Dreams Adrift (A River Dream Novel) (2 page)

Watching her brush the silks off the corn, I
asked, “Do you know how happy I am being your man?”

She stopped and looked up at me. “If you’re
half as happy being my man as I am being your wife, then yes,
Michael, I know how happy you are.” She smiled and went back to
shucking the corn. “What brought that on?”

Picking up the grill I’d been cleaning to get
a better look at it, I said, “This weekend did, I guess. I think
I’ll always remember this weekend in a special way.”

Maeve turned that lovely smile on me. “I think
you’re right, Mike. But we’ll have years and years of weekends like
this.”

“
I know,” I said, satisfied the
grill was as clean as I could get it. “But somehow I think this one
will be
that
weekend.”

Maeve nodded her understanding and announced
she’d finished shucking the corn. “I guess I’ll wait to start
this,” she said. “Those potatoes will take a while.”

Setting down the bag of charcoal I’d just
picked up, I said, “Then I won’t start the grill just yet. What
should we do in the meantime?”

Maeve took my hand and looked toward the
house.

“
Sweetheart,” I said, “I love how
you think.”

We did get around to grilling those steaks and
enjoyed a nice supper over in the screened room, by the river.
After dinner we sat in the swing. Maeve reminded me of the first
time we spent an evening together in that screened room.

“
I helped you come up with the
name for
Riverscape
, remember?”

“
Oh yes, I remember.”

“
Do you remember what I said to
you after we'd come up with the name?” she asked coyly.

“
Trust me sweetheart, I haven't
forgotten.”

Maeve turned her head up and said, “Then are
you going to kiss me, or what?”

Very gently, I slid my hand behind her head,
the softness of her hair caressing the skin on my hand, and leaned
forward, covering her lips with mine.

The next morning we got up, cleaned the house,
double checked the boats, and headed back to Wrightsville Beach.
There were still some final preparations for the wedding we had to
take care of.

Two

With the wedding only two days away, I went to
the Wright Isle Resort, at Maeve’s insistence, to make sure no
last-minute details had been overlooked.

“
Michael,” Hernando said as we
walked back to the hotel from the spot on the beach where the
ceremony would take place, “everything is ready for your special
day. I have overseen the preparations myself. It will be wonderful.
You have my word.”

“
I know you’ll take good care of
us, Hernando,” I said. He was an excellent resort manager. “But you
understand, Maeve sent me to check one more time.”

“
I think, Michael,” Hernando said
with a grin, “perhaps she wanted you out of her hair more than she
was worried about the arrangements here.”

“
I’d agree with that,” I said. We
shared a laugh. “Hernando, I’ll let you get back to
work.”

“
I’m looking very forward to
Saturday, Michael,” Hernando said before turning to go back to his
office.

As I walked across the lobby on my way out, I
was stopped cold by a voice softly calling my name. A chill ran
down my spine as I turned around.

“
Hello, Michael,” Rhiannon said
softly.

My chest tightened until drawing a breath took
conscious effort. I felt at once chilled and as if the lobby was
suddenly too warm. I stood there, wide-eyed, dumb-struck, trying to
take in the fact that Rhiannon was standing there in front of me.
She was even more beautiful than I remembered. The question running
through my mind was
why is she here now
?

“
Are you surprised to see me?”
Rhiannon asked hesitantly, taking a step towards me.

Finding my voice, I said, my tone cold as dry
ice, “I am surprised to see you. I honestly never expected to see
you again.”

“
My folks told me you were getting
married. I dropped everything to get here. You wouldn’t believe
what I had to go through. I couldn’t believe you were getting
married, Michael,” Rhiannon said. She took another step.

We’d sent an invitation to her parents. They’d
known me all my life. They were close friends of my parents. Of
course we invited them. Then another thought hit me,
Doesn’t she
know we’re already married
?

Then I thought,
My getting married was
enough to get her to come home, but my clinging to life in a
hospital bed wasn’t.

“
Aren’t you glad to see me?” she
asked quietly, moving another step closer.

Was I glad? No. The chill that had come over
me on first seeing her was being burned out by the heat of
long-suppressed anger. I strained to keep my voice even. “Why did
you come now?”

The acid tone in my voice stopped her. She was
close enough that I could see the tears brimming in her
eyes.

“
I’ve missed you, Michael. I’ve
missed you so much.”

“
Then why wait until now to come
back?” I snapped at her, unable to bridle my anger.

“
Michael…” Rhiannon
started.

“
Where were you all those months I
was in the hospital? Where were you all that time I was in rehab
learning to walk again?”

“
Michael, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry
I wasn’t there,” Rhiannon said, tears starting to run down her
face.

“
Yeah, I’m sorry too. I’m sorry
for all those hours I spent waiting for you to come, just knowing
in my heart that the next person to walk into that room would be my
Rhiannon. But my Rhiannon never came. She had something more
important to do than be with me.”

“
Michael, I wanted to come, but I
couldn’t. Those people needed me. I was doing important
work.”

“
It was more important for you to
be one more volunteer digging a well in some God-forsaken country
than to be there for me when I needed you most,” I said. I could
see how my bitterness hurt her, and I didn't care.

“
Michael, I’m sorry, I made a
mistake. How many times must I say I’m sorry?” She was
sobbing.

My face became a cold mask. “You never have to
say it again, Rhiannon. It’s too late for that now.”

She choked off the sobs and challenged me.
“You want me to believe you don’t love me anymore? I don’t believe
it.”

“
The Rhiannon I grew up with, that
Rhiannon I will always love. The Rhiannon I waited and waited for,
who never came, to whom I wasn’t as important as a bunch of
strangers a continent away - I have no feelings for
her.”

“
You told me once you’d wait for
me until the day after forever, no matter what,” Rhiannon said,
tears flowing from her eyes again.

“
I was in that hospital forever,
Rhiannon. And the day after forever, when I finally walked out of
that place, you…weren’t…there. Good-bye, Rhiannon.” I turned and
walked away.

Behind me, Rhiannon spoke. She spoke one last
apology, and a pledge.

“
Michael, I am sorry. I promise
you this: If ever the day comes when you need your Rhiannon again,
I will not fail you. I will be there then. Michael, I
promise.”

I stopped, took a deep breath, and turned
around, but she was gone. I stood there looking at the spot where
she’d been standing for I don’t know how long.

Finally, I walked out to my car and drove to
the north end of the island. As I got out and unlocked the gate, I
heard a car pull up behind me. My heart leaped in my chest and
tears filled my eyes when I turned and saw Maeve’s Porsche. I
looked to heaven and said a silent “Thank you” to God.

Maeve jumped out of her car and rushed over to
me, eyes wide with concern.

“
Michael, what’s wrong? I saw you
drive right by our street. You didn’t even see me. Michael, what is
it? Is something wrong?”

“
Not anymore,” I said, taking her
in my arms. “Just let me hold you. Maeve, I love you so much. You
do know that, don’t you?”

Maeve pressed her head against my chest and
tightened her arms around me. “I know, Michael, I know. I love you,
too, baby, I love you.”

I kissed her, took her by the hand, and led
her through the gate into the unspoiled dunes of the
reserve.

“
Where are we going,
Michael?”

“
We’re going away from everything
and everyone. Things have been too hectic these last couple of
days. There’s been so much going on. I just need to be with you and
only you, just for a few precious moments.”

Maeve clung tightly to my hand as we climbed
the dune. At the top we stopped, sat, and watched the waves roll in
under a cloudless blue sky.

“
On a clear day like this, you
feel like you can see to the other side,” I said.

I put my arm around Maeve. She snuggled her
head against my shoulder and didn’t say anything. I wanted to tell
her about Rhiannon, but I wasn’t sure how. At last, I just told
her.

“
Maeve, Rhiannon was at the Wright
Isle Resort when I went to see Hernando.”

“
I knew she was in town, Michael,”
Maeve said. After a moment’s pause, she continued. “Your mother
called to say she’d stopped by their house looking for
you.”

“
Oh,” I said. My shoulders slumped
and I looked down at the sand. “I didn’t know that.”

We sat quietly for what seemed like a long
time. Waves broke on the shore with a hypnotic rhythm. The sea oats
around us rustled in the wind. A lone gull circled overhead, hoping
we might offer up a scrap of something. He dipped his wings and,
with an indignant screech, turned his attention south.

Maeve raised her head, her lip pulled tight
between her teeth. “What…” she started to ask. She took a deep
breath before trying again. “What did she want?”

I took a moment to decide how to answer. “I
guess she wanted to tell me she was sorry.”

Maeve sat quietly for several minutes. I
wondered if she guessed what Rhiannon was sorry for - for not
coming home when I needed her. Before I decided I should explain,
she asked, “What did you say?”

“
I told her I was sorry, too,” I
said. “Sorry I ever thought she and I had a future.”

“
Oh,” Maeve said. Again the quiet
settled over us, the only sounds the whisper of the wind through
the sea oats and the crash of the waves on the shore.

I sighed deeply. “Then she asked me if I still
loved her.”

Maeve stiffened and then forced herself to
relax against me. “What did you say to that?”

“
I told her the truth,” I
said.

“
And what was that?” Maeve asked.
Her voice trembled as if she was afraid to hear the
answer.

“
I told her no,” I said, turning
to face the woman I loved. “I love you, Maeve. I want to spend the
rest of my life with you. I want to share all my triumphs and
tribulations with you. I want to share my joys with you, and I want
to make you happy. There is only you, Maeve. She was my childhood
sweetheart. You are the love of my life.”

Maeve’s response was a kiss. A kiss that said
all that needed to be said between us. It was a kiss that told me
how much she loved me, how much my love meant to her, and how much
she loved being mine.

My response showed her that she was the only
love in my life, the only woman I wanted to be with, and the only
person I desired to share the rest of my life with. We kissed, and
then we held each other as the sun set behind us and night settled
on the ocean.

Maeve's sister Cynthia was waiting for us when
we got to the house. “Where have you two been?” she wanted to
know.

Maeve batted her heather blue eyes and smiled
an angelic smile. “We've been spending some quality time together
with the dunes.”

Leaving Cynthia to figure that out, we walked
past her to our room.

Three

Two days later, under a cobalt blue sky dotted
with snow white cumulus clouds, I stood with my best man, Hans, at
the temporary altar erected on the beach in front of the Wright
Isle Resort. First Maeve's parents, and then my parents, were
escorted down the aisle and seated. All heads turned back toward
the resort when the organist began to play
Canon in D
by
Pachelbel.

Chase appeared at the top of the walkway,
flanked by Kim and Malori. The ladies were stunning in their
cornflower blue tea-length gowns. Chase's tux, light tan with a
cornflower blue cummerbund, matched them perfectly. If Derrick
hadn’t left for Parris Island the month before, he would have been
Kim's escort. Chase didn't seem to mind escorting those two lovely
ladies down the aisle. The ring bearer and flower girl were
next.

As Maeve and I had no nieces or nephews of our
own for the roles, we’d invited Alfredo Dupree's twin grandchildren
to take part in the wedding. They were absolutely adorable.
Isadora's dress was a perfect copy of the bridesmaid dresses, and
little Alfred's tux was a miniature of the ones Chase and Hans
wore. Alfred walked so proudly, holding his little pillow with the
decorative rings practically up to his chin. Isadora walked shyly
beside her brother, gently spreading the rose petals along the
wooden walk.