The Fey (49 page)

Rebecca closed her eyes for a moment in a
silent prayer of gratitude.

Rebecca smiled as Zack Jakkman and his
alluring girlfriend Bestat Bahur came in the church. Bestat always
reminded Rebecca of the John Singer Sargent painting called
“Egyptian Girl.” Rebecca made a mental note to ask Bestat about the
painting. Zack blew Rebecca a kiss, and she nodded. They were a
beautiful couple.

Rebecca returned to her musing. Alex’s face
and body were so badly bruised that Rebecca had to research makeup
to cover the welts. Claire had a combination of foundation colors
created for Alex by some makeup artist in Paris. Alex wouldn’t look
like she had been beaten and tortured. Not today.

Today she was a bride.

Maria Abreu and her children stopped to
chat. They were spending the week in touring the United Kingdom.
Rebecca watched Maria’s eyes cloud with grief and knew how much she
must long for Jesse. Rebecca held Maria to her until Maria
straightened her shoulders and tucked her grief away. Rebecca
kissed her cheek before they were escorted to their seat by some
soldier.

They called him G.I. Joe. What was his
name?

Claire and her children worked day and night
to add sleeves and finish the beading on Alex’s gorgeous wedding
dress. They put together lovely dresses for the four
bridesmaids–Erin, Samantha, Julie and Helene. As a surprise, Claire
created the most beautiful dresses Rebecca has ever seen for
herself, Rebecca and Rita.

“
Blue to match our eyes,
Becky,” Claire had said.

Rebecca smiled remembering Claire’s use of
her childhood name. Only Benjamin called her that… Benji. She was
surprised at how good she felt when Claire said ‘Becky.’ Underneath
all the pretense, Rebecca knew that she was Becky at heart. Alex
and Max healed another relationship.

Rebecca let out a breath. Everyone
stretched. Everyone worked. Seeing Alex’s beautiful beaming face
just a moment ago, she knew that everything was worth it. This
celebration was going to be wonderful.

Rebecca’s breath caught and her heart
stopped. For the first time in decades, she didn’t care that
something didn’t look right. Maybe her mother was finally dead. She
smiled at the thought.

Looking over the small chapel, she realized
that the guests were seated and waiting. Rebecca tapped on the
men’s room then went to see Alex one more time. Her strange and
beautiful daughter, the one she had been so ashamed of, hugged
Rebecca and told her that she loved her. Rebecca’s eyes filled with
tears.

Alex loves me.

FFFF

The organ began to play the wedding march
and the wedding party lined up in the church pre-chamber. Matthew
held an elbow out for Claire then escorted her to the front where
Frederec and Eugene waited for her. Troy held his elbow for Rebecca
and escorted her to the front. Claire smiled at Rebecca when she
sat down next to her. Rebecca reached for Claire’s hand. Holding
hands, the mothers waited for their Alex.

Matthew escorted Rita to the front pew on
the other side where she sat beside her sons. Matthew returned to
the back to stand next to Troy. Drawing their handguns, Matthew and
Troy walked to the front of the church. Matthew moved across the
front of the church to the left while Troy moved across the front
of the church to the right. They would guard the ceremony from the
front.

Colin started the procession. His blonde
hair standing straight up, he escorted Julie and her tiny baby
pooch to the front of the church. They separated at the front. Raz
followed with Samantha on his arm. Cian laughed down the aisle with
Erin. Beaming from ear to ear, Max, the best man, came down the
aisle with Helene, the maid of honor.

Tom Drayson walked John to the front of the
church. Tom hugged John then sat with his arm around Rita and the
boys. John turned to look down the aisle into the church
pre-chamber.

He did not want to miss even one moment.

FFFF

Alex stood in the bridal room alone.

“
You are beautiful,” Jesse
said in Spanish.

“
Thanks. It’s amazing what
a little makeup can do,” she said.

“
My Maria looks so
beautiful today,” Jesse said with noticeable longing.

“
She does,” Alex said.
“Jesse? I wanted to… I don’t really know how to…
Thanks.”

Jesse laughed. “We’re a team. You need to
get going.”

Alex nodded.

“
I’ll be around,” he said
disappearing.

Holding Camille’s hand, Ben came into the
room. Camille carried a white basket full of pink rose petals. Her
dark ringlets were held out of her eyes by a small white barrette.
She wore a dress that matched Alex’s bridal gown. Another tap on
the door and Patrick joined them. Patrick kissed her cheek.

“
Shall I put the veil
down?” Patrick asked.

“
I guess so,” Alex
said.

He lifted two layers of the veil and covered
her face.

“
Oh, you have to unhook
me.” Alex held her arm out to Patrick. “Just pull on the
fitting.”

Patrick lifted her cream silk sleeve to
reveal the tubes, which connected Alex to her IV antibiotics.

“
You won’t tell, will
you?” She pleaded with Patrick and Ben not to tell John that she
should wear the IV. “I’ll put it back on when we’re
done.”

“
I won’t tell,” Patrick
said. With a firm tug, he disconnected the fitting to the
IV.

“
You know I won’t,” Ben
said.

“
Camille? Will you tell
anyone about the IV?” Alex asked in French. She crouched down to
look into Camille’s eyes.

Camille looked at the fairy princess called
Alex and batted her huge blue eyes. She nodded then wrinkled her
nose.

“
I have one right here,”
Alex laughed. She held an orange Tootsie Roll pop in her hand.
“Your Maman said you could have this when you get to the front of
the church.”

“
Oui. Ne dirai pas.”
Camille wasn’t going to tell either.

“
We’ll put this in your
basket.” Alex slipped the candy into Camille’s white
basket.

Holding her rosebud bouquet in her hand,
Alex took Ben’s arm then took Patrick’s arm. They walked into the
pre-chamber of the church.

Ben gave Camille a little push and she
started down the aisle. She threw a handful of petals on one side
then weaved forward to throw a handful of petals on the other side.
She threw another handful of petals and picked up some petals in
her hand. Noticing Helene at the front of the church, Camille ran
forward, the petals falling unnoticed from her basket and her
hand.

“
Look what I have,”
Camille said in French. She held the orange Tootsie Roll pop out to
Helene. Turning to her mother, she pleaded, “Maman?”

Laughing in the front row, Claire said,
“Oui.”

Helene lifted Camille into her arms.
Throwing the wrapper on the floor, Camille stuck the candy in her
mouth.

“
Please rise,” Father
Seamus said.

Everyone stood. Turning toward the church
pre-chamber, a gasp went through the crowd. Alex was absolutely
stunning.

Moving slowly down the aisle, she nodded,
winked and smiled to the friends and loved ones in the pews. She
shyly lowered her head when they approached John.

Stopping at the front, Alex turned to Ben
who raised one layer of her veil then kissed her cheek. Turning to
Patrick, she smiled as he raised the last layer. He touched her
chin, then kissed her face. He slipped into the pew after Ben.

Alex turned to John. The blue of his eyes
was all but consumed by his black pupils and his mouth was slightly
open. Blushing at his reaction, her lips turned upward.

Before her lips could form the crooked
smile, Father Seamus began the service.

FFF

October 23 – 1 A.M.

Northern Scotland

“
What is it, love?” asked
John as he came up behind her.

Alex was standing in her pajamas at the
front window of the cottage. Somehow escaping John’s notice, Rita
and Tom converted a sheepherder’s cottage to a honeymoon escape for
them. Turning, she reached her arms around his warm naked body.

“
I like to see out,” she
said, “especially at night.”

John put his hands around her face and
kissed her.

“
When we get home, I’ll
build you a porch off our bedroom where you can watch the
stars.”

“
We’d need to get a home
first.”

“
Max, didn’t tell
you?”

“
Tell me what?”

“
He found an old boarding
house about a block from our old house. It is very large and
dilapidated. The building is in foreclosure and has been vacant for
most of the last year. We’ve been negotiating with the bank this
week. They are thrilled to be rid of the building and gave us a
great deal if we close in two weeks. We should be able to move into
at least one area of the building by New Year’s. We’ll live
together.”

“
Are you all right with
the loss of space? You wanted your own space, your own house. It’s
why we bought the other house.”

“
My priorities have
shifted quite a bit in the last few months,” he said. “When
remodeled, we’ll have two separate living spaces with a common
kitchen, living area and dining area. The basement will be
contiguous with it’s secret office, entertainment room and guest
rooms. Don’t tell Raz, but we’re planning to convert the carriage
house into a loft apartment for him. It’s a bit of a
surprise.”

“
How do you know all of
this and I don’t?”

“
Max didn’t want to bother
you. You’ve been in the hospital. Christ, Alex, you’re still on IV
antibiotics. You should still be in the hospital.”

“
Kiss me
again.”

Melting at his touch, she buried her head in
his arms.

“
I’m sorry about losing
the ring,” she started.

John laughed, rocking her in his arms.

“
I don’t care about that
anymore,” he said. “Would you like another one?”

She kissed his neck.

“
Honestly?”

He nodded looking into her dark eyes.

“
I love this band.” Alex
pointed to the thin gold band she had worn every day for almost
thirteen years.

He smiled then hugged her again.

“
Why don’t I stay up with
you?” John asked. “I can tell you everything you would like to know
about mending fences and cleaning sheep stalls. If you’re nice,
I’ll flex my muscles for you again.”

“
Oh Mr. Kelly Drayson your
biceps are huge,” she said in a mock Betty Boop. She kissed each
arm.

“
Two lonely weeks working
on the ranch,” he said. “Wait here. Just one second.”

John went to the bedroom and pulled on a
pair of pajamas. Bringing a wing back chair and a blanket from the
sitting area, he opened the blinds and sat down in the chair.

“
Please sit with me,” he
said.

Alex sat on his lap and he covered them with
the blanket. He kissed her neck then held her close to him. They
sat watching the night.

“
Are you
sleeping?”

“
Not at night,” she said.
“My mind has so many other things to work out in the dark.” Leaning
against him, she sighed. “God, I’ve missed you.”

John smiled.

“
I dreamed of you every
night.” Overcome with emotion, he stopped speaking. “I thought I’d
never see you again.”

“
I thought I’d never see
you or anyone again,” she said. “When I knew he was going to kill
me? The first thing I longed for was you, kissing you.”

“
That’s very nice,” he
said. He kissed her lips. “I don’t know how long we’ll have. I’m
just grateful to have one more moment with you.”

She nuzzled his neck under his chin.

“
I’m different, you know.
Everything is different. And yet…” she said. “I mean it’s weird. We
went through so much, such difficult times and…”

“
Yet we learned so much,”
John said. “Yes. You know, being a doctor, having lots of money, is
really not so important.”

“
Being a Green Beret or a
super spy is not so important,” she added.

“
What’s important is
family, friends…”

“
And love.
Yes.”

“
All of these secrets.
Your fathers. My history. They were stupid. I’m so sorry I hurt
you, didn’t trust you. I was foolishly trying to control you,
control your opinion of me. I never realized I actually kept myself
from loving you fully.”

“
Loving fully. I thought a
lot about that when I was in the room,” she said. “I’ve hidden
myself away from you so that you would never know me, all of me. I
never realized you knew me all along.”

He kissed her head and held her tight. They
watched the night together in silence.

Alex sighed.

“
What is it,
love?”

“
I’m so very glad I
survived… to sit right here… with you.”

F

About the author:

Claudia Hall
Christian is an author and a beekeepers. She lives in Denver,
Colorado.

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Weblog: http://on-a-limb.com

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