Horizons (32 page)

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T
hey were on their second round of love play, with Zach spritzing whipped cream over Kelly’s mostly nude body and licking it off—she was still wearing the hose and accessories, though the teddy had long since hit the floor— when a tiny voice inquired f
rom the side of the bed, “What-
cha doin’?”

Zach let out a startled yell and nearly leapt to the ceiling at the unexpected intrusion. Only Kelly’s hands, clutching his shoulders, kept him from
becoming airborne. “Uh, well…
uh
…”
he
stammered, while Kelly howled with laughter.

“We’re playing, sweet pea,” Kelly finally managed to say. “What are you doing out of bed? You’re supposed to be sleeping.”

“Gotta go potty,” Syd informed them with childish nonchalance. “Can I play, too?” she asked innocently, propping her chin on edge of the mattress.

By now, Zach had snatched the sheet over himself and Kelly. “No, this is a grown-up game, dumplin’. Do you need some help, or can you go to the bathroom by yourself?”

“I go myself,” the toddler said.

“And climb right back into your bed when you’re done,” Kelly instructed, her words vibrating with lingering amusement. She dabbed a dot of whipped cream on Sydney’s nose, making her grin. “Go on now, before you wet your jammies.”

Sydney trotted obediently out of the room, and Zach collapsed atop Kelly with a martyred moan. Kelly dissolved in riotous giggles, smothering the sound by pressing her face into Zach’s neck.

“Oh! Oh, my goodness!” she gasped between chortles. “I thought we were going t
o peel you off the ceiling fan!
”

“Before or after you revived me?” he queried wryly. “I
nearly went into shock!” He chuckled, adding, “For as noisy as that child usually is, she can sure sneak up on you when you least expect it. I wonder how long she was watching us?”

“Not for long, I don’t imagine, or she’d have had a lot more questions.”

“The ones she had were sufficient to deflate my ardor on the spot,” Zach admitted ruefully.

Kelly laughed. “Yeah, I noticed that.” She flung back the sheet, and climbed out of bed. “I guess this sort of thing is to be expected when you have children. The trick, they say, is to remain calm.” She grabbed her terry robe off the back of the closet door. “Didn’t Becky ever walk in on you and Rachel at an inappropriate moment?”

“No, thank God. As for remaining calm, I’m not sure that’s possible, when they creep up on you from out of nowhere like that. And to prevent such an occurrence in the future, I’m going to install a lock on our bedroom door.”

Kelly headed out of the room, and Zach called after her, “Where are you off to now?”

“To make sure Sydney got back to bed all right and to take a quick shower.” She popped her head back inside the bedroom and gave him a taunting grin. “Why? Were you hoping I’d return with some magic potio
n to restore your flagging…
ego?”

Z
ach called from Seattle a few days later. “How is our little Peeping Sydney?”

“As inquisitive and ornery as ever,” Kelly told him. “She’s determined to unload all the boxes I’ve already packed. I finally had to go to the hardware and buy some heavy-duty duct tape.”

Zach laughed. “For her or the carton?”

“For the boxes, mostly, but thanks for the idea.”

“I’ve dickered the price down a bit on the island, but it’s still too much.” He named a sum that made Kelly’s eyebrows rise several inches. Even the down payment he quoted was staggering.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

“Try to get them to lower the price, of course, but they’re pretty firm about it, so they won’t reduce it by much, if at all. On the bright side, they have agreed to include mineral rights, and give us a reduced tax rate for the first ten years, but I’ve still got to come up with some ready cash. I can’t sell my business, or we won’t have the equipment we’ll need to build on the island or to do any mining, which is going to cost a pretty penny as it is, not to mention that I would no longer have a source of income.”

“We’d have mine,” she reminded him. “I’ve got the Australian club up and running again, and I’m close to doing the same with the other two.”

Zach nixed that proposal. “I’m not going to sponge off my wife, like some damned gigolo,” he stated adamantly.

“What if you sold your house and moved in with me?” she suggested.

“Your apartment only has two bedrooms,” he pointed out. “What would we do with Becky?”

“The couch makes into a bed, or she could bunk in with Syd. It would be rough, but we could make do for a while. At least we wouldn’t have to pay rent someplace, and we’d be down to one set of utilities.”

“
And Becky would have to change schools in the middle of the year. No, there’s got to be another solution.”

“
Okay, you think about it, and so will I. In the meantime, keep the negotiations open,” she said. Then, “I found my wedding dress. It’s perfect. Very simple and just right for a second marriage.”

“I can’t wait to see you in it,” he declared. “By the way,
everything’s arranged on this end. Judge Simon is going to perform the ceremony, and we’ve rented the lodge at the lake. If the weather cooperates, we can exchange vows outdoors, under the gazebo, which would please Mom to no end. To her way of thinking, the gazebo would almost double for a
huppah.
”

“A what?”

“The canopy that symbolizes the home in the traditional Jewish wedding,” Zach explained. “She’s determined that some of our rites and rituals will be included, even if it is basically a civil ceremony. She even wants us to break the wine glass at the end.”

“Signifying what?” Kelly questioned.

“The destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of our people.”

“In that case, I don’t see why we can’t,” Kelly conceded. Then she admitted with some chagrin, “I always thought it symbolized the end of the bride’s virginity, and we both know mine has been nonexistent for years—in which case breaking the glass would have been too sacrilegious for my peace of mind. It’s enough that we’ve gone from a simple exchange in the judge’s chambers to having bride’s maids and a reception afterward.”

“Is Alita still going to be able to stand up with you as your mind of honor?” Zach inquired. Gavin had already arranged leave in order to be Zach’s best man.

“Yes, but Blair has sent her regrets and a gift. She’s up to her ears trying to get her book written before the baby is born, plus trying to teach Anton the fundamentals of housekeeping and childcare. I told her we understood, and that we’d get together at a later date.”

“Becky’s still bucking the idea,” Zach warned. “Her dress is ready, but she insists she doesn’t want to take part in the wedding.”

“Then we’ll have to be satisfied with one flower girl
instead of two,” Kelly replied with an inward sigh. “I only suggested it in the first place so she wouldn’t feel exclude
d. We’ve still got Syd, and littl
e Seth as ring bearer.”

“I still say he’s mighty young to be a ring bearer,” Zach contended. “He only learned to walk a few months ago, and he’ll probably fall half a dozen times before he gets to me. Which is why I intend to have Gavin keep your ring in his pocket, and let Seth carry a fake. I suggest you do likewise, or we may have to delay the ceremony to search for it under our guests’ feet”

“It will all work out fine,
Zach. You’ll see. And those littl
e tykes, all dolled up in fancy dress and tux, are going to steal the show. Which will take some of the heat off of us, thank heaven.”

“Ah, now I see the method behind your madness. Getting the pre
-
wedding jitters, darling?”

“Not yet, but I intend to, big time.”

T
heir wedding day dawned bright and clear, with no rain in the forecast, and a warm front predicted to send the autumn temperature into the mid-seventies by afternoon. It was a perfect fall day, made to order for an outdoor ceremony. Inside the lodge, Kelly was surrounded by a swarm of chattering women. Her mother kept fussing with Kelly’s veil, Sydney had stepped on the hem of her dress, which Kathy was now hastily basting back into place, Leah was attempting to remove gum, which the lit
tl
e boy had found stuck to the underside of a chair, from Seth’s bowtie. Alita and Beth were trying to get Becky into her dress, despite the girl’s continued and loud protests to the contrary. Not even for Alita, her idol, would she relent. Altogether, in Kelly’s estimation, they favored a disorganized band of circus performers—primarily clowns.

Alita’s patience lasted far longer than Kelly would have
guessed, but they finally gave out with a predictable spate of Spanish curses, “You rotten lit
tl
e
mocosa!”
she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. “You stinking spoiled brat!
”
She shook a lacquered fingernail in Becky’s face. “You are too stupid to know when you have it good. Here you are, feeling so sorry for yourself, when I would have given my right arm to have a mother like Kelly. But no, you have to pout and whine and make everyone else as miserable as you!”

Again, she tossed her hands out, as if to wave Becky away like a pesky fly. “Bah! Have you even tried to be friends with Kelly, for your father’s sake? I think not. Well, let me tell you something,
chica.
She is my best friend in the whole world, and your dad loves her very much. They are going to be married today, with or without your cooperation, and they are going to be very happy together. The only one who is going to be sorry is you, all because you are too stubborn to see the truth.

“What did you think, Becky? That if you threw enough of a fit, your father would give her up? He’d have to be
loco
to do that. And I’ll tell you another thing I’ll bet you do not know. If not for Kelly, your father might not be here today. He’d be buried back on that island, with a bullet in him. Kelly is the one who threw herself at him, preventing him from getting himself shot. She put her own life, and that of the baby she carries, in danger to save your precious papa for
you. So chew on that news, littl
e girl. Think about it long and hard. Also think how lucky you are that your daddy is home again, and happy, and wanting to give this wonderful woman to you, so you can have a real mama again, a real family with brothers and sisters.”

“Alita,” Kelly interrupted. “That gun wasn’t e—”

Alita pointed that fingern
ail-cum-dagger at Kelly. “You hush! I am speaking to Becky,” she commanded sharply.

She turned back to Becky, who was staring up at her in mute stupification. “It seems to me you have two choices,
nina.
You can either go on being a brat, or you can make the best of things and be nice. Which do you think would make your papa most pleased with you?”

When Alita finally paused, Becky replied in a shaky whisper, “Being nice.”

Alita nodded curtly. “That is correct. Now, if you truly want to make him happy, you will get your sweet tush into that dress, pull in that lip you are about to step on, and put a smile on your face. No more pouting, no more sniveling, no more nastiness. Let that be your wedding gift to your father and Kelly on this, their special day. It will be better than any present you could buy for them, especially if you keep being pleasant, and really try hard to put your jealousy aside. Not only that, it will make me, and all of us, very proud of you.”

F
rom that point, the wedding progressed smoothly. Becky was nominally pleasant, which was more than Zach had expected. Syd and Seth were everybody’s darlings, even when Seth tripped halfway down the aisle and put up such a wail that his Gramma Sarah had to rescue him and hold him on her lap through the remainder of the ceremony. Kelly was a vision of loveliness, taking Zach’s breath away as she approached him in her antique white gown, with her hair unbound and flowing down her back like a second veil.

The reception afterward was an odd blend of Jewish and Christian revelry, and everyone seemed to have a grand time. They toasted the bride and groom, stuffed themselves on a variety of delicious foods, and danced long into the night to the eclectic mix of music the band provided.

The newlyweds took their departure earlier in the evening, after the traditional tossing of the bridal bouquet and garter, seeking blessed solitude in a suite at a seaside hotel. As Zach rubbed Kelly’s aching feet, she declared with a sigh, “It was lovely, but I never want to have to go through that again! I’m so tired, I feel as if I’ve been beat with a stick!”

Zach responded by sticking her toe into his mouth and suckling it, which immediately brought Kelly bolt upright, with a high-pitched squeal. “You devil!” she shrieked, laughing. “You know that always sets me off!”

“Like fireworks on the Fourth of July,” he replied with a roguish grin. “Now that you’ve got your second wind, how about some fireworks of our own, Mrs. Goldstein?”

“Kelly Goldstein,” she mused with a dreamy smile. “I do love the sound of my new name, not to mention the man who gave it to me.”