Here at Last (42 page)

Chapter
3
8

The following morning, I was awakened when Nicholas returned to bed. He climbed in quietly behind me and kissed my shoulder.

"Good morning," he said tenderly.

I r
olled over and looked at him. “Good m
orning," I said. I got out of bed to wash up and returned to him a few minutes later.

“What
do
you want to do today?” he asked.

I smiled at him
and stretched my arms
.
"I think we should go for a drive."

He laughed. "Really? Where do you want to go?"

Wrapping my arms around him, I
murmured into his neck
, “Maybe we can go to New York and take in a show or something."

He turned to kiss me
and smiled
. "
Okay
."

It didn't take long for us to pack the car, and Nicholas
made
sure to bring the brownies. We left at about
seven o’clock in the morning
and arrived just
before seven o’clock in the evening
.

Being the wonderful friend that she was,
Neelie
had met the movers at my house, and she and Rhonda had set everything up for me. Because I had moved around so much for work, I
’d
never accumulated very much other than
some
basic furniture, books, and
a few
odds and ends
. Since my tenant had moved out,
Neelie
had taken it upon herself to have the house cleaned and the paint touched up before I returned home.

When Nicholas and I arrived that evening, we
stepped
in
to
a whole other world. Leaving urban Chicago for suburban New Jersey was quite a change.
He appreciated the mature neighborhood with large old trees and beautiful older homes. After pulling
up in
to
my driveway
,
we got our suitcases out of the car and
walked
up onto the front porch
. I suddenly felt
excited to show him my house and my town.

"This is beautiful," he said, looking
at my butter yellow two-story Victorian
with white trim
.

I nodded. "I
’ve
always loved this house."

"When was it built?" he asked.

“In the 191
0s," I told him. “It's about as solid as they come."

The front door opened into a good-sized foyer where guests could walk straight ahead into the living room or follow the heavy, hand-carved wooden banister up the stairs
on the left
to any one of three bedrooms or two bathrooms.
He glanced around
at
the rooms with their high ceilings
,
crown molding
,
tall
base molding
,
and
wainscoting
. The main floor master bedroom and study were where I spent most of my time when I wasn't in the kitchen cooking or at the dining room table looking out the windows at the beautiful maple
and oak
trees in my fenced backyard.

Nicholas
and I unpacked the car before he set about familiarizing himself
with the
rest of the
house
.
It was hot and muggy outside so we didn't spend much time in the backyard, but he appreciated my rock garden with its fountain and nearby frog pond.

When we walked back inside, I found a note fr
om Rhonda on the kitchen island
telling me that there was food in the refrigerator. She had
picked up some
Thai carryout that afternoon. It took both of us a few minutes to find where all of my pots and pans were and to re
-
familiarize myself with my own kitchen
since Neelie and Rhonda had unpacked everything
.

We heated up our supper
and ate ravenously. Although we were both tire
d, we were grateful that we had
made the drive together. Somehow, having Nicholas drive with me to New Jersey helped to ease
my
transition out of Chicago. It also gave him some idea of what my life
would be
like here.

“I'm really glad you came," I told him.

He reached across the table to hold my hand. "
Me
, too. I think it's really important that I
know where you live and what your days are like
."

Just then, I heard the front door slam.

“Sophia!"

“
Neelie
," I told Nicholas. "In here!" I yelled.

As I stood up and stepped away from the table,
Neelie
came careening around the corner into the kitchen where she and I collided in a great hug. She
swayed with
me in her arms, and I laughed.

“
Oh, I
’ve
missed you so much,
"
she said.

I stepped back and looked into her eyes. "Thank you for everything you did with the movers.
T
he house
looks terrific!
"

She smiled broadly. “Good. I'm glad you like it. I'm just
relieved
you didn’t see the way your tenants left it." S
till smiling, s
he looked over
at
Nicholas
and reached out her hand. "You must be Nicholas," she said.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Nicholas, this is my best friend Neelie.”

Smiling, he
nodded and
shook
her hand. "
Hi
.
I was hoping
I’d get
to meet you."

“Absolutely. I was going to make a point of it if Sophia didn’t invite me over,” she teased. When she
saw that we were eating dinner
, she said,
“Rhonda mu
st ha
ve brought that this afternoon.
Sorry,
I didn't mean to interrupt."

"No," said Nicholas. "Not at all. Why don’t you join us?"

She shook her head. “I've already eaten. I drove by the neighborhood just to check on the house
. W
hen I saw your car, I had to stop in and say
‘H
i.
’”

"I'm glad you did," I told her. "I
’ve
missed you so much. It's
great
to see you again."

“I'll let you get back to your dinner," she said before giving
me another hug
hugging Nicholas
briefly.

“Will you come back tomorrow?" I asked.

“Yes,” she said. “In fact, Rhonda's bringing your parents over for breakfast."

I said nothing, but
Neelie
laughed. “The look on your face is priceless.”

“So you're kidding?" I asked.

“Oh, no. I wouldn't joke about something like that," she said. “Rhonda said they're coming by around ten
.
I'll try to drop by and serve as a distraction
,” she winked
.

“No,” I told her. “I should be able to deal with them myself.”

“
Okay,” she said, “but t
ext me if you need me."

We walked
Neelie
to the door,
and she left. After locking up,
I turned to Nicholas, who simply
smiled and
said, “Well, I guess I’ll get to meet your parents.”





I awoke at eight o'clock in the morning and was filled with a sense of dread. It was strong enough to wake Nicholas up, who
slid
his arm
across
my waist and told me
that it
wou
ld be fine before falling back to
sleep. I climbed out of bed and went into the living room and meditated for about half an hour. Then, I heated up some water and fix
ed
some chamomile tea to relax. My last visit with my parents hadn't gone very well, and it had been seven months since we had seen one another.
Though I’d sent my mother a birthday card and gift in April, I hadn’t called once in that time.

Understand
ing how they thought, I knew that
they would feel that I had exaggerated my grief over JT
since I had managed to get into another relationship so quickly. They had no idea what the story was, and they certainly wouldn't understand
it if I told them
.

Nicholas showered and dressed before joining me in the living room where I was straightening up
the sofa cushions
. He wrapped his arms around me and put his chin on my shoulder.

"How bad can it be?" he asked.

"Bad," I said
feeling agitated and even more nervous.

"
Sweetheart
, look at me." I turned around to face him, and he reached up and held my face in his hands. I looked into his eyes, which were very calm. “
It's going to be al
right," he told me quietly.

I nodded, and
Rhonda pulled up in the driveway
at 9:58 a.m. Nicholas glanced out the
window. "They're here," he said
walking over to the door and opening it.

“It’s going to be okay,” I said more to myself than to him as I s
tepped out onto the front porch to
greet my family.





Rhonda had thought to bring breakfast, which was incredibly generous since she had already
brought dinner the previous day
. My parents were on their good behavior, and I could tell that, despite their best intentions, they really liked Nicholas. He was courteous and polite with a clear backbone. He wasn't someone that could be taken advantage of easily; yet
, he wasn't
harsh
, either.
He was a fabulous combination of someone who
was warm and
compassionate
while being
strong
and
protective.
In the time that we had been together
, I
’d come to believe
that he would do anything to fight for us, and it was that grit and
perseverance
that gave me comfort that we would last.

“Tea?” Nicholas asked me
,
again, smiling.

"Oh, no, thank you,
"
I answered.

He went into the kitchen to heat some water, leaving Rhonda, my parents, and me alone in the living room.

"It's great to have you back, Sis!" Rhonda said.

"
It’s great to see you
,” I smiled before looking
at my parents. "How have you been?" I asked.

“Fine,” my mother said.

"We haven't heard from you for a while," my father said.

I shook my head. "
I know. I’ve been wrapped up with work and the move.”

Nicholas returned to the
living
room
and smiled at my parents
. "I should probably ta
ke some responsibility for that,
"
he said.

"Why is that?" m
y father asked.

"
Sophia spends a lot of time with my daughter and me. She's bu
sy with us nearly every evening,
”
he said.

"So," my father started, "you have a little girl?"

“Yes,”
Nicholas nodded. "Hanna
h
just turned six. In fact, Sophia chaperoned her slumber party
last month
."

My mother chuckled. "I remember when the girls want
ed
to have slumber parties for their birthdays. When they got older, they didn't seem as interested anymore."

Rhonda and I shot
furtive
look
s
at one another. It wasn't that we didn't
want
to have slumber parties. It's just that
our
parents were so stern that
they
frighten
ed
our friends. After one or two sleepovers, our friends
didn’t want to come
over
,
anymore
,
so we stopped inviting them.