The Happiest Day (12 page)

Peter and Bert
headed home after a week at the beach and the rest followed the week later. 
Rachel was eager to get home.  She and Peter had only managed to be together
one more time before he had to leave and she missed him terribly.  She was so
in love with him and preoccupied with thoughts of him that she didn’t even
notice Norris’ growing melancholy.  As she sat with him in their private car on
the train on the journey home, she thumbed through an issue of Life magazine. 
She was enthralled by a series of photos by a photojournalist name Theo
Bressler which chronicled the rebuilding of Europe since the war.

“Look at these photos,
Norris,” she said.  “These are amazing.”

He turned from the
window.  He had been staring wordlessly out the window for hours.  He flipped
through the pictures in a desultory manner.  “They are good.  He’s talented,”
he said in a flat voice.  At one time, he would have been the one to toss the
magazine in front of somebody’s face and rave about the photos.

“I was thinking
that the paper could expand.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone like him on
staff, or even just retainer?  Just because we’re a local paper doesn’t mean
that we can’t compete with the big papers, at least with photojournalism.”

“That’s a
wonderful idea,” Maryanne offered.  She held a sleeping Alan in her arms.  “Did
you ever think of expanding what the paper offers, Daddy?”

He shrugged.  “Not
really.  Maybe I’m getting too old for this.  I should turn the paper over to
you children.”  His eyes fell on Geoff.  “Time for a new generation, right
son?”

Geoff looked
uncomfortably at Rachel.  He still hadn’t told his father about Harvard.  “I
think you’re doing a great job, Dad.  It will be years before you should even
think about turning the paper over.”

Norris flipped
through a few more pages.  “He has an amazing eye.  Maybe I’ll contact him.”

“I didn’t
necessarily mean him,” Rachel explained.  “He might be too big for us.”

“It wouldn’t hurt
to try.”  He handed the magazine back to her and resumed staring out the
window.

Rachel and
Maryanne exchanged a look of concern with each other.  “Daddy, are you feeling
all right?”

“Hm?  Oh yes, of
course.”

“You seem down.”

Rachel felt a
moment of fear.  Did Norris know that she had been unfaithful?  Both times,
they had tried their best to be discreet.  Would he even care?  He obviously
didn’t want her.  “She’s right.  You do.  What’s wrong?”

He turned his head
to look at Rachel and their eyes held for a long time.  Rachel felt an uneasy
feeling crawl up her spine.  “Nothing’s wrong, my dear,” he finally said. 
“Just anxious to get home.  You must be, too.”

She smiled
calmly.  “I am looking forward to getting home.  I had a wonderful time at the
beach, though.”

Again the long
look.  “I’m sure you did,” he said evenly and turned back to the window.

Rachel hid her
trembling hands under the magazine, her mind panicking.  What would she say if
he confronted her?  Would she admit all or try to lie?  She needed to talk to
Peter as soon as they returned home.  She calmly placed the magazine on the
shelf behind her and leaned back, trying to calm her nerves.  She watched
Maryanne smoothing her hand over Alan’s downy head and felt a squeeze in her
heart as she thought of her own little Ruby.  The bracelet Peter gave her was
safely packed in her overnight bag.  Would there ever be another baby?  She had
accepted that Norris didn’t want another child but now, having been with Peter,
she had a new rush of longing to hold another baby in her arms.

She sat up
straighter.  A baby!  What if she got pregnant by Peter?  She would have to
admit all to Norris then.  She threw a nervous look at him but he seemed
preoccupied by the passing scenery.  God, what if she was already pregnant? 
What would she do?  Those two times in Peter’s arms had not encouraged logical
thought in her brain.

Her cycles were
always unpredictable so she wasn’t sure how long it would be before she knew whether
or not she was pregnant.  She would see a doctor in a month’s time if her cycle
hadn’t come.  She could explain it away as just a check-up and act surprised if
he congratulated her.  Then she would deal with how to tell Norris.

In the meantime,
she would have to talk to Peter.  He would know what to do.

The group arrived
home that evening and Bert met his wife and son at the train station.  Rachel
searched briefly for Peter but was disappointed.  He was nowhere to be seen.

“Is Peter working
late?” she asked Bert casually.

“Uh…no, he
actually took off early,” Bert answered as he swung Alan up in the air to the
baby’s delight.  “He and Blanche had some event to attend.”

Her heart fell. 
“Oh.”

Norris motioned
for her.  “The car is waiting, dear.  Let’s get home.” He kissed Maryanne’s
cheek.  “We’ll see you soon?”

“Of course. 
Daddy, thank you so much for the trip.  We had such a wonderful time.”  She
hugged Rachel, Geoff, and Laurie.  “We’ll come out soon.  Good night.”

The remaining four
travelled to the estate in relative silence.  Rachel knew it could be chalked
up to fatigue but she was also disappointed that Peter had not missed her
enough to meet the train.  Once home, they all headed for the rooms and Rachel
fell on her bed, a few tears stinging her eyes.  “Stop it,” she muttered to
herself.  “He is married after all.”  She allowed herself only another minute
of wallowing in misery, and then forced herself to get up and prepare for bed.

She turned off her
light and snuggled under her blankets, wiping her tired eyes.  She didn’t even
hear the door to her bedroom open.

“Spider,” he
whispered, running his hand over her hair.

Her eyes flew
open.  “Peter!” she whispered, joy washing over her.  “Oh, I missed you!”  She
sat up, throwing herself in his arms.

His mouth met hers
with ferocious hunger and he devoured her with his mouth, his hands already
stroking her breasts through her nightgown.  “You feel good,” he said against
her mouth.

She pulled away
slightly.  “Did anyone see you come in?”

“No, I came in
through the kitchen and up the back staircase.”

“My door?”

“I locked it
behind me.  We’re safe.”  He stood and began unbuttoning his shirt.

“I was devastated
when you weren’t at the train station,” she admitted.

“I had a dinner
that I had to attend.  I left as soon as I could.”

“Blanche was with
you?”

He shrugged out of
the shirt and let it fall carelessly to the floor.  “We went together.  We left
separately.  That’s normal for us.”  He reached for the button of his
trousers.  “Don’t tell me you’re jealous of Blanche.”

“It’s stupid I
know.  I’m not jealous of her exactly, just the time she has with you.”

He stepped out of
the last of his clothes and returned to bed.  “No matter where I am or who I’m
with, all I think about is you.  The clock seemed to have stopped while I was
at the dinner.  I could hardly wait until I could leave and come be with you.”

He bent his head
to reclaim her mouth but she held him away.  “Peter, I need to talk to you
about something.”

“What’s wrong?”

“What if I get
pregnant?  What if I’m already pregnant?”

“I know.  As soon
as I got on that train home, I thought of that.  If you’re already pregnant,
there’s nothing to be done.  We’ll deal with that when it happens.  From here
on out, though, we have to be careful.”

She felt shy.  “I…I
don’t know what to do.”

He kissed her
forehead with a small chuckle.  “I brought something with me.  I’ll take care
of it.  You must know, however, that nothing is fool-proof.  We’re running a
risk no matter what we do.  Are you willing to take that risk?”

She didn’t even
pause to think.  “I can’t be without you,” she whispered.

For the next hour,
they were completely engrossed in each other.  He brought her to ecstasy with
his hands and his mouth before finally plunging into her with a hoarse cry of
his own.  Afterwards, he held her in his arms and said, “I love you, Rachel
Warner.”

She rose up on an
elbow and gazed down in his face.  “You do?”

He reached up to
smooth her hair out of her eyes.  “Have I not told you that before?”

She had to laugh. 
“No, I think I would remember that.  At least, you’ve never said it like that
before.  Do you really, Peter?  You love me?”

“I am…madly…” he
lifted his head from the pillow and kissed her.  “Passionately…” another kiss,
“desperately out of my head in love with you.”

“That is very nice
to hear,” she said with a smile.

His eyebrows
rose.  “I would certainly not mind to hear a similar declaration from you.”

“Are you serious? 
I think I’ve been painfully obvious since I was a teenager.”

He shook his
head.  “No good.  That was a teenage crush, puppy love.  You’re a woman now and
see me with all of my flaws and all of my bad qualities.  Do you love me as a
woman loves a man, despite my shortcomings?”

She rested her
chin on her fisted hands on his chest and pretended to think.  “I didn’t really
think about it that way.  You do have a lot of bad qualities, don’t you?”

“Well, ‘a lot’
might be overstating it a bit.”

“You’re moody, you
work too much…you’re very rigid.  When you think you’re right, there’s no
changing your mind.”

“Because I’m
right,” he argued.

“And you’re
argumentative,” she added.

“I’m a lawyer.”

“And you’re a
lawyer.  I always wanted to fall in love with someone more romantic, like a
writer or a poet.”

“I quoted poetry
to you at the beach.”

“Less than a stanza
of Browning.  Pretty sad.”

“All right.  So
those are my bad qualities.  Can you think of any good ones?”

She pursed her
lips in thought.  “You’re intelligent and you’re kind of handsome,” she
offered.

“Go on.”

“You are very
kind.  You like to take care of poor lost souls.”

“Anything else?”

“When I’m near
you, my blood roars through my veins and I feel like electricity is running up
and down my body.”  She snuggled closer to him.  “When I’m not with you, I feel
lost and sad.  I only want to be near you.”

His lips turned up
in a smile.  “Sounds like love to me.”

She nodded.  “I
agree.  I guess I really am in love with you.”  She sighed happily and laid her
head on his chest.  “Peter, I think Norris may know about us.”

“Did he say
something?”

“No, it’s more
what he’s not saying.  He seemed upset on the train ride home and he stared at
me a lot.”

“I hate to tell
you, Rachel, but Norris has stared at you for years.  It used to give me the
creeps.  I think you’re just letting your imagination run away.  We were
careful.”

“I guess.”  She
drew little circles in his chest hair.  “Remember when he told me to not be
alone with you?”

“Yes.”

“He said that you
were promiscuous.  He said that you had had affairs with almost every woman in
your social circle.  He insinuated that you were targeting me as some sort of
conquest.  Is that true?”

“No,” he said
firmly.  “I swear it to you.  Listen to me, I was faithful to Blanche for the
first three years of our marriage.  Even though I knew she was being unfaithful
to me, I still tried to save our marriage.”

“What made you
change your mind?”

“Three years ago a
woman called me.  She told me that Blanche was sick, she needed help.  I
followed the lady’s directions and found Blanche lying on a dirty metal table
in this place…she had had an abortion.  She was hemorrhaging.  I took her to
the hospital.  When she was lucid, she admitted to me that she had no idea if
the baby had been mine or any of the several men she had slept with.  All she
knew was that she didn’t want the baby.  Any feelings I had had for her died
that day.”  He cupped her face in his hands.  “I have been with other women,
it’s true.  Not a lot, though, and I’m always discreet.  I haven’t left any
deflowered virgins or broken hearts in my wake.  If I had wanted you as a
conquest, I would have taken you the night of Maryanne’s wedding.  Believe me,
I was tempted.”

“Why didn’t you
then?”

“It would have
been wrong.  You didn’t need to lose your virginity in a drunken stupor,
especially after everything you had been through that night.”

She was quiet for
a few moments.  “Instead I lost my virginity to Norris.  I wish it had been
you.”

His gut clenched
as he thought about the twisted web of lies in which Norris had involved
Rachel.  He knew that couldn’t even begin to comprehend all of the lies.  “We
can’t change the past.  Neither of us can.”

“I know.  You’re
right.  All that matters in now.”  She pressed her lips to his reverently. 
“When we’re together, there is no Blanche, no Norris.  It’s just us.”

He left before the
sun rose, kissing her gently.  “Sleep,” he whispered.  “I’ve kept you up most
of the night.”

“It was worth it,”
she said, trying to stifle a yawn.  “When will I see you again?”

“As soon as
possible.  I love you.”

“I love you.”  She
was already drifting off to sleep so he slipped out of the room noiselessly and
left the house, jogging to his car which he had left at the end of the drive.

Rachel slept late,
well after noon, and was lethargic about getting up and facing the real world. 
Her body felt gloriously loved and she luxuriated in her bath tub for over an
hour, gently cleaning her body from head to toe, reminiscing in how Peter how
made love to every inch.  She finally dried herself and dressed, her stomach
rumbling.  She headed down the steps, finding it difficult to keep the smile
from her face.