Lined With Silver (7 page)

After they had re-grouped, the guide said,
“This tour doesn’t include the Brumidi Corridors, either, but you
can see both the Brumidi Corridors and the Great Experiment Hall in
an on-line virtual tour. The Brumidi Corridors are the work of
Constantino Brumidi. Although his assistants were used to create
much of the art, Brumidi himself is credited with painting the
portraits. The plants and birds were painted based on specimens
borrowed from the Smithsonian. Artists of different nationalities
assisted in the project.”

Zack added quietly so only Sondra could hear.
“Despite current feelings, this nation has always made an effort to
be a melting pot. As Emma Lazarus wrote, ‘Bring me your tired, your
poor, your huddled masses—’”

“And they all yearned for freedom.” Sondra
interrupted.

“Don’t we all?” Zack spread Sondra’s fingers
wide and then clasped them again. She wondered if he was regretting
his decision to marry as they hurried to catch up with the
group.

When they finished their tour, the clouds
decided to drop their load. The street was barely visible.

Sondra couldn’t resist the perfect snow. The
falling snow had brought with it an unexpected slight raise in
temperature. She bent down and packed a slushy snowball. Her aim
was off, but the snow left its mark and dripped down Zack’s
collar.

“What was that for?” He protested while
scooping his own pile of snow. He lobbed it at her, the snow
sliding harmlessly off her coat. Laughing, Sondra threw another
slushy ball, which Zack easily dodged.

His next pile landed on her uncovered head.
She shook out the snow and giggled.

Zack waved vigorously at the passing
taxi.

After they were out of the storm, Zack
checked his watch. “The Smithsonian closes at 5:00. We should have
time for one of the buildings. Which one did you want to see?”

“The natural history museum.”

He nodded. “I like that one, too.”

The driver dropped them off in front of the
museum, and they headed into the building, shaking off snow as they
went.

Sondra felt a thrill as she stepped to the
front desk. She didn’t realize how much she’d looked forward to
exploring the museum until she was actually here doing it. Zack
paid for both of them. Sondra was anticipating their tour with so
much excitement, she couldn’t bring herself to protest.

Stepping past the front desk, they entered a
great marble hall. Visitors were milling around the African
Elephant displayed at the end of the room. Elevator banks and
hallways were located behind marble ionic columns. Greek
architecture gave an ageless feel to the building. The only
reminder of the current date was the falling snow darkening the
huge semi-circular windows at the top of the room.

They moved to the Ocean Hall. The display of
the whale above them was dwarfed by tall ceilings. The architecture
was as much a part of the experience as the displays. High ceilings
gave the impression of immense space even with the milling
tourists.

The Ocean Explorer Theater offered a chance
to sit through a short movie. Zack rested his arm behind her during
the movie, and Sondra had to fight the desire to rest her head on
his shoulder.

After the short video, Zack took her hand as
they explored the various floors. She was impatient with herself at
how thoroughly she’d come back to her youthful imaginings. Even
though he couldn’t possibly know how his touch affected her, she
was reluctant to pull away. This moment wouldn’t last, and she
couldn’t take advantage of his protective nature to beg him to make
the marriage a real one. It wouldn’t be fair. Still, this stolen
moment was something she couldn’t deny herself. It would be a
memory that would have to last a lifetime.

As the announcement to close the building was
sounding for the second time, they stepped out of the museum into a
frigid wind. The snow was no longer slushy. The ice crystals
whipped across her face. Sondra pulled on her gloves, still wet
from the earlier snowball fight, and hoped her body heat would help
the drying process.

Zack waved down a taxi. He directed the
driver to a local restaurant, where they fought their way through
the driving snow and into a waiting room warmed by a roaring fire.
The fireplace looked as old as the building. Sondra peeled off her
wet gloves and stuffed them back in her pocket.

The building was a quaint reproduction of a
restaurant frequented by Thomas Jefferson. The servers wore period
costumes, and the food was created from old recipes. Hand-made wax
candles lit the tables, their warm glow mocking the fierce winter
storm.

Sondra ate slowly and savored the different
flavors. Zack kept her entertained with stories of his young nieces
and nephews. She listened enough to learn Jade, who was five years
older than Zack, had two daughters and three sons.

Although Sondra laughed and nodded at the
appropriate places, she felt detached from the scene, as if she was
watching and not participating. She could scarcely grasp she was
really here, in Washington, DC, touring the capitol, and sharing
the moment with her husband, Zack Carlson. She would wake from this
dream any moment and find herself staring at the ceiling of her
home in Draper.

“Did you hear me?” his query broke inter her
thoughts.

She started. “Sorry. I missed that.”

“I wanted to know where you wanted to go.” He
checked his watch. “All of the buildings are closed, but we can
take a quick drive around the Mall and maybe get some pictures from
the car.”

“Thanks. I’d like that.”

He nodded. “Shall we go?” He had already left
a tip and paid the bill. Sondra wondered how she’d missed the whole
transaction with their server. Her mind was obviously not in the
moment.

Sondra pulled her wet gloves on, kicking
herself for not leaving them out on the table to dry.

They headed back into the storm and Zack
found another taxi. Their parked car wasn’t far, but the streets
were slick with ice, and Sondra found herself flinching as they
nearly slid into three cars—two moving and one stationary—before
they made it to their own.

As Zack paid the driver, Sondra moved out and
stood by the car. It looked like it had been through a car wash and
then left in a deep freeze.

As the taxi drove off, Zack stepped to
Sondra’s door. He struggled with the key and then walked around to
the driver side. A look of horror crossed his face. “The locks are
frozen solid.”

They both stared at the disappearing tail
lights of the taxi as it turned a distant corner. The frozen wind
chilled her.

Zack pulled out his phone. He looked
stricken. “I forgot to charge it. Did you bring yours?”

Dread seized her heart. She hid her fear as
she answered. “No. I left it at the hotel. I didn’t want to take
any calls today. Sorry.”

“We need to get back to the hotel. Do you
think you can walk? I doubt any taxis are going to come down this
street. It’s not heavy traffic, and the black ice…” He shook his
head.

Sondra tried to look brave. She was an
accomplished attorney, after all. Still, after their experience the
night before, walking on the streets of DC was daunting. She looked
around, expecting a gang of hardened criminals to emerge from one
of the side streets. “How far is it?”

“It’s four blocks.”

She slipped and slid to his side and held on
to his arm while they crossed the icy streets. They managed to push
their way against the wind for a couple of blocks before she
stopped in the shelter of a building. Uncontrollable shivers shook
her.

He reached down to hold her hand and quickly
pulled away. “Why didn’t you tell me your gloves are wet?”

“I th-thought my body heat would dry them,
b-but I-I guess it d-didn’t work.” She could hardly speak through
her chattering teeth. He peeled off the gloves, held her hands
cupped in his and blew his warm breath on her frozen fingers.

After a couple of minutes of his breath
moving past her fingers, she could feel them again. “Th-thanks.”
Her teeth still chattered, but his breath had warmed her whole
body.

He put an arm around her shoulder and kept
her close while they headed back into the arctic blast. “Keep your
hands in your pockets. We shouldn’t be much longer.”

Somehow, the next couple of blocks seemed
shorter. Having his warm body close to hers was distracting. Her
fingers tingled with more than returning circulation. Watching his
dark head bent over her frozen fingers had drawn out full-blown
desire. The intensity scared her.

When they stepped into the lobby, he stopped
and pulled her to him. She laid her head on his chest while he
cupped one of his warm hands around her frozen ear. He held her a
moment, then stepped back. “That isn’t exactly how I planned to end
the day.” His crooked smile was distracting.

She managed an answering smile through her
confused thoughts. “We survived. What are we going to do about the
car?”

“The weather report was better for tomorrow.
It’s supposed to get up near 40°, so I think we can take a taxi and
pick it up. I doubt there are any tow trucks picking up stray cars
tonight. They’ll be plenty busy with accidents.”

He steered her toward the elevator banks.
“Even though your chattering has stopped, I think you should go
take a hot bath. I’ll order some hot chocolate. We can have it in
my room, if that’s okay?” The last was tacked on as an
afterthought, but she felt like she was walking through a fog. It
was more than the icy walk. She wanted some time to examine her
intense feelings.

At his mention of hot chocolate, she stepped
back into the moment. “I’m not really hungry, but something hot
sounds good.”

He nodded as he pressed the eighth floor
elevator button. As the doors closed, she closed her eyes and
leaned against the wall. An almost overwhelming desire for his
touch had flooded her, and she could hardly walk down the hall when
the door opened. She was glad he couldn’t read her thoughts. She
was afraid he’d run like mad if he could. As she stepped into her
room and shut the door, she whispered “temporary” through gritted
teeth. And then the tears started.

After a hot shower, Sondra felt much better.
She hoped her red, puffy eyes would be attributed to the drying
wind.

Wrapped in her long pajamas and a fluffy
robe, she didn’t want to be seen wandering the halls, so she opened
the door between their rooms. To her surprise, another door was on
the other side. At her quiet knock, Zack opened it immediately, as
if he had been anticipating her choice.

He glanced over her attire. “Sensible.” He
approved.

Sondra could feel the color steal up her
face. She couldn’t seem to be around him without some kind of
physical manifestation of her feelings. She kept her eyes lowered
and hoped he wouldn’t see the evidence of recent tears.

He reached out and gently lifted her chin.
“Are you okay?”

She nodded, not trusting her voice.

He reached to stroke her still-wet hair.
“Storms don’t usually get this cold here. This is unusual.” He ran
a finger over her flushed cheek. “After last night’s terror, this
was a bit much, wasn’t it?”

Tears threatened to flow again, but Sondra
bit the inside of her lip and steadied herself. She’d practiced law
for too many years to let her control slip away. She took a breath
to compose herself. “A little cold around the edges, but the shower
helped. Has the chocolate arrived?” She hoped the mention of food
would distract him from his too-close perusal.

“I was putting it on the table when you
knocked.” He turned to indicate the covered dishes behind him.
“Shall we?”

The tray included large chocolate-dipped
strawberries, some white and some dark. Even though she hadn’t felt
hungry, they were a temptation she couldn’t resist.

He dabbed at her chin with a napkin.

Sondra giggled. “Sorry. These strawberries
are messy.” She rolled her eyes in appreciation. “But oh, so
good.”

“I thought you might like them. They were
Mom’s favorite.”

She swallowed a bite. “Did you come here with
her?”

“This was a frequent spot for our family
vacations.” He glanced around the room.

“This hotel?”

“This room.” He indicated the connecting
door. “We usually kept the doors open. Jade and I would watch TV in
your room when Mom and Dad wanted some privacy.”

Sondra blinked. “Ummm. Uh. That’s… nice.” So
they were spending their honeymoon in a place Zack’s family had
vacationed in. She didn’t know if she should be shocked or
flattered. Shocked he would want her in his private family space or
flattered he wanted to share it with her. She knew so little about
this man who was her husband.

Would their marriage even last long enough
for her to figure him out? Did anyone ever really know their
spouse? Her work as an attorney made her believe most relationships
were built on the beliefs of each participant. She had to remind
herself she was seeing broken relationships, not healthy ones.

After that exchange, they ate in
companionable silence with Sondra managing to keep her unruly
thoughts in check. She pushed back from the table when they
finished. “I’m really tired. Jet lag is catching up with me. What
time did you want to meet?”

“Same as this morning—around 7:30. Is that
alright?”

“That will work fine.” She scurried into her
room, locking the connecting door behind her. She leaned against it
a moment, her breath coming in dry sobs. This was close enough to
her youthful dreams to catch the moment but far enough to make it
an unreachable gulf. How was she going to keep her feelings in
check during their short marriage? His father might die tomorrow,
but the process of the embryo implant and then delivery would take
months, and part of the unwritten agreement was to stay married
until the baby was born.