Edge of Tomorrow (92 page)

• • •

As Thanksgiving approached, Hatch told Syd he
would like to get out of the sun and get to the snow in Virginia,
so they flew up to his plantation outside Langley and enjoyed the
crisp, cold weather for a change. The snow covered the ground and
hung in the trees, and when Roosevelt hooked up a horse to a sleigh
and brought it to the door to take her and Hatch for a ride through
the countryside, Syd felt as if she were part of a Currier and Ives
painting.

Abby cooked a large turkey and all the
trimmings, and they feasted until they thought they would burst.
After dinner, Syd and Hatch snuggled on the couch in front of a
roaring fire and sipped hot chocolate laced with cognac. Hatch no
longer had flashbacks to Kat and Germany when he sat with Syd in
front of a fire.

Syd had over a week off for the Christmas
break, so they went back to Virginia to enjoy the snow again. Syd
wanted her friends and family around her for Christmas, so they
flew Karen and Bruno in from San Francisco, and Sara and Mrs. C. up
from Florida. Marty also agreed to join them, which pleased Sara
immensely.

They had a few sleigh rides and snow ball
fights. They enjoyed a snowman building contest, men against the
women, which was declared a draw. Karen, Bruno, Sara, and Marty
went skiing one day, but Syd did not think the exertion was good
for Hatch yet. Hatch did not gripe too much about it, because at
least she was letting him have sex again. All in all, Syd could not
remember a better Christmas.

• • •

Syd’s teaching career came to an end—at
least, for the foreseeable future—on January 11, 2002. She graded
her last final, turned in her keys, and left the University of
Miami. She shut down her Miami condo and moved back to Klaus
Haus.

• • •

In January, Don Tessitore sent Joey Dante
back to Monterra to explore the possibility of restoring their
money-laundering operation. Captain Rossini was ready for them this
time, however. He arrested Joey Dante for loitering and threw him
in the dank, rat-infested dungeon to await trial. After 27 days,
Dante appeared before the judge and was deported. The Tessitores
abandoned Monterra for the foreseeable future.

• • •

Karen—
Lady
Karen—used her influence with the Prince of
Monterra, and Hatch and Syd’s wedding was held at the Royal Palace
on February 10, 2002. Syd had Marty handle the transportation
problems—she and Hatch wanted to provide all transportation and
lodging for the invited guests.

The wedding was filled with more pomp and
circumstance than Hatch would have liked, but after all, he was
only the groom, and he was marrying the most beautiful bride that
had ever existed! Hatch and Syd had finally discovered they were
both lapsed Catholics, and since Monterra was a Catholic nation,
they were married by the Archbishop of Monterra.

Lady Karen was the Maid of Honor, and Hatch’s
brother Vernon was his Best Man. Since Syd had no father, General
Lincoln did double duty and proudly marched his future
daughter-in-law down the aisle. Several of the General’s friends
had been invited. They were also generals, of course.

The wedding was shown on closed-circuit TV at
all Lincoln companies so that those who wished to could watch.
Carmelo and his family came, but Colonel Coffer said his crew was
on alert because of a situation unfolding in Russia, so they
watched on TV.

After the wedding, the Royal Carriage took
the bride and groom, along with the Maid of Honor and Best Man,
down the main street of Monterra. The streets were lined with mobs
of people wanting to see Lady Karen, her sister and her sister’s
new husband. They were all throwing flowers into the streets as the
carriage passed. No woman had ever had a more glorious wedding as
far as Syd was concerned. She was in the clouds.

She stopped all methods of birth control that
day.

• • •

Syd awoke from her twilight zone when
the boat bumped against the dock at
Bora
Tiki
. She yawned and scratched an itch on her bare
right breast. She sat up and gathered her towel and stepped onto
the dock and walked toward the small house she had called home for
the last month. She looked forward to a cool shower.

She thought,
Screw you, Zeus! You can have tomorrow! I own
today!

###

About the author:

I also am the author of the hardboiled
private eye Sam Crown mystery series:
Crown's Law
,
Crown's
Justice
, and
Crown's
Dilemma
. Check my page in Smashwords to sample
them:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/WolfWootan.
I am a member of
Private Eye Writers
of America.

Visit my website at
www.wolfwootan.com
.