Latched (Coronado Series Book 1) (25 page)

“Let’s go this week and have it done, then we can pick out our wedding bands. I bought them from Sam’s cousin who is a jeweler, his office is down town.”

“That sounds good to me. Can you wear a wedding band when you are deployed?”

“Of course, I don’t plan on ever taking it off.”

Birdie looked up and saw her mail person, she waved to him as he held up a big envelope. “I’m not going to put this in your box, I don’t want to bend it.” Birdie got up and walked up to the gate and motioned for Mark to come with her.

“Thanks Gus,” she took her stack of mail and motioned for Mark to come closer. “Gus, I want you to meet my fiancé, Lt. Commander Mark Frazier. He is moving in and his mail will be coming here now.”
 

“Congratulations Birdie. I am so happy for you. Sir, a pleasure to meet you and thank you for your service.”

Mark shook his hand, “Nice to meet you Gus, thank you.”
 

“Glad to know you, I better get on with it.” He waved as he continued to deliver the mail down the street.

Birdie opened the big envelope as she handed Mark the stack of letters. “This is from the photographer from Josh and Maryann’s wedding. I have met her before when I have delivered the flowers for events around town.” She pulled out a stack of pictures and lost her breath looking at them. Sandy had sent the pictures she’d taken of them during their first dance. She captured their first moments together - you could appreciate the attraction that was happening between them. It was a powerful thing to see an image of them falling for each other. She went through the stack and there was one of their first kiss. You could feel the heat of the moment coming off the picture. “Who gets a picture of their first dance, their first kiss? You can see how it was already happening in these pictures.”

He looked over her shoulder and couldn’t believe that someone had caught the moment that he fell for the woman who was going to become his wife. “I want a copy of these to put in my bag and I want the kiss picture for my helmet.” He studied the kiss picture, his hands were tunneled in her hair and you could see how Birdie was leaning into him with her arms around his waist. They looked completely connected.

She had tears in her eyes, “I guess we found the photographer for the wedding.” She lifted her shirt and wiped the tears off her face.

 
“Baby, it happened from the start for us. If you ever get nervous about how quickly we became engaged, just look at these pictures. There was never going to be a choice for us.”
 

“I think you’re right. I’m going to call Sandy and thank her and order a bunch of copies from her. Do you mind if I order engagement announcements from her?”

“Can we just order wedding invitations with these?”
 

“No, quit trying to rush me.” She took her stack of mail and turned towards the house.

They walked up and went in, “Welcome home. I hope we have many happy years here in this house.”

He took the photos out of her hands and set them on the table and put the other mail on top of it. He swept her up in his arms and carried her upstairs. “Let’s get working on that happy.” She didn’t get to the shop until much later that afternoon. Their happy happened more than once.

CHAPTER TWENTY

THURSDAY

Birdie stood in the kitchen drinking her coffee and making a list for the team party on Sunday. She decided to order a jumpy jump for the kids. Maybe she could hire Melanie to help out with the smaller children. She looked up and saw Mark coming down the stairs and felt her tummy flip over. Now that they were engaged and he had most of his clothes here, he seemed more relaxed. Three weeks and her fling had turned into her boyfriend and now her fiancé. Still not sure how it happened she decided not to question her good fortune in finding this man.
 

He came up, kissed her and then went over to refill his coffee cup. He lifted the foil on the plate that she’d left for him, “What did you make? It smells great.”

“I made you a veggie omelet and those are banana nut muffins. Eat your fruit too - last time you left it.”

“Yes dear, you are acting like a wife already. Why don’t we just run down to the courthouse and make it official. Then you can really boss me around.”

“I don’t think so. Where is that romantic man who proposed to me? I’m not running anywhere to get married. I am going to float down the aisle in bridal perfection. That is something that can’t be rushed.” She brought her list and coffee and sat next to him while he ate. “Can you give me Max’s number? I got a text from Rory and she’s ready to do something about the notes that she’s been receiving. I want to make sure she follows through, so I was thinking of taking her over to his office.”

“I will write it down for you, or give you his card if I can find it. Is Rory coming on Sunday?” He smiled at her as he ate his fruit and held up his empty bowl so she could see that he finished it. She nodded her head in approval and kissed him. “I have invited Max maybe they can meet at the party and set something up for next week.”

She got up and refilled her coffee cup and poured a glass of juice for him. “I did invite her and I think she is planning on coming.” She held up her hand and flashed him her ring, “Its fits perfectly now.”

He took her hand and admired the ring he had chosen for her. He wanted it to be big enough so that there was no mistaking she was taken. But Birdie had small hands so he had to compromise. He kissed her hand, “Perfect, all it needs is the wedding band that we picked out yesterday.”

“We have only been engaged for three days. I have already chosen a photographer, a caterer and we know where we are going to have it. I couldn’t move any faster, I feel kind of amazing.”

He finished his muffin and drank his juice and got up to put his dishes in the dishwasher. He leaned against the counter and considered his very beautiful fiancée. “You’re right, you are amazing and I am very lucky that you agreed to marry me.”

“You got that right mister - don’t you forget it.”

“Love you, Birdie.”

“Love you, Mark.”

“What is on the schedule today?”

I’m going into the shop and then I’m coming back here to meet Adam and Bernie. We are going to start on the office and finish the closet upstairs. Is there anything else you want me to include for the office?”
 

“No, I think we got everything. Please use the checks that I left you yesterday to pay for the rest of the renovations. I went to the bank yesterday and added you to all of the accounts. All you have to do is go down there, sign and give them your social security number.”

“I thought we were going to wait until we got married, I think we should.”

“You can think whatever you want, but it is already done. So go down there and sign your name, I’m not going to compromise on this.”

Birdie stood up and crossed her arms, “Let’s go into the office, I want to show you something.”

He took her hand and they went into the office. She sat at her desk and Mark sat in the chair next to her. She opened one of her file cabinet drawers and pulled out a bunch of files. She started to spread them out along the desk, “I want you to understand how much money I have. You seemed to be worried about me and I want you to know that I am ok.” She opened the first folder, “This is the value of the building and this is the income that I generate from the tenants in the building, and this final number is the reserve I keep for any repairs that the building needs.” She opened another folder and pointed to the figure at the bottom of the spreadsheet, “This is the income from my flower shop.” She opened one more folder, “This is my income from the company that I work with downtown. I also have the money from the sale of my condo and I have a fairly healthy savings account.” She pulled out a final folder and pointed to the bottom of the page, “This is my current net worth.” Mark read the figure at the bottom of the page - it was a little over six million dollars.
 

He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms, “I still want to pay for the renovations. You know what I have in the bank and I can easily afford it. I have to be able to take care of you that is my job. It is in my DNA. I don’t want you to take this away from me. I should be the one paying for this house, for our house.”

She started closing her folders and thought about what Mark was telling her. “I never thought about it that way. I’m sure we can work something out.”
 

“We can work something out, by using the checks I left you. I want to take care of you, our house and our family.”

“At some point I want to discuss some ideas that I have about how we can organize our finances.”

“Tell me what you’re thinking. I’m hoping to hand everything to you and then I won’t have to think about it. I’m damn happy that I am marrying a financial genius.”

“Let me work on a plan and then we can discuss it. I want to talk to my friend who is up on the latest tax laws and then I will have a better idea.”

“I’m going down to the base for a couple of hours and then I’m going to bring the last of my clothes over. Let’s go down to the fish place for dinner and then we can come home and work on those children we’re going to have.”

“We are still in practice mode. I want to enjoy being married to my handsome husband for a while. Which reminds me, how do I plan a honeymoon when you are on active deployment?”

“We have to wait until we are done and on the down cycle again. Sorry baby, we are going to have to wait.”

“That’s fine, you are worth the wait.”

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

SUNDAY

Birdie and Mark stood in the kitchen eating the bagels that Mark had gotten them earlier that morning. They watched the guys put up the jumpy jump and the rock wall towards the back of the yard. “Baby, you sure went all out for this party. Are you sure that we need all of this?”

She finished her bagel and wiped her mouth. “Do you remember when you said that I could be the boss? Well I am the boss of the parties.”

He studied her as he finished his coffee. “So let me get this straight, you are the boss of the food, money and parties.”

“Yes, I think that about covers it. I might come up with a few more things too.”

“Well come on boss, show me where you want the tables and chairs set up in the back yard.”
 

“As I recall you enjoyed being very bossy this morning in the bedroom. I think our balance of power is working out just fine.”

“I plan on showing more bossiness before everyone shows up this afternoon, so be ready.” He watched her laugh and hearing that sound still made his chest feel tight. It had been a month since he heard it for the first time. He had a feeling that hearing her laugh was going to have the same effect on him at the end of their lives. He just had to make sure that he kept giving her reasons to laugh.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Their house filled up with Mark and Blake’s Platoons and their families and Birdie’s friends as well. Their party turned into a team dinner and an engagement party. Birdie moved around the party making sure that everyone had what they needed and Mark was doing the same.

Birdie saw Rory arrive, “I’m so glad that you were able to make it.” Looking at her best friend, she noticed that she looked stressed but as beautiful as ever. Rory had the same figure as Sophia Loren - she was tall and had the most delicious curves. Her hair was the color of cherry coke and it was set off by her pretty emerald eyes. Rory was wearing one of her lovely day dresses that captured the feel of the 1950’s without feeling dated and pretty flat gold sandals. Birdie embraced her dear friend, “Come in and let’s get you a drink. I am so happy to see you.”

“I’m so sorry that I’ve been incommunicado for the last couple of weeks. I was hoping that if I traveled enough, I could shake this. Unfortunately I’m still receiving the creepy notes.” She studied her friend closely, “You are in love. I can see it on your face. You never looked this way with Justin.” She took a step back and held her at arm’s length, “I can feel the happiness rolling off you, where is the man who is responsible for this?” Pulling up Birdie’s hand, she admired her engagement ring. “He picked out the perfect ring for you, I think that’s a good sign.”
 

“Let me get you a glass of wine and then we can hunt up Mark and I can introduce you.”

As they walked into the backyard, Birdie spotted Mark talking to some of the guys, “He’s over there. Come on and let me introduce you and we can find out if Max is here yet.”
 

They made their way through the crowd and Mark spotted Birdie walking over with a woman who must be Rory. They stepped up to the group and everyone made room, “Hi guys. I came over to introduce my best friend, Rory. We have been best friends since grade school and she is the keeper of all of my secrets. Fortunately, we have a mutual no destruction policy. Nothing gets out.”

Mark took her hand, “I am happy to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you and I look forward to getting to know you.”

Rory held his hand, took his measure and looked him in the eye. “Good to meet you Mark, thank you for making my best friend so happy.” The serious expression on her face gave way to a spectacular smile, “Come here and give me a hug. I have a feeling we are going to become good friends.” Letting out a laugh he hugged Rory, he liked this woman.