Every Storm (37 page)

Dean left the yard on that note, and by the time Rigg got to his feet, Lorri was there. Rigg took her in his arms and held on tight.

"I missed you" she said, stretching on tiptoe to hug his neck. Rigg's arms were around her, and as far as he was concerned, there was no reason to ever let go.

"Five weeks from today you won't have to miss me anymore."

Lorri stepped back and smiled at him. Rigg gave her a swift kiss.

"Have you had breakfast?" Lorri asked.

"No, but there's something I want to tell you first."

Lorri took her grandfather's chair, and Rigg sat beside her.

"Bankman and Associates is opening an office in Shore Hills."

338

Lorri blinked. "Shore Hills, California?"

"Yes."

"As in 15 miles from here?"

"That's the one."

"What did you tell them?"

"I told them to count me in."

"Rigg," Lorri said, instantly beginning to worry. "Are you sure you want this? Are you sure you want to live outside of Santa Rosa?"

"I'm the one who looked for work down here for months before throwing in the towel."

"But wasn't that because you wanted to be close to me?"

"Yes, but the truth is that I tike both cities and the churches in each one, so if you have a preference, we can live here."

"You don't mind?"

"Not at all."

"I still feel like a compromise is needed here."

"Okay," Rigg said slowly, not sure what he was agreeing to.

"I think we should retire to Santa Rosa."

Rigg laughed until he had tears in his eyes. With the interruption of the war, he'd only just started his career, and his bride-to-be was already talking about retirement.

"I don't think it's funny," Lorri told him seriously, watching his hysterics and trying not to allow even a smile. "We need to have a plan."

"I'm 27," he reminded her.

"Well," she conceded, "maybe it's a bit premature."

"A bit?"

Lorri looked exasperated and ready to tell him as much, but Ruth put her head out the door and said that breakfast was on.

339

339

1

"Well, Mother certainly rescued you," Lorri told him. "You need to be pinched."

"Do I get to pinch back?"

Lorri saw the look in his eyes and wagged a finger at him, her eyes telling him no. Nevertheless, she took no chances. She let Rigg go ahead of her into the house, not sure he was entirely trustworthy at the moment.

"I got your letter" Dean said to Johnny, catching him right after the service. "Thank you very much."

"Was I clear, Mr. Archer? I don't want to step out of line."

"Very clear, and I wasn't the least bit concerned of that. I think the idea of you and Max getting to know each other is a very good one."

Much as this affected the rhythm of Johnny's heart, he still calmly asked, "Do you know if Max is all right with that idea?"

Dean couldn't help but smile. "She was rather set against seeing anyone during her senior year, wasn't she?"

Johnny relaxed a little and gave a comical shake of his head.

"She was smart to hold me off at that time, but I didn't think anyone could have such resolve."

Dean smiled with pride.

"Maybe we'll see you Friday night," Dean told him, offering his hand.

Johnny gladly shook it, not even waiting until they'd left the church parking lot to tell his family what the admiral had said.

340

"You're looking rather distracted" Lorri teased Max at the end of the week. Johnny had just left.

"I am" Max teased right back. "I can't decide between waffles or pancakes for breakfast. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep."

Lorri laughed, grabbed Max's arm, and pulled her down to sit close to her on the sofa.

"I think he likes you " Lorri said.

"Why do you say that?" Max asked, sounding more than a little pleased.

"Well, how many weeks does this make that he's brought you home, and he doesn't just drop you off but comes inside, plays with your dog, talks to your family, and couldn't be more charming if he tried."

Max looked over at her sister.

"You make it sound like it's a big put-on."

"Not at all, Max. I didn't mean to. Johnny is a great guy. I'm just teasing you over the fact that he's having a hard time hiding how he feels."

"Do you think he can see how I feel?"

"I think so. You're a little cautious, but you haven't shown him the door."

"I got so used to rejecting him that it became a habit."

"I hope you know, Max, that that still has to be talked about," her sister advised, all at once serious. "If he's had girlfriends, you'd better make sure he's now ready to be a one-woman man."

"Grandpa said the same thing."

Til pray for you, Max."

"Thanks, Raine."

Not long into the silence that followed, Lorri sighed.

"Do you miss Rigg?" Max asked.

341

341

"All the time."

"It's not long now" she comforted her older sibling. "Just three weeks from tomorrow, and you won't have to miss him anymore."

Lorri sighed again. "Now I'll be the one who won't be able to sleep."

"You're up early," Ruth said to Dean when she went downstairs a few days before the wedding. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine. Buddy wanted out, and I didn't go back to sleep."

Ruth wanted tea this morning. She brewed a cup and then joined Dean over the newspaper.

"Did you see this ad?" Ruth suddenly asked. "The Simmons Company is making electric blankets. How does that work?"

"I don't know. It doesn't sound too safe."

"I think I will stick with the cotton and wool blankets we have," Ruth told him, going back to the printed page.

"Do you think Rigg and Lorri have enough blankets? Santa Rosa gets cold at night."

Ruth looked at her father-in-law. It wasn't like him to even think of such things.

"Are you worrying about them?"

He made a face. "Maybe a little."

"You'll like Rigg's family. They're wonderful."

"So you think about the distance too?"

"I do, Dean, but not with a heavy heart. I know it will be hard, but we've had her for more than a year, and Santa Rosa is easier to reach than Australia."

342

"Not to mention, they'll be moving back down here sometime

next summer," Dean added.

"I keep reminding myself of that very thing."

No other words were shared, although Lord's departure was

still on their minds. By mutual, unspoken consent they went back

to the morning paper.

343
fTt*Jcnif"Fuc

November 30,1946

"Oh, Raine," Max said when she went to the small room off the church foyer and saw her sister. "You look beautiful."

"Is the dress all right? Not too plain?"

"No, it's perfect, especially with Mother's pearls. She did a great job."

Lorri looked excited, but in truth she was very nervous. The idea of walking down the aisle in front of all those people made her knees shake.

"Don't be nervous," Max said, reading the look just as Dean knocked on the door and Max let him in.

Lord's heart thudded when her grandfather said they were ready. She tried to calm down, but it didn't work. Not even the sight of Rigg in his suit, smiling up the aisle at her, their families and friends all around, could calm her down. Her voice quivered through the whole service. Rigg's own voice was deep and somber, and then it was over. They were husband and wife.

Lorri relaxed at the reception. Her husband holding her hand, she laughed, visited with everyone there, and loved knowing that

344

Rigg was hers for keeps. Nevertheless, she had no desire to linger. When Rigg told her it was time to go, she said her goodbyes and thankfully left with her husband.

"Thank you, Mrs. King," Ruth said to Johnny's mother when she stayed to help with the cleanup. "Max was in charge of that, but she's a little sidetracked right now."

"I think we can blame Johnny for that," Mrs. King joked, and after a glance at the couple sitting alone and talking at one of the tables, they continued to work, leaving the young couple to themselves.

"That was a nice wedding," Johnny told Max over at the table, his hand fiddling with the flowers that had served as a centerpiece.

"It was, wasn't it?"

"And they met on an island in the Pacific, right?"

"Yes, the crew of Rigg's PT boat rescued Lorri."

"Wow," Johnny said with a shake of his head. "That's amazing. Did they know then that they cared for each other?"

"Lorri said it was nothing like that. Rigg just made sure she was safe, and that was all. They didn't see each other for months, but when they did-" Max shook her head, leaving the sentence hang.

"Love at first sight?"

"I don't believe in love at first sight, but there was interest at first sight, that's for certain."

"Now, why doesn't that surprise me?" Johnny's voice told her he would not let that one go by.

"What?" she asked, pretending not to understand.

345

345

"The girl who swore off boys doesn't believe in love at first sight I'm shocked."

"Do you?" she challenged him.

Johnny put his head back, as though in deep thought, and Max covered her mouth to keep from laughing. She knew she was being teased and flirted with all at the same time.

"It's not that hard of a question, John," she pointed out when he didn't speak.

"What did you call me?"

Max blinked at the change in him. "I don't know. I think John."

The eyes that watched her had turned intense. Max waited, hoping he would say what was wrong.

"Could it be," he began slowly, "that you don't think of me as a little boy anymore?"

"I've never thought that," Max said without hesitation. "Johnny's just your name. It's what I call you; it doesn't mean that I still think you're in the fifth grade."

"Then there's hope," he said.

"Hope for what?"

John realized he'd already said too much. He didn't know how to get himself out of this, so he simply reached up and tucked a stray curl behind Max's ear.

"I'd better help put tables away," he said, coming to his feet.

Max held her place and looked up at him.

"Don't look at me like that, Max. I shouldn't have said what I said. It's not time yet."

Max nodded but still wasn't altogether dear on what he meant; She did realize, however, that they both needed to be rescued. Max went to help Mrs. King and her mother, and John went toward his father and the admiral.

346

Rigg and Lorri were spending their honeymoon in a cottage on the beach. They drove for nearly two hours, and by then the sun was sinking fast and the night was growing cold.

Rigg used the key for the cottage, found the light, and held the door so his wife could make a run for the bathroom, a room that took a moment to find. He teased her for not having remembered such things before they left the reception, but she only laughed and said there was no time to lose.

On his own, Rigg didn't waste any time. The Campbells, the family who had let them use the small beach house, had left everything in immaculate order. They'd even laid paper and kindling for a fire. By the time Lorri came from the bathroom, Rigg had a nice blaze going and was seated on the sofa, his feet stretched toward the warmth.

Coming from the bathroom and seeing the arm Rigg held out toward her, Lorri joined him, fitting nicely against his side and putting her head on his shoulder.

"We did it," she said. "We got married."

"Yes, we did." There was no missing the smile in his voice.

Rigg shifted so he could look down into his wife's face.

"You're so beautiful."

"I'm glad you think so."

"I definitely think so."

Lorri smiled just before he kissed her. The first kiss led to another, and then another. It didn't take long before the fire wasn't the only warm thing in the room.

347

347

The new year dawned, and it occurred to Max that life in 1947 had returned to a place she'd been before. With Rigg and Lorri living in Santa Rosa, Max was once again an only child, but life around the house was a little different this time: There was no school, Max continued to work five days a week at Brennan's, and Lorri was close enough to visit and to have her visit them. And then there was John King and his family.