Theron's Hope (Brides of Theron) (21 page)

“No, it is just me.  I live alone but Josephine is my maid and she comes everyday to clean up and cook for me.  This was my mother and Father’s apartment when they were alive and I haven't changed a thing.  My mom designed the apartment as it is today. She had a keen eye for art and had the help of a very talented interior decorator.  This was my parent's favorite residence.  They owned several houses elsewhere but they loved this spot in the city the most.”  She gazed into nothingness while she fondly remembered them.  They may not have had a family in the traditional sense, like Michael and Emily did, but she still admired them none the less. 

“How about a tour when we finish eating?” Zane asked.

“Sure, I would be happy to show you around,” Grace said as she resumed eating her food.  Grace picked up the dishes when they were done and rinsed them off leaving them in the sink as a habit, that way when Jo saw the dishes in the sink she would know that Grace had returned.  It was sort of an unspoken code the two had developed over the years.  “I will leave these for Jo.  Are you ready for the tour?”  She said as she reached for his hand. 

She took him into every room.  She showed him the room she called her own when she was a child.  It was still decorated the same way, unchanged and frozen in time, with little teddy bears in tutus and ballerina toe shoes laced up their legs on the wallpaper.  As they walked through the hallway they encountered a portrait.  He could just make out the little girl that he assumed was Grace because of the green color and shape of her eyes.  “Is this your family?” 

She looked at it with a somewhat pained look and it seemed as if she was forcing a smile for his benefit.  “This was my family.  I was 8 when this was taken.  We actually had a photographer at the Hampton’s house come to take this picture among many others for the family.  My mom liked this one the best and had it blown up and framed.”  She could feel the tears building in her eyes with the thought of her mother. She explained to him her family history. She was the youngest of three.  Her sister and brother were much older than her.  She was born when her mother turned 38.  Her mother thought she was going through the “change” but found out that she was having another baby.  Her brother John IV was 16 and her sister Rachel was 14 when she was born.  Her siblings were never really close to Grace though.  That is why Michael was like a brother to her.  He was only 3 years older than her and they were alike in so many ways.  Michael did not have any other siblings and pretty much adopted Grace as his sister.  She did not have many family memories that did not have Michael in them.  Along the various portraits on the wall, she saw Michael in most of them. 

Her dad was fond of Michael as well.  He saw the goodness in his nephew and recognized the inquisitiveness that his son did not possess.  He knew Michael would make a great lawyer in the future and spent time with him to prepare him for a life he thought for sure would be his career.  He let Michael work in the firm after school and during summer breaks while John IV was in college.  Part of this was the reason that Michael graduated well earlier than expected.  He clerked for the lead prosecutor in New York City during his final year of law school and passed the bar exam in one try.  It took her brother John IV three times to pass the bar exam and once for Rachel who was a natural like her mother, but like her mother, she had no real drive to head the firm.  Her father never worried about Rachel’s future.  She would be a great asset to the firm just as Michael would, just not as the CEO.

Brought out of her reverie by the reality of the late hour she led him to the master bedroom.  She pointed at the bed, “I know that this bed is much smaller than yours, but I assure you that it is the largest of standard beds they make on this planet.  You are welcome to sleep here but can also sleep in any of the other rooms if you wish. However, I figured that since we sleep in the same bed on the ship, why should we go and change the sleeping arrangements while in my apartment.”  She made her way to the bathroom to get ready for bed.  “I am going to get ready for bed.  We will have visitors coming at 8 in the morning.  We might want to get some sleep.”

Zane woke up startled by the loud music coming from Grace’s alarm clock.  “What the hell is that noise?”  Zane shouted as he sat up in the bed. 

“What?”  She said as she pressed down the snooze button. 

“What was that?”  He asked.  He had slept rather well despite the fact that
if he attempted to stretch completely out, his feet would project well past the end of the bed.  He made the best of it and bent his knees in a fetal position to sleep in the bed with Grace.  He never wanted to sleep without her again.  It comforted him to know that she was near and within arm’s reach.  He rubbed his eyes and raked his hands through his short dark brown hair.  Just then, Grace started to stretch like he noticed she normally did.  It was in a manner that Grace would equate with feline.  Her back was arched and her hands extended above her head, her knees brought up close to her abdomen and then out straight as far as they would go.   

“That is my alarm clock.  We use them to help us wake up.”  She pointed to the little box that was responsible for all that loud noise.  “You set the time you want to wake up and when the clock reaches that time, the radio starts to play music from a radio station. Do you need me to show you how to use the shower?”  Grace asked through a yawn.

“That would be great.”  What he really wanted to ask her was would you want to join me? But he decided against that and would wait to see what would happen.

She said, “Give me a minute and I will be right out to get you and show you how everything works.”  She walked into the bathroom pulling down the back of her shorts as she entered.  She came out a few minutes later and called for him to join her.  “This is the shower.  You turn this dial toward the red mark for hotter water, toward the blue to make it colder.”  She put it all the way up to red and let it run until it started to steam.  Then she adjusted it toward the blue to a temperature she would most like.  She saw him look toward the Jacuzzi bathtub in curiosity.  “That is a bathtub.  You fill it up and when it is full, you can press this button and air shoots out the jets, massaging your body in the process.”  She looked around the room and realized that he was starting to undress.  “I am assuming you know how to use the rest of this, so I will excuse myself now.”  He noticed that she started talking faster and at a higher pitch up to the time she left the room, shutting the door behind her. 

Grace made her way into the kitchen shaking the sight of his beautiful perfect body out of her head.  It was hard enough to keep her hands off of him and she definately did not need any encouragement.  She started up the coffee maker looking forward to having a cup of her favorite brew.  She turned around to see Jo jump at the sight of her standing in the kitchen.  “I am so glad that you are home, Miss Grace.” 

“I am happy to be home and happy to see you earlier than planned.  I brought someone home with me.  Would it be too much to ask you to make us some breakfast, pancakes, eggs and bacon maybe?”  She looked at Jo with a persuasive smile even though she knew that Jo would do whatever she asked of her.

“Sure, Miss Grace, I can do that.  What is your friend’s name?”  Jo was curious.  Grace had never brought a man home with her.  At this point she did not know if it was a man or a woman accompanying her.  If she heard a name then maybe she could guess which of the two it was.

Grace knew just what Jo was looking for in the way of information.  Jo wanted to know if she brought a man home with her.  “His name is Zane and we are married.”

“Married!  ¡Dios Mio!” She said, clearly in shock.  Jo made a move to sit in the nearest chair.  Grace came to her aide.  As she got Jo settled in the chair Zane made his way to the kitchen and at the sight of him she looked as if she was going to faint. 

Grace grabbed Jo from behind and held her to keep her from falling from the chair.  “Jo, are you alright?”  She said as she looked into her eyes.  “Zane you are a doctor, can you come look at her and see if she is alright?”

Zane approached the small Cuban woman and heard her say “Married!  ¡Dios Mio!  He is a doctor, too.  You are a very large man Mr. Zane.”  She looked Zane in the eyes and said to him directly, “Where are you from?”

He looked to Grace for an answer.  He did not know how to answer.  Finally he said in his softest and gentlest voice, not to scare her, “From far away.”

“Zane is from a small town in Canada,” Grace interjected, “He moved to Florence about, what was it honey, three years ago?”  She looked to Zane expectantly for an answer.

“Yes, I moved there about three years ago.  I practiced medicine there in a local hospital until just recently.”  He said checking Jo out like a physician would.  He gently used his index finger to prod her head up to face the lights in the kitchen, checking the way her eyes responded to the light, then placing his index and middle fingers underneath her jaw to feel her pulse.  “Mrs. Jo, I presume.  How are you feeling?  I cannot see anything wrong with you.  Do you feel alright now?  Do you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I am fine. I was taken by surprise is all.”  She made to rise out of the chair to make them breakfast.  Grace held on to her hand, just in case she fell when she stood.  She looked fine and stable on her feet so Grace let her go.  Jo started to prepare them breakfast as Grace made her way to the coffee maker. 

“Zane dear, would you care for some coffee?”  She asked using terms of endearment that were unusual for her.  He did not know what she was up to and intended to ask as soon as they were alone.  He nodded at her and watched as she made the coffee.  She placed a white cup into a holder and crushed it with a handle then pressed the button.  She went ahead and added the sugar and milk in the same way that she prepared the tolka in his quarters.  She handed him a mug and watched him expectantly to see his reaction. 

He rather liked the taste of coffee.  It was not as bitter as the tolka from home.  The pancakes were great and tasted even better with the syrup that Grace drizzled on them and held out on her fork for him to try.  She was right when she said that the eggs and bacon tasted similar to the pizo and coocaw eggs from the other day. 

They returned to her room after breakfast and he wanted to know exactly what was going on with Grace. “Why are you acting funny today? Your behavior is odd.”

Grace went into the bathroom and stood in front of the sink, Zane following close behind her.  She looked at his reflection in the mirror as she prepared her toothbrush.  “On my planet, newlyweds are overly affectionate and say odd and cutesy things to one another.  If they are going to believe that we are married we are going to have to play the part, otherwise they will see right through us.”  She started to brush her teeth. 

“What kinds of things do new husbands do?  I want to make sure they believe me.  How should I play my part?”  This could be fun he thought as he prepared to brush his teeth with the supplies he brought along with him. 

She rinsed her mouth out with water and walked in front of Zane.  “A new husband would take his bride in his arms at every opportunity.”  Damn she was sexy he thought to himself. “He would never miss a chance to kiss her lips when they were otherwise idle.”

“How could he tell they were idle?”  He placed his hands on her shoulder, running his fingertips slowly down her arms and grabbing her hands to pull her closer to him.  She didn’t answer right away and he saw her swallow hard.  She licked her lips and the sight of that made him want to go in for a kiss.  He was waiting for her to respond though.

“I guess that unoccupied would be when she is not talking or having any business at hand to deal with,” she answered nervously.

“Would your lips be considered currently idle at this moment, my dear?  I’m just asking for future reference.  I do want to play the part as well as I can.”  He made his move to kiss her. She moved toward him in return, ready to receive it.  He wondered if she felt the way he did when they kissed.  He had to know and when the kiss was finished, he gathered up all his courage and asked her whispering in her ear.  “Gracie, do you feel that?  I can’t describe what I feel but it is like a charge that goes right through me and eventually makes its way to my heart.”