Kathleen watched as Theron forsook the toy train for the brightly colored box it had come in. He sat amid the paper and ribbons of his opened Christmas packages at the foot of the decorated tree. Alice and George had insisted that the boy celebrate a real Christmas despite Seth’s death.
The two weeks since his funeral had been painful ones for Kathleen, but she had survived them. She had been insulated from some of the grim chores. George handled everything. Hazel refused to even go near her brother’s rooms.
Hazel. She was a constant source of antipathy to Kathleen. The woman so burned with hatred that it consumed her, decaying her from within. She went to her office every day, wreaking havoc where she could. The distressed store managers called Kathleen asking for guidance on how to deal with her unreasonable directives. Kathleen soothed them as well as she could, telling them that Hazel was pressured by grief and persuading them to treat her with forebearance. She knew they weren’t convinced, but they were too polite to contradict her in deference to her husband’s recent death.
Kathleen didn’t return to work. She spent her days with Theron, whom she felt she had neglected for the past month. He didn’t seem to have suffered unduly. He was as sturdy and energetic as ever.
She smiled as Alice opened the cashmere sweater Kathleen had given her. Alice’s face lit up with surprise and delight. George was equally excited over the tweed hat that was found in his package. They hadn’t given Kathleen anything and she hadn’t expected it. Alice came to her now and kissed her lightly on the cheek.
“I’m cooking you a traditional Christmas dinner, Kathleen. And I’m going to see to it personally that you eat every bite. George has picked out a fine wine we can drink with it.”
Kathleen patted Alice’s hand. “Thank you. That sounds lovely. Can I help?”
“No, ma’am. You sit right here and play with Theron.” She hedged before she said softly, “He has another present that was delivered yesterday. Aren’t you going to let him open it?”
“Yes,” Kathleen sighed. “I suppose so.”
The box stood under the tree against the wall, and try as she might, she couldn’t ignore it. He was Theron’s father, after all. It was only natural that he’d send his son a Christmas gift.
That she knew. It was what she didn’t know that bothered her. What did Erik intend to do about his son? The angry, resolute set on his features and that last dire warning he had slung at her at the cemetery had haunted her day and night. He had refrained from claiming his son for Seth’s sake. Now that Seth was gone, nothing stood in his way. Since he knew of Hazel’s overt hatred for the boy, he might well convince himself that he was acting in the child’s interest by getting him out of harm’s way.
“Theron,” Kathleen called to her son, who was now chewing on a ribbon. “Come here. You have another present.” She took his hand and he toddled after her to the large, gift-wrapped box. “Do you want me to help you?” she asked. “Apparently not,” she replied wryly when he began ripping off the paper with maniacal zeal. He had exhibited an amazing acumen for opening presents.
“Oh, my goodness!” Kathleen laughed in spite of herself when she read the printing on the box. “He’s crazy.”
The box did indeed contain a bright red tricycle, complete with bells, police decals, shiny lights and a siren that wailed at one push of a button. Kathleen tried it and the sound shattered the relative peace. Alice and George came running.
Both of them clapped their hands and started laughing at Theron’s perplexed look. George lifted the boy onto the black vinyl seat. His chubby legs weren’t quite long enough for his feet to reach the pedals, but he grinned proudly. Only recently had another physical trait he had inherited from Erik been made manifest. He had a dimple in the exact spot as his father’s.
“Erik must be out of his mind,” Kathleen said, laughing. The older couple looked at her quickly. Did she realize that she had mentioned the man’s name? She did, and flushed hotly. The name that was never far from her mind had finally been vocalized. She often wondered if they suspected the nature of her relationship with Erik. George had heard Hazel’s tirade in the hospital corridor. Surely he had told his wife about that scene. Theron looked like Erik more and more. Did they know? From their attitude, she couldn’t tell. They treated her with the respect and friendliness that they always had.
“Theron’ll grow into this in no time,” George said. “Maybe Erik will come over and teach him how to ride it.”
“Ric, Ric,” Theron crowed as he pushed the button for the siren.
“Maybe so,” Kathleen mumbled, then busily began gathering up the discarded paper.
After the huge turkey dinner she shared with George, Alice and Theron in the breakfast room, Kathleen retired to the living room to look at the Christmas tree and nurse a second glass of wine. Hazel had taken her dinner in the dining room all alone. What a pitiable woman she was, Kathleen thought.
The lights on the tree blurred through her tears as a wave of homesickness worse than any she had known before swept over her. Where was her home? She had Theron, but this wasn’t their home. This house was Hazel’s and always would be. As soon as the will was probated, Kathleen intended to take Theron away from here, even if Hazel hadn’t issued the ultimatum. But where would she go? Where was home? Who was home? Erik…
I wonder whom he’s spending Christmas with, she thought with a stab of pain. Is he sharing wine in front of his fireplace with a woman? Cuddling her? Kissing her? Saying—?
Stop! She couldn’t think of that. If she thought about Erik, she would go mad. And if she didn’t think about him, she would die.
She had to talk to someone. She picked up the telephone and called the only family she had. “Edna, Merry Christmas!”
“Kathleen! Dear, it’s so good to hear from you. B. J., turn off that ball game and pick up the extension. It’s Kathleen.”
“Hi there, sweetheart,” B. J. boomed into her ear as he picked up the second phone.
Their voices sounded so good to her, a balm to her wounds. It was the best Christmas present she could have asked for. “First of all, thank you for the flowers you sent to Seth’s funeral. I’ve written you a note, but they’re not all mailed yet.”
“Honey, you know we don’t want any thanks. If we could have, we would have come out there to be with you.”
“I know. I understand. It’s so good to hear your voices.”
“Kathleen,” Edna said. “How are you? How’s the baby? Are you all right?”
Their love reached through the wires and touched her, opening a floodgate of emotion that she had kept safely dammed. She poured out the entire story, starting with the day she had taken Erik to the airport in Fort Smith. “Theron is Erik’s baby,” she admitted softly.
“Kathleen, do you think we’re so old and feeble that we couldn’t figure that out?” B. J. asked. “We’ve known all along who that baby’s daddy is. Does Erik know it?”
“Yes,” she said calmly, then launched into the other half of her story, telling them of his reappearance in her life, their subsequent antagonism and then the days in Chub Cay. “I can’t stop loving him. I slept with him, and when I came back, Seth was dying.” She broke off with heartrending sobs that anguished the two people listening to them.
“Kathleen, you poor baby,” Edna said, and Kathleen heard the tears cracking the older woman’s voice.
“You and that young man have been fighting tooth and nail since you first laid eyes on each other. Why don’t you just tell him how you feel?” B. J. asked.
“Because I’m not sure he loves me. All he wants is Theron, and I’m afraid he’s going to take him away from me. Not that I’ll let him without a fight, but he could make life miserable for a long time.”
“That’s a pile of crap if I ever heard one,” B. J. said.
“Kathleen, that’s nonsense. You didn’t see him when he came looking for you after his accident. I’ve never seen a man so in love, sick with it.”
Kathleen shook her head sadly. “No. He was only angry that I’d run out on him.”
“He won’t do anything to hurt you or that boy,” B. J. said. “I’m too good a judge of human nature not to know that.”
“You don’t know him now. He’s different from the way he was at Mountain View. He’s… callous… hard.”
“I wonder what would turn a man like that?” Edna asked, her meaning implicitly clear.
Kathleen changed the subject and told them about Theron’s latest exploits. “I hope you can come out and see him soon. You’ll love him.”
“We already do,” B. J. said.
Just before hanging up, Edna said, “Why don’t you and Theron fly down here to see us? He could play in the woods. It would do you good.”
“I’d like to, but I don’t know when I can. Things are rather unsettled just now. Let me see what’s going to happen.”
* * *
She didn’t have long to wait. Two weeks into the new year, the Kirchoffs’ lawyer called Kathleen and Hazel to his office and read them Seth’s will. Its contents surprised them both.
Unknown to everyone except himself, his attorney, and the purchaser, Seth had sold the Kirchoff stores to a larger department store chain. Conditions of the sale were that his sister hold a position on their board of directors for as long as she wanted and that the name of the stores remain Kirchoff’s for the rest of her life. Kathleen was to remain in her present position for as long as she wished. She didn’t interrupt the lawyer’s sonorous voice to reveal her plans in that area of her life.
The house was also left to Hazel, as was the majority of Seth’s estate. Kathleen was bequeathed an amount which seemed immense to her, but was actually modest when one measured Seth’s wealth. He had also left her a country house in the Napa Valley north of San Francisco. He had never even mentioned the property to her, although the attorney told her Seth had purchased it over a year ago.
Hazel was enraged to find that her brother had sold the stores out from under her, but was victorious, she felt, over Kathleen. There had been no mention of Theron in Seth’s will, a surprise to Kathleen, a source of celebration for Hazel. Her share of Seth’s estate outweighed Kathleen’s many times over.
“You and your brat will be out of my house within a week,” Hazel said as they left the attorney’s office. “I never want to see you again if at all possible.”
Kathleen didn’t honor her with a comment, though Hazel’s eviction was a welcome relief. She didn’t want to spend one unnecessary night in that house. What would Hazel’s reaction be should Kathleen tell her who Theron’s father was? As cunning as she was, why had Hazel never guessed? Kathleen had often feared that her sister-in-law would recognize one of Erik’s traits in the boy. But she wasn’t searching for clues to his parentage. It was his and Kathleen’s mere existence that was the bane of her life, not where they had come from. Had Hazel been less intent on sabotaging Kathleen’s work and causing friction between her and Seth, Hazel’s eyes might have been opened to the one trump card that could have truly beaten her nemesis. She had been holding an ace and hadn’t realized it. Now it was too late. The game was over.
Kathleen looked into Hazel’s pinched, triumphant, gloating face and was almost tempted to tell her everything. But what purpose would that serve? Hazel had no bearing on her future now.
George drove Kathleen to the Napa Valley house Seth had willed her, and she was delighted with it. One look at the old brick house, fashioned after the chateaux of France, convinced her that this is where she wanted to live with Theron.
The realtor from whom Seth had bought the property met her there to show her around. The house had been modernized only a few years before, but still retained old-world charm, having interesting nooks and crannies hidden in its intricate maze of rooms. Furnishings had been purchased with the house. It would only require a thorough cleaning and some of Kathleen’s personal touches to get it ready for occupancy.
The attached winery had been deserted years ago, and the vines had been neglected, but she wasn’t worried about that for the present. With the money left her by Seth and the salary she had saved over the past two years, she had enough money for her and Theron to live quite well for several years. She would worry about what to do with the rest of her life later. Right now, she just wanted to live in peace.
As George was helping her back into the Mercedes, he remarked casually, “I think Alice is going to love it here. That little apartment on the far side of the kitchen has a nice view of the vineyards.”
“George!” She whirled around in surprise. “You mean that you and Alice want to come out here to live with me?”
“If you’ll have us.”
“Of course, I’ll have you.” She laughed. “It’s just that I thought you’d stay with Hazel.”
He shook his head. “Kathleen, it was Seth who hired us. We worked for him. Since he’s gone, we work for you. I’ll maintain the house, the grounds, the cars, and do anything else you want me to, but I don’t want you to pay me. Two or three mornings a week, I’d like to go into the city and work as a volunteer at a rehabilitation center for the paraplegic.”
“That’s wonderful.”
“I was wondering what you planned to do with Seth’s van. I—”
“You may have it to use or give away as you see fit.”
“Thank you. With your permission, I’d like to work on the vines. I’ve always had a hankering for wine, you know, and I’ve been reading up on it for years. I think with a little luck, I could make a go of a small vineyard and winery.”
“Yes, yes. Thank you, George.” Impulsively, she threw her arms around him and hugged him. “I need you and Alice now more than ever. I’ll pay her a housekeeper’s salary. I insist,” Kathleen said when she saw he was about to object. “And I demand the right to sample every bottle of wine.”
“You’ve got it,” he said, and offered her his hand to shake, sealing their agreement.
A few days later, Kathleen met with the new owner of Kirchoff’s and politely resigned her job.
“You don’t have to,” he told her. “We know your capabilities. Your husband credited you with the turnaround Kirchoff’s made a couple of years ago. We’d like very much for you to stay on.”
“Thank you, but I feel that I must do this.” She knew that the heart of Kirchoff’s had been Seth. When he died, the heart went out of it, and she didn’t want to pretend otherwise. “I would, however, like to recommend my assistant for the position. Eliot Pate is a gifted young man who knows as much about my job as I do.”
* * *
“Kathleen, thank you, my darling! I just got a call from our new owner and they want me to assume the job you so stupidly resigned.” Eliot sounded as if he were on cloud nine.
“It wasn’t stupid. I have a little boy to raise, you know. You deserve the job, Eliot. I envy you the exciting things that will happen to you over the next few years.”
“You can always come back and help me,” he offered.
“I may drop in to look over your shoulder sometime.”
“You have an open invitation. There’s one job I hope you won’t dump in my lap.”
“What?”
“Those goddam fashion shows. Kathleen, I have no patience with those bullies who run lights and the bitches who arrange for flowers. Would you please do those for me? At least for a year? Please?”
She laughed. “Okay, okay. How could I refuse?”
“Wonderful!” He paused a moment, then said, “Kathleen, I think Gudjonsen is tops. Have you seen those commercials? The new owners are turning handsprings. Erik’s not only talented, he’s a helluva guy. He’s been working like hell…” He cleared his throat and Kathleen smiled. She’d never known Eliot to be at a loss for words. “What I’m saying is that if the two of you have a… thing… you should tell the rest of the world to go—”
“Thank you, Eliot,” she said quickly. “I’ll keep that in mind, but Erik and I don’t have a ‘thing.’ ”
“I wouldn’t stake tomorrow’s martini lunch on that, but you’ve always been so goddam closed-mouthed about your private affairs.”
“And you’ve always been outrageous, but I love you. Call me.”
“I will, probably screaming for you to come back and relieve me of all this.” They laughed together, and then he said in a rare serious tone, “Be happy, Kathleen.”
* * *
She was happy. Or at least content. She, Theron, George and Alice were settled into their new home, and she barely missed the bustle of the store. She was entranced with the house and her plans to fully decorate it.
February was well upon them. When it snowed in the mountains of Oregon and Washington, it rained a cold rain in the valley. On one such day, Kathleen was sitting alone in the homey living room. A bright fire crackled in the hearth. Theron was upstairs asleep. He had had a cold for the last few days and was now, under medication from the pediatrician, sleeping it away. The Martins had gone into San Francisco for the day to do some extensive shopping for the country kitchen.
When Kathleen heard the car motor, she didn’t think they could already be back, so she got up to look out the window.
Her heart danced and then jumped to her throat as she saw the battered blue Dodge van chugging up the pothole-riddled driveway. She mouthed his name, but no sound came out. Instinctively, she clutched her chest in an effort to still the pounding of her heart.
By now, he was on the porch and pulling the old-fashioned bell. Kathleen went to the door and opened it without hesitation.
For a small eternity, they stared at each other, hungry eyes combating to gain the most ground. Without speaking, he walked in. He shook off his rain-dampened coat and hung it on the hall tree beside the door. With his back to her, he surveyed the room. His head nodded in silent approval.
“Hello, Kathleen.” He turned around to face her.
“Hello, Erik,” she grated hoarsely. Why couldn’t she speak? She was a bundle of nerves. Was he here to make some threat about Theron? Would he overpower her and take him by force?
“Where’s Theron?” he asked, as if reading her mind.
“Upstairs asleep,” she said guardedly.
Erik only nodded absently. “The house is nice, very nice. Do you like it?”
Was it her imagination, or was he as nervous as she? “Yes, I love it. It’s quiet here.”
Without invitation, he sat on the sofa in front of the fire and stared into it for a moment. Then he looked up as though surprised to find her still standing. “Sit down.”
She didn’t move. “What are you doing here, Erik?”
He continued to look up at her as he withdrew an envelope from the breast pocket of his shirt. Handing it to her, he said, “I received that in the mail three days ago. It’s from Seth’s attorney. He was instructed to mail it to me on a specified day. Dr. Alexander had gotten it from Seth the night he died.”
Kathleen wanted to ask him what all of that meant, but he was staring moodily into the fire again. She looked down at the envelope. It was innocuous enough, having as its letter-head the name and address of the law firm. She opened it and pulled out two sheets of paper. One was a contract for the loan Seth had made to Erik’s new company. It had been rubber-stamped “Paid in Full” in red ink.
The other sheet of paper was filled with Seth’s handwriting, not as legible or firm as it usually was, but identifiable just the same. It was dated the night before he had died.
Dear Erik,
My attorney will confirm that there is a secret trust fund in the Bank of America for Theron. You will find that it is a sizable amount and, hopefully, will grow even greater with accrued interest, so that by the time he’s ready to enter whatever field he chooses, he will be well equipped financially. The contingency of his receiving said funds on his twentyfifth birthday are somewhat odd. It is my last wish that you will see they are met.
By his second birthday, April fifteenth of this year, I ask that his name be legally changed to Gudjonsen. It is my belief that a son should bear his father’s name. Thank you for loaning him to me for a short while. My gratitude is exceeded only by the love I have for him and his mother. I would also hope that she be included in that name change. It should have been hers long ago.
I considered you a friend in life. So do I still.
Seth
Kathleen lowered the paper before her tears could blur the ink. “He knew.”
Erik stirred, though he didn’t look at her. “It would seem so.”
She dropped down onto the couch beside him. “I should have known that he would. Seth was so perceptive, so attuned to emotions. He would have seen, would have guessed.” They were silent again. She looked up at Erik timidly. “What are you going to do?”
He raked a hand through his hair and stood up, crossing to the fireplace. His booted toe moved a log closer to the flames, and sparks shot up the chimney. “Hell, I don’t know,” he said on a deep sigh. “I’ve spent these past two days deliberating what to do. I started to ignore it, but the attorney called to verify that I had received the letter and to inform me that he had a copy of it.” He braced his arms wide on the mantel and hung his head between them in an attitude of abject despair. “We could contest the will, but…” He spoke without conviction. He wanted that hassle no more than she did. “How can I deny my son that kind of opportunity, Kathleen?”
“I don’t suppose you can,” she answered quietly, not wanting any part of the decision only he could make.
“Of course,” he reasoned aloud, “his receiving the money is contingent only on his name being changed, not yours.”
Pain ripped through her and tore at her heart. How could he be so cruel? He didn’t want to be stuck with her as his wife, but he wanted to change his son’s name. He had to wrestle with his conscience and go against Seth’s request, and hope that she wasn’t going to make things difficult for him.
“Yes,” she strangled out.
“I had hoped that one day your name would be the same as mine.” He turned around. “But I want you to marry me because you love me as much as I love you, and not for the sake of our son.”
Kathleen continued to stare at her hands lying in her lap, disbelieving what she had just heard. Her reflex was to snap her head up and look at him, but she was afraid she was mistaken. Instead, she squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that Erik had said what she thought he had.
“Kathleen,” he said unevenly. Now she did raise her eyes, and saw two eloquent, glistening tears rolling down his lean, rough cheeks. “Don’t run away from me again. You’ve always accused me of being selfish, and God knows I am. But I’m going to make the most selfish request of my life now.” He swallowed hard. “If you must, marry me only because of Theron and in accordance with Seth’s letter, but please marry me. You don’t… it can be… we don’t even have to sleep together, just, please, marry me.”
“Erik!” She bounded off the couch and threw herself into his arms. At first he was too incredulous at her reaction to respond, but her warmth and softness against him soon overcame his stupefaction. His arms wrapped around her as he buried his tear-dampened face in the hollow of her neck.
“Erik, didn’t you know I loved you? Couldn’t you tell how much I loved you?”
“No, no,” he said as he dried his tears with her hair. “Every time I was near you, with you, you ran from me afterward.”
“Because of my feelings for you. They were so much a part of me that I thought they were visible to everyone. Darling, I have loved you since Mountain View. Seth knew when I married him that I was still in love with my baby’s father. I never kept that a secret from him.”
Erik straightened so he could look down into her face. He brushed back her hair. “I have loved you for so long. There was always something in the way, something between us. I can’t believe that you’re here now telling me you love me.”
“I am and I do.”
“Why did I fight loving you? And that’s what I’ve done, Kathleen. I’ve fought it. You evoked emotions in me no one else ever had, and they frightened me, left me stripped bare and vulnerable. I was terrified I’d be left empty again like I was after the accident.”
She shuddered and closed her arms tighter around him. “I’m so sorry for the anguish I caused you then.”
“Darling, if we start itemizing the times we’ve hurt each other, my list will be much longer than yours. That part of our life is over. I love you. Perhaps because of the example I was set, I grew up thinking that loving was a sign of weakness. I know now it’s a sign of strength. But I’m not strong enough yet to contain it all. I need you, Kathleen. Love me.”
“My love,” she sobbed. Together they collapsed onto the couch, holding, touching, cherishing, assuring each other with precious words and gestures.
Each gave what the other needed… and more.
* * *
“I like this house,” Erik said. They were lying in her bed. Eventually, they had quitted the sofa, dressed and shared supper with Theron, who was ecstatic over seeing “Ric.” They had bathed the baby together, marveling over him, and played with him until he grew sleepy and had to be put to bed. Now Kathleen lay cuddled against the hard, vibrant body that she loved.
“Thank you,” she said softly, contemplatively. She teased the underside of his arm with wandering fingers. “But, you know, it’s inconvenient to the city. I mean,” she rushed on, “it would be a great place to come to on weekends, but I’d rather live closer in. Like in that condo you have,” she said tentatively.
Erik reached down and lifted her chin until he could see her face. He studied it for a while, and then he said gently, “You’re something. Do you know that? I could never ask you to give this up and come to my much more modest house.”
“I know you couldn’t, but I want to live there. This can be a retreat for us, but I want to finish decorating your house and live there with you and Theron.” She looked up at him alluringly. “I can’t wait to get you in that hot tub.”
He grinned responsively, but was serious when he said, “I’m still struggling to get my business off the ground. Every cent I’ve got is invested in it. I won’t be able to keep you in the lifestyle to which you’ve become accustomed.”
“I never cared for that. I wondered why Seth didn’t bequeath me the majority of his estate. Now I know. He knew I’d be uncomfortable with it.”
“He knew I would be.” He kissed her forehead and played his fingers across her lips. “I love you, Kathleen.”
She raised up on her elbows and said, “I love you, Erik. More than any house. More than an inheritance. More than anything. I’ll never run away from you again. You’re my security, my home, my life. Believe me, I’ve learned that running away never solves anything. It only prolongs it. Had I not been orphaned at the age I was, maybe I wouldn’t have been so afraid of life’s consequences. Intelligently, I knew better than to duck the issues, but sometimes emotions override intelligence.”
“Did you ever wonder why we were put through this? Why we couldn’t have met at Mountain View, fallen in love and admitted it, gotten married, started our family without having fought so damn hard for it all?”
Kathleen pondered his question at length before she attempted an answer. “I don’t think either of us was mature enough to accept the responsibility of that kind of relationship when we met. We weren’t capable of making the commitment, because we were each so wrapped up with ourselves. The life, the happiness, we’ll know now has more value, because it was so hard to come by. And we wouldn’t have known Seth. I think we both learned what it really means to love from him.”
Erik was quiet for a full minute before he said, “You’re too young to be that wise.”
“That’s just what a woman who is lying naked with her lover wants to hear—how wise she is.”
He laughed. “Let’s bring Theron in here to sleep with us tonight.”
“Okay, but later. I’m selfish and want you all to myself for a while longer.”
“I think I can suffer through that.”
She kissed him, and as with all their kisses, what had been intended as a brief caress became one of passion. Finally, she dragged her mouth from his. “When will you marry me? Tomorrow?”
He stretched lazily and said, “Gee, I don’t know.” His eyes rested on her breasts as he drawled, “I may not respect you in the morning.”
Kathleen’s green eyes narrowed and she slipped her hand down his body. “It’s not your respect I want right now.” His breath was sucked in quickly as she found her target.
“Perhaps we… Perhaps we should set the date after all… ah, Kathleen.”
“Do you know what I’d like?”
“No, but it’s yours,” he said breathlessly. “Anything, darling, anything.”
She chuckled and continued her sweet torture. “I’d like for all of us to go to Arkansas and get married in the chapel at Mountain View. I want B. J. and Edna to be included. We could invite your mother, Bob and Sally, Jaimie and Jennifer, George and Alice, maybe even Eliot would come. And, of course, Theron will be there.”
“Right now,” Erik ground out, “I’d agree to… to anything.”
She draped his chest with her hair and leaned over him, brushing her lips across the flat brown nipples as she asked, “Do you love me?”
“Yes. God, yes.”
Her tongue flicked over him and he moaned in ecstasy.
“Tell me,” Kathleen insisted, her mouth now teasing his lips.
He caught her hand with his and pressed it against him. His blue eyes pierced through the darkness like a beacon and captured her in their magnetic light. “Yes. With my heart, with my life, I love you, Kathleen.” He lay atop her, gathering her to him and relishing her nakedness. His lips kissed her while his hands stroked the silkiness beneath them.
“See how right we are, Kathleen.” Her eyes followed his down the length of their bodies lying entwined. He straightened his arms, levering himself up so they could see his virility nestled in her receiving warmth. Lifting his eyes to hers, he nudged her provocatively. “Touch me. Please.”
She lowered her hand between them and closed her fingers around him. The smooth, love-bathed tip knew the brush of her thumb. “I love you, Erik.”
“I love you.”
As they watched, his body was fused with hers. Their loving knew no bounds, but it was far more than physical. This time, it was made complete by the knowledge of the other’s commitment. Not only their bodies, but their spirits as well, were forged by a conflagration that burned in a timeless sphere.
* * *
George opened the door quietly and peered around it. “They’re all in there, all right,” he told a curious Alice who was trying to see over her husband’s shoulder. “Snug as three bugs in a rug, all in the same bed and apparently naked as jaybirds.” He chuckled. That earned him a slap on his arm.
The three people lying in the bed were unaware of their audience. They all slept facing the same direction. Erik’s arm was stretched across Kathleen and his hand rested on the shoulder of his son, who was curled up against his mother.
“They belong together like that,” Alice whispered as George shut the door.
“Yes, they do. Indeed.”