Til We Meet Again (9 page)

Grace’s eyes filled with tears.  All she could think about was Donald and she felt horrible about that because she had promised herself she would bury those feelings so she could move on with her life.   “Yes,” she whispered.  This was how it had to be.

Matthew slid a giant diamond onto her finger and hugged her.  “You’ve just made me the happiest man alive,” he told her.

Grace thought again of Donald and how happy they would be right now if he’d lived. They would be living in the cottage with their baby girl.  Now it was over a year since they’d said ‘I do’ and made love only once at the cottage before ‘the tragedy’ as it was now referred to as.  Her mother and father had only agreed to her going to stay with the MacKays because they figured it was the only way she’d ever really get Donald out of her system for good. Of course they thought learning some domestic skills wouldn’t hurt her either.  Matthew was a good man who would definitely take care of her.  She just hoped that he wouldn’t notice that she wasn’t a virgin.  So far he hadn’t even kissed her and she was grateful for that as well except for this hug.  His arms felt warm and welcoming and she was suddenly scared of falling in love and being hurt again.  She knew her heart couldn’t bear that and would never bear losing another child.

“I will love you forever Grace,” Matthew whispered in her ear.  Then, for the first time, he kissed her.

His lips were soft and pliable but yet they weren’t Donald’s.  Grace parted her lips in reaction to Matthew’s tongue pressing against them.  He felt so secure and she couldn’t help feeling safe in his arms.

They parted but Matthew didn’t let Grace out of his embrace.  He held her, fearful that she would run.  “So, should we set a date?” he asked her trying to get her to say something.

“I think we should and I have thought about this and I would like a fall wedding,” Grace said.

“Really?” Matthew said both surprised and relieved.  He was happy to know that she had been thinking more about their relationship than she ever let on.

“Yes, really,” Grace replied feeling much more like her old self than she had in a long time.

“Then a fall wedding it is,” he declared.  They chose a Saturday in October and made it official telling both sets of parents who were ecstatic with the news. 

Grace decided then that there could be no more mourning over her losses.  She had the world ahead of her and at least Matthew
was
a decent guy.

A few weeks later, there was a huge engagement party.  All of Matthew’s and Grace’s friends and family were there.  It was held at Matthew’s house and Grace was escorted by her parents.  She entered wearing a beautiful new gown in a deep red.  It accentuated all the right places and Matthew was speechless when he saw her.

He led her to the dance floor after everyone had arrived and they shared their first dance as everyone watched.  “You are absolutely beautiful tonight,” he whispered in her ear.

“Thanks, but you don’t look so bad yourself,” she replied.

He kissed her and when the dance ended he led her off the floor to a quiet corner.  “I’ve noticed such a big change in you the last few weeks Grace,” he said.  “And I like it.”

“I’m really sorry about all of that Matthew, I’ve had a lot on my mind the last while and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t bring myself to open up,” she told him.

“You know Grace, you can tell me anything.  I love you and whatever has happened in the past you can trust that I’ll still love you,” he reassured her.

“Maybe I will, when I feel I can,” she said.

He kissed her then and pulled her against him.  She suddenly realized how badly she wanted him.  She hadn’t realized it before and wondered only for an instant if it was because she had been with Donald. 

“Do you think we could escape from here for a short time?” he asked.

Grace looked around the room.  Everyone was happy, busy dancing and chatting.  “I’m sure if we’re not gone for long we might be able to get away with it,” she replied.

Before she knew it, Matthew had grabbed her hand and they were heading through an almost hidden door out of the main room.  He led her to a flight of stairs and took her up.  They stopped at a door on the left at the end of the hallway and he opened it.  Inside was his bedroom.  He pulled her inside and closed the door behind them.  He left her standing there and within a moment he had lit a lamp and the room filled with romantic light.

Matthew pulled her to him and he kissed her.  He began undoing the back of the dress.  He wanted her so badly it hurt and he fumbled with the ties.

“Wait,” Grace said stepping back.

Matthew was afraid he’d scared her off.  “I’m sorry,” he said.

“For what?” she asked him.  “Let me turn around so you can see and you can take your time,” she said.

Matthew smiled as she turned around and he calmed himself enough to slowly and carefully undo the ties.  He slid it forward towards her arm as he placed tiny kisses on her shoulders and the back of her neck.

Grace was really caught up in the moment.  It felt so good to be touched by a man again.

It wasn’t long before they were making love for the first time. 

“Wow!” he said.

“Yeah,” Grace agreed as she kissed his neck and nibbled on his earlobe.  “It was amazing,” she whispered in his ear.  It felt so good being in the arms of a man again and she knew things would be okay.

“We better get back downstairs before we’re missed though,” Matthew said.

“You’re right,” Grace agreed and sat up. 

They found their respective clothes and Matthew helped Grace back into her dress.  “I enjoyed taking this off more than putting it back on,” Matthew told her as he kissed her neck again.

She turned and smiled at him. 

When they had composed themselves, they left the room and made their way back the way they’d left.  They reappeared back into the same corner they had been in before they left and they waited there for a short time before Matthew grabbed a glass of wine off a passing tray and stepped out onto the dance floor. 

The room got quiet quickly and he raised his glass.  “I want to thank everyone for coming out and supporting Grace and I tonight and I want to make a toast to her, the most beautiful woman in the world,” he said.

“To Grace,” many voices said at once and the clinking of glasses filled the room.

He stepped back to Grace’s side and took her hand in his.  He led her back to the dance floor and took her into his arms.  This is where he wanted to keep her for the rest of their lives.

Grace was ecstatic.  She never thought she would ever be happy again without Donald and even though she knew that she had loved him deeply, she also knew she would love Matthew almost as much.  She couldn’t wait for the wedding. 

Chapter 9

Katie woke again feeling extremely confused yet full of desire.  She had no idea what was going on or why she was still having these dreams.  Was it Grace’s way of saying that life does go on?  Or was it just the first time she’d had a chance to share all of the thoughts and feelings she was having with someone.  She was never allowed to speak of Donald to her family and Katie was sure that communications with the MacKays would slowly have been prohibited until she would have been cut off completely. 

She rolled over and ran her hand across Dean’s chest.  He moaned and opened his eyes.  “Hey beautiful,” he said quietly.  “What’s up?”

She ran her hand down his body and stopped at his erection.  “Guess that’s my question to you,” she replied.  “Did you have the same dream?”

“Matthew and Grace making love?” he asked.  He hadn’t realized he’d dreamed it until she’d asked.

Katie nodded.

They talked about the dream and Katie wondered out loud why she was still having these dreams. “What’s the point?”

Dean shrugged his shoulders.  “Why am
I
having them?” he asked.  “None of this pertains to me now.”

It was Katie’s turn to shrug as she couldn’t answer that either.  “I’m not sure we’ll ever understand.”  She looked at the clock.  It was 4:00 in the morning.  “Guess we should get some sleep,” she said.

Dean nodded.  “Yeah, or we’ll never make it to church in the morning,” he agreed.

They went back to sleep and slept contentedly in each other’s arms, dreamless, until morning when it was a race to get to church.  They had woken late since they had been awake for part of the night and then they had taken the chance of showering together and ended up making love. 

“I really need to get a few more things from my place,” Dean said as he was trying to find something to wear.

“Why don’t you get everything from your place,” Katie said before she could stop herself.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” she apologized.  “I just…”

“Don’t worry, I understood what you meant.  It only makes sense,” he told her and swatted her bottom as she was trying to apply her makeup. 

“Are you sure?  I know we hadn’t decided on all of that stuff yet,” she told him.

“Yeah, I’m sure.  We could do great things with your house,” he said.  “It’s old, and it’s fantastic.  May need some new wiring and stuff, but yeah, I like it better than mine,” he assured her.

Katie slid her hand into his and they drove to church quickly.  They made it on time and were greeted by the usual onslaught of regular churchgoers.  Several congratulated them on their engagement and they looked at each other trying to figure out how they could have known.

“I told everyone at the library yesterday,” Katie told him. 

“If you told Betty the whole town will know by now,” Dean said.

They sat down and enjoyed the service but Katie looked around her and imagined how the place would look decorated with flowers and pew bows for a wedding.  She saw herself walking down the aisle and Dean waiting for her at the front of the church.  But as she closed her eyes, she also envisioned candelabras and twinkling lights.  “I want to get married at Christmas,” she whispered to Dean.

“That soon?” he asked.

“Is that too soon for you?” she asked.

“That’s not what I meant at all, I’d marry you tomorrow if you’d agree to it,” he replied.

Katie let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

“Christmas it is.  And it’s beautiful in here at that time of year.” 

“And we can still have the reception at the restaurant,” Katie added.

They turned their attention back to the sermon then, content that they had managed to at least decide the season.  They would just have to work out a date when they could sit down and really talk about it.

After church, many of the same people came up to ask them when the wedding would be and if they had set a date yet.

“We haven’t set a date yet, but we want to get married at Christmas,” Katie told them.

“Narrows down the dates then doesn’t it?” said one lady they barely knew.

They nodded. 

“Let’s get out of here, we have a wedding to plan,” Dean said taking her hand. 

They kindly said goodbye to others they passed on their way out and Dean opened Katie’s car door for her and waited for her to get inside.

Katie started feeling sick on her way home and by the time they arrived back at home she could barely get out of the car.

“Are you okay?” Dean asked.

“I feel really sick again,” she said.

Dean helped her out of the car and then picked her up into his arms.  They got inside the house and he carried her straight to the bedroom where he placed her gently on the bed.  With a concerned look he sat beside her and took her hand.  “I’m really worried about you,” he said.

Katie almost jumped off the bed and ran to the bathroom.  Dean followed and held her hair back. 

When she finished throwing up, Dean helped her back to bed and brought her a glass of water.  “I’m going to make you a cup of tea and you’re going to rest here for the rest of the afternoon and tomorrow you’re going to the doctor.

Katie nodded and Dean left her to go to the kitchen. 

She rested her head back against the pillows and sighed.  She couldn’t figure out why she was feeling the way she was and how come it was so sporadic.  Her eyes drifted closed and just as Dean was coming back into the room with her tea she sat bolt upright.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.  He set the tea down on the bedside table and sat back down on the bed. 

“Do you think you could find me a calendar?” she asked.