Treading Water (22 page)

Jack’s mouth almost fell open with shock,
but when he saw the effort his father was making, he kept his
expression neutral.

“
You’ve done all this
yourself.” John waved a hand to encompass Jack’s home. “You never
touched a dime of the money I gave you. You built a business from
the ground up, whereas everything I have was handed to me. I’ve,
uh, I’ve read every word of what’s been written about your work
and, well, I’m proud.”

“
I appreciate that, Dad.
I’m…I don’t know what I am.” He was flabbergasted but couldn’t say
that.

“
You were right to stand up
to me all those years ago. I wish I had it to do over again,
because I made a big mistake. I’ve wanted to say this to you for a
long time, for years, in fact, but somehow we let all this distance
get between us, and there never seemed to be a good
time.”

“
Thank you for saying it
now,” Jack said, trying desperately to absorb it all.

“
I also admire the way you
took care of Clare after the accident and yet, I’m glad to see you
moving forward with Andi. Quite a spark between the two of
you.”

Jack smiled. That “spark” had all but
consumed him.

“
Chicago’s an awful long
way from Rhode Island,” John said.

“
I’ve discovered that over
the last few months,” Jack said with a touch of sarcasm that made
the older man laugh. Jack had almost forgotten the music of his
dad’s laughter, a sound that softened years of curt conversations
and silences when so much went unsaid. In that split second, Jack
decided to take a risk. “Want to be in on a secret?”

“
Absolutely.”

“
I’ll tell you something I
haven’t told anyone else, not the girls or even Jamie or
Frannie.”

John let out a low whistle. “This ought to
be good.”

“
After the wedding, Andi
and Eric are moving here to live with us. We’re waiting until after
the wedding to tell the kids.”

“
Wow, that’s a big step,
Jack. Are you sure you’re ready for that?”

Jack looked out to the ocean. “If someone
had told me six months ago that this would be happening, I would’ve
said they were crazy.” His gaze drifted back to his father. “All I
can say is I feel like myself again when I’m with her, and as you
pointed out, Chicago’s pretty far from here.”

“
You’ve weathered a storm
that would’ve brought a lesser man to his knees and kept him there.
Your instincts have served you well so far. I can’t imagine they’d
fail you now.”

Andi walked up to join them and put an arm
around Jack from behind. “Are you giving away our secrets,
love?”

John laughed. “Uh-oh, we’re busted,
Jack.”

“
Yes, you are,” she said
with a smile. “Can we trust you to keep it quiet until after the
wedding? This is Frannie and Jamie’s moment, not ours.”

“
No one will hear it from
me—well, except maybe your mother, but she won’t tell,” John
assured them. “I’m happy for both of you, and I wish you well.”
Clapping Jack on the shoulder, he said, “I love you, son.” He
kissed Andi’s cheek and went inside.

“
Okay, what just happened
here?” Jack asked in amazement after his father had walked
away.

“
You tell me.”

“
I think he just said he’s
proud of me, he was wrong to fight my career choice, he admires me,
and he loves me,” Jack said, counting off the compliments on his
fingers, still stunned by it all.

“
Wow, all that in ten
minutes?”

“
Yeah,” Jack said, still
reeling.

“
I’m happy for you, Jack.
You’ve waited a long time to hear that.”

“
Only my whole life. I hope
you don’t mind that I told him our news.”

“
Of course not. I all but
told David yesterday when I accepted the new job. I didn’t say
anything else, but he knows.”

“
No second
thoughts?”

“
Not a one. How about
you?”

“
None.”

They spent Christmas Eve putting the
finishing touches on the enormous tree Jack had brought home. Since
Christmas had always been Clare’s favorite holiday, they hadn’t
bothered with a tree the year before because no one had been in the
mood. A year later, the girls enjoyed getting out the decorations,
even if they stirred up a lot of emotions and brought back memories
of Christmases past.

Jack spent most of the evening on a ladder
with Andi and the girls directing the placement of every item. Andi
had brought a box of Eric’s favorite ornaments from home, and he
hung them on the lower branches while Maggie arranged and
rearranged the presents under the tree until she was satisfied with
how they looked.

“
Okay, that’s it,” Jack
said. “I’m coming down. I’m getting a nosebleed up
here.”

Andi laughed and took his arm to check his
watch. “It’s almost eleven thirty. We’d better hurry if we’re going
to make midnight mass.”

Jack sat close to Andi in church, feeling
the pointed looks directed at them from people he knew through
church and the girls’ school. Tongues would wag after their
appearance together, and Jack felt a twinge of anxiety over that,
even though he knew he couldn’t prevent it. Halfway through mass,
Eric crawled into Jack’s lap. He shared a smile with Andi when the
boy dozed off on his shoulder.

Once the kids were in bed, Jack and Andi
snuggled on the sofa with the tree and the fire providing the only
light in the family room.

“
I can’t wait to give Eric
the bike,” Jack said.

“
He’ll love it.”

Jack reached behind a pillow. “Santa brought
something special for you, too.”

“
Are we doing this now? I
thought we’d wait until tomorrow.”

“
I have others for you, but
this one’s just between us.” He handed her a tiny, elegantly
wrapped box.

Her hands trembled when she removed the
paper covering a jeweler’s box. “What did you do?”

He took the box to help her open it. “I hope
you’ll wear this as a reminder of how very much I love you and
Eric.” Even though he was confident they were moving in the right
direction, he couldn’t help the pang of guilt that stole some of
the joy from this moment. At times like this, the fact that he was
still married to another woman was hard to forget.

Nestled inside the box was a spectacular
ring with a large sapphire gleaming in the center of a circle of
diamonds.

She gasped.
“
Oh
, it’s
beautiful!”

He slipped it on her right hand and kissed
it.

She hugged him and held out her hand to look
at the ring again. The Christmas tree lights reflected off the
stone, giving the illusion of fire.

“
Do you like
it?”

“
I love it, and I love you,
very much.” She kissed him. “You think of everything, don’t
you?”

“
If I can’t stand up in
front of a room full of the people we love and tell them I’ll
cherish you for the rest of my life, then I can tell you and hope
it’s enough.”

“
It’s more than
enough.”

Chapter 16

Jack came upon Frannie boxing up the last of
her things a few days before the wedding. Andi had helped her all
morning, but he was glad to catch his sister alone. She was moving
into Jamie’s condo while they built a house a few miles down the
road from Jack’s house.

“
Need any help?”

She sat on the bed. “Actually, I think I’m
done.”

He came in to sit next to her. “I’ve been
meaning to tell you, I had the most amazing conversation with Dad
on Thanksgiving.”

“
I did, too! He told me how
glad he is that I’m marrying Jamie and how proud he is of my
painting. It was crazy.”

Jack smiled. “He said the same things to me.
I guess he’s finally mellowed. He also told me he was wrong to
fight my career choice.”

“
That must’ve been nice to
hear.”

“
Better late than never,”
Jack said. “I’m going to miss having you here.”

“
I’ll miss you, too, but
I’m not going far.”

“
I don’t know what I ever
would’ve done without you, Fran. In a million years, I’d never be
able to properly thank you.”

“
I should be thanking
you.”

“
How’s that?”

“
Well, if I hadn’t come
here to help you, Jamie and I never would’ve gotten together, and
look at what I would’ve missed. Also, being here gave me new
inspiration for my painting, and you know how that’s worked
out.”

Smiling at her logic, he put an arm around
her. “You and JB… Who knew? I still can’t get over it.”

“
Sometimes I can’t believe
it myself.”

“
I’m so glad you’re happy.
No one deserves it more.”

“
It’s nice to see you happy
again, too. I love Andi.”

“
I’m glad to hear that,
because she and Eric are moving here.”

“
When?”

“
Six weeks.”

“
Wow.”

“
How do you think the girls
will take it? I’ve held off on telling them until I was sure it was
going to happen.”

Frannie thought about it for a moment.
“Andi’s too smart to come in here and try to replace their mother.
There’ll be some adjustments, but in the end it’ll be fine.”

“
I hope you’re right. I’ll
talk to them about it after the wedding. If there’s any drama over
it, I didn’t want it to upset your big day.”

“
Let me know how it goes
when you tell them.”

“
You’ll be on your
honeymoon.”

“
I’ll still want to
know.”

Jack kissed her cheek and hugged her.
“You’ll be the second to know.”

Jack peeked in at the room set up for the
wedding service and watched the last of the guests arrive. Bathed
in candlelight, the room was fragrant with floral arrangements, and
chairs had been arranged in a semicircle around an arbor of red
roses. A string quartet played as the last traces of sunset lit the
sky over the bay.

Jack turned back to the
oh-so-cool-and-collected Jamie and remembered his own wedding day.
The butterflies in his stomach had felt more like bats by the time
he said, “I do.” Jamie, on the other hand, had been calm all
day.

He straightened Jamie’s bow tie one last
time and brushed some imaginary lint off his jacket.

“
Will you stop fussing over
me?” Jamie’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

“
Sorry,” Jack
mumbled.

The officiating judge signaled to Jack.

“
Ready?” Jack asked his
friend.

“
I’ve never been more ready
for anything in my life.” Jamie reached out to shake Jack’s hand.
“Thank you for being my best man—not just today but every
day.”

The comment undid what was left of Jack’s
composure, and he blinked back tears. “You really had to do that,
huh?”

Jamie laughed and hugged his friend.
“Sorry.”

“
Let’s get you married,”
Jack said, and they walked together into the adjoining
room.

Just as they turned to face the back of the
room Andi scooted in with Eric after spending the day getting the
girls ready. She wore a stunning long black dress that clung to
every curve. Her hair fell in soft curls around her shoulders the
way he liked it. Eric was decked out in a dark suit and bow
tie.

Jack caught Andi’s eye and feigned a
whistle.

She smiled at him as they took their
seats.

When Jamie’s parents were settled in the
front row, Jack walked to the back of the room to escort his mother
to her seat. He left her with a kiss on the cheek and returned to
stand beside Jamie. He was unprepared for the vision in red that
appeared then at the top of the stairway.

Maggie looked far too sophisticated with her
hair twisted into an elegant style. Wearing a long red silk
sleeveless dress and impossibly high heels, she made her way down
the stairs and the aisle, carrying an elaborate bouquet of red and
white roses. She had turned eleven the week before Christmas and
fought back a nervous giggle when she made eye contact with her
astonished father.

Next came Kate, wearing the same red silk
dress and hairstyle.

Jack’s chest tightened, and for a second, he
wondered if he was having a heart attack as he watched his
daughters.

Jamie laughed out loud when Jack whispered,
“Holy Moses” as Jill came down the stairs.

Jack would never forget Jamie’s reaction
when he caught the first glimpse of Frannie at the top of the
stairs. Her long auburn hair had been contained in the same
elaborate style as the girls’, but hers included a diamond tiara
that had been her maternal grandmother’s. She wore no veil, just a
simple white silk dress. Like the girls’ dresses, it was sleeveless
but was followed by an embroidered five-foot train. Frannie had
said that since this was her one and only real wedding, she was
wearing white. No one had dreamed of arguing with her.

After more than half a lifetime spent
wishing for this very moment, Frannie never took her eyes off her
groom as her father delivered her to him.

Watching his father join her hand with
Jamie’s, Jack decided his sister had never looked more radiant.