Raquel's Abel (30 page)

There was a knock on the door.
“Señorita.” Maria Elena called. “I so sorry.”
The door opened and Maria Elena stood there staring at us with her mouth open.

“What?” I demanded.

“He no ghost no more.” She smiled and bobbed her head up and down. “And, your grandmother very right. He very
guapo
, Señorita.”

I got up from the bed and pointed to Abel. “Are you telling me you can see him?”

“Yes, and he
muy caliente
.” She giggled uncontrollably.

“What does this mean?” I asked Abel.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I have been a ghost for almost a hundred years. I assumed I’d always be one.”

Maria Elena was still giggling and looking at Abel.

“Maria Elena, why did you come in here?”

She stopped laughing and stood up straight. “Oh, that lady coming back. She say she find her thing.”

“The lady from the Gretna Foundation?”

“
Si
, that her. She downstairs.”

“Okay, Maria Elena, you stay right here with Grandmother’s things.” I turned to Abel. “Would you please come downstairs with me?”

“I would follow my fiancé anywhere.”

I tingle ran up my spine as I realized I was actually engaged. I used my thumb to feel the ring to make sure it was still there.

Abel and I walked downstairs arm in arm.

The lady was standing in the foyer holding her briefcase as if would run away from her.

“Good afternoon,” I called as we descended the stairs.

“You’ve got company now.”

It was true. People could see him, not just me.

“I’m sorry,” she continued. “But I found the papers and it would just take a few moments to get your signature.” She smiled hopefully.

“I am very sorry,” I started. “But there have been some recent developments. It appears I’m going to be able to keep my home.” I tried not to smile, but I was so happy.

Her chin crinkled. “That is indeed unfortunate news for the foundation.” She looked down at the floor as if trying to think of an argument.

“You see, I’m engaged.” I held my ring up for her to see.

“Congratulations,” she said dryly. She looked at Abel then back at me. “If you should change your mind in the near future, you know how to reach me.” She did a crisp about-face and opened the door. Her heels clomped across the driveway as she headed toward her car.

I closed the door and turned to Abel. “If it hadn’t been for you, I would have signed those papers and I would have lost my house.”

“Even if you had lost the house, you wouldn’t have lost me.” He held my hands together between us. “I want to be by your side for you for the rest of your life.”

Chapter Eighteen

All I could think about as the anesthesia swept into me from the IV was how good I’d look in my wedding dress after this surgery. I tried to put out of my mind the pain I’d be in the next few weeks. The best part was that being obese would be behind me. My eyelids grew heavy…

“Raquel,” Abel said. “It’s over.”

The surgeon had cut me up like a harried seamstress cutting on a bolt of fabric. The stitches stung, but even lying down, the extra skin wasn’t weighting me down. How lucky I was to be marrying a true gentleman who’d never mention the scars I’d be left with! My eyes opened and I gazed into the face of a man who’d literally waited decades for me.

Gripping my free hand a little too tightly, he kissed the ends of my fingers. He’d never completely get used to seeing me in a hospital.

“I’m fine,” I said with a dry mouth.

He tried to act cool, but I saw relief run over him like a warm shower. “You’ll be up and around in no time,” he reassured me, though he was really reassuring himself.

“How is the house coming?” Workmen started to arrive last week, but today they were going to start making the east wing into a dormitory for the children the State was desperate to send our way.

“The architect is overseeing everything so you don’t have to worry.” He bent over and let his forehead touch mine for an instant, then kissed my brow.

“I have to worry. I want everything to be working perfectly when the kids get there and I want to make sure everything’s done for the wedding.”

“I promise you it will be.”

I trusted in him. Hawks could take lessons from his ability to oversee things. He was going to make sure that orphanage was everything it could be.

The nurse came in and hung a yellowish looking bag from my IV pole. “Sir.”

Abel jumped, clearly not used to people being able to see him.

“You’ll have to leave the room.” Another nurse came in behind her. “We need to check her dressings.”

“I need to run along to keep an eye on the workmen, anyway.” He blew me a kiss as the other nurse blocked him from view. “See you soon.” I heard him say.

A few hours later, the nurses had checked my incisions and were satisfied that there was no bleeding. I had a little plunger I could operate that gave me the pain meds I needed. I tried not to concentrate on my discomfort. Rather, I tried to imagine the gown Regina had picked out for me. She’d opened up her shop and the first month she’d broken even. The second month, she’d even made a little profit.

There was a faint knock from outside. “How is my svelte ex-dance partner?”

“Owen.” I perked up. It was always good to see him.

He sashayed in, twirling around in place. “We did it.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but he cut me off.

“That’s right. We won that danged thing.” He spread his arms out making his silk shirt glow under the hospital lights.

“I’m so happy for you.” The thought of getting up and dancing made my sutures pull even more.

“Sorry I was such pissant about the whole thing.” He hung his head like a five-year-old.

“I’ll forgive you if you and Loraine will dance at my wedding.”

“I am going to cater your wed’n and dance like a bunch of skin heads are after me.”

“I don’t want you working during the wedding.” I slanted my eyes at him. “You’re a guest.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve hired some really good guys. In fact, as soon as the orphanage opens up, we’ll be ready to start breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” His eyes sparkled when he talked about the orphanage.

“We’re just waiting for them to finish the construction.” The sale of the jewels was allowing me to realize all of my dreams.

“And, Raquel, you know I can’t thank you enough for…” He looked down at the floor.

“Owen, I have invested in you. I know you are going to be very successful.”

He twisted his torso and leaned against the end of the hospital bed. “Well, so far so good. The restaurant is bringing in the customers and I’m catering a few more weddings this winter.”

“You see? I know a good business opportunity when I see it.”

He crossed his arms like he was posing for a magazine cover. “And you. How are things with you? Other than being all bandaged up in the hospital.”

“I couldn’t be happier.”

“With your ghost.”

“You haven’t met him yet, but you will at the wedding. And, I assure he’s no ghost.” We were waiting for our wedding to consummate our relationship, but I was very aware from our embraces that all parts were alive and working.

“And does he have any of those little thingies in his spud?”

I breathed in, angered by Owen’s obnoxious question, but my stitches pulled against my skin. I shook my head at him. The two men in my life were so childish at times. “Yes, he’s been to a doctor and his sperm count is just fine.”

He looked down at his watch. “I need to run. Got to check on the troops back at the restaurant.” He winked at me. “Thanks to you, girl.”

I smiled at him knowing how grateful he was.

“And then I’m going to be meeting Loraine. We’re dancing in the tournament in New York.” He held his arms out and spun around. “Imagine me... in the Big Apple.”

A couple of weeks later, I was out of the hospital and was able to get around fairly well, although going up or down stairs was torture. I was glad Father had put the elevator in the house when Granddaddy was sick. That also meant we could house handicapped orphans.

Abel was busy making sure the men were constructing the children’s living quarters correctly, and I wanted to make sure everything was ready for the wedding. Regina had already been a great help in planning it and had almost single-handedly picked out all of the flowers. In addition, she’d made things very easy for me by not really saying much about Abel, other than she thought he was very handsome and perfect for me.

I gingerly maneuvered myself into the driver’s seat and drove toward Regina’s store. It was in a lovely little shopping area where all of the buildings were painted in pastel colors and antique shops stood beside clothing stores, shoe shops, and bakeries.

I parked and walked slowly down the sidewalk. Regina had hung a little shingle over the door with
Regina’s
written on it in a swirling cursive. In the window stood a mannequin with exaggerated bell-bottoms and a short tweed jacket. I opened the door and bells tinkled over my head.

Someone was modeling a floor-length evening gown in front of a three-way mirror in the back.

“It needs a tuck in the back and a little hem, but the color is perfect,” Regina said to the woman.

She turned her head. “Raquel, finally, you’re here.” She turned back to the customer. “Excuse me.” She headed toward me and wrapped her arms around me barely touching me. “I don’t want to touch you for fear of hurting you.”

I nodded. “The shop is beautiful.” It was hard not to notice how much more bounce there was in her step. Her cheeks were rosy, as if there were more blood pumping through her veins.

“Thanks. Listen, let me finish up with this customer.” She pointed to a row of white dresses in plastic wrap along the back wall. “Those are the wedding dresses.”

I headed back there and began to go through the gowns. They were all so beautiful and with my new figure, I could wear any one of them. I closed my eyes for a minute, remembering how far I’d come in the last year.