already at Murray High’s gymnasium, the team having practiced a short while before their first game. The ferry had a lot of passengers. Once again, the island folks were raring to go for baseball season’s opening game.
Julia asked, “What did you and Reverend Chuck do today at your practice, Molly?”
Molly replied, “I’m learning harmonization.”
Jess interjected, “They sound wonderful together! Those two together are amazing!”
“We still have to practice some more,” Molly reminded her mom.
“Are you planning to sing together for Easter?” asked Julia.
Proudly nodding, Molly replied, “We’re practicing—whoops!” Slapping a hand over her mouth, and with her blue eyes dancing in merriment, Molly muttered, “I can’t say what.”
Roman looked back in the rearview to see his mother smiling. Then he looked at Jess and said, “That’s the surefire way Chuck has for getting everyone in church.”
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Julia said for all.
*****
They took a seat cushion for Julia, placing it on a bleacher seat, and she said, “What’s this for? Is someone here an old lady?”
“Nah,” said Eli, while munching on popcorn. “Just in case one shows up…”
Julia sat down on the cushion and looked at her daughter, who was looking back at her, and said, “I’ll keep it warm, in case one shows up.”
Cheryl side-hugged her mother and shared one of the thick blankets she’d brought with her. “Danny’s playing second base.”
“Oh good! I love baseball!” Julia announced with enthusiastic vigor. She fished in her purse, brought out some money, and said, “Son, will you get us some popcorn?”
Roman stood up again and said, “I’ve got it, Mom.”
Jess said, “I’d like some too. How about you, Molly?”
“I’d like a corndog,” Molly announced.
“Let’s go, Mademoiselle,” Roman said. “I’d like some popcorn too.”
Cheryl nudged Eli. “See what you always start?”
Eli kept chomping away, ignoring his wife.
As soon as Roman and Molly managed to get down from the bleachers and head for the concession stand, everyone on the Hawk’s side cheered for the players as they came running out to the field. Aden had bright blue number 17 on his uniform, and Danny sported number 9 on his. Coach Lemming had them give the visiting team, the Eagles from Portland, a hardy welcome as they too, ran out of the field. Warm-ups began and the competing bands took turns playing rousing numbers.
Patrick walked by with Katelyn hanging on his arm. The guy towered over her by well over a foot. He was lost in her presence beside him, but managed to give his parents and those with them a cursory nod.
“Oh boy,” Cheryl muttered.
“Wasn’t that Patrick I just saw walk by?” asked Julia, totally tuned in to the parade of people walking in front of the bleachers.
“That was Patrick,” Cheryl confirmed. She punched Eli, nearly knocking him sideways into the person sitting beside him. And she mumbled something to him.
“All squared away,” Eli announced with a mouthful of popcorn.
“Condoms!” Julia loudly whispered, and Jess and Cheryl, who were sitting on either side of her, went wide-eyed and struggled unsuccessfully to muffle their outbursts of laughter. Eli leaned forward and gave his mother-in-law the stink-eye. A credit to her generation, Julia Mayer never missed a beat with absolutely everything.
Roman and Molly returned, bearing gifts. Molly stumbled once, almost losing her corndog, but Jess reached out and caught it, getting grease all over her hands. When Roman was finally able to seat himself again, he sighed and blissfully said, “Such joys are what dreams are made of. Did I miss anything?” In unison, the little group hissed, “Condoms!”
As soon as the game got underway, everyone got serious, concentrating on the plays and munching away. The visiting team batted first, and one of the junior boys on the Hawks team was pitching. Aden played right field and Danny was manning second base. The top of the first inning ended with no score, although players got to first and second base.
The bottom of the inning began, and the home pitcher wa
s up first. He bunted the ball and managed to get to first by a hair. A senior boy named Garth got a hit down the first base line, and the pitcher slid to second. Two on. A boy named Fletcher, who was the Hawks’ catcher (Fletcha Catcha), hit one to left field, and made it to first base when an Eagles outfielder muffed an overhead catch, dropping the ball. Bases were loaded.
Aden was up next. The Eagles pitcher kept an eye on the bases, while the crowd roared and chanted so loudly that no one could hear anything. Roman sat perfectly still, tuning out all the noise, and Jess too, sat holding her breath. Roman knew that at this defining moment first impressions were being made about a rookie, and he knew that Aden was aware of that fact too.
The first pitch was called a strike by the umpire. On the second pitch, Aden slammed the ball so hard and high that a collective moment of silence ensued. When the ball landed over the fence, the home side erupted in thunderous elation, while Aden began loping around the bases, and the other three runners took turns crossing the plate.
Roman was standing and cheering with everyone else in the bleachers, feeling a rush of pride overwhelm him, and bringing quick tears to his eyes—instantly wiped away as he turned his head, mimicking a cough. Cheryl, Eli, Julia and Molly were stomping the bleachers with utter joy, as was every fan of the home team. The bleachers were shaking, the high school band broke into a loud rendition of the victory song, and Roman turned toward Jess. Above the din, she could see Roman’s quiet look reflect their pride, and then his mouth moved as she heard, above all of the noise, “That’s our boy.” Tears sprang to her eyes, Roman gathered her into a bear hug, and he tried, in that one moment, to compensate for all of tears of joy she had previously shed alone for Aden’s spectacular achievements.
*****
The Hawks won the first game by a score of 13 to 8. Aden pitched the final two innings and helped score four more runs. Danny tagged one of the Eagles’ runners out at second base, and the home team’s fans’ raucous fervor never let up. Patrick and his girlfriend Katelyn, joined his family in the stands, and Cheryl and Eli were introduced to her, as was the rest of the family. Nobody said a word about condoms. Eli and Roman fist bumped several times during the game, both grinning and knowing that this was going to be one heck of a Murray High baseball season.