The Burning Point (46 page)

Charles's gaze went back to the great room, where Angela Corsi was now talking with Connie Russo. "I'm glad Angie came today. Since Nick's death, she seems more relaxed. Not happy, certainly, but better able to breathe."

Spring had been complicated, to say the least. But matters had resolved themselves about as well as could be hoped for.

A slim young woman came briskly through the front screen door. Raine Marlowe.

"Rainey, how wonderful!" Julia exclaimed. "I'm so glad you could make it."

"I missed Kate's first wedding, so I promised her that nothing would keep me from her second." Rainey hugged Julia. Today she had eschewed Hollywood glamour in favor of a simplicity that reminded Julia of the times when Kate and all of her friends would sprawl around the family room, weeping in unison as they watched
An Affair to Remember
. The good old days.

Speaking of Hollywood... "Did the Sexiest Man Alive come?"

"He's in Greece shooting a new movie."

Just as well, perhaps. Julia would love to meet him, but Kenzie Scott's presence would definitely distract from the main event. "Go in and say hello to Kate. She and the rest of your old gang will be delighted to see you."

Rainey descended into the great room, and was promptly engulfed in old friends. It was good to have her back in Baltimore again.

A Tibetan temple bell chimed, its mellow tone slicing through the chatter. Julia quietly laced her fingers through Charles's. The main event had arrived.

∗ ∗ ∗

Being able to outshout the noise of a demolition site had advantages, Donovan thought as he raised both arms and called out, "May I have your attention, please!"

As the happily chattering crowd quieted down, Kate emerged from the middle of her friends suddenly equipped with flowers in her shining hair and a bouquet in one hand. She looked like an exquisite medieval princess.

"I have a confession to make. This isn't just an open house. It's a wedding," he announced. "The only people we told in advance were out-of-staters who needed an incentive to come."

As laughter and whispers of excitement rippled through the room, the witnesses stepped forward, Tom Corsi to be best man and Liz Chen as maid of honor. "We didn't want a lot of hoopla, just the presence of those we love."

He glanced around the room, thinking of that first wedding more than a dozen years ago. God, they'd been young. "We didn't want gifts, either. Many of you already gave once, which lets you off the hook for remarriages. Find yourselves a good viewing spot, and we'll proceed."

Laurel Clark, who played the hammer dulcimer, had set up her instrument in the corner earlier. Now she filled the air with exuberant Renaissance dance music as the guests rearranged themselves around the wedding party.

Julia and Charles stood in the doorway to the den since the steps gave them a good view over the other guests. His dignified, once and future mother-in-law blew him a kiss.

The Methodist minister who would perform the ceremony, a Corsi family friend, had slipped from the room to put on his robes. As the Reverend Whittaker worked his way slowly toward the wedding party, Donovan dug in his pocket for the rings. He and Kate both still had their original wedding bands, with the date of the first ceremony engraved inside, so he'd taken the rings to a jeweler to have the new date added.

He handed the rings to Tom and Liz, then took Kate's hand. "Did you add the divorce date to the rings?" she asked. "It seems only fair to include the whole story for our grandchildren's sake."

He grinned, thinking how in the weeks since their reconciliation, she'd become the laughing, confident Kate again. "Nope. Instead I had an infinity sign engraved inside each ring."

He raised their joined hands and tenderly kissed her fingers. "This time,
carissima
, it's forever."

∗ ∗ ∗

"I now pronounce you husband and wife."

As Kate and Patrick kissed, Julia wiped her eyes. This time the two of them would get it right.

As she tucked away her handkerchief, Charles said quietly, "I love a wedding. How about if you and I do this after a discreet interval has passed? Say, a year or so from now."

Julia's pulse went into overtime. "I...I haven't really thought that far ahead."

"I have. The kids are right, second weddings should be simple. I keep thinking how lovely you'd look coming down the staircase in my front hall. That leaded glass window always looks its best with a bride in front of it. Until and unless Rachel finds someone she wants to keep, you're the best bet my window has."

Julia bit her lip. Then, voice almost inaudible, she whispered, "Yes."

His expression lit up. "In case I haven't mentioned it, Julia, I love you."

"And I you, Charles." She sent a silent prayer of thanksgiving heavenward, for if ever a woman had been doubly blessed, it was her.

In front of the fireplace, Patrick had his arm around his radiant bride. "The last thing I want to say is how lucky I am. I was amazed that Kate married me once."

He looked down into her eyes, his gaze as intimate as a kiss. "The fact that she's willing to marry me again is nothing short of a miracle."

"Patrick, as always, under-rates himself," Kate said. "I've a confession to make, too. All of you nice, opinionated people who told me I should look hard at what I'd thrown away were absolutely right."

More laughter. When the levity faded, Kate said in a voice turned serious, "The one person who should be here but isn't is my father. Could we please have a moment of silence in memory of Sam Corsi? If not for him, none of us would be here today, and my life would be...incomplete."

The silence was absolute. It ended when Reverend Whittaker said, "Amen. And now, in the endless cycle of life, it's time to celebrate a joyful new beginning."

As a receiving line formed, Charles said, "When Sam insisted on writing that crazy will, I told him that in my professional opinion he was madder than a March hare. But damned if he didn't know what he was doing."

Julia tucked her hand into Charles's elbow. "I don't know if he was wise, or if he just got lucky, but there's one thing I'm sure of." She smiled through a misting of tears. "Somewhere, my dear, Sam Corsi is laughing."

Author's Note

Domestic violence is wrong, wrong, wrong. That is not arguable, and no one should tolerate it. Yet life seldom unfolds with clearly black and white situations.

When does a minor problem become major? What is the right time to leave before a bad situation turns catastrophic? And once trust has been shattered, can it ever be rebuilt? In
The Burning Point
I have chosen to explore these issues because transformation and reconciliation are recurring themes in all my novels.

As a very young wife, Kate rationalized the conditions that were gradually undermining her marriage. She believed that each violent incident was isolated and wouldn't be repeated. She knew that Donovan loved her, which surely meant their marriage was strong and sound. She was convinced that if she was just loving and understanding enough, everything would work out. Luckily, she learned better before it was too late.

Donovan was never a bad guy, but he had been raised with abuse, and his needs and his love were dangerously focused on Kate. Though he knew that sometimes his actions were completely unacceptable, as Kate continued to tolerate his behavior there wasn't much incentive to change. Only after losing what he loved most in the world did he realize that he must transform himself in profound and painful ways.

Although Kate and Donovan are fictional, they are modeled on real men and women who have successfully overcome troubled pasts and built healthier lives. Healing a destructive relationship requires more than love. There must also be compassion, wisdom, and emotional toughness.

Kate and Donovan have all of those qualities, along with a great capacity for forgiveness. This is why together they are able to rebuild their relationship and make it "stronger in the mended places."

Book Excerpt

from

The Spiral Path

Book 2 of the Circle of Friends Trilogy

Prologue

Broad Beach, California

Four Years Ago

Being a sex symbol was a hell of a lot of work. Kenzie Scott came in from his morning beach run panting like a racehorse and covered with sweat. Some days he reached the euphoria of a runner's high. Other times exercise was pure torture, and this was one of them.

His all-purpose household help, Ramon, silently handed him a cool glass of juice and disappeared back into the kitchen. Kenzie dropped onto the sofa in the family room, sipping his drink and watching the waves roll toward the beach. He could gaze at the sea forever, he sometimes thought. Wave after wave, eternally. Hypnotic, mindless peace.

There were a couple dozen things he should be doing, but he wasn't in the mood for any of them, so he took a videotape from the haphazard stack teetering on the end table. Oscar voting time was coming up, and studios were inundating Academy members with screeners of nominated films. He glanced at the box.
Home Free
, featuring a nominee for Best Supporting Actress. Raine Marlowe.

He'd heard good things about Raine Marlowe, but hadn't seen any of her work. He popped the tape into the VCR, then returned to the sofa with the remote.

He felt a tingle of anticipation as the opening credits appeared. He'd never outgrown his blind love of movies. The best memories of his childhood were the hours he spent mesmerized in the dark safety of movie theaters. Though becoming an actor had seemed impossible, he'd made it. Along the way he'd learned a lot about the complex skills required by filmmaking, yet he'd never lost the sense of wonder that movies always stirred in him.

Home Free
, a low-budget family drama that had done unexpectedly well, was just getting interesting when the phone rang. His assistant. Josh, wouldn't have let the call through if it wasn't important, so Kenzie hit the VCR mute button and lifted the phone.

His manager, Seth Cowan, said, "Morning, Kenzie. Have you looked at any of the scripts I sent over?"