No Perfect Secret (38 page)

“You won the massage
.”

He grabbed her hand and held it tight against his chest. “Damn it.” He breathed deeply for a few moments.

Anna pulled her arm free and sat up yoga style. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, babe, you were doing everything right. Too right.” He laughed at himself. “Let’s just go a bit slower.”

“How slow? Into the next century?”

Oh boy.
“Get under this cover, woman, and I’ll show you slow.” She snuggled in beside him. He kissed her eyelids, nibbled on the curl of her ear and the pulse below her ear lobe, while his hands were busy doing magic elsewhere.

“I think...um...
I should tell you where my erogenous zones are.”

“I know where they are, sweetheart.” He nipped and nibbled across her stomach. That’s one.”

“Oh...yes...it is...”

He kissed her knees, and moved to the soft, silky flesh of her i
nner thighs, his teeth taking tiny bites until he felt her quivering. “That’s two.”

He turned her over and began nibbling her shoulder, nipping all the way down to her firm buttocks and back up again. “That’s three.”

“Frank,” Anna said, her voice muffled by the pillow, “You better dress mister johnson.”

“In a minute.”

“No. In the next ten seconds—or he’s going to miss something.”

“Oh.
Oh
.” Caburn slid his hand under his pillow for the foil package and made quick work of suiting up.

Fifteen or so minutes later their heartbeats were returning to normal. Anna snuggled against his long, lean flanks, her head on his shoulder, her palm against the hair stubble on his chest.
“Frank, are we living together?”

“Yep.”

“I guess I won’t buy a dog, then.”

She ran her hand across his chest, his ribs, his stomach and ever so slowly began to move her hand lower.

Caburn opened one sleepy eye and looked at the top of Anna’s head. “Stop that.”

“I like the way you feel.”

“Good. Be still.”

“I have to get up and put on my pajamas. I just can’t sleep naked.”

“Lord have mercy.”

She came back to bed and snuggled against his back. He was snoring softly. “Are you asleep?”

“Trying,” he muttered.

“Frank, do you believe in God?”

“Yep.”

“Do you pray?”

“I’m praying right now.”

“You are? Really? What for?”

“That the woman in bed with me right now will shut up and go to sleep.” He grumbled a few words she didn’t understand, and pulled the blankets up over his head.

Anna pressed her lips to his back. She was happy. It had been years since she had felt so happy. She wanted to stand up and dance on the bed. She wanted to wave flags and beat drums. She was tempted to wake Frank and tell him how she felt. She didn’t though, because if there was any single thing she knew about him, it was that the man liked his sleep.

I’m there, Anna thought. I have already stepped into my new life. It happened faster than I could’ve imagined. Instead of uncertainty, she felt confidence. Instead of anguish, she felt joy.

She was in bed with her future; in bed with the man who had made her whole, protected her, and loved her. He hadn’t said the words yet. It would probably take him a while. She snuggled in closer and let her arm rest on his side. His hand moved to cover hers, and brought it up to his lips with a drowsy murmur of pleasure.

Anna smiled languidly. Tomorrow she would have her maiden name back. New Year’s Eve she would be dancing in the new year in with Frank Caburn and a whole host of new friends. Real ones. Perhaps in the spring she would accompany Cynthia and a tour group to Paris. She liked the idea of Lila in a condo on Sanibel Island with Clarence and JoJo nearby. She and Frank could visit on a long weekend. Everything was possible now—even babies.   

Are you watching, Mom? I got it right this time.

THREE MONTHS LATER

Anna scraped and stacked a sea of dishes on the kitchen counter. Joan Neal rinsed the dishes and loaded the dishwasher.

“Sit and have a glass of wine, Joan, you’ve done enough. “

“I want to help. It makes me feel good, so don’t take that away from me over manners and courtesy. I can honestly say this is the first time in my career I watched a client go from such formidable emotional disaster to solid emotional bliss within six months. Not to mention that against all odds and rules, we’ve become friends. It lets me know I do some things right.”

Anna snickered. “Since you put it that way—unload all that china with the gold trim. Those belong to Louise Phipps. They have to be hand-washed and packed into tufted zipper covers.”

“Oh, nuts. That will teach me to boast about doing something right.”

“Your second-best maid of honor will take you up on another glass of champagne,” sniffed Helen. She was sitting at the small breakfast table Anna had situated near the narrow French doors, which opened onto a tiny balcony. The doors were open to allow in a soft March breeze, still warm from the late afternoon sun. Tears glistened on Helen’s desiccated cheeks.

“One more, Helen and that’s it,” admonished Anna, “or I’ll have to pour you into a taxi. Whoa! Are you crying?”

“I’m maudlin. Weddings do it to me. I never had one, y’know. On top of that, my two best tenants are
at this very minute on the road with Lila in tow to Florida. Condominiums right on the beach, sunshine year-round and those little kiosks that sell frozen drinks with little umbrellas in ‘em…”

“You’re invited anytime. All of us are. And didn’t Clarence look sharp? Frank’s mother t
hought he was ‘the bee’s knees’. And so impressed that he served the cake wearing white gloves.”

Helen giggled. “Frank scowled at Clarence every time he went near the groom’s cake. Double-chocolate fudge.” She emitted a giant burp. “Oops.”

Anna swept the champagne glass off the table. “Coffee for you.”

“Oh, let her have the champagne,” said Joan. “I’ll drive her home.”

Helen blew her nose on a paper napkin. “Thank you, Joan, you’re my new best friend.”

The doorbell chimed. “Golly. Who could that be?
” Anna hurried to the door and flung it open. “Mr and Mrs Charles! Did you have car trouble?”

“With my Austin
Healy? Never, dear girl. We forgot that venison roast young Mr Caburn’s mother brought us.”

“Oh. Yes you did. Come on in. It’s in the freezer.” The tiny exquisitely-dressed couple preceded her into the kitchen.

Helen wa
s popping the cork on a bottle of champagne. “Two bottles left. We’re just putting them to bed. Wanna help, Mr Charles?”

Mr Charles looked at his wife. “That would be lovely, dear.”
He helped Mrs Charles out of her fox fur coat and draped it on the back of chair. Helen filled a pair of Louise’s stemmed champagne glasses. Glasses were held up in a toast. “To the bride.”

“Thank you all—again.”
Anna put the brown-paper wrapped venison roast on the table near Mr Charles’ elbow. The doorbell chimed again. Anna politely excused herself. One did not forget one’s manners in front of Mr Charles. She opened the front door to face Clarence and JoJo and Lila—who was still dressed in her sixty-year-old WACs pinks and greens uniform with its Captain’s bars on the collar, and who just about stole the bride’s thunder as Matron of Honor in the tiny wedding chapel. Except for the blue booties over his shoes, Clarence looked spiffy in the suit he had worn for the New Year’s Eve bash, as well as did JoJo in a slinky mauve sequined dress which matched her hair and made her look as if she were playing dress up.

Clarence looked abashed.
“We were almost to US 1 when I remember I forgot my wedding cake takeaway. It’s in the pantry in the Tupperware carryall.”

Anna laughed. “Come on in and join the after party.”

The three were only moments in the kitchen and explaining their return when the doorbell chimed once more. Anna opened it to Louise and Albert Phipps.

“You a
re going to think I’ve lost my mind,” said Louise. “But I forgot to give you your wedding present.” She thrust a spectacularly wrapped box into Anna hands.

“
Oh my. It’s beautiful. Thank you. Come on in. We were just about to open the last two bottles of champagne. You might as well join us.”

“Sounds
good to me,” said Albert and ushered his wife past Anna into the kitchen.

While Clarence served champagne, Anna opened the gift. She gasped
and carefully lifted the bronzed-framed and restored photographs and stood them for all to view on the table. The first was of a man, a boy and a mule, the second, of her parents on their wedding day. “Oh, oh, oh,” was all that she could manage.

Louise put her arm around Anna. “Rene had them ready weeks ago and I felt bad for keeping them from you, but I thought, well, dressed up in a lovely frame and gift-wrapped…”

Anna hugged the older woman. “They are just perfect. The very best gift I’ve ever received. I don’t know how to thank you. Both of you,” she added, including Albert who had stood as Frank’s best man.

Louise patted her shoulder. “You just did.”

Albert cleared his throat, his Adam’s apple bobbing like a ball on a string. “I was just doing a favor for a friend.”

The last bottle
s of champagne were opened, more toasts raised, invitations to Sanibel Island passed around again, as well as Lila telling more stories of the GREAT War in the Philippines. Helen shared how incredible the pyramids in Egypt were and how sly and enterprising the Russians. Mr Charles and Albert discussed Clive Cussler and his cars. Joan Neal perked a pot of coffee ‘because everybody needed to ‘down a cup’ before they got on the road again’. Anna reheated hors d’oeuvres in the oven and sliced more wedding cake, serving it along with the antipasto Vincenzo and Gina had sent as a wedding gift.

A half-
hour later the front door slammed.

“Oh, Frank’s home,” said Anna. “I guess he got his parents to the airport safe and sound.”

“Get naked, babe! Honeymoon time—” boomed cheerily from the foyer, through the living room and the dining room and into the kitchen where it landed on a whole raft of startled faces. Caburn followed his words into the kitchen and stopped dead. A deep fuchsia climbed his cheeks.

“
Ungh…ungh…ungh,” he sputtered.

“Oh, dear,” said Mr Charles.

Joan laughed outright.

Helen
said, “Just like a man.”

“On the road again,” hummed Clarence, grabbing the Tupperware
to which he had added several extra slices of groom’s cake. He pushed past Caburn, JoJo hard on his heels.

Trying
not to laugh, Anna helped Mrs Charles with her coat, placed the venison roast squarely into Mr Charles’ hands, found Helen’s purse, kissed Lila, hugged Joan, thanked Louise and Albert once again and ushered all out the front door amidst more congratulations, and not a few subdued snickers.

She
gently closed the door, set the lock and leaned against it for one brief moment before joining her husband in the kitchen. She found him loading Louise’s gold-rimmed plates into the dishwasher. Anna smiled and put her hand on his. “I’ll take care of that later. Would you like coffee? Another slice of cake?”

“
I made a fool of myself. Did I make a fool of myself?” He had loosened his silvery-blue tie against his pristine white shirt, the cuffs rolled back to elbows. His uncuffed silk slacks hung on his frame to advantage and broke perfectly on his dress shoes—done so at Mr Charles’ insistence. His blond hair, just long enough now to hint at curls, was awry.

“No you did not. You said and did exactly the right thing.
It got them all out of here. Alone at last.”

He put his arms around her and drew her close. “I
hope I never say exactly the right thing again in my life.” He spoke with such intense dismay, Anna laughed.

“I can cope with it.”

Caburn looked into her eyes. Yes, she could cope. She had coped well with every mind-numbing event over these past five months. Her name changed twice, back to her maiden and now to his. Meeting his parents for the first time and adoring them and they her. Not the least of it was the brief visit to the funeral home to see Kevin Nesmith one last time. The follow-up to make certain Clara-Alice was in a good place. The sale of her home and the saying of goodbye to her former life. All had been a bit sad for her, but he felt he had witnessed a miracle happen as she metamorphosed into full bloom and a new feminine allure under his love and caring. He thought the full perfection of her life and his was yet to come. Not that perfection was the goal. He knew he could give her one more gift and that this moment, caught like a fly in amber, would always be his to cherish.

He pressed his lips lightly
to her hers. “What do you say? Shall we get naked and go make a baby?”