by Wendy Wax
On the Bayway, she lowered her window so that she could breathe in the sweet scent of blooming gardenias that hung on the breeze. When they reached the cottage, Joe’s parents had just finished feeding the girls.
“Do you feel up to going out to the pool?” Joe asked. “I’m pretty sure there’s a chaise out there with your name on it.”
“Sounds heavenly,” she said, meaning it.
“You two go ahead,” Gabriella said. “Maybe we’ll bring the girls out in a little bit.”
The cottage grounds seemed deserted, but as they followed the concrete pathway toward the pool, Nikki heard guitar music, the clink of glasses, and the murmur of voices. At the main building she noticed that the double doors had been thrown open. Cloth-covered tables dotted the area under the overhang. Waiters arranged trays of food on top of them. A bar had been set up at the edge of the pool deck. Beyond it, on the beach, a brightly colored strip of silk was held aloft by four poles anchored in the sand. Several rows of chairs had been set up in a horseshoe facing the tented space. The chairs were filled with people who seemed to be staring out at the blue sky and sparkling water that lay ahead.
“Oh,” she said as she realized what she was watching. The Sunshine Hotel and Beach Club, with its long stretch of white sand beach and stellar sunset view, had proven a popular wedding venue. “Maybe we shouldn’t intrude,” she said as she turned away, unable to watch a moment longer. She tried to keep any sign of regret or envy off her face, but even she could hear the wistfulness in her voice when she said, “I wonder whose wedding it is?”
Joe took her hand and gently turned her back around. His face was wreathed in smiles. “Unless we got our signals crossed, I’m pretty sure it’s ours.”
Thirty-five
Joe took her arm and led her toward the beach. William Hightower stepped out of the shadow of the overhang and began to play the opening notes of his mega-hit “Mermaid in You” on his guitar. As they drew closer to the low wall that separated the pool area from the beach, the guests—their guests—stood and turned. Maddie, Kyra, and Steve Singer were in the front row with Dustin. Avery and Bitsy and Ray Flamingo stood on the opposite side of the aisle. Jeff and Chase Hardin had taken seats toward the back. John and Renée Franklin sat with her sister Annelise. Nonna Sofia was at her side.
“Ready?” Joe asked.
“Not so fast.”
Surprise lit his eyes. Which was fine with Nikki.
“I think you may have skipped something.”
“Is that right? And what might that be?”
“The part where you actually ask me if I’ll marry you. Preferably while on one knee and looking up adoringly.”
“I did that before and you said no. It seemed another plan of action was necessary,” he said. “And after coming so close to losing you, I wouldn’t take no for an answer anyway. So . . .” He took a step. She didn’t follow.
“That’s not how it works. You ask. I answer. You’re not allowed to skip the question.”
“I hope I’m not going to need backup. I didn’t bring my firearm.” A smile flickered on his lips. “Although Nonna Sofia might be packing.” He raised one arm as if to summon her.
She took his arm and gently lowered it. “We have two daughters now. And I refuse to have to tell them that their father never really gave me a choice. What kind of example would we be setting?”
“Nikki . . .”
“You need to ask me. For the record. And posterity and all that.”
“You’re serious.”
Before she’d finished nodding, he dropped to one knee. There was a wince as it hit the concrete pool deck and he reached for her hand. Will Hightower stopped singing, but continued to play his guitar, picking out the melody that would serve as background for what was to come.
“Thanks, Will.” Nikki nodded down at Joe. “You may proceed.”
She sensed their guests crowding toward the low wall, and she thought she heard the whir of a motor drive, but Joe looked up into her eyes and spoke softly, as if they were alone. “I love you, Nicole. And I can’t think of anything I want more than to marry you and spend the rest of our lives together.” Love shone in his dark eyes. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Tears filled her eyes and she imagined she could feel her heart filling with happiness. The kind of happiness she’d never thought would be hers. She nodded.
The dark eyes twinkled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear an answer. What did you say?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”
He cocked his head and put his free hand up to one ear. “I’m having trouble hearing you. And I just want to be sure I’m not misunderstanding. You know, for posterity. In case the girls ask.”
“Yes!” She knew she was smiling like a crazy woman. “Yes, I’ll marry you!”
“Good.” He smiled up at her as her eyes filled with tears. “Can I get up now?”
She nodded, not even trying to check the tears that slipped down her cheeks.
“Let me rephrase that,” Joe said. “Will you help me up?”
She helped tug him to his feet and laughed with joy as he threw his arms around her and twirled her around. “She finally said yes!” he called out.
There were cheers from the beach.
“Never doubted it for a minute!” Ray Flamingo called back. “Let’s get this show on the road. Some of us are in serious need of food and drink!”
Joe’s parents stepped up on either side of them, each with one of the girls, dressed in frilly white dresses with tiny matching hair bows, in their arms. Gabriella kissed Nikki on the cheek. “I’m very glad you’re going to be a part of our family, Nicole. And very grateful for these gorgeous granddaughters.”
Joe Senior, who held Sofia, shot Nikki a wink and threw his arm around Joe’s shoulders. “Well done, son,” he said in a teasing tone and a twinkle in his dark eyes. “I was starting to worry about your powers of persuasion.”
“You’re not the only one,” Joe said, lacing his hand through Nikki’s. “I think we better go ahead and make it official before she has a chance to reconsider.”
“Ha! There’s no going back now.” Nikki’s smile grew wider and the tears slid faster as they made their way up the sandy aisle to the justice of the peace who waited for them. There, surrounded by family and friends, they looked into each other’s eyes and repeated their vows as the sun painted the sky in brilliant strokes of red and gold then disappeared beneath the still surface of the water.
• • •
Maddie stood in the shelter of Will’s arm, her eyes on Nikki’s face. “I’ve never seen her so happy. I guess sometimes it takes almost losing someone to face up to how much they mean to you,” she said.
“Sometimes it just takes being on the road,” Will said. “There’s a reason musicians and performers end up addicted and doing things they never thought they would. It’s lonely out there and it’s not even close to real life. Numbing up can seem the only way to survive.”
Her eyes sought his. “Are you okay?”
“I’m hanging in there,” he said. “I’m too grateful for the opportunity to perform in front of people who care about my music again to screw it up. But I won’t lie. It’s hard work pretty much every day. And the nights, well, I’m glad there’s only a few weeks left on the tour.”
“It’s great that you were able to take the weekend off.”
An odd look passed across his face. “I miss you, Maddie, and after your call from the hospital, I needed to see for myself that you were all right.” He tightened his arms around her. “I know you’re pulled in a lot of directions right now, but I’m headed home after the concert in Los Angeles. Can you get away and spend some time with me at Mermaid Point? I keep hearing this melody in my head and I need to see where it goes. Plus, I’m dying to sleep in my own bed and to get out on the flats. I h
eard from Hud yesterday.” His eyes crinkled in amusement. “He says the fish have been asking about you.”
“Yeah, they’re probably looking for some entertainment.”
He grinned. “You do have a unique fly casting style all your own.”
She felt almost giddy as he pulled her closer. Steve was moving out next week. Kyra seemed to have reached some decisions though she hadn’t yet shared them. And Nikki was settling into motherhood, plus Avery and Bitsy would be living in cottages just yards away. Her cell phone vibrated in her dress pocket.
“Don’t answer it,” he said, his lips hovering over hers.
But Andrew wasn’t there and a mother always worried that the one call she didn’t answer would be the one that she’d regret. Still in Will’s embrace, she looked down at the screen. “It’s Lori Blair.”
“Definitely don’t answer it, then.” He moved to hit the decline, but she’d already answered.
“Maddie!” The young woman’s frantic voice reached their ears. “Thank God! I need your help. Will has gone AWOL. As in he’s missing. Not on the plane! Not even in the airport!”
Maddie looked up into Will’s eyes. They didn’t look the least bit worried or apologetic.
“He’s supposed to do an interview tomorrow afternoon in Houston. And he has a concert there the next day.” The panic in Will’s assistant’s voice was real.
William put his finger to his lips, shook his head gently, and whispered. “I’m doing the interview tomorrow by phone. I’ll be in Houston in plenty of time for the concert. I’ll text her and let her know a little later.” He placed a kiss on her forehead, another on the tip of her nose. “Right after I make love to you.”
Maddie held the phone with a shaky hand. “I’m sorry, Lori. I, um, haven’t seen him.”
“But I don’t know where he is! I’m pretty sure I could get fired if Aaron finds out I lost him!”
Will’s lips brushed down her neck to the sensitive spot just above her collarbone as his hands cupped her buttocks.
“If I hear from him, I’ll let you know,” she said weakly. She ended the call as Will pulled her into an unlit corner and covered her mouth with his.
• • •
Avery had spent the last twenty-five minutes looking busy and trying not to meet Chase’s eyes. She’d hugged Jeff while Chase was congratulating Nikki and Joe, fetched drinks for all three of the older Giraldis, then initiated a lengthy conversation with Ray about absolutely nothing until Ray finally leaned over and told her to get a grip before waving to Chase and inviting him over. As soon as he’d shaken Chase’s hand and told her under his breath that it was time to “put on her big girl panties,” Ray had excused himself, leaving her exactly where she’d tried so hard not to be.
Now she looked directly into Chase’s eyes, which were far bluer than she’d remembered, and reminded herself that nothing had changed. She was preparing to leave when he said, “Jason’s doing really well. He sent Josh this picture of him during a rock climb.” He held up his phone so that she could see Jason grinning down from what looked like a surprisingly steep rock face.
“That’s great,” she said, meaning it even as she tried to steel herself against the warm blue eyes and the familiar scent of his cologne. She was not going to throw her arms around him because he’d offered a scrap of information. Chase put the phone in his breast pocket and said nothing. He seemed to be either memorizing her features or debating his next move.
“Well, nice seeing you.” She turned.
His arm shot out before she could take a step away. He turned her back to face him, dropped his hand. “I . . . you never set an actual time limit. So I . . . I’m hoping I’m not too late.”
She blinked in surprise.
“Do you still love me, Avery?” he asked, watching her.
She didn’t speak. She would not make it easy for him. It was his turn to dangle up on the high wire. To declare himself without the safety net of knowing how she felt.
“Because I’ve been a moron.” He said this almost conversationally.
Avery remained mute, not at all tempted to argue with his assessment of his behavior.
“I love you. And I want you to be a part of my life, of our lives. Will you move back and give it another try?”
The words he said were the ones she’d hoped to hear. For a moment, relief coursed through her. But as she studied his face, she couldn’t help wondering—had those words come from his heart? Or had he said them only because she’d demanded them? What if she moved back in, and when Jason came home and things weren’t perfect, as was likely the case, Chase pushed her away again? How would she survive that?
He must have seen her answer in her eyes even before she’d processed it. “It’s no, isn’t it? I’m too late.”
“I love you, Chase. That part hasn’t changed. I’m good with us spending time together. But I think we need to wait and see how everything feels when Jason comes home. I can’t be in a relationship where I’m kept at arm’s length. I want to be sure that I fit into your life in a way that works for all of us.”
“But . . .” He reached for her hand. She didn’t pull away, but for all that she hadn’t known her own mind when the conversation began, she knew it now.
“I’m taking a cottage in lieu of payment. I’m going to finish it out and live here while I explore the idea of designing and building tiny houses. I’m thirty-seven-and-a-half years old and I think it’s about time I figure out exactly who I am and what I want to be when I grow up.”
• • •
Nikki had slipped back to the cottage to feed the twins and managed to express enough milk for the three A.M. feedings, which Joe’s parents would be handling. The Giraldis were spending the night at the cottage with the babies—so that Nikki and Joe could have the night to themselves. Sofia was already fast asleep in her crib. Gemma lay in Nikki’s arms sucking quietly, one small hand curled just beneath Nikki’s chin. As she lifted her to her shoulder and began to rub the small back, her wedding ring shone in the lamplight. Somehow the day that had begun in the hospital had turned into her wedding day and was about to end in the Don CeSar Hotel honeymoon suite. Because Joe was now her husband. She lifted her left hand to steal another look at the ring he had slid on her finger, and she sighed with happiness.
She laid Gemma in her crib and stood for a long moment watching the girls’ small chests rise and fall, their rosebud mouths pursed in sleep.
Joe stepped up behind her and she leaned back into him. “It’s almost frightening how much the three of you mean to me,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on the top of her head.
“I never knew it was possible to love this deeply,” she said as his arms tightened protectively. “It’s, I don’t know, the only word I can think of is bottomless.”
“Yes.” He turned her to face him. “I think that’s the perfect word. I’ve never felt this way before, either.” He kissed her and she melted into his arms, savoring his kiss and his love.
They exited the cottage to a shower of rose petals. With Joe’s arm wrapped firmly around her, they hugged their way through the group and into the Jag, which had been decorated with a tail of tin cans and ribbon. Joe put the car into gear and tapped the horn in a final good-bye.
“It was so sweet of your parents to give us a night in the honeymoon suite,” Nikki said with a huge yawn. “But I can barely keep my eyes open.” She yawned again as the day and those before it caught up with her. Her eyelids grew heavy. “I feel like we’re going to be wasting it.”
“Are you kidding?” Joe asked with a yawn of his own. “Right now a whole night of uninterrupted sleep feels like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Especially since I’m going to be sleeping with my wife.”
She smiled at the word, and the relish with which he pronounced it even as her eyes fluttered shut. “I just hope
I can stay awake until we get there.”
Those were the last words she spoke. Joe’s smile was the last thing she saw. Even though it was only a block away, she missed their arrival at the hotel’s grand entrance and the expression on the face of the valet who opened the car door so that Joe could lift her into his arms. She also missed the smiles that accompanied their progress through the formal lobby, the guest on the elevator who shot Joe a wink as he pressed their floor number for them, and the bellman who opened the suite door and left without waiting for a tip as Joe carried her to the king-size bed.
She was sound asleep and snoring lightly by the time Joe managed to pull the vintage Emilio Pucci up over her head, shuck his own clothes, and slip into bed beside her. There he pulled her tight against him, closed his eyes, and promptly went to sleep.
Epilogue
Two weeks later, Bella Flora hunkered protectively around Maddie, Kyra, Avery, Bitsy, and Nikki as they gathered on the loggia to toast one another and the sunset. Although she couldn’t drink them, Nikki had blended two pitchers of strawberry margaritas then made a half pitcher that was alcohol free. Bagel bites, Ted Peters smoked fish spread with crackers, and an industrial-size bag of Cheez Doodles sat on the wrought iron table. Avery had brought a small plate of pâté and crostini in memory of Deirdre, who had never met an expensive gourmet food she didn’t like.
The sun still hung in the pale blue spring sky and shone through the wisps of white clouds that floated above the turquoise waters of the Gulf.
Maddie studied the women who’d come to mean so much to her and thought of all that they’d been through together, how many things had changed. Steve had actually moved out as promised and was currently babysitting his grandson in the small house that he’d rented. Nikki was now a wife and mother. All of them stood on the precipice of change. “Does anyone have a good thing to share?”